Hello and welcome! Today we’re talking about “seller help” – you hear about it but what is it? “Seller Help”, “Seller Assist”, “Closing Cost Assistance” all refer to the same financial concept – moving some of the seller’s proceeds over into the buyer’s side of the settlement sheet. So, if a seller is expecting to receive $20,000 in proceeds at a certain price point, they can offer $5,000 to the buyer as an incentive as part of the agreement. Naturally they would then net only $15,000. Normally, the buyer initiates the proposal to add seller help.

(note that the name doesn’t much sense – most people think it should be “buyer help” or “buyer assist”. Sorry, I didn’t make it up!)

In this buyers market a great number of offers are made including seller help. Generally, if there is equity to be used, a seller is wise in considering these offers. With the general scarcity of qualified buyers even an offer with large (6% plus) amounts of seller assist included are worth considering. By the way, the typical range of seller help is 3%-6% per mortgage guidelines, but it can be more.

Now you know all about “seller help”!

Today we park in front of the whiteboard for another session with Jeremy Walter of Bare Financial. The topic is the actual monthly costs you can expect to deal with as a homeowner… paying the mortgage is just the beginning of the fun!
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(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan

Well it’s finally arrived! Episode #100… hard to believe we’ve been at this for 100 tries at video excellence. It’s my hope you’ve been helped by this show in understanding real estate. I do appreciate all the well wishes and encouraging words received in my first 100 episodes… and I appreciat each of you.

So, my topic for the day is how real estate agents are continually perceived as “car salesmen” (nothing against car salesmen, BTW). I just recently had yet another consumer interaction with a potential Lancaster County home buyer who did not understand that buyer agents exist to serve as their SOLE representative in the marketplace. They had scheduled multiple showings with the respective listing agents, and was leery (suspicious?) of me when I explained that this was unwise and the proper & effective method is to hire a competent buyer agent to show, negotiate and close on a property.

First, professional real estate agents appreciate an upfront relationship with a customer. They do NOT appreciate a customer who plays them against other agents, especially if it’s on purpose (happens).

Second, it’s legally and practically unwise to not retain a buyer agent if you’re looking to buy. There are significant legal issues – for example, any agent you “use” to see a home is under legal obligation NOT to disclose any information beyond the listing fact sheet without express permission of the SELLER. A smart agent in that scenario will just keep quiet if they have not been hired by you.

Third, you cannot expect to recieve top-notch service (aka “client service”) from an agent if you are unwilling to reciprocally commit to them vis a vis a buyer agency contract, if even for a few days or a few homes they show you.

I am convinced that most of this can be alleviated if a home buyer changes their fundamental viewpoint of agents. If you’re a home buyer, all the listing (seller side) agents out there exist to CO-OPERATE with YOUR agent. They do not exist solely to show you the homes they have listed (like a car lot salesperson does). This viewpoint necessitates & assumes that you will select and hire a buyer agent of your own… a wise choice.

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(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan

Everyone is asking around Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania – what’s going to happen with home prices, and when will we see the “good times” for sellers? It all comes down to, would you believe it, economics…

Supply and demand. Demand and supply.

Let’s pretend the home market is at a certain level of activity – prices and supply of homes for sale. Now, something happens to change the level of buyer activity (rates dropping for mortgages, silly tax credits, etc) and homes begin to sell. Now, buyers become a bit frantic and sellers (and realtors) sense this and price start rising. Multiple offers, same-day sales, overall a sense of craziness. Sound familiar? That was 2003 -2007 in a nutshell.

Now, something happens to the market (say, a crash?) that puts a damper on buyer activity. All of a sudden there are “too many” homes on the market and the prices are still trying to go up, but the buyers are not playing that game (neither are the appraisers for the banks, BTW). As the number of signs in yards grows, the sellers are the ones who get frantic.

Finally, sellers give up and start lowering their prices to get the home sold and move on. Or, they default for whatever reason and the distressed property sells for a cut rate. Now the “race to the bottom” of the real estate cycle has begun.

Lancaster PA home sales are in this last phase now. Where is the bottom? No one can say for sure but I predict prices will have to fall another 10% to get close to a “reset” point in the market here (prices have already fallen about 8-10% on average). Obviously, good economic news and job creation through small business expansions will be a huge factor in resetting the market.

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(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan

Today we’re going to talk about the Arts & Crafts movement (also known as Craftsman Style homes) in Lancaster County and Central PA. Homes for sale that were built in the 1920’s and 1930’s can either be all Craftsman or use bits and pieces of the architectural style that was extremely popular at the time.

I shot this episode at my listing at 67 Valley Road in Neffsville, next door to Manheim Township Middle and High Schools. You can see the bright, big photos of this home at http://www.67valley.com

Craftsman homes in Lancaster PA or throughout Central PA were largely constructed out of masonry – that was the common base material at the time and while there are examples of stick-built Arts & Crafts homes in Lancaster County I would say they are few and far between. A major component of the style is the large covered front porch, allowing people to spend time outside in the environment. You can spot a craftsman home by the porch and also by the integrated square columns… no round columns. The column in this home I’m at are perfect craftsman columns.

Also, simplicity and staying true to the original materials (wood, block etc) was key to the craftsman home style. You’ll notice that this porch is very clean, with no extra details in the flooring or millwork. Arts & Crafts homes arose as a response to the overbearing european styling that was heavy on “fluff” in the design – therefore it follows that craftsman period home designers would keep it simple.

You can read more about the period online – it’s a favorite home style of mine and, interestingly, since these homes are a)older and b)smaller than most homes for sale in Lancaster, the price to buy a decent craftsman home can be very affordable! This home in Neffsvile is only $149,000. Keep an eye out for those big porches and square columns…

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(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan

Here we visit with Garry Seidel, manager over at Fulton Mortgage Company to talk about what’s hot and what’s not in the mortgage market as summer 2011 winds down…

With the upcoming changes to FHA loans, the maximum loan limit is returning to pre-2008 levels. Rural Housing Service (RHS) home loans will be adding mortgage insurance payments to the principal and interest. Both of these changes are scheduled to go into effect October 1, 2011.

I asked Garry to talk about Rural Housing (RHS) loans – how they stacked up as a good option for your typical homebuyer. Garry likes them alot, and feels that with all the changes to FHA loan rules the RHS loans continue to be a better choice, given the two main guidelines: Maximum family income limits and geographic location limits.

Lastly, Garry brought up the subject of Lancaster PA mortgage rates and rates in general – he commented that although Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have promised to keep rates down for 2 years, that applies to home equity loans and NOT mortgage rates – an important distinction. Mortgages in Lancaster County and beyond will continue to be driven by market forces and have been fairly volatile recently.

Both Garry and I strongly recommend that if you’re interested in buying a home you should get prequalified FIRST and have the conversation with Garry about which loan product and terms will work best for your situation. You can reach Garry at (717) 336-8054 or gseidel at fultonmortgagecompany dot com.

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Today I take a brief look at Log homes in Lancaster County and the region – do we really have any?  You bet.

Today we delve into condos in Lancaster County PA – the amenities usually included with the condominium association membership and the typical fees you’ll need to pay in addition to your monthly principal & interest, taxes and homeowners insurance.

There’s a lot of variety when it comes to Lancaster PA condos for sale. There’s new construction homes out in the rural areas, established Lancaster suburban communities near the city, and also neat adaptive reuse condos in downtown Lancaster City PA. Examples would be Clock Towers and North Shippen Place.

If you are interested in learning more about your condo options in and around Lancaster, feel free to reach out to me at jeff@yourlancasterhome.com.

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(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan

North Shippen Place condominiums are located at the corner of East Walnut and North Shippen in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania.  The address of the main building is 231 North Shippen Street, Lancaster PA 17602.  There are 4+ floors (they have a little “half floor” the way the building is constructed).  The building apparently was converted from a tobacco warehouse in a good example of adaptive re-use in Lancaster City.

The prices for condos in North Shippen Place range from the low $90,000’s to about $130,000.  It is possible to rerent them – units will show up on Craigslist from time to time.  The condo fee is fairly low – approximately $210 per month that covers most everything.  Owners don’t get any extra storage, but parking is wide open and nobody ever complains about not getting spaces.  Of course, city property taxes aren’t cheap but overall these condo homes are very affordable homes in Lancaster County.

The real cool stuff, though, is the proximity of North Shippen Place to the heart of Lancaster City.  It’s only a few blocks to Lancaster General Hospital’s main campus, and does qualify for the the Lancaster General “Home In The City” homebuyer incentive the hospital offers.  A couple of blocks further is North Queen Street with it’s shops and restaurants.  Another block and you’re right in the middle of downtown Lancaster City.

Search Lancaster City Condos For Sale

If you’re looking at buying a home you’ll likely come across the phrase “privacy violation” somewhere. In a nutshell, a privacy violation occurs in real estate where you have to pass through one room to get into another, specifically with bedroom spaces.

This is a common issue in homes for sale in Lancaster City, PA and also in older farmhouses around Lancaster County. I was just in one such home this morning showing it to some buyers from New Jersey. Privacy violations can be a significant issue when listing agents don’t disclose them properly and buyers are led to believe that there are 3 bedrooms (for example) when in reality you have to walk through 1 of the them to get into another. The real estate convention is that, for a room to be counted as a bedroom, it must have 2 things:

1) Independent access to a common area (hallway, living room etc).
2) A closet space of some sort.

Rooms with privacy violations are commonly included in the MLS and advertising as “bedrooms” – there’s just so many of them and the county tax records generally note them so why not, right? As a buyer you’ll need to know that before setting up the showing, though.

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Thanks for watching! Please take a moment to subscribe here athttp://tv.yourlancasterhome.com and pop over to our facebook page to “like” it at http://www.facebook.com/lancasterhomes

Choose Jeff Geoghan for your next home sale or purchase in Lancaster PA! Thanks.

(c) 2011 Jeff Geoghan