This Dewey Beach, DE Homeowner Choice is Getting More Difficult
There used to be little debate when it came to the kind of houseplants Dewey Beach, DE homeowners preferred. For the finishing touches they provide, the gracious choice was always the live variety. Artificial greenery and florals were easily dismissed as “fakes”—regarded as second-rate solutions in home décor.
A lot has changed since then—principally in the advances made by the artificial foliage makers. This month’s realtor.com commentary (“Real vs. Fake Plants: Which is Better for Your Home?”) provided a timely update. Today’s Dewey Beach, DE homeowners aren’t just wondering whether they can “get away” with fake plants. Because recent years have seen marked improvements in manufacturing techniques, the low-maintenance option has been steadily gaining favor.
To address the issue, author Kayleigh Roberts queried interior design professionals on how they determine which to choose. The answer depended on the homeowner’s situation, determined by practical questions like how frequently the owner plans to be absent, whether or not “curious pets” would be on the prowl, and whether or not the home is to be staged for sale (in that case, faux would probably get the nod).
Even so—and even given the fact that artificials have “improved by leaps and bounds”— when it comes to the question of whether they can pass as the real thing, experts admitted that they can almost always tell the difference. But for certain specific examples, that has been getting harder and harder. Some examples demonstrate the point: pictured were a faux amaryllis, lemon cypress, and a striking silk orchid.
Real or not, the addition of plants is one of the simplest and least expensive ways to provide pops of color that add interest to any interior space. When your own Dewey Beach, DE home is being prepped for market, it’s one of the simple touches that create a warm, inviting environment. Call me for more dependable ideas! Call/Text me Russell Stucki at (302) 228-7871, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit more listings at www.beachrealestatemarket.com.
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- Written by Jimmie Bachand
Luxury Homes in Dewey Beach, DE Now Part of the Segment Leader
If Yahoo Finance’s take is correct, as residential real estate continues to revive after the economic shocks of the pandemic, high-end properties may be among the first to lead the recovery. For the owners of luxury homes in Dewey Beach, DE who thought twice about joining the Dewey Beach, DE listings, last month’s activity across the nation among seven- and eight-figure properties could provide the necessary encouragement.
Back in April, when real estate activity hit the brakes in reaction to uncertainty over the virus, Yahoo reports that online searches “for pricey pads” fell nearly 10% from the previous year. That was the good news—at least compared with how luxury home sellers reacted. In the same month, listings for homes priced in the top 5% nosedived by 57.8%!
Explanations for the turnaround were numerous and credible. One senior economist at Realtor.com zeroed in on a frequent human reaction. “After being cooped up in homes, luxury buyers…are looking for more space.” He pointed to New York State’s pricey Hamptons—which already in May reported a 72% increase over the previous year’s number of listings viewed.
As Forbes luxury reporter Dima Williams observed, not only was the segment recording a promising uptick in demand and inventory, but the entry prices were growing at a rate that eclipsed the rest of the market. Its year-over-year price rise of 6.1% made upscale housing the market leader. That is unlike previous market recoveries when luxury properties lagged behind other segments.
In a week that saw Wall Street falter, realtor.com’s director of research, Javier Vivas, saw a cause/effect relationship explaining data that showed luxury buyers “are returning in full force.” With confidence in the stock market waning, “Luxury buyers are seeing value in buying a second home as an investment and a getaway.”
For Dewey Beach, DE’s luxury homeowners contemplating their property’s future in the marketplace, the best advice is to run an up-to-the-minute market analysis. I’ll be pleased to provide that—with no obligation, as always! Call/Text me Russell Stucki at (302) 228-7871, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit more listings at www.beachrealestatemarket.com.
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- Written by Jimmie Bachand
Should You Buy a Home Now? 6 Factors to Weigh
The other day, it was interesting to read a featured commentary on the MoneyCrashers.com website. It promised to pinpoint the “6 Factors” to consider when deciding whether you “should buy a home now— or wait?” No dateline was visible, but you’d have to deduce that it had first been published a while ago. The absence of any mention of today’s changed circumstances and the uncertainties ahead made it pretty clear that it had been written in pre-pandemic days (remember those)? Even so, the “6 Factors” do hold their validity. They may not cover all the key considerations—but they do set the stage for that very weighty decision.
The first factors dealt with financial viability. Realistically, those first three are basic qualifiers for buying any home in Dewey Beach, DE. Counted as #1 was a buyer’s current state of finances—having the financial wherewithal, including a provision for emergencies, to fund the process. The second was the stability of future income (a factor that’s suddenly become less predictable). We can hope this soon becomes more foreseeable. The third factor dealt with having an adequate credit score. Those first three are all factors without which buying a home would be imprudent, if even possible.
The remaining three factors were more subjective but also more original and thought-provoking. A commitment to staying in one place may be personality-driven, but has ramifications that are also financial. A buyer who might not stay rooted in Dewey Beach, DE for at least three years would usually be better advised to settle for renting—thus avoiding the expenses of buying and selling in a compressed timeframe. Next, commitment to homeownership is a sometimes overlooked quality-of-life consideration. Without the willingness to take on home repair and maintenance challenges, the pride that homeowners take in mastering those skills can instead become a collection of drudgery-laden burdens.
The final factor was the “state of the current real estate and credit market.” Half of that one is clear: the state of the ‘credit market’ part couldn’t be more auspicious. The other part—the state of today’s Dewey Beach, DE real estate market—is easily determined. Just give me a call! Call/Text me Russell Stucki at (302) 228-7871, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit more listings at www.beachrealestatemarket.com.
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- Written by Jimmie Bachand
Despite a Monkey Wrench, the Dewey Beach, DE Census is On!
By now, just about everyone has been contacted in one way or another by the folks at the Census Bureau. For Dewey Beach, DE residents who received a letter, email, or smartphone notification, it probably pointed out that there is a legal obligation to provide truthful answers for the every-ten-year canvass.
For those who have yet to respond, this might have provided a degree of anxiety—especially given the April 1 date that’s part of the message. But don’t worry. That date wasn’t a deadline—it was simply the Census ‘Reference Day’—the date for which the information is true. If Aunt Mabel was residing in your Dewey Beach, DE home on April 1, she should be included in the household’s headcount—even if she subsequently moved out. The stated object is “to count everyone once—only once—and in the right place.”
Some individuals randomly receive more specialized questionnaires—those can be quite detailed. If you have ever waded through the variety of publications produced from past decennial censuses, you know the amount of effort they represent. That’s especially true this year: COVID-19 has thrown a monkey wrench into the works. The deadlines for responses have been extended, delayed, and sometimes suspended and extended. Field operations have been delayed, causing a renewed plea for those who are able to avail themselves of the online response mechanisms. That will keep the need for knocks on the doors to a minimum—a safety issue this year.
Cooperating with the census effort benefits everyone in any number of ways. Valid census information not only guarantees that Dewey Beach, DE receives a fair share of federal funds ($675 billion annually; even more in state grants)—the deeper data provides local businesses with information that helps them shape the products and services we use every day. It also protects Dewey Beach, DE home values by enabling local leaders to arrive at informed decisions that make the community ever more livable. Keeping up with the latest Dewey Beach, DE area information is important to real estate, too. Call me! Call/Text me Russell Stucki at (302) 228-7871, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit more listings at www.beachrealestatemarket.com.
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- Written by Jimmie Bachand
