Matt's Real Estate Blog

It ceases to amaze me that in this day in age of digital photography we still have to discuss the importance of the quantity and quality of photos used in marketing a home.  As i browse through the MLS it blows me away at the number of listing where there are not photos or just one of the front of the home (many times not even current).  MRIS (my local MLS) recently changed their policy and now allow up to 30 photos to be uploaded to a listing card for free.  This definitely makes it an even playing field for ALL listings to have ample exterior and interior shots to show off the home's positives (and negatives).

Especially in this competitve maret. photos cam be the difference of a buyer wanting to see your home first or just "at the end if we have time".  With the cost of gas rising and people having less liesure time outside of work, most are searching the internet for homes and/or looking at MLS email updates from their REALTOR.  I know many of my buyer clients flag homes with no photos or just one exterior shot asking me "what is wrong with that house?".

I know the counterpoint to this is that posting pictures of a home in not so good shape will scare off buyers.  I completely disagree with that.  As listing brokers and agents we have a duty to market the home in its current condition at the time of listing.   If an agent is properly consulting their clients and pricing the home properly for its conditon, then when (and if) they take the listing they should be ready to show off the good, bad, and ugly of the home. 

Today's buyers are too savvy and have too much information being thrown at them to be playing the "there are no photos but if you jsut come and see the house you'l love it" game.  As a seller, they are your target audience.

My inspiration for this post is all the TV commercials for www.pbpipe.com and the replacement settlement they are advertising. 

Click here to view the official notice

Polybutylene pipes were used by many home builders in the 1980s and early 1990s.  It was touted for being easier to install/work with and many times using a manifold system to be able to shut off individual pipes if there were issues.

The main issues lies in the plastic deteriorating over time due to chemicals in the water reacting with the polybutylene.  There are many schools of thought as to the longevity of the system.   However, this post is meant for education/awareness and not a pro/con PB pipe discussion.  To note, many homes have had their pipes replaced already (especially when the original settlement started in the mid 1990s).

As a consultant, I let my clients formulate their own opinions from the facts available.  If a buyer points out the gray pipes and asks about them, I do say what they are and then refer them to resources to research.  However, many know about them already from family and friends.  I have had clients outright tell me it's a "time bomb" plumbing system.  If they have not heard of it, they usually find out at the home inspection and then they research and form their own opinion (had a buyer void a contract on one of my listings becuase of the existance of PB pipes which were in working order). 

In conclusion, we cannot predict the future.  There is always going to be a product or technique that looks good in the short run but has possible issues in the long run.  Owning a home is a reponsibility and if you cannot handle the possibility of items going wrong, then as I tell my buyer clients you are in for a long ride.

I wanted to contemplate on this issue since many of my neighbors have or are considering replacing the original windows in thier homes.

History:  My neighbohrood is comprised of colonial style homes built by Richmond American in 1987.  the windows used were double-hung dual pane wood frame windows with full length screens.

Here is an itemized list of what I would have to replace: 

• 9 36″X72″
• 3 27″X72″
• 2 24″X72″
• 9 36″X60″
• 2 24″X60″
• 3 27″X54″
• 2 22″X32″ (casements)

That's a total of 30 windows folks and 14 of them are considered oversized therefore requiring tempered glass per local codes.  I had a few estimate done when In early 2006 right after I moved in.  The list prices ran betwen $21,000-41,000 depending on the quality of windows.  My average gas and electricity bills together run between 175-350 epending on the season and tempature extremes.  So if I am promised a 30% reduction in those that would save me at most 100 per month.  At that rate the windows would pay for themselves in...

DRUMROLL.....................................

At least 16 years.

My overall opinion is that buying new windows just for hte promise of energy savings is probably not going to pay off.  If you windows are very drafty or do not close well or if they are deteriorating at a rapid pace those are valid reason to investigate replacement windows.  With any estimate calculate the time it will take to recoup the cost of the windows with the energy savings.

I personaly took the route of having a company come out and copletely remove and replace the original metal "guts" with new plastic ones.  then they reinstalled all of hte windows adjusting them so they would close completely.  This was done including fixing a wapred frame on one of the windows for under $3000.

I know I will get flack about this since window replacement was and is a big thing right now.  However, I believe in working with a home's existing features whenever possible and that not all capital improvement to a home pay off as advertised.