Exton Statistics - April 2008

May 14, 2008

Here’s the Exton (19341 zip code) statistics for April, 2008 vs March, 2008.

Sold unit numbers for Exton remained the same in April, as days on market went up. Which would explain the number of homes for sale in April rising. The more significant drop was the average sold price. The median price of sold homes did rise.

Like the units sold, the units under contract stayed the same at 18. The days on market went up slightly (6 days). New listings went down and so did the median price for new listings, and like the average sold price, fairly significantly. I can only surmise that most of the new listings were towards the lower ranges (under $400K) to cause such as drop.

Currently, the absorption rate for Exton is pretty “normal” with around 5 months of inventory.

Want more personalized data for your area? Feel free to contact me by phone or email.

(DISCLAIMER: As always, data provided is from Trend MLS ©2008 and is accurate, but not guaranteed.)

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West Chester Statistics - April 2008

May 12, 2008

Here’s the statistics for the month of April, 2008.

As you can see, the sold units went up a bit and days on market came down significantly. I think the days on market was affected, somewhat, by homes being withdrawn and re-listed.  Effectively “resetting” the days on market.  The sold median and average price in West Chester also came down a bit.  The number of for sales increased as did the number of homes under contract.  The new median price for newly listed homes did go up. 

Currently the absorption rate for West Chester is around 7 months of inventory. 

This data is for both West Chester zip codes (19380, 19382).

(DISCLAIMER: As always, data provided is from Trend MLS ©2008 and is accurate, but not guaranteed.)

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Tuesday’s Tour

May 6, 2008

Most Tuesdays in Chester County, agents have what we refer to as “Broker’s Open Houses”.  It gives us a chance to get to know the inventory in the area.  I try to see as many listings as possible, unless I have other obligations, on Tuesday afternoon.  This will be the first of a regular Tuesday posting of homes I tour.  While the link will provide the normal MLS information, I’ll try to add some insight that you may not see without touring the homes yourself.

Our first home on this tour is 104 Side Saddle, West Chester, PA.  Offered at $539,900.00, this home is very convenient to RT 202, yet I couldn’t hear the road from outside.  This is one of the biggest models in the development.  I thought this home showed really well.  The master had a nice sitting area, and while some may call it a bit cluttered with furniture, there was definitely enough space to hold everything. The basement is nicely finished with plenty of space.

 This next one, unfortunately, only has the outside picture that I took at this time.  This house is located at 1007 Hidden Hollow, West Chester and is offered at $799,900.00. I did not take any inside pictures, as the home is occupied.  This home shows great.  Plenty of property with a great yard and nice backyard privacy fence.  The kitchen and great room is a great party space and the finished basement showed great.  With a nice office and plenty of space in the bedrooms, this was my favorite home of the day. 

The last home in Chester County, was in Downingtown at 55 Lincoln Drive in the Chase at Bell Tavern. This is a 3 year old town home built by the David Cutler Group. This has a finished basement with the required “escape” window. While not huge, it’s a nice hangout space. The kitchen and eating area has a nice open feel as well as nice wood floors. This would be a great home for a someone downsizing or first time buyer(s). Very convenient to the Wegman’s shopping center, as well as easy access to the Route 30 bypass and beyond.

If you liked to see or more details on any of these or other homes feel free to email or call me. I’ll be happy to show them to you.

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A late Cinco de Mayo post

May 5, 2008

Sorry for the late post, but I hope everyone had a happy and safe Cinco de Mayo, as well as a pleasant weekend (which turned out great weather-wise).  I was able to ride my bicycle on Sunday (an actual day “off” from real estate) and rode about 42 miles through Chester County.  You can view the route I took by clicking the button.

While I was doing that, many people (18000+) were running in downtown Philadelphia in the Broad Street Run.  While I congratulate everyone that ran the 10 miles, I wanted to really congratulate my sister, Claire, who has been training since November and chose this run for her first big challenge.  Not only did she do the run, she also raised money for the American Cancer Society in honor of my Mother who is, unfortunately, going through a second round of thyroid cancer treatments.  My sister finished the race in less than 2 hours which is to be highly commended, IMO.  This was not a charity run, though some people do raise money for various causes.   

Unbeknownest to me, my friend and occasional riding buddy, Chris Coccia, was also downtown running with my sister.  While I do applaud him for that, he had just returned from winning the 2008 Purina Pet Comedy Challenge.  Chris is a very funny comedian who’s been performing for over 20 years.  He travels all over the country performing.  While he made the finals of this competition last year, this year he came away with the big check and won the 2008 Challenge.  Congratulations, Chris.  If you see his name on the marquee at your local comedy club, go and see him.  You’ll be glad you did.

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April 2008 Chester County Statistics

May 2, 2008

Welcome to May!

April is over.  Here’s the numbers as of today.

As you can see, the number of units sold grew compared to March (and the rest of the first quarter).  While that’s good too see and somewhat expected in a spring market, the numbers are down from last year.  Not a significant drop, but down.  The number of new listings is also down though.  The current active inventory is about 3976 units with average sales of 425 units per month, making the absorption rate about 9 months of inventory. 

Compared to some parts of the country that’s seems pretty good and is lower than most.  In some states, I’ve seen as much as 36 months and an astounding 17 YEARS thrown about.  Now, that’s a SLOW market.

I’ll give a further break down of the area throughout the month.

If you have any questions or your interested in starting your search., call or email me.  Of course, you can always SEARCH HERE. 

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Why are you at this open house?

April 28, 2008

Hello, welcome to my open house. Have a look around and feel free to ask any questions. What’s that? Am I the listing agent? No. Have you heard about buyer’s agency? You’re not sure? Oh, it’s explained in our PA Consumer Notice. It describes our relationship with consumers. I’m here to help buyers that are not currently working with an agent. Still confused? Well think of it like the courts. You wouldn’t want the prosecutor also defending you in a case, would you?  No, I didn’t think you would.  So, are you working with an agent?  You are?  If you don’t mind me asking, who would that be?  I don’t mean to pry, just want to make sure I can tell the listing agent who’s client stopped to look.  I’m required to ask these types of questions.

[thought] I wonder why you’re confused about buyer’s agency.  Did your Realtor® not explain it to you?  Did they not explain to you about procuring cause?)

procuring cause =

legal term that means the cause resulting in accomplishing a goal, used in real estate to determine whether a broker is entitled to a commission.

Of course, this listing agent honors agency contracts.  Why are you at this open house?

[end thought]

You’ve been looking for about a year? Oh, you say you’re picky.

So you do have the sheet on this house from your agent?  Who can get you the information on the school district?  Well your agent, or you can call the district directly.  Well, sure I can pull it up on my laptop, but really you should be asking your agent.  [thought]  Why are you at this open house?[end thought]  What’s that?  Oh yes, there’s 9 listings in this development?  Your agent thought there were 8?  Oh, well I just pulled the list and made that map this morning.  There’s one more now, and you’re at the house right here.

OK, Good Bye.  Thank you for coming.

[thought]  Why are you at this open house? [end thought]

Disclaimer: The preceding mind dump was not meant to portray any specific person or event real or imagined. It was simply a mind dump of what may be going through the head of an agent who is sitting an open house while people come through without their agent.

Feel free to contact me if you’d like a better explanation of PA Agency laws and what you should be when you feel the “urge” to stop at an open house.

Posted in Buying, showings 2 Comments »

Pennsylvania. Get out and Vote!

April 22, 2008

Today is the Pennsylvania Primary.  The battle for Pennsylvania is still on for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  Even if you’re not a Democrat, there are other items on today’s ballots that could use your voice.  From various township initiatives (like open space policies) to township committee members, it’s your day to make your voice heard. 

Not sure where to vote?  You can find your polling place here: Polling Search 

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Buying into a Homeowner’s Association

April 21, 2008

In Chester County and the surrounding areas, there are more and more developments being built with a Homeowner’s Association (or HOA’s).  The definition, according to Wikipedia (found here) is as follows:

The legal entity created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing, managing and selling a community of homes. It is given the authority to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and to manage the common amenities of the development.

These associations all add to the yearly cost of living in your home.  I myself live in a “planned community”, as these are sometimes referred too.  The builder usually decides what amenities (pool, tennis courts, common areas) they are going to include in the cost of these developments and gives the buyer a breakdown of what the costs will include.  Whether it’s a condominium or single family home complex, buyers are given documents which break down the the costs and gives the buyer a chance to review all the details about the community.  These documents are extremely important and not something you should take lightly when reading through them.  Of course, the total cost per year is important, but even more important (I believe) is what are the restrictions.  Some associations have very minor requirements, i.e. they mow the common areas and there are no real restrictions on what you can do on your property.  That’s right, they can restrict what you can do ON your property.  They have the power, through the CC & R documents, to restrict things such as door colors, mulch colors, whether you can have clothes lines (one of my wife’s concessions when we bought), too where your trash can should be when it’s not trash day.  If you have a utility truck of some kind, you better make sure you can park it in your driveway (you may not).  That car you had “wrapped” for your business, you may want to be sure it’s in the garage (closed), or whether you should have it.

There’s another very important reason for reading these documents and making sure you are comfortable with the restrictions, they’re part of your deed.  That’s right, when you sign all those documents on settlement day the documents you should have read, become part of your deed.  You are agreeing to abide by all the rules in those documents.  It’s like buying a car.  You know when you drive off the lot, you can’t speed, or you’ll get a ticket.  In a HOA, you could be fined if you do not abide by the rules of the association.  These are quasi-governments that work under municipal and state restricted laws.  The board of directors can make decisions on certain matters (i.e. special assessments) for the good of the community without a community vote.  These decisions are typically written into the association by-laws that should describe their restrictions.

I am not trying to deter you from buying into these communities, but I am trying to make you aware that if and when you do, you should really know what you’re buying.  Every day, people walk into new construction without representation.  While the agents at these sites are very nice, when they hand you these documents to review, it is my belief that they don’t always make you fully aware how important these documents can be.  In PA, you have 5 days to review these documents.  If there is something there that you don’t agree with or can’t abide by, you have the option to get out of the deal.  If you have an agent (and the documents are delivered to them), it’s 5 days from then, not when you (Mr & Mrs Buyer) first see them.  Remember too, that listing agent is working for the builder, but that’s for a different post, another day, about Agency.

Bottom line:  Know what you’re getting when you buy into a planned community.  Read the documents and if you need help in interpreting them, ask your favorite Realtor®.  If you’d like help finding your next home, whether it’s in a planned community or not, feel free to contact me.  I’m happy to help.

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School Report Card(s) Released

April 18, 2008

Annually the Philadelphia Inquirer releases their annual report card for regional schools (both PA and NJ).  They rate everything in an interactive map that can be seen here:  Report Card.

You can see how districts rate for school size, special education, diversity as well as more detailed information about each district.

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Chester County Real Estate Market 2008 Update

April 16, 2008

The Chester County real estate “Spring Market” is definitely in full swing.  I’ve seen many more listings and sales go up on the office board and I’ve been getting more phone calls too. The final numbers are in for March and statistics confirm what most of us knew, that the market has slowed.  Here are the numbers for March in all of Chester County:

Here’s a different way to break down the numbers:

Units sold number is DOWN approximately 40%
The average sold price is also DOWN approximately 5%
The average days on market is UP approximately 14%

From February to March of this year the number of Units Sold has gone up 18% and 32% from January.

Homes are still selling . They may not be selling as quickly today (95 days) versus 2007 (74 days), but if it’s priced properly and shows well, it should sell more quickly.  This trend seems to be happening throughout the area and in other parts of the country, so be sure to get the latest numbers before you decide to move.

If you’d like to see what your home is worth, feel free to contact me.  I’ll be happy to come out and give you a free, no obligation, competative market analysis. 

(Information provided is © Copyright 2008 TREND MLS - All Information Deemed Reliable but Not Guaranteed.)

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