Do I need professional Photos

Do professional photos really make a difference?

Whether you are in the real estate business or in the process of selling your home, you have probably come across the challenge of creating an online presence for your property. Now, we will all agree that the presentation of the home is important but there is also a huge temptation to cut corners and save a few bucks in the process. We get it. When it comes to photography, you might wonder if hiring a professional is really worth the effort and expense, thinking a few snaps from a smartphone might just do the trick. Well, we polled some of our top-notch agents and our very own staff photographer, Kate Devlin, to see if going with a pro is really worthwhile. The response was a resounding yes for a multitude of reasons.

Making the First Impression

We all know that in business and in life, making a good first impression matters. This applies to homes as well. Almost all homebuyers begin their search online and, with hundreds of homes on the market, they may only view your property for a matter of seconds. If you want to grab their attention in this short time span, a series of professional photos is definitely the way to go. Our very own, Mike McCann, swears by professional photography.  He states, “Professional photos are the first impression one gets when viewing homes. As we all know first impressions are lasting ones. Nothing is more important in this day and age of the internet than using professional photos to market and represent a property. It will increase the actual activity on the home dramatically, help sell the property and create desire and appeal to the buyers and their friends or family who view it.” In Fact, Kate Devlin states that her greatest success has been “shooting homes that have been on the market with amateur photos that have gotten offers within days after the new photos have been posted!” Clearly, the first impression matters.

Experience

Kate Devlin, received a BFA in 2 Dimensional Fine Art from Moore College of Art & Design. She spent years studying different realms of photography and has extensive experience photographing homes all over Philadelphia. She knows all of the quirks of the trade and is skilled in presenting a property in a manner that adds rather than subtracts from its appeal. Though she was very resistant to flaunting her expertise or pointing out the flaws she sees in amateur photos from RE agents, she did craftily state, “I wouldn’t try to fudge my way through writing up a real estate transaction,” adding a subtle, matter-of-fact smirk.  McCann team agent, Lauren Acker, wholeheartedly agreed with Devlin’s gentle subtext, adding that “professionals produce quality, beautiful photos that show the house in its best light and would be very difficult for a nonprofessional to obtain. Especially in Philly homes which are often more difficult to shoot because of their narrow layout.” Simply knowing how to take a quality and professional photo, not to mention all of the work pros put in before and after each shot, leads to an appealing presentation of your property that showcases its beauty. If you want your property to stand out from the rest, we recommend using someone with experience in making them look their absolute best!

Check out some of Kate’s Splits of amateur vs. her pro pics!

Staging

Kate Devlin offered us a little insight on the basics of what can make or break a real estate photo. One of her biggest concerns was an utter lack of staging, causing homes to look cluttered, dirty or out-of-date. She explained that “homeowners who care and a home that is ready to be shot make all the difference” and urged sellers to,

“Put it all away!  Stash the stuff! Get rid of all the extras for the day of the shoot.  Clear the fridge of magnets, take down the kid’s artwork, take the bathrobes and hanging junk off of doors, clear almost everything off the bathroom counters except a few well-chosen things.  It may take an extra hour, but you just have a swipe or a click’s worth of time to make an impression on buyers.”

Devlin was adamant about this issue and the potential for a few ill-placed items to ruin a quality photo.

Lighting

Do you know how to set up flattering lighting for a photography shoot? That’s okay, we don’t either. This is just another reason why hiring a professional matters. Kate Devlin even confessed that this was something she had to learn to perfect in the field. As one seasoned real estate professional simply states, “lighting matters.” Unless you have time to read Photography for Dummies or enroll in a photography course (we don’t) we recommend that you let a pro handle this vital element of presenting your home. McCann Team agent, Paul Chin, noted that “better lighting and wider images bring out sharper colors and contrasts leading to better presentation of the property and the agent.”

Space and Scale

Let’s face it. In the real estate business, size matters. When people are viewing a home digitally, they want to get a good sense of the scale, layout and usable space in the home. Julie McCann a real estate professional with extensive experience in presenting and perusing properties, explains that amateur photos tend to be “choppy, showing less of the full space of a room, and ultimately less of a clear understanding of the layout.” Devlin agrees, stating that many people unintentionally shrink their properties.  She explains, “Scale is important.  Sometimes over-sized furniture or accessories can really throw off visual perception of a room. An extra-large towel hanging where a hand towel normally would go, and an over-sized wastebasket can really give someone the impression that a room is much smaller than it is.”  Devlin also makes a point to emphasize unique and exciting spaces such as “a craft corner or a breakfast nook so people can understand how they could use the space.” Yet another benefit of using a pro is their ability to use their artistic eye to capture the highlights of a home and present them to possible buyers. Julie McCann explains that professionals have the ability to make people

“fall in love with a property, get a real feel for the place and even start envisioning morning coffee on the deck!”

Customer Service

The mark of a real professional is their ability to interact with clients and add to their level of comfort during the active and emotional process of listing their home. Kate Devlin recalled numerous instances when she was required to really talk clients through the process and connected with them by discussing the major transition occurring in their lives. Local RE Photographer and Owner of Plush Image Corporations, Matt Robnett chimed in on this important issue as well, stating that “an experienced real estate photography team will be expertly trained to interact with sellers. I encourage my clients to let us shoot alone with sellers because we are experts at representing their business in a friendly and professional manner, and make great use of our one-on-one time.” Clearly, pros know how to impress your clients and properly represent your business, showing customers that they are valued and respected.

Next time you are confronted with the temptation to take a shortcut and skip out on professional photos, keep this advice in mind and consider what a difference quality photos make.  Using a pro can help you avoid embarrassing blunders and prevent you from undermining the quality of your property. As Kate Devlin states as her personal mission and the number one benefit of hiring a professional photographer, “A professional knows how most effectively to present your home or investment.”

Tags: philly real estate blog, philadelphia real estate blog, center city real estate, bucks county real estate, joseph c mccabe, Joseph Cummons, how to buy a house, house for sale in philadelphia, Realtor philadelphia, phiily real estate

Joseph McCabe Realtor, Philadelphia Explores the rental crisis

Philadelphia real estate ownership, that celebrated hallmark of the American dream, is increasingly on hold for younger Americans.

Short of cash, burdened by student debt and unsettled in their careers, young adults are biding time in apartments for longer periods and buying their first homes later in life.
The typical first-timer now rents for six years before buying, up from 2.6 years in the early 1970s, according to a new analysis by the real estate data firm Zillow. The median first-time buyer is age 33 - in the upper range of the millennial generation, which roughly spans ages 18 to 34. A generation ago, the median first-timer was about three years younger.
The delay reflects a trend that cuts to the heart of the financial challenges facing millennials: Renters are struggling to save for down payments as wages have largely stagnated. Increasingly, too, they're facing delays in some key landmarks of adulthood, from marriage and children to a stable career, according to industry and government reports.

These shifts help explain why homeownership, long a source of middle class identity and economic opportunity, has started to decline. The share of the U.S. population who own homes has slid to 63.4 percent, a 48-year low, according to the Census Bureau.

And when young adults do sign the deed, their purchase price is now substantially more, relative to their income, than it was decades ago. First-time buyers are paying a median price of $140,238, nearly 2.6 times their income. In the early 1970s, the starter home was just 1.7 times income.

Millennials are "still very interested in buying a house, but they're delaying that decision," said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Zillow. "Once they start having kids, they begin looking for homes. We're also finding that - given how much rental rates are currently rising - a lot of folks are having a hard time saving for a down payment and qualifying for a mortgage."

Low mortgage rates have eased some of the pressures caused by the higher prices. But in many of the hottest job markets, the gap between home prices and median income is prohibitively high.

Around the Silicon Valley tech corridor in California, the median home price exceeds eight times the typical income. That disparity is nearly six times in metro New York City, almost five times in Boston and Seattle and above four times income in Miami and Denver.

Millennials increasingly find themselves in a situation like that of Lou Flores, a 30-year-old property portfolio manager in San Diego. He shares a one-bedroom apartment with his boyfriend, paying $1,400 a month to live within walking distance of Balboa Park and the zoo.

Flores' parents had built their nest egg by steadily upgrading their homes, ingraining him with the notion that "renting was a waste of money." But the median home in San Diego costs more than a half million dollars, according to the area's association of Realtors.

So Flores figures ownership is at least a few years away.

"Here in California, if you're not married or with someone, it's impossible to buy a home without financial backing from your parents," Flores said.

Few first-timers around the country can lean on their parents. Among homebuyers last year under age 34, 14 percent received down payment help from family or friends, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

Most first-timers still depend on personal savings for at least some of their down payments. But rising rental prices have complicated the task of socking away money for a down payment. Fueled by a surge of renters across all age ranges, rental prices nationally have grown at roughly twice the pace of average hourly wage growth, which was a paltry 2.1 percent over the past year.

A result is that those prices are consuming more income. A striking 46 percent of renters ages 25 to 34 - the core of the millennial population - spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent, up from 40 percent a decade earlier, according to a report by Harvard University's Joint Center of Housing Studies. (The housing industry generally regards a figure above 30 percent as financially burdensome.)

Some of the cost burden stems from a shift toward people who envision themselves renting for several years and therefore seeking the kinds of amenities more commonly associated with home ownership. Based on searches for rentals on RadPad in June and July, for example, apartments with stainless steel appliances and swimming pools were disproportionately popular in cities with lower homeownership rates such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.

Nearly a fifth of Washington-area searches sought apartments with stainless steel appliances, compared with 5 percent nationwide. More than a third of Chicagoans wanted an apartment with a pool, versus 18 percent nationally.

Job security has become a more central consideration for first-time buyers. The Money Source, a mortgage lender and servicer, examined applications from 5,404 millennial homebuyers. It found that the buyers had averaged nearly 4.5 years in their field of work and had held their current job for slightly more than three years. Those figures point to how critical career stability has become for a generation that entered the workforce during the Great Recession and its slow-growth recovery.

Housing industry experts note that surveys still show a strong desire to buy among millennials, but that their timelines for purchasing depend on achieving more stability in their careers.

"As long as there is the job market to support millennials - just as it has for previous generations - I don't believe their habits will change," said Darius Mirshahzadeh, CEO of The Money Source.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/real_estate/20150817_ap_3aeab8fd8a4b4bcc82195708242e0bb4.html#6ErjYTBgDCKiyySd.99

Fascinating Philly real estate stats

As of May 2015, average apartment rent within 10 miles of Philadelphia, PA is $1443. 

One bedroom apartments in Philadelphia rent for $1197 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $1483. 

The average apartment rent over the prior 6 months in Philadelphia has increased by $155 (12%)

One bedroom units have increased by $146 (13.9%) and two bedroom apartments have increased by $159 (12%)

Get a Free Comparative Market analysis Philadelphia Bucks and Montgomery county

When you are ready to sell your home you can choose to do so on your own or with the assistance of a Realtor. When you choose to work with a Realtor, you get direct help and input in selling your home. Real estate agents are here to help you understand the process and ensure you get the best deal for your home. There are many tools that we have access to that are designed to give our clients the extra edge when it comes to listing a home on the market. One of these tools is a Comparative Market Analysis report, commonly known as a CMA. This report pulls data specific to your home and neighborhood and compares it to other houses that have been sold recently, or are listed in your area. This is great way to gauge what the list price should be for your home based on sales figures and current market trends.

While a CMA will provide you with a snapshot of what other homes are selling for nearby, the reports are also subjective as any agent putting these reports together will designate what data is used for them. There are certain criteria that will make a CMA more accurate and meaningful for what you are trying to do, sell your home. If you are searching for a new Realtor, this could be a good starting point to determine if an agent has your best interests in mind. If they understand what pertinent data will actually help you, together you can come up with a list price that will encourage more potential buyers to view your home. A detailed CMA report should include a comparison of offer pattern (what is the average number of offers given, and for how much, to homes similar to yours), property condition inside and out, the same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and levels, as well as similar in size as your home. The location or street should also be similar. If you live on a quiet street getting a CMA of homes from busier locations won’t be as accurate. Your CMA should also cover homes within your neighborhood, not your zip code, which have different boarders. Using your neighborhood as a criteria will help get more specific in the comparison.

A good CMA will help you avoid pricing too low or high. You will get a price range based on the analysis so that you have the final say of what you want to list your home for. Beware that some agents seek to get as high a list price as possible. This is not always a good thing, especially if a CMA shows a trend for a lower amount than what is suggested. Pricing too high can keep potential buyers away if the price is too far from what the neighborhood and home style is currently trending in the market. Pricing too low can have negative impacts as well, it could make potential buyers feel you are desperate and that will make them wonder what is wrong with the house. Listing within the midrange of what a detailed and well thought out CMA provides can give you the extra edge to gain more viewings and offers.

Along with asking for a CMA from prospective Realtors, check out their sale portfolio, where you can see what they have sold, the differences between list and sale prices and how long it takes houses to sell on average. Don’t assume a big corporation will be the best place for you to find the best or most successful agent. Many of the top Realtors in their markets actually go out on their own so they can establish their own best practices. Focus on an agent’s track record and what they provide you in a CMA, which is typically provided free of charge. An agent who provides you with useable, accurate data through a detailed CMA will help you toward a home sale you can be happy with. When you are ready to buy or sell a home, Joseph McCabe at Keller Williams is here to help you with all of your real estate needs! If you are unsure what your options are, call Joe at 215-868-6379 or email at joseph.mccabe92@kw.com. You can also visit us at our website for available listings and additional information.

Luxury Real estate and relocation service for high end Jobs

WOW WE DID IT AGAIN ALWAYS AT THE  TOP

After meeting tedious, and stringent background checks and interviews I have become the preferred Realtor for Medical professionals. Please pass this along to your friends and Family. I have included a resume and a flyer for your viewing pleasure. Offering reduced rates to list and sell your home! Thanks alot call me now if you are buying selling or investing any time soon. 215-868-6379

MD Preferred Recognizes

Joseph McCabe

Each year, US Medical Specialties, Inc., an international medical consulting firm, helps physicians and other healthcare professionals find community based, “doctor friendly” real estate professionals.   Joseph McCabe of Keller Williams Realty has been recognized by MD Preferred for his service to physicians.  

Every MD Preferred affiliated professional is recognized for their commitment to serving the healthcare industry. They often work in close concert with other community based professionals helping area medical providers attract and retain talented physicians and medical staff. Realtors who display the MD Preferred Service Medallion are uniquely qualified to act as recruiting partners to area practice managers and hospital administrators. These knowledgeable professionals can tell the community story while the medical recruiter focuses on the clinical opportunity. Their understanding of the special needs of physicians and their families saves everyone time and resources.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 700,000 physicians in the United States who work in excess of 60 hours per week. A blizzard of government regulations and a host of clinical and economic issues leave little time for a doctor to manage their professional and personal lives.   When it comes to finding a provider that is committed to working with physicians, they appreciate a resource that has done the research for them and has pulled a team together to make their lives easier.

Joseph C McCabe is a real estate agent in servicing Philadelphia Bucks and Montgomery Counties.  Joseph McCabe received his undergraduate degree from Cabrini College in Radnor, PA while serving in the United States ARMY . He is currently pursuing a Psy.D, and M.A in Forensic Psychology. Joseph McCabe currently bases his professional workplace out of, Keller Williams office in Langhorne where he represents a broad range of buyers, sellers and corporate clients alike. As a unique marketing realtor, Joseph McCabe provides an aggressive and customized pro-active marketing program for his clients.  He utilizes social media and advanced online tools to effectively bring results to the table... fast.  He understands specific market trends and consistently learns & analyzes both local and global real estate markets. His specialties are listing Specialist, Buyer Representation, Real Estate Agent, REO and Estate, Short sales, and Luxury Home Sales, Relocation and, Foreclosure, Condos, Leases. He also loves working with investors. There is nothing I cannot do. I'm an all around Philadelphia real estate agent Please do not hesitate to give him a call or text at your convenience to discuss your real estate needs. Providing Luxury home services...Joseph McCabe will represent you and always get you an honest fair price. Cell:215-868-6379 text or call

Want to explore these hot neighborhoods??? Call me. Philadelphia real estate is booming. New investors welcome too. Bella Vista, Callowhill, Cedar Park, Chinatown, East Passyunk, Fairmount, Fishtown, Graduate Hospital, Logan Square, Market East,Northern Liberties, Old City, Penn sport, Powerton Village, Queen Village, Rittenhouse Sq.,Society Hill, Spring Garden, Spruce Hill, University City, Washington Sq. West, Fox Chase, Northeast Philadelphia.

​Like Bucks county as well?? Heres a list lets get you in a new home! Bedminster Township Newtown Borough, Bensalem Township Newtown Township, Bridgeton Township, Nockamixon Township, Bristol Borough, Northampton Township, Bristol Township, Penndel Borough, Buckingham Township, Perkasie Borough, Chalfont Borough, Plumstead Township,Doylestown Borough, Quakertown Borough, Doylestown Township, Richland Township, Dublin Borough, Richlandtown Borough, Durham Township Riegelsville Borough, East Rockhill Township, Sellersville Borough, Falls Township, Silverdale Borough, Haycock Township, Solebury Township, Hilltown Township, Springfield Township, Hulmeville Borough, Telford Borough, Ivyland Borough, Tinicum Township, Langhorne Borough, Trumbauersville Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, Tullytown Borough, Lower Makefield Township, Upper Makefield Township, Lower Southampton Township, Upper Southampton Township, Middletown Township, Warminster Township, Milford Township Warrington Township, Morrisville Borough, Warwick Township, New Britain Borough, West Rockhill Township, New Britain Township, Wrightstown Township, New Hope Borough, Yardley Borough

“We are proud of the recognition we have received. In an environment of critical physician shortage, we understand that most physicians considering a career in our community will make their decision based partly on life style issues. The last thing we want to have happen is for that prospective physician to go elsewhere because the local support services he or she needed were not available, were unreliable or did not meet the expectations of the physician.” – Joseph McCabe