Visit this link to see the awesome and colorful views of New Hope on a Beautiful November day.

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/hN2uE2DX

First quarter statistics are in, so we are able to begin to develop a better indication of where things are with regards to real estate in the communities I serve, in Bucks County.  I have written many posts in the past, explaining that the market in Bucks County, is nowhere near as depressed as it is in some markets in the country.  I will address that issue, in another post to follow shortly. 

Here in Bucks County, looking at first quarter statistics, there is no question that we are continuing to experience a buyers market.  That means that there are lots of things on the market, not as many buyers.  One point of emphasis though, is that contrary to what the press would have everyone believe, foreclosures in our area, are still not influencing the market significantly.  I still have buyers who are under the impression that every house currently on the market, is being sold by a desperate seller, who is facing imminent foreclosure.  That is simply not the case.  Virtually every single seller in the market, that I am aware of, is selling for life style, or job transfer reasons.  I have sellers moving up, downsizing, and selling because of job transfers.  All of those reasons, are completely normal.

Here is what the statistics show.  The volume of sold/closed units through the first quarter was noticeably lower than last year, in virtually all of our markets.  Lower Makefield Township was actually down almost 30%, and Upper Makefield was down almost 50%.  Newtown Township was actually the exception, in that Newtown showed an increase of approximately 4% in closed first quarter units.

Inventory is trending as one would expect in a buyers market.  Inventory is up from February in all markets.  If you compare inventory levels at the end of March 2008, with March 2007, the results vary from market area to market area.  For example, Lower Makefield's inventory of homes was lower at the end of March this year, than last year, by almost 22%.  Newtown, Upper Makefield and Solebury are higher, as is Buckingham and Northampton. 

Average days on the market are higher over a year ago, reflecting tougher market conditions for sellers. 

Looking at sold/list ratios, shows slighly increasing discounts of between 6 & 10 percent in most markets.

Despite all of the above, the market contines to be extremely price sensitive.  There are still many examples of houses selling quickly, and selling for close to the asking price.  For example, I recently had a listing right in Yardley Boro, on the main street.  It sold in 2 days, for almost exactly the asking price.  Where is the press when that happens!

The message from looking at all of these statistics is that houses are selling every day of the week.  If it is priced correctly, and marketed correctly, it will sell.  It is still a buyers market, but there are still buyers looking, and buyers are making offers. 

In future posts, I will delve into the statistics a little deeper, and I will also reflect on some additional observations about the current market.

I finally saw an article in the local press, (Feb 26th) that accurately described our local market.  Here is a link to the entire article, which appeared on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

(http://www.philly.com/inquirer/real_estate/Houses_still_find_eager_buyers.html)  Basically, the article said that there are still situations in our current real estate market, where houses attract more than one buyer.  Essentially, it comes down to price.  If a house is priced appropriately, it will get shown, and it will sell.  According to the article, for all of 2007, the median price of houses sold in Bucks County, was down 0.3%, in 2007, which represents a pretty insignificant drop.  Even in terms of units, for the entire county, Bucks was off 4.4% for the previous year.  Again, if you read all of the national articles, you would presume that Bucks County is experiencing a real estate depression.  That is simply not the case.

Looking at the statistics locally, from January, some of our local markets, are actually ahead of last year.  Lower Makefield Township is up by more than 15%, and is Newtown Township.  Solebury and Buckingham Township are down.  Inventory has increased in virtually of our markets, in January, from December.  However, if you compare inventory this January, with last January, most markets are actually showing less inventory than a year ago.  Again, this varies on a township by township basis.  Sales discounts still continue to average around 5% or so, from the asking price. 

What all of the statistics mean from a local perspective, is that the market in Bucks County is nowhere nearly as weak as it is in some parts of the country.  Although it is still a buyers market, homes that are priced correctly can and do sell, and they can sell for pretty close to the asking price.  I recently had a listing in Yardley Boro, that was priced right, showed well, and sold the second day on the market, for virtually the asking price.  (http://101nmainstreet.com/)

I have written a few posts recently, about the state of the real estate market in Bucks County.  In those posts, I have consistently pointed out that our local market, is not doing all that badly.  That is especially the case when you compare what is happening in Bucks County, with what is happening in many parts of the county.   If you listen to the national press, you would assume that the bottom is falling out of the real estate market in Bucks County.  I have been extremely frustrated with our local  press, because until recently, there have been very few articles that accurately portray the state of the local market.  In case anyone has not told you, real estate is, and always has been, local.  What is happening in Florida, Arizona and California, has nothing to do with what is happening in Bucks County.

The chart actually documents, from data taken directly from our MLS system, that there were more closed units in Lower Makefield Township in 2007, than in 2006.  You would certainly not know this, from reading the local newspapers.  This is not to suggest that our market is not a, "buyers market".

I found a couple of very well written articles, in local publications, that very accurately portray the state of our local market.  First, the current issue of Philadelphia Magazine, has on its cover, the following headline, "Philadelphia, Smile.  Your house is worth more than you think." 

In the article, the author points out that the general Philadelphia metropolitan area, of which Bucks County is included, is holding up quite well, compared with other parts of the country.  The article explains why the Philly area market is better than you are being told.  He points out that the area economy is still strong.  Another point made, is that we are a primary residence market, for the most part.  There was never a lot of speculative buying, during the hectic, appreciating years.  As a result, although prices appreciated nicely in the Bucks County area, they did not appreciate as much as they did in more speculative areas.  Conversely, as other parts of the country have crashed, our landing has been much smoother.  The article dispels several other myths about the local real estate market.  I highly recommend getting a copy of the article.  If you are reading this, and would like a copy, please let me know, and I can send it via email.

The second article, was a column in the Philadelphia Inquires, this past Sunday, by the papers real estate columnist, Alan J. Heavens.  Alan talks in his column, about real estate from a historic perspective.  He says, "Real estate is local as local as a block.  Forget the web nuts and NBC nightly news.  There is no national housing market."  Further, he observes that if you are thinking of selling but worried that the housing market is glutted.  Forget it, he says.  Houses linger because they aren't priced right for the market.  How true!

Interest rates are low, and there is mortgage money available, despite the challenges of the sub-prime lending fiasco.

In a nutshell, as I have been saying recently, the real estate market in Bucks County is not as bad as the press would have us all believe.  Houses are selling every day.  The spring market is upon us and I will report on how the first quarter faired, once we get through March. 

In another post, I will provide some additional statistics for other Bucks County markets. 

The big day has finally arrived.  It is Super Bowl Sunday!  Here in Bucks County, I have to say, it does not feel like an early February, Super Bowl day.  The temperature is in the 50's, and the local golf courses are doing an incredible business, considering it is mid-winter.  http://www.makefieldhighlands.com/layout9.asp?id=133&page=1869

I think the biggest challenge for our Philadelphia area, is who to root for.  Bucks County is right on the edge of the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but also close enough to New York, that there are many avid New York supporters.  For most sports, I am a Philly sports phanatic.  I root for the Sixers in basketball, and the Eagles in football.  My rooting interest in baseball is somewhat odd, considering where we live.  I have been a Chicago White Sox fan, since I was about 7 years old.  As a topic for another post, I do remember the White Sox days of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. 

The challenge for today, though, being an Eagles fan, is to try and figure out who to root for in the Super Bowl.  Personally, I am rooting for the Giants.  I did not come to this position easily.  If you root for the Eagles, it is almost sacreligious, to root for the New York Giants.  The only thing worse, would be to root for Dallas.  I view this process as choosing the lesser of two evils.  I have had enough of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady and their coach.  I am sure part of that is jealousy, since it has been decades since Philadelphia has won anything.  I admire how the Giants have reached this spot, considering where they started from.  The problem is, I will have to deal with listening to the gloating New York fans, who call into Philly sports talk radio. http://www.610wip.com/

The Philly-NewYork thing, really makes for an interesing rivalry.  Both cities have incredibly passionate, supportive fans.  However, for today, I am a Giants fan.  I will deal with the consequences should they win.  In the meantime, my kids might ask me to sit on the other side of the room from them.  They are of the mindset, that you can't be a true Philadelphia fan, and cheer for the Giants.  It should all be fun!

Enjoy the day.

In an interesting article this morning, the Bucks County Courier Times,  finally acknowledged what I have been discussing with buyers and sellers for all of 2007, which is that, although we in Bucks County are experiencing a difficult market for sellers, things are nowhere nearly as bad here, as they are in many parts of the country.  As the article states (http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-01282008-1478346.html) "Bucks County fared better than the region and the nation, in home sales last year. "  For all of Bucks County, according to market statistics, the number of home sales declined by about 4%, for all of 2007, from 2006.  To put that in perspective, nationally, home sales dropped 13%, between 2006 and 2007.

Even within Bucks County, individual Townships and Boro's, did not necessarily perform exactly the same as the county as a whole.  For example, according to our MLS statistics, Lower Makefield Township actually had an increase in the number of units that sold in 2007, as compared with 2006.  (439 units closed in 2006, 460 closed in 2007)  Upper Makefield actually saw a 12% drop in the number of sold units from 2006 to 2007. (125 sold in 2006, while 110 sold in 2007)

Interestingly enough, despite the tough market conditions, inventory of homes actually declined in virtually all of the Bucks County markets, from November 2007, to December 2007.  This was the case in Lower Makefield, Morrisville, Newtown, Soleburry, Buckingham and Northampton.   What this all means, is that in terms of months of inventory, several markets are actually trending towards a more balanced condition.  For example, Lower Makefield had approximately 5 months of inventor, Newtown Township had 6 months of inventory, as did Northampton Township.  Upper Makefield and Solebury remained solidly in a, buyers market, scenario.  Upper Makefield and Solebury, each have approximately 14 months of inventory.

What all of this means to buyers and sellers in Bucks County, is that it is a mistake to presume that nothing is selling.  Buyers are making offers every day, and sellers are accepting offers every day.  Interest rates have dropped to almost historic low levels, and there are still lots of choices for buyers.  Buyers are actually seeing an average of 5% discount from the list price.  As always, price is critically important.  Overpriced listings will stay on the market and get stale.  Listings that are priced correctly, given the current market conditions, do get shown, and will attract offers. 

For those reading this post, who are in Bucks County in Pennsylvania, or Mercer County, in New Jersey, I have a program that allows a consumer to track from their own computer, sales activity in their neighborhood, and the program will actually show how long homes stay on the market, and it will also track discounts from list price.  In addition to that, it will track pricing trend lines, so you can really see what prices are doing, in  your specific neighborhood.  If you are interested in that, just drop me an e-mail, and I will set it up for you.

Since this is my first post of the new year, I wanted to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous, new year.  In whatever way, or whatever holiday you celebrated, I hope that you had a chance to spend time with your family and loved ones. 

I always love the holiday's because, although real estate activity tends to slow down, I have the opportunity to spend more time with my wife, Jane, and our children.  We have 3 children, and are fortunate that we are so much a part of their lives.  Our oldest daughter, Rachel, is a practicing psychologist with offices in Yardley, and Lawrenceville.  She is also on the staff of Einstein Medical Center, in Philadelphia.  Our middle child, Lauren, owns a Coldstone Creamery Ice Cream store, just outside of Princeton, and our youngest, Michael, who graduated from the University of Maryland a couple of years ago, is tending bar in Philadelphia, while he figures out what he wants to do with the next chapter of his life. 

Every year, at our annual family new year celebration, we go around the room and ask every participant to express what they were thankful about from the past year, and to also say what they are passionate about for the upcoming year.  In my case, I feel incredibly fortunate to have such a great family.  We are close to all of our kids, and their significant others.  We have fun together, and most importantly, we are all healthy!  On a personal note, one of my goals for 2007, was to start to learn how to play the guitar.  I love music, and it is something that I have wanted to do for years.  As each year passed, I got a year older, but still could not play the guitar.  About 6 months ago, I finally started to take lessons. I absolutely love it, and practice virtually every day.  Who knows, maybe by the end of this year, I will be ready for public consumption.

Besides my family, music, and basketball (which I play about 3 times a week) I am very passionate and committed to giving back to the community that has been so good to us.  I am still involved with the Trenton Public Education Foundation.  I am working on an exciting project that I was introduced to by a wonderful teacher at Trenton High, who is offering a program to students, called, "From snapshots to the workplace: using industry standard software to engage students in a career focused course."  The Trenton school district is a very poor district, and unfortunately, their computers are so old and outdated, that they actually will not run current industry standard software.  I am working, through a foundation that my daughter is involved with, on getting new Mac computer systems into the school, so that the teacher can offer this exciting opportunity to her students.  I passionately believe that many of the worlds problems can be solved through education and economic opportunity.  I believe that people who are educated and have an economic future, don't generally blow themselves up, or shoot their neighbors.

Another charity that I am happy to have supported, is CARE. (http://www.care.org/)  This outstanding organization helps disadvantaged women all over the globe.  A wonderful group of women, called, "The Web Women's Giving Circle", (http://www.realtown.com/caremoregivingcircle/blog) re-introduced me to this outstanding charity. 

So I realize that this post included nothing specific about real estate.  In future posts, I intend to offer some very interesting observations from the National Association of Realtor's (NAR) profile of home buyers and sellers, which I just received for 2007.  I will also update everyone, statistically, with what is happening in our local market. 

As I end for now, I just wanted to thank again, all of the buyers and sellers who have honored me by trusting me with their real estate business.  All the best to everyone, in 2008!

In a recent post, I had a home inspector with whom I work on a regular basis, post an article about the entire home inspection process.  Considering the fact that the market for sellers is very weak right now, I can't emphasize enough how important it is for sellers to give themselves the best possible opportunity to make sure that their home shows as well as it possibly can.  To help with this process, I frequently recommend a process we call "staging".  Essentially, staging is a step we take to maximize the emotional appeal of the house to prospective buyers as the house is shown.  To elaborate on the benefits and explain how staging works I asked Wendy Kokinda of Larsen Redesigns, (http://www.larsenredesigns.com/) to write a post describing what her company does.  From personal experience working with Wendy and her partner Colleen, I can say that they do a fabulous job.  My thanks to Wendy for her help with this.

STAGING . . . The New Buzz Word in Real Estate                     

As I go forward with my business, I find it incredibly amazing that the concept of staging has not truly penetrated the real estate industry on the East Coast as extensively as it has on the West Coast.   In this very difficult selling market, there is an elevated inventory from which a buyer can shop. Presently buyers, in essence, have "the pick of the litter," and that is exactly the issue at hand. How does one make their listing stand out from the rest? As you know, buyers purchase most everything on emotion. They buy things they like or even things they fall in love with. Real estate property is not differentiated from other things that buyers purchase, it's just more expensive than a pair of jeans or a car. If the house doesn't create an emotional bond with the perspective buyer, the buyer will "walk" and they will just look at the next house on the list. Notice I am referring to the "house" not the "home."  One thing I always encourage my staging clients to do is to realize that they need to consider that their "home" becomes a "house" and this "house" is now a product.  Our objective is to market that product the best way that we possibly can.

How do you do that . . . you ask? STAGE your listings!

Visual appeal creates an emotional bond between the buyer and the "house."  You only have one chance to make a good first impression. The expression is so true. From the front curb to the back property line, it is imperative that the entire property display itself in the best possible manner. A house with a well maintained lawn and trimmed trees is going to translate a subconscious message that the "house" is well maintained and will lure the buyer to the next step . . . to see the inside of the "house."

Creating better visual appeal is the ultimate goal of a Real etate staging professional. De-cluttering and de-personalizing are all natural and obvious changes that need to be made to a home to help the sale of a property. But it goes much deeper than that. Furniture placement, adding decorative elements and creating a model home effect are just a few things Stagers can do to make a difference in a "house" that needs some esthetic help.

Staging a house can make a tremendous impact in the success of a timely sale of a property in this present climate. Staging statistically increases the profit $$ to not only the seller but also to the real estate agent as well. In addition, staging will help to decrease the days the house is on the market. The fact is, a staged house is more desirable than one that has not been staged.

For a reasonable fee, the staging professional will do an initial evaluation of the property by gathering important information and taking numerous pictures of the house. A report is then produced and presented to the homeowner defining the issues that exist in the property that may inhibit a timely sale. A "to do" list is given to the homeowner along with a proposal and contract to have the staging professional return to stage the property. The staging fees are extremely variable and dependent upon the amount of work to be done and time invested by the staging professional. Rental furniture can be obtained for vacant homes as well.

The time period in which this entire process will occur can be a week or two. It is advisable to bring the staging professional in after the listing agreement has been signed but before all multiple listing pictures have been taken. Wouldn't you want the photos to have the best possible appeal and your listing to display itself the best manner possible?

Staging can make a tremendous impact on the increased salability of a home. Staging = a quick sale & higher profits = a happy seller = more referrals = future business! You come out a winner! Staging works!

Wendy Kokinda is an Interior Redesign Industry Specialist and a Certified Interior Staging Specialist. Colleen Stasinchak is an Accredited Staging Professional. They are partners in Larsen Redesigns, an Interior Redesign and Staging company located in Bucks County, PA  http://www.larsenredesigns.com/  215.752.9021

I have to apologize for the long delay in following up with another post to my blog.  I will make a concerted effort to post more frequently.  

Although the weather does not feel like it, we are now officially in the "spring market" stage of the real estate calendar.  Many buyers and sellers are looking for settlements after the close of the school calendar in June.  If you are in that category, just a quick word of advice regarding planning for your move:  The end of June and end of July are the two busiest moving times of the year.  Movers get booked for those dates very quickly.  Once your real estate transaction is secure -- meaning that the inspections, etc., have been completed satisfactorily -- call to book your mover as soon as possible.  That should prevent you from not being able to work with the mover of your choice.  If you are reading this blog and looking for good movers, please contact me so I can forward the name and phone number of an outstanding mover who can handle moves just about anywhere in the world.

The spring market is the busiest real estate season of the year.  As a follow up to my last post about finding a home inspector  my friend, a home inspector, offered the following brief suggestions for buyers and sellers:

Three Tips for Buyers

1. New is not always nice!   There have been a lot of newcomers to the "building or rehab business" in this last boom.   The quality of the workmanship for many of these newcomers can be incomplete, improper, or not up to current standards.  Beware that many problems that will result will not manifest themselves for many months or even a few years.  Also, the warranty is only as good as the person who issues it.  Look for reputable, experienced contractors.

2. What did they say!   Check info from sellers.   When did the roof leak?  How often did they say the basement gets went?  Who did that plumbing repair?  When did the stream in the rear yard flood?  Look at the Sellers Disclosure.  Ask for an explanation and an update before closing.  Be clear and be sure that you understand what is being presented.

3. Is it straight!  Walls and ceilings that are not straight and level may just indicate normal settling or may never be explained.   But these can also represent major structural failures.  Beware and get a qualified opinion.

Three Tips of Sellers

1. Tell It All!   Today's legal standard is "Seller Beware"!  To save  potential conflicts or lawsuits, be sure to disclose all known defects or repairs to any potential buyers.   Show and document everything.  

2. Patience!   Be patient with all of the new contingencies and inspections people will ask for.  Remember you may be doing the same to the sellers of next house you buy.

3. Avoid "Let's make a deal again"!  The house is finally under agreement;  It hard enough in this market to get your deal.   But then along comes the buyer's home inspection.  Now the buyer wants this and did not realize that.  Avoid the renegotiation surprises by getting a home inspection done before you put the house on the market.   This can also be part of your disclosure.

The above comments were posted by Vince Tecce of the Building Inspector of America.  Vince can be reached at 215-321-3151.  I have personally worked with Vince for years and he does comprehensive and excellent home inspections.  His website is at the following URL: http://www.TheBuildingInspectorofAmerica.com.