The question of market stability and prices of homes flat-lining burns the lips of every Lehigh Valley homeowner and potential buyer. Has hit bottom? What is my home worth now? The home down the street just sold what did they get? Insert any other value question that one has heard here.
If one likes to have a general answer, please refer to the latest news clipping stating such prices as flat lined or bottomed, but if one truly wants to evaluate the market, one must study the subject property or the market of the subject property.
Enter MyHomeThisMarket.com which helps Lehigh Valley homeowners and once more Lehigh Valley buyers to determine value and strength of market all with just a few clicks. A simple 2 step enrollment process allows visitors to provide statistics on the subject properties or for a buyers perspective subject market and once completed, a email is delivered with a link to allow of the latest market data mapped inteactively around the subject property.
Visitors now are equipped with complete market statistics on all available homes, recently sold homes, average days on market, list vs. selling price, and more, giving Lehigh Valley homeowners and buyers a neatly graphed depiction of market strength. Furthermore, if visitors need help determining the data, a quick contact to the sponsoring Realtor is just a click away.
Visit MyHomeThisMarket.com and get the latest market values on your Lehigh Valley Home.
Welcome Home! This Whitehall Ranch provides total convenience, with first floor living that includes a remodeled kitchen Thomasville cabinetry with granite counter tops and inlaid stainless steel sink, upgraded lighting with under cabinet & recess accents, 3 ample bedrooms, a remodeled bath that consists of upgraded fixtures, a Corian countertop with integrated sink, upgraded cabinetry, and a generous linen closet for this size house. Combine these with neutral decorative paint colors, a partially finished lower level, an oversized garage, newer central air, a premium yard & location. This home is for those who appreciate fine details & comfort.
As I wrote my last blog "tales of an office going paperless" I started contemplating the great strides by Real Estate Agents and Companies have made to catch up to the Consuming Public. Certainly its fair to say that we as Realtors and Brokerages did not pave the way for the online consumer, moreso the consumer drove us to the digital world. And that is what brokerages and agents are diligently trying bridge......THE DIGITAL GAP. And I also thought about the timing of this article as we as agents in a down market are looking harder then ever to create business opportunities and may not take the time to step back and evaluate our companies to see what is on the horizon for them....basically we scramble now, and again when the market rebounds because these items are not being addressed in the down market.
Online Consumers with high demand for information, data, and prompt service have forged ahead....while some of us as agents and brokerages are still embracing some of the fundametals of the Digital World. This gap is going to be the surviving factor for Real Estate brokerages and agents over the next couple of years. Not just email and websites....but we as real estate individuals will have to evaluate, implement, and to some degree create new forums. I use the word individuals here because in the real estate industry more than any other is a crucial point. With higher commission splits being offered coinciding with agents shouldering more of the business building expenses, shortly this will produce a sink or swim time for agents and companies.
As an agent in this market, I know the biggest part of evaulating a brokerage today is how they are answering the "technology front". I not talking about having a "help desk" for people who are having issues with the printer....I talking big picture. As an agent I want to see how web soultions are being handeled to capture, retain, and grow realtionships with the online consumer. I as an agent (more specifically having a strong background in Web Development, Design, Application Planning & Development, & transit) know I cannot support the cost of this on my own. Yes I know that there are comapnies offereing pre-canned web sites....pick a template post your photo, and idx your properties....but the online consumer is looking for more. They want school and community data for every listing, and want see alll lisitngs from one site, the want statisical data on homes sales in the area. They want INFO and NOW. So please save your 70/30 speech and tell me how you are solving these topics over the next year. Tell me how you are implementing email solutions like a Blackberry Enterprise Server. I talking a transaction management system that increasses my flexibility and improve my customer support without me faccing the financial burden of the whole thing.
As a company in this market, I would be looking to my agents and see how they are going to be answering these same questions. It is time to put it all out there because this market is causing consolidation and consolidation breeds a matching of compensation, and elimination of support staff, and opportunities for agents to evaluate other options. A well prepared company can offer more to an agent the just a high compensation plan.
I guess what I am saying is that the 800lb tech gorilla (if thats still an in style saying), is it sitting in your room/company.
Wanted everyone in the Lehigh Valley real Estate profession to be aware of the Food Drive going on to help support the Second Harvest...We at spectrum GMAC will be chipping in and trying to raise enough food to feed 40 needy families. We have dedicated 2 of our offices (Tilghman Square and Whitehall) as drop offs from Nov 8 - Nov. 22. We are asking the real estate community to help us help our neighbors in need. If you would like to help please drop some items on the below wish list.
Second Harvest Wish List
Cereal
Peanut Butter & jelly
Tuna
Rice
Pasta
Salt and sugar
canned vegetables
canned fruit
canned meats and stews
soup
diapers
laundry detergent
personal care items (soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)
A Long Time to Develop but we have finally released SpectrumHomeFinder.com version 2.0. With just some minor fine tuning left, but we got a comprehensive web marketing site for the Lehigh Valley Seller aimed to conquer this marketplace. This site along with our Menu of Services (Marketing Programs) will push the envelope of success in this Market. No Longer undefined marketing results for Sellers.
If you a buyer looking for a Real Estate deal in the Allentown, Bethlehem, & Easton Areas check out www.SpectrumHomeFinder.com with its new features of Interactive map search, Map Points of Interest (like banks, restaurants, shopping etc) around your new home, get Detailed Community & school statisicts for every listing, and save everything to the Home Club for future colaboration. All this not to mention version 1's Open House Schedule, a Mortgage Calculator for all loans, and an application for PreQualification. Truly awesome stuff.
If you ever wanted to know the value of your home or if you want to check the value of any Lehigh Valley Property, check out www.MyHomeThisMarket.com . It gives an instant snapshot of your local market based on LIVE LEHIGH VALLEY MLS Data. Once your registered you will recieve monthly updates on your market. So stay ahead of this Real Estate market by registering at www.MyHomeThisMarket.com to get instant Lehigh Valley Home Values.
I have gotten so many requests from Buyers and Sellers asking: What is the value of this home in the Lehigh Valley? What has the market done to the value of this home? and so on. Well there is a nifty website to check out if you are asking those questions. www.MyHomeThisMarket.com allows users to register and enter an adress along with property statistics and gives a real time value of a home along with a snapshot of the local market. Very neat and worth while checking out whether your buying or selling. Let me know your thoughts.
With the start of the new year and with business being on the crazy side of the line, I write to everyone with best wishes and warm regards for a prosperous new year. I thought this would be a good time to sketch out expectations & highlights for Buyers and Sellers in the Lehigh Valley Market this coming year.
To My beloved Buyers:
This is an ideal time to capitalize on this market. Lehigh Valley Homes under $250,000.00 are still moving at very good pace (average days on market last month in our office was about 45 - 50), so be keen on this market, don't let many opportunities wait or they will be gone. Anyone looking for homes over $300,000 in the Lehigh Valley, you can conquer this market. Sellers are getting are willing to talk and there is some inventory that is not gaining traction as in past years. SO this offers buyers a great time to pick and choose a property that is ideal for them. A word to the wise for my buyers, be careful of this approaching market, with low interest rates, and an economy that could strengthen, we may hit a hot spirt in 08 market. There were a lot of buyers that took a wait and see attitude and if good economic news hits in 08 we will see a rebounding market. So too truly take advantage of the situation now would be the best time to start getting serious, because the #1 rule of money is to BUY LOW - SELL HIGH. If you wait you may be buying on the incline and loose the golden opportunity that is NOW!
TO My Hopeful Sellers:
Pist here is a secret, marketing is the key to this market. Find a creative agent who knows how to get you in front of GOOD BUYERS. Asked about upgrading services to get better exposure, not just MLS, SIGN, Paper, and hopefully SOLD. We have had tremendous success here with our Sellers programs. We enroll our sellers in this program to get exposure on different web sites, our killer company web site for info, home books with demographic and school breakdowns to answer all buyers questions. All this marketing adds up! So redefine your home when it comes to marketing and you will be A OK. Also read the above, we could hit a good stretch here in 08 if everything plays out the way it should. So make sure your home is prepared for success in 08.
New Construction:
If you a Buyer looking at new construction, this is a great time to buy. A couple words of caution, make sure you have a good buy - sell program in place if you need to sell your home. Don't get caught shorthanded here and loose vaulable incentives. Also make sure your builder is reputable. If not BUYER BEWARE!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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