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TIME Magazine says: “Now is the best time to buy”

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

I knew Philadelphia was lucky in avoiding much of the real estate melt down affecting other parts of the country. Our report shows how market remaining flat from 2006 to 2007 while other parts of the country showed huge declines. TIME Magazine just published an article that made us realize we’re doubly lucky: While we are avoiding the bubble we still get to benefit from the lower interest rates to combat it!

In “Ignore the Headlines” TIME Magazine shows how buyers can save money even if the market goes down due to historically low interest rates. What they say is:

Consider a typical home that sells for $218,900. You put down 20% and get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at today’s rate of 5.5%. Monthly principal and interest come to $994.31. Let’s say that 12 months from now the same house goes for 10% less, or $197,010. But by then the recession is history and the Fed is jacking up rates to stem inflation. If mortgage costs rise a point, to 6.5%, your monthly payment would be $994.94 and you’d have saved nothing. Meanwhile, home prices might steady and sellers might become less willing to negotiate. And you have spent a year living someplace you’d rather not be.

Buying today will save you money on your monthly expense and give you some built in protection against market swings in the future. Given that Philadelphia is less likely to show declines in 2008 than the rest of the country, now is a great time to buy in Center City. So…

Contact a Philly Living agent to find your home today!

Pricing in this changing market

Monday, October 2nd, 2006

Every day you open the paper to the same information: The real estate boom is over; it’s a buyer’s market; inventories are at an all time high; nothing is selling. In a way, it’s all true. But, at the same time, we’re seeing numerous bidding wars, over-asking-price offers, and no-contingency offers constantly.

See, the key to selling property in this market (or for that matter, in every market) is creating value in the buyer’s eyes. Buyers determine value by comparison shopping. They look at the price of your home based on its features and benefits and compare it with the features and benefits of similar homes that have sold recently or are currently on the market.

A simple example: Let’s say a car dealership has the make and model that you want for $20,000. Now what if another dealership has the exact same make and model for $20,000, but throws in a CD player and sunroof? You’d buy the second one, right? But, what if the first dealership put the car without the extras on sale for $14,000? There’s a better value with the cheaper one.

So, if you want to increase value, you either:

  1. Lower the price, or
  2. Have more features and benefits for the same price

Since it’s generally a bad idea to do major upgrades (financially, it is unlikely that you will recoup your expenses), it is imperative that you price your house aggressively. With a 14-month supply of homes in center city, you need to make sure that you are offering unquestionable value to the buyer.

What about pricing it high and the lowering it later? Not a good strategy, but we’ll deal with that another day.

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