The Big F.A.T. Truth About Home Remodeling

When my husband & I bought our house 12 years ago, we knew that we were going to work hard to bring this old, dated farmhouse new life. We couldn’t do it all at once, but we were going to concentrate on things room by room.
Let me paint you a picture:

The living room had 7… SEVEN… layers of wallpaper covering the walls & was underscored with hunter green carpeting that flowed through to dining room. In that dining room was a bronze chandelier & a red brick fireplace. (Don’t forget that dark green carpeting.)

Each of bedrooms sported their own unique color palette that was just not our style. Let’s work our eyes from floor to ceiling in the master bedroom, for example.

Imagine… dropping a cinnamon stick on my bedroom floor in 2013 would mean that it would disappear forever. It would have been perfectly camouflaged on my medium brown carpeting. The previous owners were so proud of their walls, & I nodded & smiled as they explained how she painstakingly painted 2 of the bedroom walls orange with gold sponging & the other 2 were gold with orange sponge painting. Still with me? Brown carpet, orange & gold walls. That takes us up to the ceiling where the room’s perimeter was decorated with an Asian-style black wallpaper border.

My husband & I, however, could see the potential. We went through the house the first few years & did things ourselves. We couldn’t afford a lot so we focused pretty much on removing wallpaper & painting.

If you have wallpaper that needs taken down, I am now an official expert. You have to have to spend at least 47.5 hours struggling to remove wallpaper to be dubbed an expert in this field, & I’ve earned that designation twice over. So, coming from an official wallpaper-taker-downer, I have some Do’s & Don’ts for you:

– DON’T spend a lot of money on the chemicals that you spray on the walls. They stink, are pretty expensive & just don’t work well.

– Fabric softener was another recommendation. DON’T use that either. The blue fabric softener mixes nicely with the yellow glue of the wallpaper only to create a buggery substance on your walls that’s just as green as it is slippery. I owe a lot of gouges in my walls to that technique.

– DO get yourself a commercial-grade scraper. Metal – not plastic.

– DO get a wall-scorer which makes tiny holes in the wallpaper.

– DO get a spray bottle. Fill it with the hot water & put it in the microwave to make it close to boiling (without melting your spray bottle)

– Score a section, douse it with hot water. Score another section & douse that with water. Go back to the first section & start scraping.

I just saved you a lot of money, a lot of experimentation & possibly your marriage. You’re welcome.
That’s what we did. We worked ourselves from room to room doing what we could do ourselves on a very skimpy budget.

Remember: things can be done fast, good or cheap. You can only get 2 out of those 3 things. After several years, we saved enough that we no longer had to go the cheap route & focused on finding people who could do the work better & faster… but not cheaper.

As we matured more in our careers, we saved even more money for bigger projects to be tackled by professionals who could get it done better & faster.

When you’re looking for a home, you need to take 3 things into consideration when it comes to DIY (Do It Yourself) home improvements. You need to consider your F.A.T.
F: Finances
A: Ability
T: Time

Your Finances

Some things to consider:

– Can you live with just some new paint & changing the hardware in the kitchen?

– Are you looking to make this your long-term dream home or are you looking for a 2-3 year thing & more of a flip situation? (Basically, are you doing the repairs with your own style & preferences in mind OOOOOoooorrrr are you doing it strictly with resale as the goal?)

– Definitely budget in a 10-20% buffer for surprises.

This is obvious, but one thing that newer home-owners don’t consider is that your finances improve over time. You may not have the money NOW, but as you mature in your professional life, your budget will grow as well.

So, if this house has the ONE THING you can’t change (location, location, location) & it’s a house you can see yourself in for quite some time – forget instant gratification. Take the imperfect house as it is, live with the dated kitchen or red bedroom carpeting for a bit & put money into it as you can. It took us 12 years, but our personal home has more than doubled in value over that time. These things don’t happen overnight.

Your Ability

Be honest with yourself – I KNOW where I’m at. I was trying to make a planter last year out of a file cabinet after seeing some woman do it on TikTok & almost destroyed my husband’s screwdriver using it as a drill. Lesson learned. If it’s more complicated than changing a lightbulb – it’s just not my forte.

Here’s how to determine your ability. I’m going to ask you one question, & your response is going to give us a good indication of where you’re at with your DIY ability.

If someone asks you for a Phillips head screwdriver, how would you respond?:

A. Size #2 or #3?
B. Is that the cross or the minus sign one?
C. There’s different kinds of screwdrivers?

If you answered C: You’re with me. We need to get someone else involved. This is just not our thing.

If you answered B: Okay, proceed with caution. Maybe do some YouTube’ing to make sure you’re not going to screw this up.

If you answered A: Find yourself someone who answered C, & you can probably make some money doing some handyman jobs at their place.

I probably should have given one of my clients this quiz. He purchased a house a few years ago & told me at closing that he planned on making it more of an open concept. I pressed for some more details, & he was going to remove the wall between the kitchen & living room.

As you & I both know, construction isn’t my wheelhouse. However, having seen the house, I was pretty sure that the wall he was referring to was a load bearing wall. (If you don’t know what a ‘load bearing wall’ is, you’re definitely a C, by the way.) He was confident that it would be fine – he knew what he was doing.

We’re talking about removing walls here, people. That is for people who are very much an A+ person kind of job.

The next time I spoke to his wife, she said that they had to get someone to the house shortly after he started the project. He took out the wall, it WAS load bearing & now their roof was quickly inching towards their living room floor.

When doing DIY projects, you first have to consider your F.A.T. Evaluate your Finances first then your Ability.
Lastly though is considering your Time.

Your Time

Time is often the most underestimated resource in home improvement projects.
Consider:

• Your Schedule: Do you have consistent blocks of time to dedicate, or will it be piecemeal? Projects often take longer when done in short bursts.

• Disruption: Will the project interfere with daily life (I’ve gone without a kitchen for 3 months, & I’m currently 3 weeks without a laundry room – IT’S NO FUN! TRUST ME!) You have to plan for temporary setups or alternate arrangements. My washer & dryer are currently hooked up on my side porch. It’s not classy, but it’s temporary!

• Seasonal Timing: Outdoor projects may be weather-dependent. Indoor projects might be better suited for slower seasons in your personal or work life.

• Project Duration: How long will the project realistically take? A weekend paint job is very different from a month-long kitchen remodel.
When we purchased our house, there wasn’t any sidewalk from the driveway to the front door. I looked at some pictures & thought that pavers would be the prefect fit! We just needed to buy some, put them in the yard where I wanted them. An afternoon job, right?

Let me remind you… I’m a C on the DIY ability quiz. My husband is more of an A. He informed me that we needed to dig up the path, lay gravel, level things out… blah blah blah. Needless to say, what I thought was going to be an afternoon project with no needed tools turned into a several day long project that required a lot more supplies.

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

Most Realtors stick to one corner of the map—but not us! While others are limited to a single MLS, the Katina Hunter Team is dialed into three different multi-lists. That means we’re not just skimming the surface—we’re diving deep into the real estate pulse across Western PA.

From Allegheny to Crawford County, we’ve got eyes on the market, boots on the ground, and the data to back it up. The numbers are in! I’ve got your Q2 2025 real estate roundup—and it’s a wild ride across our counties!

Let’s start with a county that’s heating up faster than a July sidewalk…

Mercer County is on fire!
Single-family home sales jumped over 26%, and homes are flying off the market 19% faster than last year. Inventory’s up, buyers are biting, and sellers are smiling.

Lawrence County is showing some quiet strength.
Single-family sales dipped just 3.5%, but listings are up and homes are selling 12% faster.

Over in Beaver County, things are holding steady.
Single-family sales dipped slightly, but listings are up and homes are still moving in under 7 weeks.

Butler County is flexing too.
Single-family sales rose nearly 10%, and listings surged over 23%. Homes are taking just a few days longer to sell—still a strong, balanced market.

And finally, Clarion/Venango County—where the brakes are on.
Sales dropped over 42%, and homes are sitting longer—up to 84 days. Prices are mixed, with average sales prices up but median prices down. It’s a market in transition, and buyers may have the upper hand.

If you’re looking to do a transaction in the Clarion & Venango areas – experience & marketing are key! My teammate Kelsey lives & breathes this area, so if help is needed – she’s a great resource for those exploring this market.

Now let’s talk Crawford County, where the story flips.
Sales stayed flat, but listings exploded—up 66%! Prices dropped across the board, with median sales prices down nearly 13%.
It’s a buyer’s market out there, folks. If you’ve been waiting for a deal, Crawford might be calling your name.

Just to recap:
• Mercer and Butler are booming.
• Crawford’s a buyer’s playground.
• Beaver and Lawrence are steady and reliable.
Clarion/Venango? Slowing down, but full of potential.

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

OUR HOUSE IS ON THE NEWS!

It’s 2007, & I’m closing on one of the first listings I’ve ever had. It was NOT an easy sale. An honest description of the amenities would have sounded something like this:

Beautifully positioned on one of the steepest streets in Ellwood, this home offers a difficult-to-mow tiered backyard. You have just enough grass to make it impossible to care for while being unable to use this space for anything enjoyable. Your inspiring view includes the incredible amount of hoard on your neighbor’s front porch & you can fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of the other neighbor’s dog who is perpetually tied outside. This home offers 3 bedrooms, but only 2 of them are easily accessible. The 3rd bedroom is positioned in a way that you have to walk through someone else’s bedroom to get there. The basement is a stand-out feature. Those under 5′ tall will surely appreciate the cozy ceilings & prohibitive headspace as well as the water feature that flows from the back wall. This home offers a bonus room for those who may explore the unpopular hobby of kidnapping. This creepy room is lockable from the outside, offers a musty fragrance & provides a dungeon-like feel.

How’s that for a property description?!

I ended up having this house on the market for over a year, & still… no buyers. Until one day, one of my fellow-Realtor friends brought her clients to give it a peek. They put in an offer, & my seller eagerly accepted! My friend even said that they spent quite a bit of time in the basement & mentioned that it “was perfect.” I shrugged off the comment, too excited that I was finally able to help my seller unload this home!

In this business, I’ve met people from all walks of life. I wasn’t alarmed when the buyers were… less than friendly. I didn’t bat an eye when I heard that they were transferring from a completely different state in the middle of the US to our little Ellwood City community without any family or friends or job prospects. I was completely unphased when I found out that the buyers weren’t even buying the house, it was one of the parents who footed the cash for the transaction.

It was closed! Done! Finito! I’d never have to struggle to make an attractive flier or sit another freezing open house at that property again! I didn’t ever want to hear that address for as long as I lived!

Which is why I was extra unhappy when I was awakened on a Saturday by an early morning phone call. My Realtor friend was shouting into the phone, “TURN ON THE NEWS RIGHT NOW! OUR HOUSE IS ON THE NEWS!!!!!!!” I flicked on the TV. I was all too familiar with that home’s facade – having seen it on fliers & postcards & marketing that I’ve made for over a year. I always tried to make the house look attractive, but the news took off all of the make-up. It looked very different with caution tape around the front porch, & the cameraman almost went out of his way to position the neighboring porch in the background – adding to the Sandford & Son appeal.

Apparently, that basement was the “perfect” setting… for a meth lab.

Think of a bunch of helium balloons. When I order a dozen balloons for my kids’ birthday parties, it’s pretty rare that all 12 make it to the end of the day. Despite the fact that I intertwine the ribbons around my fingers several times, one inevitably slips through my grip & floats away over Ellwood… never to be seen again. And that’s before I even get to my car! I get 11 balloons back to the house, but another 1 or 2 pops as I’m wriggling them through the doorframe. Whenever I’m outside, the wind inevitably picks up & whips them around making soft bopping noises as they bounce off of my head & each other. Another one or two typically escape during the process of tying them in small bunches along our fence.
Although a closing can be a jovial event, I’ve never brought balloons to the closing table. No matter how happy or excited the buyers or sellers are – it’s still a serious event. There’s a stack of documents about 3 inches thick. These papers are saturated with very unsexy words like “fraud” & “taxes” & “affidavit” & “delinquency.” These terms definitely give some gravity to even the most light-hearted of transactions.
These words are the satchel of weights tethered to a bunch of festive balloons. Without them, every balloon would be floating off in various directions without any common grounding. Several balloons would be attached to the same spot with another miles away God knows where.
I value words. I respect contracts. I honor deadlines. These words are the foundation, keeping everyone either in the same place or everyone moving together in the same direction. When everyone is in agreement to be bound to the terms, we are all tied together in the same arrangement.
I’ve never thought of myself as a balloon-wrangler, but it’s actually a pretty darn good analogy for a Realtor!
We have to:
• Get everyone bound to the same weight.
• Make sure our ribbons are tied tightly.
• Keep checking to ensure that none of the balloons have slipped away.
GET EVERYONE BOUND TO THE SAME WEIGHT:
Negotiating a contract is so much more than just coming to terms on a price. In a sales agreement, the price is just ONE line item in FOURTEEN pages of terms. An excellent Realtor is one that can see the full picture: the wants & needs to each party & thinks out of the box to present terms that are mutually beneficial & agreeable. When everyone signs on the dotted line, the ribbons have been tied. We are all now bound to the these terms & cannot float off in our own direction. We’re moving as one unit to closing.

MAKE SURE OUR RIBBONS ARE TIED TIGHTLY:
There are ways, however, that a ribbon can slip away if the verbiage of a contract isn’t clear or specific enough. A loose knot leads to misinterpretation & doesn’t hold all the balloons together.
KEEP CHECKING TO ENSURE THAT NONE OF THE BALLOONS HAVE SLIPPED AWAY:
I haven’t yet encountered another Realtor that works the way I do. As soon as a contract has been signed, I have a chronological timeline that I check daily. If the other party is due to deposit their escrow money, for example, I’m following up with their Realtor. I request proof that the deposit has been received. I know that I should trust that the other agent will do their job & do their job well. However, MY job is to look out for MY client.
Let’s say that the funds aren’t deposited. However, I’m not aware of that because I never asked. Then let’s say that the buyers default on the contract & want to walk away from the house the day before closing. My sellers should receive the hand money, but… there isn’t any. If a balloon slips away without me noticing – who pays the price? My clients. That balloon is long gone, & good luck trying to get it back.
Realtors who succeed in this business are creative negotiators, skilled in the art of precise terminology & persistently ensure that all the agreed-upon terms are being honored by all of the parties involved… AKA: Balloon Wranglers!

It’s rare that a Realtor can successfully monitor the real estate market in the areas outside of their multi-list. However, my team can! We belong to 3 different multi-lists so that we can intensely dig into what’s going on in each specific area.

My team monitors statistics in Allegheny, Lawrence, Beaver, Butler & Mercer. We actively sell properties all the way up to Erie & in Venango, Crawford & Forest Counties.

The biggest trend I’m seeing is the increase in inventory. I’ve been reporting on this for a while, but SOOOoooo many people still aren’t getting it. The more inventory available means the more options for buyers & more competition for sellers.

Buyers – you still need to stay diligent. The best way to monitor the market is to have an experienced Realtor send you listing information directly from the multi-list. Have them put you in touch with a trusted lender so that you are financially ready to put pen to paper as soon as the right home becomes available.

Sellers – I have 3 specific tips for you:

1. Enhance Curb Appeal & Staging – Buyers have more choices, so making your home stand out is crucial. Invest in minor upgrades, declutter & stage your home effectively. The best advice comes from a Realtor. We view hundreds of homes & know what works with pictures as well as showings.

2. Price Competitively – With more homes on the market, pricing too high can lead to longer selling times. Research comparable sales and work with a Realtor to set a realistic price. Don’t be afraid to set up a plan when listing with strategic price reductions planned out.

3. Be Flexible with Offers – Consider offering incentives such as covering closing costs or making small repairs to attract buyers in a competitive market. The best incentive I’m encouraging my sellers to consider right now is a pre-inspection. That’s a topic we’ve covered before. Check out my blog to revisit that strategy.

It’s Monday. An anonymous ID flashes on the phone. Shannon answers in her typical way, “Hello, this is Shannon with the Katina Hunter Team. How can I help you?”

The voice of a grouchy lady asked for me, but I’m luckily not in the office at that moment. Shannon offers to take a message. The woman gets huffier as she asks the following question:

“Are the bushes on Oak Street included with the house?”

Shannon pauses. I don’t think we’ve ever been asked anything like that before. To make sure she’s understanding correctly, she requests the woman to please repeat the question.

The caller’s level of annoyance is now at a 10. “ARE THE BUSHES INCLUDED WITH THE HOUSE ON OAK STREET?!”

Shannon calmly replies, “Yes. The bushes are included.”

The woman’s snippiness continues, “Are you the listing agent?”

“No,” Shannon responds, “Katina is, but she’s not here right now. I do know, though, that the bushes at the property will be staying at the house. The owners have no intentions on removing them. If I can have your name & number, Katina will be back in just a few minutes, & I can have her call you.”

“No, thank you. You talk to her & make sure, & I’ll call back tomorrow.”

Click.

That was pretty odd. True to her promise, the woman does call back the next day.

Now, I promise that I am in the office most of each day, but I doubt that I can convince the caller of this. I had just stepped out again & Shannon kindly asked to take another message. Refusing, the testy woman wants to know if she spoke to me about the bushes on Oak Street. Shannon assured her that we indeed had discussed the bushes & confirmed that they are included.

The woman then goes off on a rampage insisting that we tell the new owners that the bushes are THEIR responsibility & that they had BETTER take care of them because the current owners don’t.

Ah, this isn’t a crazy buyer who is obsessed with shrubbery – this is a neighbor who has nothing more to do than fret over the care of her neighbors’ bushes. It all makes sense.

No, I will not be grilling the new buyers on the do’s & don’ts of lawn care, but I WILL be passing along the contact information for a good fencing company.

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker

724-888-9020

Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

What happened to all of the foreclosures that we used to see & hear about?! Foreclosures are homes that were taken over by the bank because the owners couldn’t make their payments. When I first started in real estate in 2007 & up through the next decade – these were a substantial part of the inventory.

Then, when the housing market shifted, foreclosures became a thing of the past. If a seller got behind on their mortgage, they could easily get out from their mortgage payment by unloading the house to one of the many, many buyers willing to buy almost anything at top dollar.

Well, friends… with so many people competing for housing these last few years, so many buyers paying over asking price – I’m expecting to see foreclosures come back into the mix of our inventory.

With this in mind, I’ve revived an old email template. I would share this to buyers interested in purchasing a home that happened to be a foreclosure. There are differences, & you need to know about these things upfront before you get knee-deep into the process.

NEGOTIATING PRICE

• Negotiating on a foreclosure is very similar to negotiating with a private seller. Many buyers feel that they can get homes for pennies on the dollar. That only works on HGTV shows. You can come in lower without worrying about the offending the seller, because the bank doesn’t have any emotional ties to the property. However, the banks typically price their foreclosures around fair market value. They will absolutely negotiate, but unreasonable offers can definitely expect a counter.

• Cash offers to have more wiggle room. Banks prefer the quick closing of a cash offer, so you will have more negotiating power if you’re not getting a loan.

REPAIRS

• Once you have your inspections or appraisal done, the bank won’t negotiate on doing any repairs. They may negotiate on price, but if you want an issue corrected before settlement, or, if you can’t buy the house because it won’t pass an appraisal – repairs are unlikely to be part of the deal.

DISCLOSURES:

• Because the house is being sold by a company & not a person who has lived at the house, there will not be any information provided on the disclosures. This makes it all the more important for you to get a home inspection by a reputable company. That’s the best & only information you’re going to get when it comes to the structural & mechanical integrity of the house.

PAPERWORK

• There is substantially more paperwork involved when you purchase a foreclosure. The selling bank will sometimes have you sign a completely 2nd contract in addition to the sales agreement provided by your Realtor. This contract supersedes the documents that your Realtor is familiar with. A good Realtor will review the docs & explain them the best they can. However, each bank’s process is different & so are their forms. Make sure that you personally review them carefully as well.
• In my experience, many buyers get too frustrated at the document requirements throughout the transaction. You should know this upfront. Expect to have to sign many forms at many different times leading up to closing.

CLOSING COSTS:

• It’s very common for there to be more closing costs when purchasing a foreclosure. The selling bank pushes as many fees as possible to the buyer’s side. This may include their share of the transfer tax, document fees & may charge extra fees of their own.
• They are very unlikely to pay for a home warranty either. So, if this is coverage you’d like on your new home – the cost for it is going to come out of your pocket.

WITH ALL THAT SAID…

• I don’t deter anyone from purchasing a foreclosure. I just make sure that my buyers are very aware of the differences so we can avoid surprises during the process.
• The process IS different, but my job as a Realtor is not. I always seek to be as thorough as possible in explaining paperwork & strive to make the transition smooth for my buyers.
• I have MANY MANY buyers who have purchased a foreclosure & all went very well, & they love their new home.

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker

724-888-9020

Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

75% is my goal this year in 2025. I would love to see a minimum of 75% of my listings go on the market with a pre-inspection report.

This means that before a home is listed, we hire an impartial 3^rd party to come evaluate the structural & mechanical integrity of the home. They provide us with a full report (often times around 50 pages) of every little nitty-gritty thing that’s wrong with the house. We then offer up this report in its entirety to prospective buyers so that they know all of the flaws upfront.

The method to this madness has so many benefits… let’s look at a few:

1. If anything comes up on the report that is surprising, this gives the sellers a chance to correct it prior to it hitting the market.
2. If the report is honest, thorough & performed by a reputable inspector, buyers don’t usually get their own inspection & they accept the information presented.
3. If the buyer decides to get their own report, their inspector has to find NEW information to be able to terminate or renegotiate.

Let’s play out some scenarios if a seller decides NOT to get their home pre-inspected.

Scenario #1: Nervous Nelly
Nervous Nelly is a first-time home buyer. She views your property & all parties negotiate an offer. When she gets her home inspection, the report is actually pretty clean! There are a few smaller items here & there, but nothing major. However, Nervous Nelly is very apprehensive & scares easily. She doesn’t even attempt to renegotiate & terminates immediately over some very insignificant items.

Now, you’ve lost your buyer. You put your house as active again on the market & other buyers see that you had an offer fall through. Some buyers see this as a red flag & don’t even request a showing.

A flighty buyer like Nervous Nelly is not a great buyer. If you would have had a pre-inspection report, she would have decided to pass on even making an offer. Then you wouldn’t have missed out on other, more reasonable buyers who were looking while the house was under contract.

Scenario #2: Normal Norman
Normal Norman is a very rational, down-to-earth buyer. You come to terms with his offer, & he gets his inspection report. There’s a lot of things on the report that would concern most buyers, but Normal Norman isn’t bothered at all by the information. It’s nothing he can’t handle.

However… towards the end of the report, the inspector notes that it looks like there’s been some shifting on the basement wall & suggests an evaluation be performed by a structural engineer.

Normal Norman is pretty forgiving, but a shifting foundation is understandably a deal-breaker for him. He terminates. You’re now left with having to disclose this information to all other potential buyers (likely deal-breakers for them, too) & drastically reducing the price of the house OR, getting a structural engineer to the property & paying for the fixes that they recommend.

But… you’ve already lost your buyer & have to now disclose to future parties that he walked because of the foundation concerns.

Scenario #3: Penny Pincher
Penny Pincher is excited to move forward with your house, & she’s also an excellent negotiator. She plays hard ball, & you come to terms 10% lower than your asking price. Then she gets her inspection report. She doesn’t terminate, but she gets bids for all of the items on the report, & is standing firm requesting an additional 15% off of the property.

You now have to decide to either risk a termination or get to the closing table at 25% lower than your original sales price.

If you would have had a pre-inspection report, the original price you negotiated would have been the sales price of the house. You would have closed on the property 15% higher if you had disclosed the report upfront.

In the hundreds upon hundreds of transactions that I’ve done, each buyer is either a Nervous Nelly, Normal Norman or Penny Pincher.

A pre-inspection prevents the Nervous Nellies from even making an offer. You want a solid buyer who is in it to get to the closing table. Nervous Nellies just derail that process.

A pre-inspection gives you a heads-up on any major issues so that you can address them beforehand. That way, when Normal Norman comes along, the house is in a very acceptable condition that is appealing to a rational buyer.

A pre-inspection takes away the buyer’s negotiating power. It doesn’t give the Penny Pinchers out there much ground to negotiate a lower sales price or repairs or additional credits.

Now, I know that it doesn’t feel good to see 50 pages of flaws on your home, but if you’re looking to be proactive… if you’re looking for ways to stave off terminations… if you’re looking for the best way to keep your initial sales price intact… the pre-inspection is the key to doing just that.

It’s a $600 insurance policy to get to the closing table efficiently & with as much cash in my pocket as possible. If I were putting my own home on the market, I wouldn’t do so without including a pre-inspection report.

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

Ladies & gentlemen, brace yourselves for a seismic shift in the real estate world!

Across the board, in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Allegheny & Mercer counties, our inventory numbers continue to climb.

The rate at which properties are selling is plummeting! Homes are selling muuuuch more sloooooowly, but they’re still flooding onto the market. This means we’re witnessing an unprecedented surge in backlogged inventory!

Less homes going off the market + more homes being listed = a fierce battleground for sellers & a treasure trove for buyers!

As inventory skyrockets, sellers can no longer command the top-dollar prices they once did. Overprice your property, & it risks being swallowed up in the vast ocean of all the other homes with for-sale signs in their yard.

Buyers, the current housing market is overflowing with choices, & more are coming onto the market every day! Get out there & embark on your house-hunting adventure. You’ve been waiting for this moment – seize it with both hands & relish the journey!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker

724-888-9020

Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com

Okay, my friends… for those of you who get off on spreadsheets & statistical trends, this part of our show is just for you!

I evaluate 5 counties: Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Allegheny & Mercer. When looking into the average sales price & median listing prices… the word I would use to describe what I’m seeing would be: spasmodic! The average sales price is up by 39% in Beaver County & down 15% in Butler. All the other counties fall somewhere in between. Likewise, the median listing prices are jumping all over the board.

There is, however, some consistent numerical markers that have been strong & steady the last several months. We’ve been waiting for the market to settle enough to provide some consistent data, & we’ve found that in our inventory numbers.

Across the board in ALL areas, the rate in which properties are selling is plummeting. When homes are selling muuuuch more sloooooowly but are still coming onto the market consistently, we – of course – are going to experience a huge influx in backlogged inventory.

Less homes going off the market + more homes being listed = more competition for sellers/more options for buyers.

Beaver is getting hit hardest. The number of properties being sold is down 66% which has pushed their months of inventory to an astonishing 250%.

When inventory increases, sellers just simply cannot go in at the top-dollar prices they’ve wanted & have been getting in the past. If you overprice your property – there’s a strong likelihood that it’ll be lost in the sea of homes that are piling up.

Buyers, if you’re looking for options – the current housing market is a buffet of options! Get out there & have fun house-hunting. There’s lots to see! You’ve been waiting for this moment – you have options & more time to make your decisions!

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com