The “hero shot” is what advertising agency folks call a photograph that makes a product the “star” of its surrounding layout. The product can be a cereal box or a Mack truck—large or small; it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the product appears at its most appealing.
In local real estate terms, the hero shot for a home being offered for sale is the glamour shot that appears at the top of the Boynton Beach listing. For professionals to create that photo, they use the latest equipment to capture the image, then refine it through top-notch processing software to enhance it further.
But when it comes to making sure your own home is represented by the best possible real estate hero shot, there can be exceptions to the wisdom of relying exclusively on a professional’s “eye” and experience. Sometimes the homeowner’s own photo is superior. The pros will readily admit it.
Those exceptions occur when alert homeowners seize on once-in-a-blue-moon conditions that make for an arresting photo. That can happen when a seasonal change in a property’s landscape happens to create a gorgeous backdrop—something that can’t be emulated at any other moment. In New England, that can occur at a magic moment during peak foliage season when the leaves are just so (and the sun cooperates). In Arizona, it could be a stunning sunset when the cacti are blossoming in the front yard. In Washington D.C., when the cherry blossoms are out, and the pool cover has just come off…
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The “licensed Boynton Beach real estate agent” line that appears beneath a local Realtor’s® name may be printed in small type, but it actually signifies large value. Today Boynton Beach’s buyers and sellers can take for granted that their transactions will be executed in a manner that’s both transparent and completely reliable. For those who have ever had to deal with more arcane systems in other countries, the difference can be critical.
One factor that contributes to the smooth running of today’s system lies in education. Real estate agent training comes in two tiers. Formal classroom education is the first step—the true difference-maker comes later. Since Florida and Boynton Beach legal regulations guide all real estate transactions, every agent must learn how to apply them in practice—that’s demonstrated by Boynton Beach agents when they pass the state-administered licensing examination.
The second part is experience—the field knowledge that comes from successfully guiding clients through unique circumstances (and just about every transaction winds up including some of those). But concluding a successful deal is only the culmination of any number of other daily activities that go into producing the service we provide:
- Retrieving and reviewing Boynton Beach Multiple Listing Service activity reports.
Boynton Beach real estate agents keep their fingers on the pulse of the market—intelligence that is the...
This Thursday, at some point in the festivities we’ll be remembering the Pilgrims and their Indian guests on that first Thanksgiving Day in the New World. After all, that gathering was the genesis of today’s Delray Beach Thanksgiving Day celebration.
Or was it?
This momentary doubt surfaced when someone mentioned the Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. When you think about it, how likely it is that our Neighbors to the North would create a national holiday to memorialize some ancient Massachusetts get-together? Pretty unlikely.
So if their Thanksgiving doesn’t celebrate the day the Pilgrims feasted with their new Wampanoag friends, what does it celebrate?
The Canadian version is said to be offshoots of the Old World’s “Harvest Festivals.” According to England’s Metro News, “Harvest Festival in Britain is the ancient festival that celebrates a successful yield.” It’s a “Sunday of Thanksgiving” observed on the Sunday closest to the harvest moon (this year, it came on September 23). European Harvest Festivals are said to be remnants of pre-Christian harvest festivals, during which corn dolls are traditionally fashioned from “the last sheath of the harvest.” You can find many pictures of the corn dolls (they call them ‘dollies’). No Indian tribes. No turkeys.
Pagan festivals and dollies? Does this put the accuracy of all Delray Beach elementary school bulletin boards with their Pilgrim hats and turkey displays in jeopardy? Fortunately,...
Your reasons for when you decide to list your home can be dictated by personal events that you set in motion—or by others that just come along. Then again, when you have a good deal of leeway on the decision, at this time of the year, you might be tempted to wait for Delray Beach’s “spring selling season” before listing your Delray Beach house. Yet there are several real-world reasons why delaying might not always be in your best interest. Here are six persuasive ones:
- Determination. Buyers who appear during the end of year months are almost by definition more determined to find and buy their new home. The holidays make such extra-curricular activities less convenient, so looky-loos and next-year buyers are largely absent.
- Competition. Waiting for next spring’s expected onslaught of new Delray Beach buyers makes less sense when you consider the expected accompanying onslaught of new Delray Beach listings. Fall and winter sellers face sparse competition.
- Yard work. With the peak growing season behind us, the coming months require significantly less attention to keep garden and lawn—hence, curb appeal— in showing-ready condition.
- Moving expense. With their peak moving season far in the future, many professional Delray Beach moving outfits offer discounted rates. It makes sense for them: in an average year, more than 40,000,000 Americans will move—and 80% do it between April and September!
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Downsizing has gotten a lot of attention as Baby Boomers—many of whom have become empty-nesters—discover that they don’t need the space, expense, and elbow grease required to keep up the family property. But there is a counter-trend that could well explain the popularity (and desirability) of many big ol’ Boynton Beach homes. It’s a multigenerational thing.
It was to be expected that multigenerational family households became more numerous following the Great Recession. After all, when jobs became scarce, incomes stagnated, and foreclosure rates skyrocketed, the idea of moving back home with mom and dad became a practical necessity for many Boynton Beach families.
Enter the term “multigenerational family living.” It’s defined as the inclusion of two or more adult generations—or including grandparents and grandchildren under 25 years of age—in a single residence. That lifestyle choice had been steadily declining from 21% in 1950 to 12% thirty years later. But beginning in 1980, that trend reversed—sharply so, during the economic turmoil of 2007-2009. Although that rapid increase has since slowed, today it is still on the rise.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 51.5 million Americans lived in multigenerational households in 2009 (that’s 17% of the entire population). Compare that with the latest count from Pew Research, which registered 60.6 million (19%) in 2014.
Pew explains part of the trend as a cultural phenomenon stemming from the growing diversity of the U.S. population. Cultural preferences among...
