Lehigh Valley Real Estate Blog, Home Buying & Selling Information

Is Your Lehigh Valley Home Priced to Sell?

In spite of the reports that are negative about the real estate market, I have had 3 home buyers, in the past two weeks, end up in multiple bid situations for a house they wished to purchase.

Are more buyers out there looking or is it the house itself that caused all the activity?

In each of the three situations, I showed multiple houses to each buyer. The houses that they wanted to make offers on all showed well and were priced not at the top, not at the bottom, but in the upper middle of the price range.

In all three scenarios, the home buyer made comparisons. For instance, "This house is only $5,000 more than the other house and it includes a finished basement".

If thinking about selling your Lehigh Valley home, the listing price depends not only on past sales of homes in your area but also what is currently on the market. Where your house falls in the list of Available Homes is critical for a faster home sale. 

When your house is listed for sale, this data should be reviewed every few weeks to determine market activity and your homes ranking in the market. Motivated home buyers are out there but they are being very selective. If it is priced correctly and shows well it should sell.

Lehigh Valley Home for Sale - Bangor, PA

This semi-detached home is located in Bangor PA and is convenient to routes 512 and 191. 

A new gas forced air furnace, vinyl siding, stone front, shutters and front and back exterior doors make this an ideal home.

Ceiling fans are located in the living room, dining room, and 2 of the 3 bedrooms.

The covered front porch and rear deck complete the picture.

For more details and pictures visit www.LehighValleyHomesOnline.com

Pennsylvania Property Disclosure - Failure to Disclose

The Pennsylvania Property Disclosure is a 5 - 6 page document that is used in conjunction with the Agreement of Sale to indicate the condition of the property and items, including appliances, that are currently on the property.

The words On the Property are intentional. Just because something is On the Property does not mean it is included with the sale of the property or real estate.

The Pennsylvania Agreement of Sale has a section specifying what is included in the sale of the house by default. This list has items such as stoves, ceiling fans, window blinds, things that are considered fixtures (somehow connected to the house in such a way that removal would leave the house missing a functional or built-in item such as a dishwasher or microwave)

Failure to Disclose means that the seller knew something about the house or an appliance that was included with the house but didn't put it in the property disclosure.

For instance, if the roof has been patched but the seller states the roof was replaced 20 years ago and does not state that repairs were done the seller Failed to Disclose.

An example, I ran into lately was that a dishwasher was known as being broken. The property disclosure indicated there was a dishwasher but did not state it was broken. By default, the Agreement of Sale includes the dishwasher and the sellers did not exclude it or state in the Property Disclosure that it was broken.

As a result, the buyers have asked for a credit towards purchasing a new dishwasher. The seller failed to disclose a known problem with something included in the sale of the home.

The disclosure is a legal document, completed by the seller(s) to the best of their knowledge. If it is suspected that a home seller intentionally or negligently misrepresented something the Property Disclosure can be used in a court-of-law.

A Lehigh Valley Home Seller should make sure to fill out the full Property Disclosure as accurately as possible.

Lehigh Valley - 100% Financing for your New Home

Starting March 17th of 2008, the Fannie Mae guidelines for 100% financing are changing. A Lehigh Valley Home Buyer will have to have a credit score of at least 680 to qualify for 100% financing on that new home purchase.

A credit score of at least 620 will be needed for a 95/5 loan. A 95/5 loan means that you will be putting 5% down and getting a mortgage for the other 95%.

Typically, with these changes come changes regarding using Sellers Assist or Sellers Concession to help pay closing costs.

Any Lehigh Valley Home Buyer currently under contract for a house or pre-approved for a mortgage should be checking with their mortgage company to ensure that their financing is still secure.