Yardley Bucks County Real Estate Update

For those who read my blog, I have to apologize for not being very diligent about posting, recently.  Believe it or not, I have actually been pretty busy practicing real estate.  I thought it would be interesting, to offer a brief review of some of the transaction challenges, along with some successes we have seen, of late.  This may help to provide a more accurate indication of what is really happening in the Bucks County/Mercer County, and surrounding areas.

With regards to my listings, I am fortunate in that I am marketing homes in a very diversified price range, from the 200,000 range to well in the millions.  In my opinion, the higher priced market has been impacted more significantly than more modestly priced homes.  An indication of this, is that in Upper Makefield Township, it would actually take years to sell all the houses that are currently on the market, priced over 1 million dollars, based on the current rate of sales.  I recently listed a house priced at 294,900, and we negotiated an offer within the first 2 weeks that the house was on the market. 

I recently listed another property in New Jersey, and we got an offer within the first 4 days of putting the house on the market.  We are still waiting to see whether this will work out. 

If you are wondering what I attribute the fast turnaround to, with regards to both of these recent listings, it is that the homes showed incredibly well, and were priced to reflect current market conditions.  I think that is the single biggest obstacle that we face right now.  I believe that many sellers still are not realistic enough about what happening in the market.  If a house is not priced appropriately, there is no doubt that it will sit on the market for a long time.  There is a lot of inventory competing for the attention of buyers, and there are not enough qualified buyers to absorb all of the inventory.  On top of that, in many areas we are seeing more short sales and bank owned properties than at any time since I have been in real estate. 

I recently had a buyer make an offer on a short sale, and it can be a long and arduous process, since the ability to close the transaction is entirely dependent on the lender accepting the offer.  Depending on the lender, that process can take weeks, or longer. 

Another transaction that I am currently working on, brings up another potential challenge.  I am working with a buyer who made an offer on a property that was absolutely gorgeous.  Totally upgraded, move in condition, and priced at what we thought was a very realistic value.  We wrote an offer, negotiated the price, and thought the process would be quick and easy.  That is until the appraisal came in below the contract price.  Basically that means that the buyer would not be able to get the loan as per the mortgage contingency on the contract.  Somewhat in response to the mortgage crisis, appraisers are now being extremely conservative, so this is not an unusual problem.  Based on the appraisal, we had to re-negotiate the price, and were able to work out a combination of a lower price, and some additional buyer funds to ensure that the house will go to closing.  It was just not an easy process.

I could go on and on with a variety of stories about what is happening in our market.  Prices are challenging for sellers to deal with, but there are houses selling every day.  If you are a seller, be realistic, make sure your house shows as well as it possibly can, and be pro-active in responding to the market.  I have a book that I can email, called, "450 ways to get your house sold quickly".  If you are thinking about selling, I highly recommend reading through this booklet, it offers great advice about getting a house ready to show. 

For buyers, you can be selective, and there are great opportunities in the market.  Interest rates are at all time, historic lows.  Have we reached the bottom of the market?  Only time will tell, but I do know that by the time we know for sure whether we have reached the bottom, it will be too late.