Lancaster PA Real Estate Blog

I've been posting articles on the homes Ken Knouse has done in Lancaster City - you've seen some of them perhaps.  Now Ken is underway with a new project on Reservoir Street near Chestnut street.  Did you like the look of 226 North Reservoir Street?  Here's a little about Ken's latest crafted home:  4 Bedroom, 1 large bath, 2nd floor laundry/utility room, brand-new hardwood floors and more!  I was out at the site yesterday and took some early photos (the ones on the left).  In case you were wondering how much someone can improve a city home by thoughtful planning and attention to detail, here are a few comparison photos:

Before & After...

Before & After...

Before & After...

Well, you get the idea.  The kitchen's going to be truly beautiful in this one!  If you are looking for a wonderfully finished city home in the $120,000 range then give me a call to preview this property - you might get to pick your colors!  Prequalification for a mortgage or proof of funds will be required to show this home in advance.

Call me at 717-799-0851 anytime for information of any of Ken's homes or to get info on any Lancaster City home for sale. 

If you are interested in selling your investment property to Ken or interested in putting it on the market, give me a call to discuss your options.

Jeff Geoghan - Lancaster PA Real Estate and Reservoir Street's Real Estate resource!

In my humble opinion, northeast Lancaster City represents the best value for a city buyer's money right now.  Especially if you're a first-time homebuyer or one with minimal space needs.  Prices are still excellent, the streets are nice and the homes have loads of charm.

Where exactly is "northeast" Lancaster?  I would define it as an area north of New Holland Ave, with streets which are "diagonal" to the layout of Lancaster Proper. 

As you can see from the map, the boundaries would be Reservoir Street on the NE, Marshall on the SW, Park Avenue on the NEW and New Holland Ave on the SE.

This neighborhood is one of tree-lined streets, classic brick homes (almost every home is brick) and and out-of-the-way lifestyle.

There are lots of different home styles, but the predominant floorplan is on the small side, between 1000 and 1200 square feet.  Most homes are 2 stories, with a full concrete basement, and although some have offstreet parking don't count on getting any.  a lucky few streets have garages, but interestingly they are a bit small for modern vehicles (forget the SUV...).

Many of the homes are 2 bedroom, so prices can vary widely.  The average sale price for a 3-bedroom 2 story home is probably around $115,000, which makes the area a great buy.  Some of the nicer homes (with a 1/2 bath and /or garage) can sell for up to $135,000.

Route 30 is only 2 minutes up New Holland Avenue, which is a huge benefit if you are commuting, whether east to Chester County, North to the PA turnpike or West to York or Harrisburg.  The neighborhood is served by G&G Grocery and Garveys Pharmacy. The city high school, McCaskey, is a few blocks away across New Holland Avenue.  The local Elementary School is Wickersham.  The 6th Ward City Park is located at the end of Frederick Street, with a nice jungle gym and ball fields with lots of grass.

There are 5 active listings of homes as of today.  Here they are.

If you would like more information on Lancaster City homes for sale or would like to receive instant emails when homes in northeast Lancaster come on the market, send me an email or call me at 717-799-0851.

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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 started my boys  Nathan & Daniel in the sport of BMX, or Bicycle Motocross, this past weekend at our "local" track.  I remember racing BMX in the late 1970's when it was just getting started.  My kids are avid bicyclists, so I was excited to get them into a competitive sport where individual effort is recognized, yet the family aspect is very strong.  Some things sure have changed since the 70's - the fancy gear, bright colors and computer printouts of the moto sheets.  Most things don't seem to have changed, though - the dirt (it's still hard), the clang of the starting gate dropping, the ubiquitous hotdog stand, the friendly parents and racers that make one feel at home.

The track is called Lebanon Crankers BMX, and it's about 16 miles north of where we live in East Petersburg.  The kids did great for their first official races, actually better than I did.  I discovered what many other dads have already gone through, rooting for their kids to perform at a sporting event.

The track operators are wonderfully helpful, especially Ted Unger the manager and Jennifer, who worked the registration booth.  I purchased a month-long trial memebership for $25 each.  They walked us through the sign-in process, fitted Nathan with a loaner helmet and gave a trophy to each boy as a first-time gift at the end of the day.

Lebanon Crankers runs races through the end of the year weekly on Sundays and Tuesdays.  You can see their website here for more information.  We'll be there tonight!  If you're in the Lancaster/Lebanon area and are looking for a healthy, inexpensive activity, you should consider BMX.  I'll let everyone know as my boys develop their skills, and have fun doing it.

I wanted to post an early reminder about East Petersburg Day 2007, which is scheduled for Saturday September 15th.  As a member of the steering committee, it's my pleasure to give you some details about the day's events so you can plan to be there accordingly.  For other information please visit the borough's website.

Here's the Schedule of Events:

7:00am    Prayer breakfast, led by local Rev. John Smaligo

7:15am    Annual 5K Run registration begins in East Petersburg Community Center Building

9:15am    5K Run steps off in front of the East Petersburg Community Center.

10:00am    East Petersburg Day Parade begins - follows a route through the town, ending at the Community Center

10:00am    Food stands open for munchies. 

11:00am    Opening Ceremony in the East Petersburg Community Park

                 Welcome Message - Mayor Gary Spangenburg

                 Invocation (Opening Prayer)

                 National Anthem - sung by Heather Harley

                 Manheim Township Police Department Honor Guard

11:30am    Field Games open - including many large inflatables by Funco.  Kids game tickets available onsite.

12:00pm    Music Begins on the stage in the Community Park

12:00-3:00pm    The South Street Band

3:00-6:00pm    Duane Slaymaker (acoustic folk/rock with a great following)

5:00pm    The Maytown Sport Parachute Club Drops in to East Petersburg Day!

6:00-8:00pm The BRB band - rock/cover tunes

7:00pm    The (locally) famous golf ball drop!  Buy a ball for a few bucks and we'll put it in a bucket up on top of the ladder of the East Petersburg Fire Dept. truck and drop it onto a golf pin in the park!  Closest few win great prizes.

8:30pm Second Annual fireworks display - not to be missed!  Very good show.

I'll be posting more about this excellent Lancaster County Fair event (since I'm the publicity coordinator).  Check back often!

I'm back from a week in the woods at Central Manor Campmeeting - great time for the whole family (even without air conditioning).

First thing I saw today was an article by Jim Hagerty of the WSJ (who has done an article with quotes from me in the past).  He was writing today about a significant layoff announced by Countrywide Financial Corp. 

Apparently the 61,000-employee mortgage giant intends target it's "alt A" division, entitled Full Spectrum Lending, with the bulk of the layoffs.  That would be about 6,800 salespeople, out of a total of 18,000 company-wide.  This comes after a supposed series of strategic meetings held two weeks ago which I posted about at that time.

With the recent spurt of troubles in the mortage lending industry, it's inevitable that even the biggest firms will have to trim costs and cut services to weather the downturn in the secondary mortgage securities market.   Countrywide announced last Thursday that it borrowed a line of credit totaling over $11 billion from 40 banks, while it's stock struggled to rally from a drop in recent weeks. We'll keep an eye on the ever-changing market right here at LancasterCountyBlog.com, so check back often.

I thought I'd post a follow up to my family's birth experience at the end of June.  The baby is doing great (photos forthcoming), no issues other than a low birth weight which is rapidly going away as she gets bigger.

Well, you can review our harrowing experience dealing with the hospital and medical systems here in Lancaster County.  I wish I could say that we'd experienced some positive feedback from Ephrata Hospital, but alas they sent a couple of form letters reiterating their "health of the baby" fear-tactic excuse for failing for denying us admittance on June 27th.  Their last letter from mid-June had conveniently ignored my concern at their lack of personal follow-up after denying us admittance.  Oh, well, I imagine they hope we'll just "go away" and they can get on with denying maternity patients their basic rights to a birth of their choosing...more on that as we consult an attorney.  Somebody's going to have to break this system up.

So we had our baby at home!  Everything went great.  Except, that Aetna decided to decline our claim for the $1,500 fee charged by the birthing center.  We just saved them at least $10,000 and probably $18,000 in hospital bills (had we delivered in hospital or even had a C-section).  Nope - they say we used a "non-network" provider. 

So we appealed in mid-July.  Again, Aetna denies us, this time reiterating their policy AND claiming that "home births" are not covered by our "Aetna Advantage HMO" self-employed insurance policy. !!!!  Sometimes you just want to scream...by the way, did I mention the $800 monthly premium for this priveleged service?

This, on top of their absolutely poor prescription drug plan (try 0% on basic meds - I experienced it TODAY), has led me to post this warning to avoid Aetna Advantage HMO Plans as being horrible for self-employed individuals.  Earlier this year I posted about which plans would be good for Realtors and other SE real estate pros.  Forget Aetna!  I'll be changing my policy as soon as I can this month.

I hate being so negative but if I can save one realtor from choosing this poor company, it will be worth it.  Good luck shopping for insurance!

With the market cooling and the home inventory growing, the last thing a house needs is to be put on the market without professional marketing! Selling FSBO, which stands for "for sale by owner", is a losing proposition in today's tech-friendly and buyer-focused homesale market.  Lancaster PA homes for sale demand professional marketing.

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Today, you absolutely 100% need to market your home - aggressively.  To do this, you need to first realize that the buyers are now overwhelmingly looking on the internet first (94%, actually).  Guess what?  They're not looking on "FISBO.com" or whatever the local online site is for your area.  They are looking on Realtor.com and Google.  If you are not there...you're nowhere.

How to get the exposure you need?  Time to recognize that all realtors are NOT the same.  Really!  Some are in it part time, some are new and/or inexperienced, some are not, um, people people.  You need to ask yourself "would I buy a home from this person?".  

Also, realtors have different approaches to marketing homes.  Some don't - and some do!  I imagine you'll want someone who does.  How do you know?  Ask.  If they are putting a (regular metal) sign in your yard and putting a listing on the MLS, but nothing else, you've got your answer.

Ask them this:

• Will you have a unique stand-alone website devoted solely to my home?
• Will you have 10-20 photos of my home done professionally?
• Will you have a virtual tour of the highlights of my home?
• Will you have special signs to advertise my home?
• Will you advertise my home in Homes & Land yourself?
• Will you advertise my home on Craigslist, Trulia, Backpage, Point2Homes, Postlets, etc. etc?
• Will you have full-color flyers at my home in a flyer box?
  
• Will you blog about my home and get top Google billing for it?

OK, you get the idea.  There is a BIG difference between realtor's approaches to marketing your home.  Some really try to earn their commission!  I am happy to report that not only do I do all of the above, but I am a pioneer in the Lancaster area for many of them!

If you need to sell your home, why take the time and trouble to try to sell it on your own without the representation that offers protection from the liability and risk issues that plague Pennsylvania Real Estate?  Do you know all about mold, radon, lead, asbestos and a host of other hazardouse materials?  Can you complete the state seller's disclosure without scratching your head in wonderment?  Let a licensed pro take you through the process.  You won't regret it.

The days of easily selling FSBO are coming to an end.  It's my hope that you can sell on your own, but if it comes to having to put it on the market, call an expert who cares and has a plan for your home.  I'd be happy to visit your home and give you an honest, no-strings market evaluation of your homesale situation.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Call me at 717-799-0851 anytime or contact me online.

Best of luck!

One of the largest wildlife refuge areas in Lancaster County, PA is Millport Conservancy near Lititz borough, between Lititz and Rothsville, PA.  Homes for sale in the area are few simply because the refuge takes up much of the valley that Lititz Run (another word for creek) flows through. 

The preserve is 100 acres of land along Lititz Run, beginning at Rothsville Road on the north and ending at Millport Road on the southern side.  The area is a valley, with a picturesque winding road that parallels the Conservancy. 

 A mill sits up on the hill off the main road, and large pond lies across the center of the valley about midway down the run.  Dense brush greets the traveller if you're not on an approved trail, so don't even try it!

The creek itself is also picturesque (see more photos here) with shaded, peaceful sections where all you can hear is the babbling water around you.

There are birds, frogs and fish everywhere - not to metion the wide variety of wildflowers.  Being in this place no doubt gives us an idea of what Lancaster County was like before  development pressures came to bear.  Very serene.

The Millport Conservancy is part of the Growing Greener initiative of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and receives funds to aid in preservation efforts.  The Conservancy is a key component of the Lititz Watershed Alliance, a non-profit corporation of citizens, businesspeople and government representatives who work together to ensure water quality in the Lititz Run Watershed.

To access the Millport Conservancy, exit the 222 freeway at the Akron exit, heading west on Newport Road Rte. 772. towards Lititz.  In Rothsville, bear left at the light onto Rothsville Road.  After a mile the road curves along the head of the valley - look the for sign pictured above for the left turn onto Warwick Road.  The Millport Conservancy will be on your right all the way down the valley to Millport Road.

Enjoy the day!

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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 received an unmarked envelope today from a return address in New Jersey.  Being interested in this anonymous piece of apparent junk mail, I opened the thing.

The first item my eye fell upon was the following:

Whoa!  Doesn't sound good...then this threatening letter continued with a summary of my home mortgage, which was incorrect with an old lender name - tipoff that the writer wasn't aware that my mortgage had been sold.  Then the following:

Aha!  Obviously a mortgage company trying to solicit business, but in a decidedly unprofessional way.  The letter continued "you are being contacted by Best Interest Rate Mortgage so that you may benefit from a reduced monthly mortgage payment.  In order for your new payment to be processed before your Sept. 1, 2007 payment date, please call....to confirm your new payment selection".  

Now wait.  If I'm someone who's not familiar with the industry, would I think that this (unknown) company can get my payment reduced?  Probably.  Would I feel either threatened or missing out?  Probably.  Looking at the "options" they have, we all know what would happen to my term and rate if I elected this "program", otherwise known as a refinance.

In my opinion this sort of solicitation is misleading and wrong.  There's a lot more disclosure needed by a qualified mortgage pro before a customer should be asked to make such a major decision.  The (very) fine print at the bottom tells the reader that this company is not their lender nor a gov't agency.   Interest-only ARMs are very, very dangerous programs to get involved in, especially without lots of forethought.  This type of deceptive advertising makes us all look bad.

OK, that's my beef for the week!  

According to the Lancaster County Association of Realtors, July 2007 was a relatively great month for home sales.

The monthly sales recap released today states that 539 Homes sold in July, down only 2.4% from July 2006 (552).  The average sale price did break the record at $205,545 - pretty high for humble little Lancaster!

Year-to-date, 3,229 homes have sold in the county,  a 6.2% decrease from 2006.  

To me this is somewhat expected as it's been plain to active agents that buyers are now out and looking, about since the 4th of July.   The message about expected rate increases and expanding home inventory is starting to sink in.

If you are one of those still sitting on the fence, and would really like to make a home purchase, I'd seriously recommend calling me about your options and to get an email of potential matches for you.  A lot of sellers are facing the end of summer with their home still unsold, and school is starting soon.  A good time to shop!

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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.