Short Sales are the Answer! But What Was the Question Again?

I was reading an article on CNN Money.com today titled “How to rescue the housing market: Foreclosures!”.   Not a great title I would say and more importantly in my opinion not a great concept at all. The gist of the article is that the government needs to reverse the policies of the last 4 years since the housing downturn and actually encourage foreclosures as a means of “stabilizing” the housing market.  They included this interesting graph (above) showing how more... Read More

Again, Zillow Ranks Lancaster PA one of the Best Places to Buy a Home Right Now!

Welcome Back Readers! Once again Zillow.com  has ranked Lancaster County as one of the best places to buy a home right now!   As reported on Forbes.com yesterday, due to “affordability, as measured by home price to income ratios; the unemployment picture (both the absolute figure and how it’s trending over time); the foreclosure situation; and year-over-year housing price trends”  Lancaster County PA is the 8th Best Place to buy a home in the nation!  Read... Read More

Help with Foreclosure in Lancaster Pa, Foreclosures Rising

Welcome Back Readers.  Today we are touching on a timely topic for many.  Foreclosure.  Timely for many, as an article about it in today’s paper was titled “Record number losing homes”.  Ouch.  Record number.  The article cites 2010 Lancaster County Pa Foreclosure filings as setting a new record at 1,334.  This is an increase over 2009 at 1,319.  But who really expected differently?  With the state of the economy, I look at those numbers and... Read More

Home Buyer Incentives for Lancaster Pa Homes for Sale

Welcome Back Readers!   Today we’re talking about Buyer Incentives.  You’ve seen them, buy this house and seller will pay selling agent bonus, seller will include new Cadillac, enter contest to win a Cruise to Bahamas.  Now, not many sellers have been offering these types of incentives in Lancaster, but in new construction we have seen No Mortgage Payments for a Year, $40,000 in Builder Upgrades, buy our home and if yours doesn’t sell we buy yours, etc.  On... Read More

Is There a National Real Estate Transfer Tax On All Homes Sold After 2012?

Image courtesy of Alan Cleaver via Flickr Welcome Back Readers!  Thanks for stopping by again!  There’s alot of emails that circulate during an election year, one of the most common ones this year relates to a real estate is that the federal health care legislation (affectionately called Obama-care) passed in March 2010 contains a 4.0% transfer tax on all real estate sold after 2012.  You might be wondering if this is true or not.  Well, in short the answer is no. ... Read More

Help with Foreclosure

Welcome Back Readers!   Thanks for stopping by again, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know about a new website from Fannie Mae.  The site, www.KnowYourOptions.com is full of great information regarding forclosure and as the title would suggest, what your options are.  Check it out and if you are thinking of selling your home to avoid foreclosure, call me, I will be happy to help you through! Read More  Read More

10 Simple Steps to Buying a Lancaster County PA Home

Welcome Back Readers!  Ok, so you’ve decided to buy a house.  What do you need to do?  How does the process work? I’m going to give you a simple 10 step approach to buying a home “the right way”. Read More  Read More

Is it the right time to buy a house?

Photo Courtesy of B&M Photography To buy a house or not to a buy a house, that is the question.   It’s a big decision, some would say due to the huge impact it can have on your lives it’s the biggets decision you’ve ever made.  Some people will tell you to buy a house right away, others will tell you to wait a few years.  These opinions vary between friends, family members, co-workers, even Mom and Dad might disagree on the right thing for you to do.  Who’s... Read More