Welcome Back Readers! Today we are bringing you some particularly awesome news, Zillow has recently ranked Lancaster County PA as one of the top places in the nation to buy a home 2011! We hit the list at Number 7, which considering we were competing with literally thousands of places across the nation is pretty spectacular!
The best thing about this ranking? It takes into account what is happening NOW. In this economy, with the current unemployment rate, interest rates, affordability levels, etc. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if it’s the right time for you to buy, there are great opportunities out there right now. Read on after the jump to see why we were included in the list of the Best Places to Buy in 2011!
Welcome Back Readers! This week we have the beginning of our guest columns from Sam Gorgone, Property Manager/Owner of Hometown Property Management Services. Sam gets alot of questions, from landlords looking for help renting to tenants looking for apartments or homes to rent in Lancaster Pa. We thought it would be helpful to you to put these questions out there one the blog, lets start with the biggest one, what exactly is property management? Read on after the jump to find out!
Welcome Back Readers! Or should I say viewers? This is the first of many video blog posts on www.TheLancasterConnection.com . I’m excited about being able to bring you this content in a way that is relevant and timely but don’t worry, there will be more than just video posts to keep you up to date on what’s happening in real estate and the rest of Lancaster County, as we’ll still have all of your favorite guest authors as well!
This week, I wanted to talk to you about snow and ice. Not just any snow, but huge amounts of snow and ice we had that according to NAR is bringing the national housing market to a halt. Or is it?
Watch the video after the jump to see what I am talking about and why the thought that snow is stopping home sales anywhere in the nation is just WRONG! Oh, and that italian ice there in the picture? You’ll see why that’s there in the video too.
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Activerain, RealTown, Trulia Voices, etc. provide a myriad of ways to connect consumers and colleagues alike with real estate info. Blogs have proliferated in the last few years, people are writing them reading them and commenting all over the internet. These formats allows for a free and open exchange of info, sometimes a little too free and open as commenter’s/authors occasionally forget that we, as Realtors, have numerous regulations and a Code of Ethics to abide by that covers all forms of communication, including “electronic” communication. Read this excerpt from the 2010 National Associations of Realtors Code of Ethics:
Welcome Back Readers! It’s been a busy month in real estate, so many things happening both locally and nationally it seems everyday there is something new! That’s actually the becoming the normal state of affairs nowadays and I don’t mind as it gives me lots of things to write about!
I wanted to let you know about a program announced today by Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae has a little problem, namely 50,000 homes they now own through the foreclosure process and they are looking to move them. You can see a list of what’s there at www.homepath.com (there are 19 Fannie Mae Foreclosures in Lancaster County Pa as of today).
That’s not the announcement though, the announcement is that Fannie Mae is now offering 3.5 % of the home’s purchase price as an incentive to buyers! Read on after the jump to find out more!
Welcome Back Readers! I put up a post the yesterday about how FHA has recently changed their policies to allow loan modifications for qualifying borrowers before they miss a payment . This is a great policy and I sincerely hope it will help more people stay in their homes. The problem though is that in many cases it won’t. Loan modifications nationwide are failing to help avoid foreclosures. Why is that? What does it have to do with Tribbles again? Read on after the jump to find out!
Welcome Back Readers! It was a busy week last week in the real estate world, the Lancaster County PA Real Estate Market is moving quickly. I apologize for the shortage of posts recently due to this but you can expect a little more consistency in the coming weeks. I wanted to start of this week with a nice change announced by HUD last Friday.
Until HUD made this change to the rules for FHA loans, in order to qualify for a loan modification, struggling homeowners had to actually MISS payments. So, if you knew you were going to be in torouble, you had to let it happen before you were eligible for loss mitigation. Check out the release from HUD on the details of the program.
The complete press release from HUD is after the jump
Welcome Back Readers!
I apologize in advance for the negative tone of this post, but it is information that people who plan on buying this year need to have. Let me start with this: There are many solutions available to FHA’s problems, and there are other programs that allow cash poor buyers to still purchase homes. It is not the end of the world, FHA is still a fine program, but I have an issue with their changes not offering a solution to their problem.
Call me if you want to find out how low money down programs can still benefit you, in the meantime please be aware of the following info.
FHA has announced policy changes today that will potentially have a negative impact on the housing market. Read on after the jump to see excerpts from a release by NAR:
Waiting. Sometimes a wise strategy, sometimes a foolish one. When it comes to home buying, waiting will surely cost you. There are a number of reasons why, but before I go into that, let’s get one thing clear…. if you aren’t in a positions to buy, if you truly can’t afford it, don’t do it. But if you are unsure, if you are “thinking about it”, if you are planning to “start looking” in a few months, you need to hop off the fence and start now. Waiting is a mistake. Here’s why:
… and he plans to use it to take out the US Housing Market!
I know, very dramatic. Maybe even a little uncalled for. On the other hand, there is really no other way to describe how potentially dangerous the policy changes that HUD Secretary Donovan is proposing this week. What are those changes?
