brown mckinney: Are Buyers Starting to Re-Emerge?
- 09/23/10 05:00 AM
The summer of 2010 will be remembered by folks in the real estate business as a long vacation from serious, qualified buyers. Since the tax-credit deadline of April 30th, the number of active buyers in my market, Philadelphia, has been very slim, and I've heard similar stories from people in other parts of the country. This has been great for the few serious buyers who were looking this summer - they were able to negotiate great deals in a once-in-a-lifetime buyers' market. On the other hand, sellers have been having a very tough go of it the last few months with … (2 comments)
brown mckinney: Employment Picture Better than Expected
- 09/03/10 06:35 AM
If you've been reading my blog you know I expect the real estate markets to start recovering once the job market starts consistently growing. Well the national news today was a bit better than expected with reports of 67,000 private sector jobs being added in August. The June and July employment numbers were also revised upwards, another reason for a bit of optimism. While a positive surprise is nice (analysts expected only 41,000 new jobs in August), the economy still needs to more than double this monthly job growth figure if we want to really reverse the damage of the 'Great … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Breakdown of July's Existing Home Sales Data
- 08/30/10 04:22 AM
The release last week of July's existing home sales figures from the National Association of Realtors was all over the news, where it was spun mostly as a sign that we might be headed for a 'double dip' recession driven by a continuing weakness in the housing market. If you dig a little deeper into the numbers though you see that what we're seeing isn't so much a weakening housing market, as a tale of two housing markets: the market with the $8,000 tax credit and the market without it.Home sales in the first six months of 2010 were VERY strong … (0 comments)
brown mckinney: Back from Vacation to Find LOW Mortgage Rates
- 08/27/10 07:22 AM
I'm back from a long vacation and catching up on what I missed. There's a lot to cover, so check back for more blog posts over the next few days, but I'll start today with the REALLY good news for home-buyers or homeowners looking to refinance: interest rates are at all time lows! I'm seeing 30 year fixed FHA loans quoted as low as 4.0% which means your monthly mortgage payment (principal and interest) for a $200,000 house would be only $921.41 with only $7,000 down! And that payment is locked in for 30 years! If you're currently renting and having … (4 comments)
brown mckinney: A Good Reason to Buy Now - FHA Increasing Fees in September
- 08/06/10 09:16 AM
Starting September 7th, the Federal Housing Administration will raise the annual fees it charges FHA borrowers for mortgage insurance. Lately a huge percentage of buyers have been using FHA loans since they are one of the few options left for a low-down-payment purchase. The annual mortgage insurance fee will initially rise from 0.55% to 0.85% of the loan amount, but is authorized to go as high as 1.5%, at which point it could make housing less affordable to many buyers. To help ease the pain of higher annual fees, FHA is going to reduce the up-front mortgage insurance premium from 2.25% … (0 comments)
brown mckinney: Good Reading for Buyers and Sellers
- 07/28/10 04:00 AM
We're supposed to be headed out of the great recession right? The worst of the housing market is behind us right? That's the general story coming from the media lately, and to a large extent I agree. Foreclosure rates are gradually creeping down in most areas as banks streamline their systems for dealing with troubled borrowers and job losses seem to be moderating, even if new jobs aren't being created as quickly as we'd all like. So yes, nationwide things are getting better when you look at the big picture. On the ground in the world of real estate though, the … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: New Mixed-Use Development Near Temple University
- 06/07/10 05:30 AM
New York-based developer Jonathan Rose Companies is joining with local non-profit Asociacíon Puertorriqueños en Marcha to develop a 200,000 square foot mixed-use development near the Temple University transit center at 10th & Berks in North Philadelphia. According to this Philadelphia Business Journal article the development will consist of 164 mixed-income apartments, as well as parking, retail space, and a community technology center. The published cost of the project is $48 million, about 1% of which is federal funding with the rest being funded by Jonathan Rose Cos. Jonathan Rose Cos. has a long track record of successful transit-oriented development (TOD) in … (0 comments)
brown mckinney: City Pools Get Funding Just in Time for the Summer Heat
- 06/03/10 04:16 AM
In today's inquirer, there was a bit of good news from the worlds of Philadelphia weather, politics, and banking - how often do you get that triumvirate? Just as temperatures are starting to regularly hit the high 80s & low 90s First Niagara Bank, which recently acquired Harleysville National Bank and has been quickly expanding its local presence, donated $400,000 to the city of Philadelphia to cover the costs of opening and operating all of the city's 72 outdoor public pools. This will provide welcome relief to Philadelphians in need of a place to cool down this summer, and it provides … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Philly Condo Prices Starting to Make Investment Sense
- 05/06/10 11:39 AM
The title of this blog says it all. I'm finally starting to see condo prices in some Philadelphia condo buildings that make sense as buy-and-hold investment opportunities. Typically the business model of buying a condo unit and renting it out for cash-flow has been a long-shot in Philly. This is largely due to condo fees that cost you more than the amenities they pay for generate in rental premiums. However, the condo market seems to be lagging the rest of the market in terms of pricing recovery, and since there is still a glut of condos on the market it may … (0 comments)
brown mckinney: Video Tour of 151 W. Seymour St., Philadelphia, PA
- 05/04/10 04:12 AM
Click here to see a video tour of my listing at 151 W. Seymour St. It's a great house for a first-time buyer who needs a lot of space or for a large family looking for a low-maintenance, beautifully renovated home in Germantown. … (3 comments)
brown mckinney: Where to Start When Buying a Home?
- 04/21/10 04:08 AM
I spoke last night at an event for University of Pennsylvania Alumni who are thinking of buying a home in Philadelphia. The event was loads of fun, partly because it was held in the top-floor penthouse of the Aria Condominium building which has amazing views to justify the close to two-million dollar asking price. Many of the attendees at the event were potential first-time home-buyers and I was bombarded with questions ranging from which neighborhoods in Philly are going to be the "next big thing" to whether or not looking at foreclosure listings is a good idea. The thing that stood … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Philly Spring Cleanup A Smashing Success
- 04/12/10 06:40 AM
Thank you to everyone who came out to our cleanup event on Saturday and to anyone who participated in other cleanups around the city. It was a lot of fun getting out on a sunny Saturday morning with friends and neighbors and working together to make our corner of Philadelphia a little bit nicer to look at. I don't know how much trash we cleaned up in terms of weight or volume but I can say that I was a bit sore from all the work the next day, so that's a good sign. Not only is this annual event a … (2 comments)
brown mckinney: Homebuyer Tax Credit Expires Soon
- 04/09/10 07:06 AM
Don't forget tha the clock is ticking on the Homebuyer Tax Credit. To qualify for the credit you must have a property under contract by April 30th and close on it by July 1st. The credit for first time buyers is up to $8,000 and even if you’re not a first time buyer you may still qualify for a credit of up to $6,500. Combined with low interest rates and motivated sellers the tax credit makes it a great time to buy a home. The tax credit also affects sellers because once the credit expires there will probably be fewer motivated … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Investment Market Statistics
- 03/30/10 11:48 AM
After updating my investment market statistics for last week the most interesting thing is that the number of listings does indeed appear to be picking up as spring arrives. The number of shells listed has grown for the past three weeks and the number of 5+ unit multifamily listings has topped 100 for the first time in the seven weeks that I've been keeping these stats. 2-4 unit listings actually declined a bit thanks to strong sales - 67 2-4 unit properties sold in the last 30 days, bringing inventory down to an even twelve months. Final sale pricing came down … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Positive News from L&I is Bad News for Abandoned Properties
- 03/23/10 07:00 AM
Philadelphia's Department of Licenses & Inspections has managed to make itself more efficient, cutting the average cost of demolishing a three-story rowhome from $26,000 to $13,000. Finding efficiencies at such a poorly run organization shouldn't be too difficult - there's a lot of low-hanging fruit - but it's always good news that they're trying to do better and at least this announcement serves as a public admission that L&I is not nearly as efficient as it could be. While it's always nice to see abandoned properties renovated and brought back to life, in some situations demolition still makes more sense, and … (0 comments)
brown mckinney: Cool Philly Neighborhood Maps
- 03/18/10 09:12 AM
Looking for an insiders view of a few of Philly's hottest neighborhoods? Look no further than this collection of maps hand-drawn by local residents. They might not be precisely to scale, but they provide an interesting perspective on what Philadelphia has to offer. … (1 comments)
brown mckinney: Nationwide Open House Weekend - Get 'Em Listed Now!
- 03/17/10 08:28 AM
The National Association of Realtors has deemed April 10th & 11th "Nationwide Open House Weekend." This is a great idea to generate buzz among buyers and sellers going into the spring selling season, and if you're thinking of buying soon you should mark your calendar and plan to get out and see a few open houses that weekend. If you're thinking of selling this year, getting your property on the market before the April 10th weekend is very important. It's always important for sellers to have their property in tip-top shape and ready to sell as spring rolls in and the … (0 comments)
The summer of 2010 will be remembered by folks in the real estate business as a long vacation from serious, qualified buyers. Since the tax-credit deadline of April 30th, the number of active buyers in my market, Philadelphia, has been very slim, and I've heard similar stories from people in other parts of the country. This has been great for the few serious buyers who were looking this summer - they were able to negotiate great deals in a once-in-a-lifetime buyers' market. On the other hand, sellers have been having a very tough go of it the last few months with … (2 comments)
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