Forbes.com Names the Harrisburg/Carlisle Area as One of Top Metro Areas

May 6, 2010 Leave a comment

A national business website, Forbes.com, just named the Harrisburg/Carlisle metropolitan area as one of its ten most livable cities in America.  The following is the entire news article that appeared on the front page of The Patriot News on May 4, 2010:

Guess Who Lives in America’s Fifth Most Livable City?  You Do.

Forget the Big Apple, Boston and Seattle.

Harrisburg ranks fith in a Forbes.com list of America’s most livable cities.  Pittsburgh is first.

“By and large, the cities on the list aren’t big tourist destinations, but they are places where costs are relatively low and quality of life is high,” said Francesca Levy at Forbes.com.

Levy said the list doesn’t intend to suggest one metro area is better than another.

“Rather, we developed a measure to judge one aspect of cities: livability.”  And she siad Forbes.com defines that as “one where you can get through the day-to-day business of life witht he fewest obstacles.”

“That means, on average, having a good balance of job security and opportunity, safety, and a decent amount of stuff to do, and everyday costs aren’t out of control,” Levy said.

The ranking comes as good news for those who serve as the region’s cheerleaders.

“I think it speaks very well about our region, particularly when we’re in competition with metro areas of all sizes,” said David Black, president of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber.

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The Incredible Shrinking House

April 25, 2010 Leave a comment

The average sized home in America is starting to shrink.  No longer are homeowners demanding square footage and soaring open vaults in their living spaces.  McMansions are OUT – - – efficiency and versatility are IN.  MarketWatch’s Amy Hoak recently reported on this fast-evolving building trend.

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A Primer for the Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension

November 6, 2009 2 Comments

The Lancaster County Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Department, headed up by Frank Christoffel, IV, passed this Q&A along regarding the latest information on the potential extension of the homebuyer tax credit which includes an existing homebuyer credit that was not part of the first bill.

The House of Representatives passed the extension yesterday by a vote of 403-12 after passing the Senate the previous night 98-0.  The new provisions will take effect as soon as President Obama signs the bill.

Here are some of the specifics regarding eligibility requirements:

1.  Existing homeowner credit:  Must the new house cost more than the old house?   

No.  Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.  

2.  I am an existing homeowner.  On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a new home.  I have lived in my current  home for more than 5 consecutive years and am within the new income limits.  I will go to settlement on November 20.  If President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for the new $6500 tax credit? 

Yes.  The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment (when the bill is signed).   There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.

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Home Prices Continue to Strengthen Nationwide

September 29, 2009 Leave a comment

 

Another month – another positive sign!  The Standard & Poor‘s/Case-Shiller home price index rose 1.2 percent from June to August which reflects a positive trend for the third month in a row.

Before we all go off the deep end and declare “happy days are here again”, we should probably temper our enthusiasm just a bit.  David M. Blitzer, the committee chairman for the Case-Shiller index said, “We do need to be cautious in coming months to assess whether the housing market will weather the expiration of the federal first-time buyer’s tax credit in November, anticipated higher unemployment rates and a possible increase in foreclosures.”

Stay tuned – - -

Related articles of interest:
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Peering Through the Fog

September 10, 2009 Leave a comment

There are more and more positive signs that the fog is starting to clear in the residential real estate market.   Gone are the dense, pea-soup like conditions from a couple of months ago that caused buyers and sellers to try and drive through it at 5 mph.  It appears that they’ve put their collective feet on the accelerator and are now driving more confidently, albeit still with the headlights on. 

Point2 Technologies, Inc., the largest independent provider of website and listing syndication solutions for the real estate industry, with users in over 100 countries on its platform, released its Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) for August 2009 this past week.  Over 3,000 real estate professionals covering every U.S. State, Puerto Rico and Guam contributed to this month’s report.  Charts of their findings are shown below:

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The Consumer is Talking; Who’s Listening?

August 21, 2009 Leave a comment

When was the last time you sat down with a customer or client and really listened to them?  No – I mean really listened?  Did you interact with them and delve deep into their inner thoughts and feelings or was it superficial?  Worse yet, was it all ‘talk’ and no ‘listen’?  Take a second and watch this video.  Remind you of anyone?

A recent study conducted by Michigan State University researchers has identified what the sophisticated consumer is looking for in today’s competitive, challenging global economy.  Essentially, they are looking for a “total experience.”  Whether they are thinking about listing their property, talking with a financial consultant, shopping for a new dress or buying a cup of coffee, all consumers are looking for four major factors.  They are, in order of importance:

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How To Explain the Accuracy of Zestimates® To Consumers

August 15, 2009 Leave a comment

Image courtesy of Flickr

I remember a couple of years ago when Zillow first hit the real estate scene.  Consumers embraced the web site almost immediately because of the web site’s cool, on-line tools.  One tool in particular caught their fancy:  the Zestimate.  This single, funny-sounding word would grow to strike fear in the heart’s of REALTORS® everywhere.

But what is a Zestimate?  A Zestimate is an estimated market value of a home based on Zillow’s proprietary, mathematical formula.  The home data they compile to generate a Zestimate home valuation varies by location.  Some geographic areas provide all the data Zillow could hope for, but others are lacking such key things as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, or, in some cases, the square footage of the home.  The theory says that the more data Zillow has, the more accurate the Zestimate.  They even made it easy for users of the site to help them improve accuracy by incorporating edited home facts into their Zestimate calculations.  In some areas, Zillow can’t produce a Zestimate at all, but they do have some basic information on the homes.

Why did REALTORS® dispise Zillow?  Because they claimed that the tool that produced Zestimates oversimplified the valuation process and gave inaccurate results.  Regardless, Zillow shot up the popularity charts and in no time at all it was firmly entrenched as one of the top ten real estate web sites in the world.  REALTORS® looked at the new kid on the block as a threat to their own personal fiefdom as experts on property valuation.  They exclaimed, “How dare they hand out FREE property estimates!  They’re misleading consumers.  Why can’t consumers see that the accuracy of  Zestimates is atrocious?”

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New Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is a Quagmire

July 12, 2009 Leave a comment

What a mess!

Image courtesy of Flickr

The real estate industry has been operating under the new HVCC guidelines for a couple of weeks now and we are beginning to see the ugly results of this misguided set of government regulations.  In a preliminary report issued this past week by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), it finds that the HVCC is having an adverse impact on housing markets.

Before I get into the actual results, let me spend a minute and tell you about what this new set of guidelines was supposed to do.

The HVCC was intended to promote independence in the appraisal process and, thus, help ensure that appraisers and the appraisal process may be relied upon as part of sound underwriting for financial institutions.  What that actually means is that the loan officer who is working on your loan no longer orders the appraisal on your home.  It is done through the lender who either has an in-house process for appraisal management issues or, more often, it is done through something called an Appraisal Management Company (AMC).

While this may not seem like a big change to you if you are buying a home, it can possibly be a much bigger change than you might think.  Prior to May 1, loan officers, REALTORS® and appraisers all communicated as needed regarding your home and home financing and it wasn’t uncommon for everyone to be on the same conference call if needed.  But now that the HVCC rules are in place, the only way the loan officer or REALTOR® will know who the appraiser is is if by chance the appraiser calls them.  In other words, no one talks to anyone to clarify anything!

Now, on to the findings of NAR’s analysis:

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