« February 2007 | Main | April 2007 »
The Lehigh Valley Spring Home Show is at the Lehigh University Stabler Arena this weekend. With over 427 booths, you'll be able to visit local vendors specializing in "home" services from remodeling to new home construction and home products.
The event will run from March 30th until April 1st and is $6 per person with children 12 and under admitted for free. For more information Visit their Website.
Real Estate Taxes in Lehigh Valley PA are usually lower than the surrounding states. Even so, when purchasing a brand new home the taxes can catch you off-guard.
Real estate taxes consist of municipal taxes, county taxes, and school taxes. The tax amount per year is the assessed value of the home times the millage rate (for all 3 taxes).
The problem with purchasing a newly constructed home is that the assessed value may not be known until months after you move-in. The exact amount of taxes per year are uncertain.
In a new development, the Builder's agent, in the model home, should have a general idea of what the taxes are going to be. Having said that, you can not depend on the Builder's agent to have a correct answer to the tax question. Are they guessing or is it an educated answer?
Home information and the property tax for every home is considered public information. Since the taxes on your new home are an unknown, the best source you have is to look at similar houses that have sold in the past 6 months to see if the tax information is available.
If the public records are available, the chances are the taxes on your new home are going to be similar regardless of what the Builder's agent tells you.
The Linden Street Bridge in Allentown is getting attention. Considered a main portal into the city, the Lehigh County commissioners were at odds on how to handle the rebuilding expense. Money isn't the only issue. The bridge, built in 1884, has historical significance.
Assuming the Historical Society will agree that the bridge has no historical value, the County approved 5.5 million in county funds for the project.
In May of 2005, the bridge which carries 6,800 vehicles every day, was reduced to one lane. When exactly the restorations will be made is an unknown as all the beaurocratic forces attempt to come to an agreement.
Traffic control is the name of the game. The Lower Nazareth Supervisors approved the installation of three new traffic lights in the Township. Two traffic lights will be installed on Hanoverville Road at Keystone Drive and Greenfield Drive. The third light will be installed at Jaindl Boulevard and Township Line Road.
In addition, the Supervisors also gave the green light to Ashley Development to begin installing about one mile of sewer line for the company's new housing development Trio Farms. Trio Farms, consisting of about 400 units, will be located between Newburg and Daniels Road.
A few weeks ago, I ran into a situation where the buyer of a house in Lehigh Valley wanted to offer $40,000 less than the asking price of $440,000.
The main factor affecting the decision to make the low offer was the fact that the house had been on the market a very long time, it was vacant, it needed some work, and it didn't fully meet the buyers criteria.
The DOM (days on market) is a crucial factor when a buyer is considering a purchase price for the home. Sometimes a seller will want to try and list the house at a higher price. The seller thinks "Let's just try it" or "My house has more amenities and is worth a lot more than the house that sold down the street".
The problem with this thinking is that as the DOM goes up the buyer starts to believe something is wrong with the house. Why hasn't someone purchased it by now?
The seller lowers the price but at the same time moves out and now the house is vacant. Depending on clutter and life style, a vacant house doesn't show as well as an occupied house and gives the buyer the belief that the seller needs to get rid of it. Just for completeness, a house that is half occupied implies a divorce and may give a buyer the impression there is more negotiating power.
** Long DOM and vacant...2 strikes! **
The house needing work but listed at a top value price is the final strike. Here comes the lowball offer.
The offer that would have been rejected immediately months ago now has to be given serious consideration (depending on the sellers circumstances). If the seller rejects the offer will there be another one before another price reduction is needed. How bad does the buyer want it?
Unless the offer is completely insulting, I never recommend that a seller reject it. Why not counter the offer. The worst the buyer can do is say no or counter it back.
After several days of counter-offers back and forth, the seller ended up accepting $415,000 for the property. The buyer came up $15,000 and the seller dropped $25,000.
In this case, the low offer was negotiated to an executed contract. I don't recommend that every offer a buyer makes should be low but all of the factors should be considered when considering what the property is worth.
The Easton planning commission granted final approval to the Ashley Development Corporation's plan to demolish the former Lincoln Textile Plant and replace it with a new home development.
The new development will consist of 37 attached and semi-detached buildings. Each building will be four stories and contain an upper and lower residential unit resulting in a total of 74 homes in all.
The textile building was built in the 1880's and was most recently used as a bedspread factory. It is located on a 3.5 acre tract framed by Philadelphia Road and St. John and Grants Street.
The approval was conditional and Ashley still needs to make some minor adjustments to the plans as well as get environmental clearances.
As the warm weather starts approaching are you considering selling your Lehigh Valley Home? If so, the sprucing up should being now.
Showing houses during the winter is very messy. The trees are bare, the yard may be muddy, and in some cases the snow isn't even cleared from the sidewalks. A couple of weeks ago I had to pull a client up a set of icy steps (the house was vacant).
All of these things bring on a negative opinion before the buyer has even entered the house. I believe it is fair to say that a large amount of home sales involve curb appeal. I've pulled up in front of houses and had buyers tell me to just skip the house. They weren't interested in seeing the inside.
Here are some tips to help with sprucing your home up for a possible sale.
Landscaping
Keep the grass cut (if muddy plant grass) and the bushes trimmed. Fresh mulch with some flowers looks great! Keep utilites boxes and other items like the air conditioner compressor free of weeds.
Fence and Deck
Is the fence in need of repair or a painting? Does the deck look weathered? These items, although outside, lead a buyer to believe the home wasn't taken care of. A quick coat of paint or sealer works wonders.
House Exterior
The home exterior is very important. When pulling up in front of the house it is customary to look at the roof. If the roof looks like it is need of repair it will probably get noticed!
Buyers will also look at the vinyl, stone, or painting on the outside of the house. Peeling paint, ripped vinyl, and even cracks in the stone will catch their attention.
Make sure the walkway and porch area are free of weeds and clean (definitely shoveled if recent snow). A freshly painted front door with a new doorknob and a clean properly operating screendoor are really nice. The windows should all be clean. The winter leaves them grungy.
Download a complete report on Home Selling Tips at Lehigh Valley Homes Online. Included in the report is a section on preparing for home showings.
So, you've found the LehighValley house you want to purchase. The big question is what should you offer to pay the seller for the house.
First of all, the price is not the only important factor in purchasing a house. Yes, the price is definitely crucial in getting a seller to accept your offer but other factors are also very important.
- what is the deposit
- when is the closing date
- what are the inspection terms
- who is the mortgage company
- when is the mortgage committment date
- is sellers assist needed
- is the financing cash, conventional, FHA or VA
- do you have a home YOU need to sell
The offering price, plus all of the above, makes up the complete contract and can influence a home seller. For instance, a seller may be willing to take less if you are willing to give them a closing date that they need.
For now, lets ignore all the above and just concentrate on the price. After all, that is the most important factor.
Once you decide on the house, your agent should get you a copy of the property disclosure. The disclosure may tell you things that affect your offering price. Does the basement get water? How old is the furnace? Is the roof near the end of its lifetime. These are all items that may determine what you are willing to pay for the house.
The next step is to pull up comparable SOLD properties to see if the house is priced appropriately or if it is over-priced. This is not only important to determine your offering price but is crucial if a mortgage is being obtained since the bank will order an appraisal. The bank doesn't want to lend money for a house that is being purchased for more than it is worth not matter how badly you want it.
How many days has the house been on the market? Has the seller reduced the price recently? An automatic assumption is that the longer a house has been on the market the more willing the seller will be to take a lower price. This may or may not be true. What if the seller just reduced the price by $20,000 last week? As a result, a bunch of showing requests were generated. The seller may not want to take a lower price while still getting daily requests for showings of the house.
Your Buying Agent should sit with you and go through all of the above showing computerized data to back up the facts. After you have decided on the offering price, it may be changed dependent on the other factors of the contract and your own situations.
Ultimately, the final decision on what to offer a home seller for the house is totally yours but you should draw on the advice and experience of your real estate agent to help you make educated decisions. In the end, how badly do you want the house?
I've seen at least two cases in Lehigh Valley where a home buyer was told something verbally from a builder's agent, with respect to included options, and then found out they signed contracts that didn't match what they had been told verbally.
One situation involved single zone heating in a home in which the buyer was verbally told it would be dual zone. The other was a tech bar in the family room that was supposed to be a wet bar.
In the first situation, although the builders rep verbally stated it would be dual zone heating it took a compromise between all involved parties to figure out who was going to pay the $6,000 cost of adding it. Since the contract did not state specifically it would be dual zone heating, a single zone heating system was installed. The contract stated the system would be selected based on the efficiency of the house and the builder would not honor the verbal statement by his rep that it would be a dual zone system.
In the second situation, the Builders rep knew that the buyers wanted a wet bar but the contracts the rep had them sign stated it would be a tech center. The rep made a mistake and even admitted it was a mistake but it didn't matter.
Since the buyers signed the contract, the Builder made them pick up half the cost of changing the tech center to a wet bar.
When sitting there signing your name on a stack of papers, it is easy to start signing them without reading what is actually on them. Beware that what you are signing is a Contract!
Five Can't Miss Tips for Brightening Your Bath
Buying a Home? New Construction Offers Many Benefits
