Autumn is a season of transformation, & the real estate market is full of changes as well! So much so, that identifying trends at this very moment is extremely difficult.
The average sales price is up in half the counties & down in the other half.
The median list price is up in Beaver & Mercer Counties, down in Lawrence & Butler & steady in Allegheny County at the moment.
Think of a bottle of Italian salad dressing which represents our current real estate market. It’s all shaken up! It’s been shaken up by interest rates… it’s been shaken up by the new real estate laws… it’s been shaken up by misguided & uneducated Realtors… it’s been shaken up by buyers & sellers focusing on national real estate advice instead of local & immediate trends.
Normally, you can predict that the oil is on the surface & the herbs & spices can be found at the bottom. All of these different things are still in the same bottle, but the location is key.
With all the recent agitation, we’re getting a LOT of the unexpected.
Houses that I’m expecting to get multiple offers on are sitting on the market longer than we’d want. Some homes that I think are going to take quite a bit of effort to sell, end up being more popular than the latest Trump meme.
With that said, the only consistent trend I’m getting & have been seeing for months & months now is inventory. You’ve heard me say this for at LEAST 6 months now that the seller’s market is over. Housing inventory has been steadily & aggressively trending up – meaning – more houses on the market & therefore more choices for buyers.
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

I should write my own real estate dictionary. There are so many words thrown around that so many people – buyers… sellers… (even Realtors!) misuse. The Hunter Dictionary of Real Estate would likely start off with how properties are categorized in the Multi-List.
Think of a timeline. You have the word “active” on the far left, then the “sold” designation would be on the far right. “Active” is the beginning, & “sold” is the end-game. We’ll talk about both of those & every stage in between.

ACTIVE:
“Active” is a buyer’s favorite word & probably the least favorite word of sellers. This is the first step in the home-selling process. When a property is “active,” it is available to be shown, & the seller is accepting offers. The home is being actively marketed with open houses, social media campaigns, the works.

CONTINGENT:
The next step is a house being “contingent.” You’re not likely to see this word on some of the public house-hunting sites. Zillow, for example, uses the status of “pending.” “Pending” isn’t an official term, but one that’s widely used on public sites.
The general idea for “pending” or “contingent” is that an offer has been received & accepted. However, on the Multi-List, the “contingent” designation means that even though an offer has been accepted, the property can still be shown to other interested buyers. If the buyer likes it, they can still submit an offer but it would be second in line to the offer that’s already been accepted. If something falls through with the first offer, the back-up offer can then slip right in.
I personally keep a house in the “contingent” status until their inspections, appraisal & mortgage commitment have been satisfied. Once we have successfully maneuvered through all of those contingencies, we’re just waiting for the paperwork to be done for closing. At that point, I change the property from “contingent” & mark it as “under contract.”

UNDER CONTRACT:
Moving another step along our timeline here, if a property is “under contract” then we’re pretty darn confident that we’ll be hitting the closing table within the next week or two. At this point, we’re just waiting on the paperwork.
Some Realtors don’t put their properties as “contingent” at all & instead jump right to the “under contract” status. Either way, an offer has been accepted, & a buyer likely has to move on from this house & look for another that is 100% available.
Sometimes, I see that a property has gone back into the “active” status after it’s been “under contract.” Nine times out of ten, this means that something fell through with the buyer’s financing. For example, sometimes:
• A credit check reveals that the buyer has slipped below the acceptable credit score for their loan
• The buyer may have lost their job
OR
• (As happened twice in my career) a buyer purchases a new vehicle right before closing which throws their debt-to-income ratios off & disqualifies them for a mortgage.

SOLD:
Coming to the end of our timeline, the “sold” status is the end of the road. It’s the seller’s (& Realtor’s) favorite word. The property is no longer in the possession of the seller & has been successfully & legally transferred into the names of the buyers. The deal is done! Mission accomplished! In the bag! It’s a wrap! Finito!
In an ideal transaction, a property goes from “active” to “contingent” to “under contract” to “sold” all within a couple of months. There are, however, a few other designations that we Realtors use that aren’t published on the public sites: Withdrawn & Expired.

WITHDRAWN:
When a home is “withdrawn” it means that it’s not currently being marketed, & the sellers are not allowing showings at the moment. This could be due to the fact that they’ve decided to take a temporary pause or have even decided not to sell at all.
I recently had a seller who had an accident & didn’t want her home shown while she was recovering & unable to easily get out of her house. Some sellers decide to pull their home off the market over the holidays while their kids are home on break, & it’s too difficult to accommodate showings.
A seller can change their mind about selling their property for any number of reasons. I’ve had divorcing couples originally decide to sell their house & split the proceeds only to later come to an agreement about one of the parties keeping the property. There are some sellers that get frustrated with the market or lack of interest on the home. Instead of selling, decide to remodel or put on an addition to make it better fit their long-term needs.
The “withdrawn” & “expired” statuses are similar because they both mean that the home is not actively being marketed. The difference, however, comes down to if they are still under contract with a Realtor.

EXPIRED:
If a home is “expired,” the contract between the seller & broker is no longer valid. The seller is free to market that property with another Realtor or even to try to sell it themselves without ties to the previous agent.
Now that you have a little better understanding of what these terms mean, you have the advantage of knowing just how close a prospective home is to being officially “sold.”
If you’re a serious buyer, a dedicated Realtor will be getting as many active homes in front of your eyes as possible before they go contingent & slip out of your reach.
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

Covid was a crazy time for us all, but especially for those working in real estate. There was an extended period that Realtors weren’t allowed to leave their house for anything work-related. This obviously included showing homes.

When we were finally able to show properties again, we were under very strict rules:

• Buyers had to sign a COVID waiver stating that Realtors can’t guarantee that the homes we’re showing are COVID-free.
• We could only let 2 people in a house with us at a time (I kind of liked this rule. Uncle Norm wasn’t allowed to attending showings & negate all my advice because he sold one house in 1985.)
• Everyone had to wear masks & shoe coverings.
• I had to wear gloves.
• The buyers weren’t allowed to touch anything. I had to open all doors, cupboards & closets.
• After a showing was done & the buyers left the property, I had to go through the house & sterilize everything that I had touched with Lysol or Clorox wipes.

It was during this time that I was showing a house to brand new buyers. I had only spoken to the wife on the phone, & this was the first time I was meeting her & her husband in person. The husband was anxious to get in the house & was less than thrilled when I had to go through my COVID rigamarole. I presented the necessary paperwork & asked them each to sign the COVID waiver. The husband wasn’t haphazardly scribbled an “X” on his signature line.

“Did you each bring your masks & shoe coverings per my email?” I asked. They each had a mask, but no booties. Great. PPE (personal protective equipment) was in short supply, so booties couldn’t be found anywhere. The anticipated delivery date for my Amazon order was over a month out!

Ever the rule-follower, I had back-ups: a massive mound of plastic shopping bags that were stuffed into my trunk. I offered the buyers each a pair of make-shift shoe coverings – the Walmart variety. The husband let out a massive sigh paired with an eye roll that was enhanced by the fact that his eyes were the only feature of his face I could see above his mask. I was NOT winning him over, & to be honest – I was a little intimidated by him.

As we toured the house, he didn’t say one word to me & only let out the occasional grunt to his wife. As we were heading upstairs, I got a whiff of alcohol. It was pretty strong, especially considering the fact that I had smelled it through my mask. I kept an eye on him & noticed him stumbling as we moved from room to room. “Oh geesh! This guy is trashed!”

After the showing, I stripped off my classy footwear, threw my mask & gloves on the passenger seat along with my oversized can of Lysol. During my drive home… I kept smelling the alcohol scent wafting off of my new buyer. I smelled my shirt… nothing. My gloves? Nope… I opened my windows to air out my car getting more & more frustrated at the thought that my buyer may have been more cooperative & friendly if he hadn’t been sloshed.

I was halfway home when I realized that the smell was coming from the Lysol can I had that I had tucked under my arm throughout the tour. I realized that wearing Walmart bags loosely tied over clunky work boots would trip anyone up.

Shame on me. How easily it was for me to feed into the drunk-client narrative. COVID was a time that the world definitely needed a drink, but my client wasn’t drunk… he was just rude.

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020

Our team operates across more than just one Multi-List. We analyze several distinct statistical markers across five different counties spanning Western PA: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence & Mercer.
As I’m looking at the recent reports, I see that Beaver County is holding steady with their median list price. In every other area, however, these prices have consistently increased. Although the median list prices have increased, the number of properties sold have been down across the board.
Buyers are not afraid of paying a little more to get exactly what they’re looking for in their new homes. With less competition, serious buyers now have the luxury to take a little more time to make these decisions. Everything that I’m seeing indicates that the insane seller’s market is over.
The factor that’s throwing around the most weight is inventory. As I’ve been reporting, inventory has been positively trending now for the last 6 months. With less homes being sold; inventory is building up. Let’s look at each county individually here:
• Lawrence County: up 58%
• Allegheny County: up 85%
• Butler County: up 158%
• Beaver County: up 178%
• Mercer County: up 246%
Buyers – you have more options & can take a bit of time to find what you’re looking for. Gone are the days of seeing a home for 10 minutes & having to put in a quick offer grossly above asking price & competing against a slew of other buyers. With that said… there are some homes that are still getting multiple offers but that’s happening for our savvy sellers who are pricing their homes very competitively.
Sellers – let’s talk a bit about how this plays into a pricing strategy. It comes down to good old-fashioned supply & demand. Supply is increasing, so you need to react accordingly! You no longer have the upper hand!
It’s emotionally difficult to fight against the outdated mindset. When sellers underestimate the competition, they overprice their homes. This is what’s attributing to the longer time on the market & more frequent price reductions needed to get to the closing table.
To get ahead of the curve, let’s keep the “Rule of 10” in mind. If your home has been on the market for 10 days OR you’ve had 10 showings & you haven’t received an offer… your home is not priced appropriately. Pivot quickly!
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

Let’s say that you’re taking your family – young kids & all – shopping in a store called “Super Expensive Fragile Glass Figurine Mart.” (Key words are expensive & fragile.)

As your youngest, most clumsy child is trailing you down the aisle, they see a sparkly, stunning (insert their favorite animal here) glittering in the window. The price tag is $500. They run over & grab it & start excitedly screaming – begging for you to buy it. What would you immediately tell them to do?

Right. “PUT. IT. THE. HECK. DOWN!!!”

Now, I know that your children would never do that because you raise them right. However, I wish more parents would have yelled at their kids 20 years ago & remind them that if it’s not theirs – they shouldn’t touch.

People need to know that a “for sale” sign in a yard is NOT an invitation to go onto someone’s property. It’s NOT an invitation to knock on the door & ask questions. It’s NOT an invitation to peek into windows. Even if the house is vacant – it’s not yours – DON’T TOUCH!

I’m seeing this more & more, we’re treading onto some dangerous territory here, so I want to spell out what IS & what IS NOT appropriate when you’re looking at a home. Some of these examples may seem ridiculous, but these are all scenarios are from my personal experiences.

If you…

Drive by a house, see a “for sale” sign & want more information…

It’s okay to…

Call the number on the sign to ask questions.

It’s NOT okay to…

Knock on the door to talk to the homeowner.

Because…

1. The home-owner has hired a Realtor so that they can take a back-seat to the home-selling process. They’re paying someone to be bothered for them. They’re paying someone to answer questions & orchestrate showings. They don’t want to talk to the buyers.

2. I’ve had sellers report that their child has answered the door & let people in thinking that they need to let buyers see the house.

If you…

Want to walk the property…

It’s okay to…

Call the Realtor to ask permission or to make an appointment…

It’s NOT okay to…

Show up unannounced & walk around.

Because…

Even if you think a home is vacant, it’s not your property.

If you…

Want to see if there are hardwood floors under the carpet…

It’s okay to…

Check the disclosures, ask the Realtor or see if there’s a spot in the corner or closet that has already been pulled up a bit.

It’s NOT okay to…

Start tearing at the carpeting or pulling it up to see underneath.

Because…

It is not your home. A buyer should not do any damage to the property when they’re looking at the house.
If you end up putting in an offer, there will be an opportunity to investigate the home more intimately moving forward.

If you…

Want to know if the car in the garage is also for sale…

It’s okay to…

Ask the Realtor.

It’s NOT okay to…

Open the door & sit in the driver’s seat to get a feel for it.

Because…

It’s not yours! The only item right now that you should be evaluating is the house. Personal items should not be touched!

Please respect a seller’s home. Even though it’s for sale – it’s still theirs. THEIRS… not yours.

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

The text read: “Tank got a hold of him.”

I don’t know who the “him” was referring to, but I did know Tank. My seller’s dog is low to the ground, brick-shaped & 70 pounds of pure muscle. His dog bowl could easily be mistaken for a baby bath.

Once my seller acknowledges a welcomed guest, Tank excitedly turns to mush. Now that I’ve been deemed acceptable, he bops around the house as I’m taking measurements & videos, bounces circles around me & jumps up on the couch. His oversized tongue lolls out of his head waiting for me to reach out & pat him on his square, hard noggin.

Tank is such a sweet boy… to me.
I always text my seller with the exact time that I’m going to be pulling up to his house.
I always wait outside the door for my seller to tell Tank that “it’s okay.”
I never assume that I have more rights here than Tank. This is Tank’s house.

The curious buyer who took it upon himself to drive over to the new listing without an appointment, smugly get out of his car & start to poke around the property didn’t know that there was a Tank inside. Screen doors aren’t effective at holding mosquitos at bay let alone a charging pit bull protective of his disabled owner.

Tank did get a hold of him, but only by his pants. Luckily the only thing bruised was the ego of the overly confident trespasser.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a photo of his jeans: grass-stained knees & missing seat – would speak louder than any ‘No Trespassing’ sign ever would.

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

My team & I belong to each multi-list along Western PA. We look at 5 different statistical markers in 5 different counties. We watch Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence & Mercer counties.

For the last few months, I’ve been warning our listeners that the market is shifting.

That’s right. Sellers, you’re not going to be all too happy to know that my warnings have now actually come to fruition. The shift is happening now. If we peek in on the number of properties sold as well as the backlog of inventory in each county, these are great indicators of the supply & demand in our housing market.

The housing market has been in short supply for quite some time, but inventory is up – WAY up – all across the board. Lawrence County is fairing the best with an increase of “only” 98%. Man, Beaver currently has almost a 2-year backlog of homes & is reaching towards a 200% increase in inventory.

Across the board, I’m seeing a decrease in the number of properties sold. Lawrence County has been the least affected – down only 26%. However, Mercer, Allegheny, Beaver, & Butler are all experiencing a slowdown with about 50% less properties being sold.

All in all, homes are selling more slowly, & the increase in inventory is creating a lot more competition for sellers.

Buyers – this is great news for you. You’ve been waiting for this! Although there are still properties that are getting multiple offers, you can now take a little breath before rushing into an offer & there are a lot more homes available for you to consider.

Sellers – You can STILL get multiple offers. Each of the Heffern kids have a suggestion for you:
1. Don’t over-improve your home. Get it on the market sooner rather than later.
2. Declutter & a little staging goes a long way.
3. Set your price a little under market value.

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

We’re tackling a topic today that is just as confusing as it is important.
Home. Sale. Contingencies.

When I think of the word “contingency” I replace it in my mind with “so long as.” For example, an inspection contingency means that the offer stands so long as the inspection is acceptable.

Therefore, a home sale contingency is when the buyer wants to buy a house so long as they can sell their current home first. The buyer can’t get preapproved for a new mortgage until their old one is off the books.
A lot of buyers are in this position right now trying to navigate a market that’s already not-so buyer friendly. It takes a little finesse to get a seller to consider a home sale contingency, but it can be done.

Remember how confusing I said this topic was? It’s so confusing that most agents won’t even talk about the 3 ½ types of home sale contingencies. (Hold your horses, I’ll explain the “half” soon.) Most Realtors stick to the simplest one – the one that’s the easiest to understand. That is the only one they educate their clients on because it’s the only one that they, themselves, took time to learn.

SSP: Sale & Settlement of Other Property

The most common type is called an SSP which stands for Sale & Settlement of Other Property.
Let’s say that we have a completely fictitious couple named John & Kate. They live in a cute 2 bedroom ranch – their perfect starter home that they purchased 5 years ago when they got married. All of a sudden, Kate finds out that she’s pregnant… WITH OCTUPLETS! (wouldn’t that be wild if this was a real story?!) 😉

John & Kate need to find a bigger house asap! They find a ginormous 3-story mansion owned by Mr. & Mrs. Arizona. The Arizona’s are a recently retired couple who would like to spend their golden years in their Pheonix vacation home full time. The mansion is perfect for John, Kate & their 8 babies that will soon be on their way.

John & Kate make a full-price offer to Mr. & Mrs. Arizona with the stipulation that they need to sell their ranch home first so that they can use the proceeds for their down payment on the mansion. They make an offer with an SSP (Sale & Settlement of Other Property.) If the Arizona’s agree, they will take the mansion off the market & give John & Kate a specific amount of time (30 days, for example) to get a buyer for their ranch home.
That is a very watered-down version of an SSP – Sale & Settlement of Other Property.

As you can tell by the story, this type of contingency is very buyer friendly. John & Kate have a good amount of time to find a buyer for their small ranch without any worries that another buyer is going to come along & outbid them on the mansion. This type of home sale contingency commits the Arizona’s to selling their mansion to John & Kate as soon as they have a buyer for the ranch.

SOP: Settlement of Other Property

Remember how I said that there’s 3 ½ types of home sale contingencies? Here’s where the half comes in. As soon as John & Kate have an accepted offer on their ranch, the SSP (Sale and Settlement of Other Property) changes to an SOP (Settlement of Other Property.)
The SOP means that John & Kate already have an accepted sales agreement on their ranch, & they no longer need to sell the home, they just need to have the closing on the property to be able to finalize the mansion purchase.

Some buyers don’t start house-hunting until they have an offer on their current house so that they can make an offer on the new home they start out with just the SOP – just needing to close on their home because they already have a buyer. This is why I call the SOP the “half” home sale contingency. The buyers have already secured an offer on their home, & they just need to close, so they’re halfway there.

SSP-TKO: Sale & Settlement of Other Property with a Timed Kick-Out Clause

The second type of home sale contingency is the one that I personally feel is the most fair for these types of situations. It’s called an SSP-TKO (Sale & Settlement of Other Property with a Timed Kick-Out Clause.)

It’s the same deal – John & Kate need to find a buyer for their ranch & need to settle that first before they can close on the mansion. However, in this instance, the Arizonas don’t want to take their home off the market. They don’t know how quickly John & Kate are going to be able to find a buyer, they really don’t want to miss out on another buyer passing their mansion over.

That’s where the TKO (Timed Kick-Out Clause) comes in. The Arizonas keep marking their mansion to other buyers, & at the same time John & Kate are trying to sell their ranch. As soon as John & Kate get a buyer, then the Arizonas will stop marketing the mansion & commit to John & Kate.
However, if someone else is interested in the mansion, the Arizonas essentially have to give “first dibs” to John & Kate.

It just so happens, in this example that there’s another family that wants to move to town -the Bradys. Mr. & Mrs. Brady just got married. Mrs. Brady has 3 very lovely girls, & Mr. Brady is busy with 3 boys of his own, so this blended family is definitely in need of more space.

They see the Arizona’s mansion & love it! They decide to also make a full price offer but do not have a home sale contingency.

The Arizonas would LOVE to accept this offer, get to the closing table as quickly as possible & head off to Pheonix. They, however, signed an SSP-TKO with John & Kate. With the timed kick-out clause, they agreed that they would go to John & Kate first & to tell them that they have another offer. The Arizonas would give John & Kate 48 hours, for example, to either find a buyer for their ranch or find another way to financially proceed with the purchase of the mansion without having to sell the ranch home.

At this point, John & Kate are frantic, they reduce the price on their ranch in hopes of attracting more buyers, they have their Realtor run an emergency open house & they call up Kate’s rich uncles, Bert & Ernie, to see if they would lend them a huge chunk of change so that they can buy the mansion with cash.

Bert & Ernie love Kate but not enough to lend her that much money, so that option is out. They only got nosy neighbors at the open house & no offers at the end of their 48-hour timeframe. So, their offer can now be officially terminated by the Arizonas. The sellers are then free to sign up the offer with the Brady family.

Again, this is a very basic explanation, but it essentially an SSP-TKO (Timed Kickout Clause) gives first dibs to the first buyers.

SSP-CM: Sale & Settlement of Other Property with Continued Right to Market

Lastly is the type of home sale contingency that is most advantageous to the sellers. This is called SSP (Sale & Settlement of Other Property) CM (with a Continued Right to Market.) This is means that the Arizonas accept John & Kate’s offer. However, while John & Kate are working on selling the ranch, the Arizonas can continue to market their mansion to other buyers.

With an SSP-CM, when the Brady family comes along, the Arizonas can accept that offer & kick John & Kate’s offer to the curb without any warning.
This home sale contingency is basically a race to see who can get a buyer first. If John & Kate get a buyer on the ranch, the Arizonas then take the mansion off the market. If the Arizonas get a nice offer that they want to move forward with, John & Kate are out.

RECAP:

• A home sale contingency means that a buyer needs to sell their current home in order to purchase a new one.
• There are essentially 3 ½ types of home sale contingencies.

1. SSP
• Sale & Settlement of Other Property.
• Best for the buyer.
• Seller takes their home off the market.
• Buyer given time to sell their current home.

2. SSP-TKO
• Sale & Settlement of Other Property with a Timed Kick-Out Clause.
• Deemed by Katina to be the fairest scenario for all parties
• Both parties try to sell their homes at the same time.
• If the seller gets another buyer who makes an acceptable offer on their home, they give the original buyers “first dibs” to make the sale work.

3. SSP – CM
• Sale & Settlement of Other Property with a Continued Right to Market.
• Best for the seller.
• Both parties try to sell their home at the same time.
• If the sellers get another offer they like, the first buyers are out without any warning.
3.5. SOP
• Settlement of Other Property
• Buyers already have a buyer for their current home – they’re just waiting for closing.
Phew! I know… that’s a lot of information, & trust me – we haven’t even scratched the surface on this topic. That’s why it’s extremely important that you have an experienced Realtor who is comfortable & familiar with home sale contingencies. Oftentimes, I get pretty creative & even suggest a combination of the contingencies or get very firm on negotiating other terms for my sellers to help assuage the risks before an SSP is considered. (Okay… now I’m just showing off.)

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

My team & I belong to each multi-list along Western PA. We look at 5 different statistical markers in 5 different counties. We’ll be tapping into specific details of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence & Mercer Counties.

Usually, I pick apart each county to highlight the local trends, but what I’m seeing this week is pretty unique. The counties I monitor are merging into a very streamlined formation.
This is all looking like better news for buyers. Inventory has substantially increased county-wide giving buyers more options. However, the sales price versus listing price ratio in most counties is hovering right at or above 0%. That means that buyers are able to get homes with offers right at asking price or a touch above the seller’s asking price. At this time last year, buyers, in general, needed to bring thousands (sometimes TENS of THOUSANDS) of dollars over asking even to have a chance at their offer being looked at.
It’s still a seller’s market, but the negotiating field is evening out.
The median list prices are up across the board ranging from a 2% increase in Lawrence County to a whopping 24% increase in Butler.
I’m also seeing that the average sales prices have experienced a pretty substantial jump which means that some of our higher-end inventory is getting moved.
Home owners, if you’re looking to list your home, DO NOT wait for that “spring” market. Get your property listed before the inventory shoots up any more. Higher inventory means more homes on the market & therefore more competition.
Buyers, DO NOT wait until those interest rates come down. As soon as they do, you’re going to be fist-fighting with all the other buyers who were also waiting. IF you are lucky enough to get an offer accepted on your dream home, what you save in your interest rate is just going to be piled onto what you’re going to pay on the sales price.

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

A lot of people are surprised to learn that a survey is NOT required when you’re purchasing a home. In the 16 years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve only ever had one situation in which it was required.

When I’m ready to list a house, I ask if the seller has, by chance, a survey of the property. Nine times out of ten they shake their head but tell me that they can point out exactly where the line is. I then find myself ushered to a side window. The seller’s finger points towards the glass & says, “See that shed over there? That’s my shed & it’s about a foot away from my neighbor’s property.” A shed is only slightly better than the notorious & almost-invisible mowing line.

This is a cautionary tale not to trust the trees.

About 15 years ago, my husband & I befriended a couple who had recently purchased the house across the street. The home had been vacant for years & years & years. Very shortly after they finished the inside & moved into their newly renovated colonial, they decided to work on the exterior.

New siding – check! Reconstruct the front porch – check! New gutters – check! Next on the list – a fence.

Have you ever heard the saying “Fences Make Great Neighbors?” Hmm…

There was a straight line of lilac bushes between their home & the home of their Westward neighbors. For as long as anyone could remember, that row of bushes was taken for biblical truth indicating the property line.

Our friends were eyeing up the bushes one day when the neighbor strode out with great confidence. He personally walked our friends right along the line from the street, past the houses & all the way to the back alley. After relaying the story of the property line as it was told to him a couple of decades earlier, the neighbor nodded & strode back into his house. He obviously felt that the brief tour solidified the property line agreement.

A few days later, the neighbor was outside in his bathrobe to water the lilac bushes & panicked at the sight of survey flags. The flags weren’t in line with the lilac bushes but were rather 2 feet closer to his house. That’s not the big surprise of the story, however.
The neighbor marched up to our friend’s house. From my open window across the street, all I could make out from the commotion was a few intermittent words & phrases: “Surveyor.” “Bushes.” “For 20 years…” “Ridiculous.”

Eventually, the truth came out. The neighbor wasn’t so much concerned over him having two less feet of grass to mow but rather that he had been burying two decades of dead pets knowingly just off of his property in his neighbor’s (our friend’s) front lawn.

He was so distraught over the thought that a post-hole digger was going to be anywhere near his former fur-babies that he personally exhumed his animals & reburied them on the correct side of the survey flags.

The fence went in, but it didn’t make for a more neighborly relationship.

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