The month of September was a very long one.  I learned that writing a blog takes a certain amount of energy that is obviously just about what I had left over to give at the end of a day, until I answered the phone the day after my last blog.  These buyers were able to suck the joy out of every bit of the home-buying experience.  I found myself regularly reconsidering my career choice:  for anyone who knows how much I love what I do that statement will convey more than anything else I can put into words. I tried to fire them a couple times, but they seemed to "get it" so I took them back, as such, only to see the same issues quickly reemerge.  I made the decision to enter the month of October without them as clients and felt a sense of relief, not to mention vindication, when their repea... 10/01/2013

Along with Realtors across the nation, I was thrilled to read the encouraging numbers posted in 2012.  Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, said  “For the first time in a while, it looks like it’s a sellers’ market as much as it’s a buyers’ market. I suspect prices and sales will go up again in 2013." The fact is I heartily agree:  during the Spring and Summer, we noticed time and again that non-distressed listings, priced to sell, were actually selling above the listing price.  And it remains true even now that conventional sale homes will sell quickly if priced right.    Time and again I've come across buyers turned off by houses that were in disrepair, scooping up the "move-in ready" listings, and in many cases getting into bidding wars to do... 01/23/2013