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Real estate advice from realtors in our areaYou’ve found your dream home and have started packing all your belongings and then, the home inspection report reveals some bad inspection results. Time to freak out! It’s a deal breaker, oh no! Actually, many times it’s not a deal breaker, but rather a time to collect as much information as possible to get answers to questions you’d never thought you’d be asking. Often the home and pest (termite, etc) inspections are pass-fail evaluated by many buyers. If the results come back with flying colors or are terribly tragic, its normal to think move on or get out of the home sale contract. …
Everyone knows it is a buyer's market. The news, the number of homes on the market, the number of foreclosures -- they all speak to what a tough real estate market the country is currently facing. Agents get it; sellers get it. However, homes will sell in any market. Regardless of the market, all sellers want: To get their home sold. To sell for the most money. To sell quickly. To sell with the least headaches. What sellers don't want: To hear their agent complain about the market. To hear about the other homes their agent has sold. To hear about the awards their agent has received. To sell …
Are you wondering what the spring real estate market has been doing? This snapshot analysis of the home sale market activity is designed to help both sellers and buyers in our area. For sellers, it should help you determine a listing price of your home if you are thinking of selling anytime soon. For buyers, it can benefit you to know what is a realistic offer on a home here in the Lansdale area. These statistics are for homes in Towamencin Township, Hatfield Township and Montgomery Township, based on three- to four-bedroom, single-family homes that sold between $300,000 and $400,000 during …
As the country battles itself out of the recession, a certain wave of practicality has swept through the housing industry. Home buyers are more cautious about their investments and want affordable homes in great condition and great locations. Downsizing to a smaller home, low mortgage balances and eco-friendly homes are becoming very chic. Here is a sampling of what is popular right now: Smaller Homes: According to the National Association of Home Builders, the median size of a US home in 2007 was 2,277 sq. ft.; in 2009, that size shrunk to 2,135 sq. ft. The number of rooms isn’t …
In my last article, I outlined how to determine how much house you can afford by getting pre-qualified for a loan, examined local tax assessments, and stressed looking for neighborhoods that are appealing to you. The next part is what most people feel is “the fun part": Finding the house you will call “home.” There is really no perfect home on the market. What may be almost perfect for one buyer would not even be considered by another buyer. Even the million dollar homebuyers have to compromise and distinguish between their wants and needs. It’s best to follow this set of criteria: Price…
Our hearts and condolences go out to the Kauffman family. With the heartwrenching news of the rape and murder of Skyler Kauffman, Lisa Loper, member of the Scott Loper Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Harleysville, brings up hard questions that realtors face when helping buyers and sellers. There are so many rules that real estate agents are supposed to follow when working with buyers and sellers. First, there is the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which forbids discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religious preference, sex, familial status and handicaps. For example, if a seller …
Buying your first home can seem like a complex experience, because, well, it is. In a two-part series, you’ll get a checklist, comments and tips on buying your first home. With interest rates where they are—4.75 percent to 5 percent—you can afford a house more now than when interest rates go up, as they are expected to do so this year. Let’s start at the beginning: Figure out how much you can afford. Subtract your debt from your monthly income. Then get your FICO score and credit report. (A mortgage broker can assist you with this) Think about how much you have for a down payment. With …
Besides a general home inspection and a termite inspection, the next most common test performed by homebuyers is a radon test. It is a simple test where the air quality is measured for the span of 2-3 days (longer term tests are available). The cost typically runs between $100 and $125 and it is money well spent. Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water and gets into the air. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and can get into your home through …
On a weekly basis, I talk with local homeowners who are thinking about a move to a new home. Sometimes, they are relocating to a new town or city. One of the first questions a homeowner asks about the home they currently live in is: What should I keep in the house, and what should go? As someone on the outside looking in, this is usually a much clearer picture. For the homeowners, it’s sometimes difficult to notice when there are too many items in a room because they have functioned in the home with these things in place over a period of time. Things like extra furniture pieces, …
There are all kinds of surveys out there of places to live – the overall best, worst, healthiest, safest, cleanest, most miserable, and even the most dangerous – in the United States. For a while, Philadelphia was making the Forbes Top 20 Most Miserable Places to Live. In 2008, Philadelphia ranked #5; it fell to #20 by 2010, and in 2011, it did not even make the list. In other surveys, nearby towns do score good grades occasionally in different areas. In Money Magazine’s 2010 Top 100 Best Places to Live, Abington ranked number #29. Of the top earning towns in America, Lower Merion ranked #…
You’ve read and heard a boatload of news on current home prices. Each time you hear it you’re wondering whether we’ve reached “the bottom.” Sound the gong! Someone said “the bottom”! In our region, many experts believe we are near bottom prices, if not already there. One of the ways this is determined is to look at the percentage of distressed properties on the market. A distressed property is defined as a home in foreclosure or that is bank owned. It is these kinds of homes that bring down the value of non-distressed properties. In Pennsylvania, the distressed property rate is 17 percent…
The first quarter of 2011 finished up last week, and the results for home sales in Lansdale-Montgomeryville area are in. Using the North Penn School District as a gauge, there currently are 564 active listings. From January through March, 109 listings were taken off the market, 159 went under contract, and 156 sold and settled. Of the 156 listings that sold in North Penn, the average list price was $284,475, but the average sold price was $262,539. These homes took on average 92 days to sell. How does this compare to last quarter (October through December 2010)? Well, 213 listings sold, …
To Rent or To Own, that is the Question…… …..when looking for a new place to live in the Lansdale Area More and more this is a topic of discussion on network news, in your workplace and just about anywhere the conversation turns to moving from one place to another. The “buy or rent” debate can be argued one way or another, but ultimately it is a choice lending more to lifestyle than anything else. Okay, it’s also about whether you can afford to buy and own a home, but I think you’ll be surprised to learn how close the monthly costs actually are in our neck of the woods. I’ll use real …
U&O stands for Use and Occupancy. Some municipalities may call it a Resale Inspection or use another term, but it's essentially an inspection required by some boroughs and townships in our area when an existing property is being sold. In the North Penn School District, the following municipalities require a U&O: Towamencin Township, Hatfield Township, Hatfield Borough and North Wales Borough. The others do not. The items these specific municipalities look for can and will vary widely. Many of these boroughs and townships look for safety and code violations. Typical items may include: GFCI…
Spring is upon us! And for some in the Lansdale area, this means the start of finding and buying a new home. If you’re just beginning to search for a home, you need to know about a new cost that affects everyone applying for a conventional mortgage loan. The government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are increasing the cost of a loan to offset the risk of lending to borrowers with lower credit scores. These increases are called lower level pricing adjustments (LLPA) and adverse market delivery charges (AMDC). This is not entirely new. LLPAs and AMDCs previously existed for…
