The Philly Pretzel

For most of recorded history, sellers got all the agents and buyers jumped without a net. But since the late 1980’s, Buyer Agents have also become popular.

86% of buyers have Buyer Agents. So should you.

You need your own representation when you’re talking money. And experience has shown us that buyers who don’t have a Buyer Agent end up regretting it at the worst possible moment.

Any REALTOR® or agent can act as a Buyer Agent for you, but we have taken it one step further by earning our ABR designation (Accredited Buyer Representation). Only 13 % of agents worldwide have taken this extra step.

Buyer Agents costs you nothing. And gain you everything.

Usually, the Buyer Agent is paid from the seller’s commission. But he or she is legally obliged to place the buyer’s interests above all others.  Here’s what you should expect, and we deliver:

*Undivided loyalty

*Respect for your requests

*An explanation of all paperwork, so you understand everything you sign

*Coordinating work with third parties like mortgage brokers, insurers and inspectors, so you stay on schedule

*Objective advice, including honest pros and cons, so you can make up your own mind

Buyer Agents. Don’t leave your old home without one.

Technorati: buyer agent, philadelphia home buyers, accredited buyer representation

Do you worry about identity theft?

Buyers do this prior to even being preapproved for a mortgage as it takes about 10 days to become active.

When a creditor pulls your credit report all three bureaus put you on an active list and then  sells your name and information to companies buying mailing lists. Your private information is for sale. When you move most junk mail will not be forwarded to your new home. Will the person moving in after you be so diligent in shredding your vital information? Probably not. Here is what you need to do.

Stop credit card, home equity loans and mortgage solicitations in your mail before you move! All junk mail solicitations for credit cards, etc should be shredded before you throw it away.

          *Call-Opt Out 888.567.8688 from your home phone number. An automated 
             system will ask you to verify some information.

          *Wait a few days to receive the paper work that need to be signed or go directly to
            Opt-Out to print out the registration from, sign, and send.

That’s it. The entire process takes about 5 minutes and you will see a reduction in your junk mail. No more shredding!

Technorati: identity theft, junk mail, opt-out, mortgage, home buyers

posted by janice

Philadelphia home values ended the year slightly down, the first year-on-year citywide price decline since 2002. House prices declined citywide by an average of 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2007 after season and quality are taken into account according to the latest analysis by Wharton economist Kevin Gillen.

Dr. Kevin Gillen is an economist at the Real Estate Department of the Wharton School and Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania. He analyzes the Philadelphia real estate market using the city’s real estate database through Hallwatch, a watchdog group. The results are published in a research paper called Philadelphia House Price Indices each quarter as a public service to the Philadelphia real estate community.

Download the full report [pdf]

Read the Hallwatch article: Philadelphia Home Prices Down for the Year

OVERVIEW:

*Although prices were still rising as recently as last spring, house values fell by total of 0.6% compared to a year ago.No single neighborhood was spared from declining prices.

*Only 4,725 homes changed hands under arms-length conditions in Q4; the lowest level of transactions since the spring of 2003.

*Nearly 11,000 homes are listed for sale in Philadelphia, which is nearly double the amount in 2004As prices have remained persistently high while supply continued to rise, buyers have become increasingly reluctant to commit to a purchase. Also making the market more difficult are the tighter mortgage lending conditions attributable to the subprime fallout.

*This gap between buyers’ willingness and sellers’ expectations is also revealed in the latest data. The median list price in Philadelphia is currently $180,000, while the median transaction price is only $110,500. That represents a difference of nearly $70,000 between what sellers want and what buyers are actually willing to pay.

*These conditions will likely continue until the current level of inventory begins to decline and restore more balanced conditions between buyers and sellers.

*On the optimistic side, this actually did happen this past quarter, when the total inventory of listed homes fell by about 1,500 units.

**Hallwatch.org is a private and independently maintained watchdog website that does a lot of in-depth, independent and investigative pieces on city politics, as well as real estate.

Technorati: philadelphia real estate, market conditions, homes for sale

posted by janice

 Sellers:  Pretend it’s not your house.

Let’s say your home is about to be shown for the first time, maybe for an open house. What should you do first?  Pretend you don’t live there.

Seriously, now. Walk thorough your home as if you’re seeing it for the first time.  Could someone trip over the coffee table? Are the kids’ toys underfoot?  How easy would it be to stumble over the TV cord that you’ve learned to avoid, or the stepdown you don’t notice anymore? Straighten up, no matter how tedious it might be. Have your Realtor warn potential buyers about stepdowns and low door frames. You’re looking for a sale, not a lawsuit.

Technorati: open house, ready to sell, home sellers

posted by carolyn

Every once in a while the universe shows me what’s so special about the service that we REALTORS® offer.

Last week I ordered a bed on line and was told that it would be delivered on Thursday between 12 and 5.  Ok, that’s good.  So I rearranged my schedule. 

Two hours before the delivery time, They (I’ll call them They, I can’t bear to mention their name again) realized they couldn’t make it and would have to come Monday instead. Again, I rearranged my schedule so I could be there. When I called at 3:00 on Monday just to make sure They were still coming, They said they’d be there before 5:00. At 6:30, even while the dispatcher was promising me that the delivery would arrive in the next 15 minutes, the driver walked into headquarters claiming that he couldn’t find my house.  (He had a cell phone. Why didn’t he call me? I was sitting there like a lump, waiting.)

They rescheduled again, for Tuesday. For the third time, I rearranged my schedule. This time They came.

Can you imagine something like that happening in the real estate business?  Settlement is scheduled for Tuesday at 3:00.  The buyer and agent don’t show up.  What? They got lost and couldn’t find the office and went home?
We don’t do that.  We can’t. We won’t.

Want to share your horror story about bad service?  Vent a little – you’ll feel better. 

Technorati Tags:customer service,bad service,drive you nuts

 posted by carolyn