Lancaster PA Real Estate Blog

Please welcome Carys Victoria Geoghan!

Born at 2:35 this morning - at home!  We were blessed to have an awesome midwife, Diane Goslin, agree to take us yesterday after Ephrata Hospital refused to honor our natural birth admission us even though we had preregistered 3 months ago.  I'll be posting about that sometime very soon (because even though it's not Real Estate related - hey, this is MY blog and I think it's important that Lancaster women know about Ephrata Hospital's poor customer service).  Our difficult day yesterday trying unsuccessfully to find a hospital that would take us ended up wonderfully when Diane said we were already far along and things would go well!  She was right.

I'm a big believer in natural birth now...I'll post on that too.

Thanks for all your support and thoughts & prayers!  We appreciate you...

Looking for Manheim Township, PA homes for sale in the mid-$100,000 range with nice amenities and little yardwork?  Then Cobblestone Court might be for you!  This townhome neighborhood is a popular one with first-time homebuyers as well as those looking to downsize from the big home they raised a family in.  

There are several styles of home to choose from at Cobblestone Court, but most are of a 2-story variety with square footages ranging from 1,000 to 1,700.  Construction took place in the late 1990's up until about 2003.  Most common floorplans are a center or end-unit 2-story (see above photo) with 1-2 parking spaces per unit.  There are also a few ranch-style plans and duplex models, with either attached  or detached 1-car garages, offering something for everyone.  Mailboxes are located in central access areas rather than at each home. Front facades vary but retain a similar brick or stone face.  Manheim Township real estate agents consider this the area's premier townhome community.

The neighborhood is fairly large, so there are usually several units for sale.  As of today June 26th there are 5 available, ranging in price from $160,000 to $187,000.  All are 3 bedroom and at least 2 baths.  The monthly Homeowners Association fee covers all Mowing, Snow removal, trash and water services.

Buyers appreciate the central location of Cobblestone Court within Manheim Township. It is only a few blocks from Lititz Pike (Route 501). From here you can reach Lancaster City and Route 30 in about 10 minutes, and Route 222 to Reading in about 15 minutes by several different routes.  Cobblestone Court is right next door to Neffsville.

If you are looking for a nice, mid-to-upscale townhome to live in, Cobblestone Court probably has a floorplan for you.  Give me a call at 717-799-0851 or email me at the right of this page if you'd like more information about available homes in Cobblestone Court, or anywhere in Manheim Township.  If you'd like to receive email updates of hot new listings in Cobblestone Court, contact me at cobblestonecourt@yourlancasterhome.com and give me your contact information.

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

I thought I'd share some very recent home sale statistics for the Lancaster County and Lebanon County MLS that we belong to here.  The data is interesting & supports and confirms what most Realtors are seeing happening in the home sales market. 

The following chart shows the montly breakout of (from L to R) of new listings, active listings, sold listings and (bolded) months of inventory at the current level of home sales.  I want you to notice the upward trend in inventory which peaked in January this year at over eight months!  That's a lot of extra inventory.  We did see a rebound downwards in March and April as the market got back into gear with the warmer weather.

One other bolded number is the current listings as of May 2007, 4,864.  That's almost a record high even considering the peak season.  Sold listings and new listings remain fairly steady, which seems to indicate that we've got some stagnation happening in the market, which is confirmed by the large number of price-drops that I'm seeing on the MLS these days.  Sellers are starting to get the message that a price correction is actually happening.         

                                                                         New   Active   Sold    Inv.

Gone are the days in Summer 2005 when we only had 3-4 months of inventory backed up.  Today, it's all the more important for home sellers in Lancaster County to critically review their agent's marketing plan, price the home competitvely and stage it to appeal to the most buyers possible.  For a quick summary of my full-service cutting-edge marketing plan, available to every home from $70,000 to $700,000, click here.  Let me show you why you need a forward-thinking professional to help you sell your home in this changing market.

Oh, by the way, if you're in the market for a home this is a GREAT time to start looking and check your options.  With inventory up and prices dropping, and interest rates hovering at competitive levels, you owe it to yourself to get serious if this is the year you want to make a move! 

If you would like more market facts or information about your specific area, fee free to visit my website or call me at 717-799-0851 anytime.

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

If you are looking to own a Lancaster City, PA home for sale, here's a great opportunity.  I listed today a wonderful home at 561 New Holland Avenue in Lancaster City.  Real Estate in Lancaster has been climbing steadily with the city's revival but there are still homes like this one available for only around $100,000.  Whether you are looking to stop renting or perhaps downsize, this home is worth looking at.

This home has a renovated first floor with laminate flooring and bright, fresh paint.  The kitchen has an eat-in area in addition to the formal dining room.  The whole home has an airy feel to it.  

Upstairs, the bath has been remodeled and the rooms have the original wood flooring exposed for a nice touch.

What's really nice is that the basement has been finished with a large room that can be used for a family room or office.  There is also a half bath downstairs adjoining the finished room. List price is only $104,900 with all appliances included!  There is offstreet parking via a shared drive out back with room to easily park 2 vehicles.

For more photos and details visit the home's website at 561NewHolland.com.  To arrange a showing give me a call at 717-799-0851 or email me at jgeoghan@yourlancasterhome.com.  Don't miss this great Lancaster, PA home for sale!

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

For many people considering buying a home, prices are far too high to be affordable around Lancaster County, PA.  Real Estate prices have been leveling and even dropping in 2007, giving first-timers more options.  One popular location is the townhome community of Constitution Square in East Petersburg, PA.

There are four common home styles in Constitution Square:

1. End of row "cape cod" style units, many with side entrances
2. Middle of row units, 2-stories, many with walk-out basement for a functional 3-story layout
3. Row homes with garages extending out to the street
4. Duplex units (2 together) with separate driveways.

Prices range from about $135,000 for a center unit to $160,000 for a duplex unit, depending upon the exact location within the development and the condition/upgrades to the home.  As most of the homes were built throughout the 1980's, wear-and-tear has come into play and some work may be needed.  This a great opportunity for sweat equity, though!  The remodeled units generally sell for much more.

East Petersburg is a quiet, historic Pennsylvania town with an extensive park system some of which runs into Constitution Square.  There are walking trails and tennis courts, with lots of grass to picnic and play on.  The trail system connects across Graystone Road to the main town park with ballfields, a large playground and the community center which is rented out for parties and events.  East Petersburg is very convenient to most of central Lancaster County while retaining it's old-world feel.  Constitution Square provides an affordable way to own a home in such a great location.

There are 3 units for sale in Constitution Square as of today, June 23 but units come on the market all the time due to the size of the development.  If you are interested in checking out Constitution Square and keeping track of new listings there feel free to call me at 717-799-0851 or email me at the right of this page.  I look forward to helping you with your Lancaster County, PA real estate needs and can help you shop for your first home in one of the many affordable locations Lancaster County has to offer.  If you'd like to receive email updates of hot new listings in Constitution Square, contact me at constitutionsquare@yourlancasterhome.com and give me your contact information.

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

If you're looking to improve your home's performance, a great first place to start is with the insulation.  Most homes, especially older ones, are seriously short on insulation.  In this hot season, why bleed your air conditioning dollars out of the house?

First, R-Value.  Insulation's effectiveness is rated in R-Values.  "R" stands for "resistance" - resistance to heatflow, or cool airflow as the seasons change.  You can look at it as the measure of heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter.  The higher the R-Value, the greater the insulating power and the greater your potential energy savings.

Each region within the country has recommended R-Values for specific insulation installations.  Insulation with different R-Values may be added together for a higher total value.  Refer to this Energy Star guideline for the R-Value you need for your home.

Insulation typically is made of fiberglass matting called "batts".  It can come as either "Faced" with a vapor-retardent paper called "kraft", or as "unfaced" which is just the fiberglass material.  Also, you can buy it as a roll or in precut sections of 8 foot, which accomodates a typical wall height.

A common way to increase the homes insulative power is to install new fiberglass in the attic.  Always use "unfaced" insulation and be sure to roll it to cover the most area.  Don't cover ventilation points or light fixtures, which require air around them to function correctly.  A typical bag will cover about 100 square feet, so premeasure your attic and buy as many rolls as you need.

There are other, new materials to use as insulation - one great idea can be found here at Stephanie Edwards's blog out of Texas.  There are new, recycled materials coming out which I would recommend investigating if you have the ability and time to do so.

Re-insulating your home may be the most cost-effective way to begin "greening" your house and saving money in the process!  If you are interested in more information about insulation read this Department of Energy guide, or do some online research into alternative materials such as cellulose.  In this hot season, every bit of effort will yield a gain for you and your family, and to our national dependence on foreign energy.  Go for it!

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

I thought I'd post some photos of wonderful homes along Columbia PA's Locust street.  These are only a sample; you'll have to drive over to see the whole review of homes - it's worth the trip!

Almost every architectual style is represented here, from Victorian through Contemporary.  

Columbia began life in 1726 as the first European settlers arrived, fifty years before the Revolutionary War.  It was originally called Wright's Ferry, named after John Wright who started his cross-river ferry in 1730 and lived in then-palatial mansion near the water.  Back then, Wrights Ferry was literally on the edge of civilization for the English colonies.  Interestingly, in 1789 it was proposed to bring the new national capital here.  That would be been interesting!

In the 1840s and 50s Columbia became a center for commerce in the region. The bridge across the Susquehanna River was the longest bridge in the nation at the time - over a mile in length.  The bridge was destroyed during the Civil War (1863) and rebuilt, only to be demolished to make way for a new bridge which still stands today.  Here's a photo of it, taken by me this week:

Today Columbia, PA is a small but bustling town on the move with a little over 10,000 residents (as of the 200 census).  Locust Street is an absolutely classic American tree-lined street, one way for most of it's length, and continuing right on down to the bridge.

At the river end of the one way street, at the intersection of Fifth and Locust, the Columbia town clock is placed in a conspicuous location: 

Lastly, the Victorian home of beloved local artist Thomas Hermansader sits near the foot of Locust Street:

I hope you've enjoyed your tour down a great street in Columbia, Pennsylvania.  Check back for more articles on Lancaster County's great streets!

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

Yesterday I took my family up to Clay Township in Lancaster County to check out the first all-ICF (insulated concrete forms) house built in this area.  It was constructed by Garman Builders and is priced at a little over $300,000.  

It's a ranch-style and looks exactly like a traditional stick-built home, as you can see from the pictures.  The interior is nicely decorated for the Parade of Homes.

I was struck by the fact that this groundbreaking home is so unnassuming compared to the behemoth homes represented elsewhere in the parade, and was sad that it was not closer to Lancaster City where it could get so much more exposure to the public.  

Glenn from Construction Supply Centers came by while we were there and was reviewing the features of the home's ICF construction with guests, using a display set up on one of the front rooms.  

If you are interested in more info about using Insulated Concrete Forms feel free to contact me or visit this article on the subject I posted recently.  I can put you in touch with Tom Reilly, selling Reward Walls, the ICFs used in this home.

Overall I was impressed with the look of the home and the comfort level in the finished basement, but wished that the ICFs had been left exposed down there so the public could be educated better about the truly "green" technology used in constructing the home.  This is the only green home attempted this year out of 52...At the recent green home open house I attended at Lancaster Career & Technology Center in Mount Joy, the basement had yet to be finished and the ICFs were visible - but the event was not of the scale as the Parade of Homes.  An opportunity lost?

Thanks to Norm Faust and Mike Garman for letting me take photos in the home!  If you get a chance this week take the drive up to Ephrata to see this home.

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and  an involved community member.  Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.  Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured.  Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs.

Just this past week my friend Steve Mellinger of Blue Moon Enterprises enjoyed another successful installation of a solar-driven system for residential.  This time it was a solar hot air system, and the client is very happy!  In order to continue to promote alternative energy for Real Estate here in Lancaster and York Counties, I asked Steve to share with my readers about the project and the system:

Jeff:  What did the client want to do?

Steve: The client wanted Solar Electric, but, being concerned about a proper outcome over just profit dollars, I suggested he do Solar Hot Air.  The customer had serious building envelope issues and heat loss.  I addressed the Heat Loss issues as part of the proposal as well as heat generation without costly electricity.  He is probably going to do Solar Electric after all.  He is very pleased with what we've already done.

Jeff: What type of system and piping?  Tech tidbits.

Steve: Units (of which there are 4) are each rated by manufacturer at 15,000 btu/hour.  4 units would produce 60,000 btu/hour and on a good solar day our outcome should be about 300,000 btu's total.  Had to, in this particular case, cut 8 inch holes in the roof and use 8 inch ducting throughout the project. 

Jeff: Were there any particular challenges you overcame?  Is flow an issue with hot air?

Steve: Flow can be easily be a challenge, but, with preplanning and the nerve to change action midcourse it is always doable, provided there are no unforeseen "immovable" obstacles in the path of the ducting.  Of course, new construction is the best for ideal duct routing. 
 

Jeff: OK, for those of us who don't know about solar hot air, how does it work?

Steve: Very simple.  Solar radiation, as opposed to photons, is absorbed at 80% of the sun's output with the proper material and if contained well and airflow is good (key component), the cooling of the units makes for the heating of the environment it is transported to.

Jeff: What would make a reader want to call you to get one of their own?

Steve: Solar Hot Air is simple in theory, hard work to implement and when done will provide the 3 heating season's with additional heat to lessen and sometimes eliminate other heating methods and therefore lessen the amount spent over time.  The only moving part in this method is a fan(s) and with good planning, even if it fails at some point down the road it is easy and cheap to replace.  Other than that there is nothing to go wrong and there is no reason to think that it wouldn't be working 40 years from now.  Like Solar Electric, the right panels will hold up to any weather conditions.  Anyone that takes issue with opening the roof has to realize that
there are millions of skylights out there and putting Solar Hot Air in is no different.  Sealing the roof is not difficult, especially with today's products. 

I'm passionate about helping Americans understand lifestyle change that can benefit them both now and for future generations. Solar Heat (Hot Water) is used for every home in ISRAEL!  Energy independence is another  benefit.

Jeff: Thanks for the great information, Steve!  You can reach Steve at 717-295-1020 for more information on Solar and LED in Pennsylvania.