Sprinkler repeal

Hey as you have probably heard the Government actually accomplished something that is not going to cost tax payers, and seems to actually be what the people want. The Sprinkler mandate has been repealed meaning you will not be FORCED to have sprinklers in your single family home, you will actually be able to choose this as an option to your home. Of course there are the people who are against it, once again forcing things on the general public raising the cost of housing when we can least afford it. No one seems to point out numbers of how houses with working smoke detectors have performed, how many of the people who are for it have the systems in their house? way to go Harrisburg !!! hopefully I wont regret the praise....

convention

The Sold Team of Century 21 Heritage Realty, freshly returned from the C-21 International Convention where the Sold Team was honored for finishing in the top 10 teams in the united states. The Convention was very informative and very encouraging. C-21 will be reasserting that we are the number one company in agents, offices, sales, brand awareness and worlwide presence. WE look forward to another great year and thank all of our clinets past present and future for our continued success.

Hows the market?

Well signs of improvements continue, despite what the media reports, we have seen a steady increase in both new home sales and existing homes. As rates are starting to rise, and no dont panic they are still really good low 5's, the fence sitters have come out. We are seeing more buyers with funds buying up they have ealized their house is not going to sell for as much but they are not paying as much for the new one either. Yes the media still reports how bad the market is and yes placeslike Detroit, Ohio, Florida, Las Vegas, are having issues yet but York is still moving along and real estate is still a great investment.

year end

Well as 2010 winds down and as the numbers come in there are definitely signs of improvement in the real estate market: the general public has come to understand the "short sale" process and that it is not as easy a process as all had thought and that buyers sometime don't get what they thought they would, leading many to search for new homes in the traditional market especially with the values that are available. Sellers and buyers realized that they are not going to sell their house for as much but they also were or are not going to pay as much for their new property. When the interest rates went up slightly that also created a little surge as the "fence sitters" realized rates were not going to go lower they got into the market, also a great time to refinance : AS LONG AS YOU USED A TRUSTWORTHY LENDER.... now the bad part: banks , under pressure from our government, still have not realized they have swung too far the other way, yes we were way too easy a couple years ago but now as typical the pendulum went to the far other side. costs have gone up since the government created appraisal boards, and they are hurting values by using appraisers not familiar with the area they are going into. and of course sprinklers... but we will work on...

time to buy

Well here we are just finishing black Friday and heading into the home stretch on the year 2010. The sprinklers will go into effect for how long who knows, the talking heads say we will try to repeal!! the other talking heads " we will fight" the little guy gets screwed again not sure what this will do to the housing market but builders have placed big incentives, existing home are priced so attractively, rates are lower than ever we have people locking in legitimate 3.75 and 4% rates with zero points, for 15 and 30 years. I cant imagine rates going lower because who will buy the bonds and instruments that create these rates, will rates go up in spring as is usual? I have always heard " he ain't making no more of it" meaning land, tough for someone to "cook the books" on real estate you own and hold the deed to. are we not procreating anymore? if you need a house or want to upgrade you may not be getting as much for your old house but you are not going to pay as much for a new one either. seems like the perfect storm to buy regular old housing not short sales and foreclosures that take forever or don't turnout as good as they sounded but regular resales and new houses.

Sprinklers & laziness

Well even though there seemed to be support for backing off on the sprinkler code, it passed the house, the senate has determined they will not be voting anymore this year... so it looks like in January we will have to deal with sprinklers. So the average new house cost will rise by approx 6-10K, further slowing the home industry, there by putting more people out of work, more suppliers will sell less, and sink us deeper in to the funk which has been so over reported. AS things have started to get better this comes along and through the efforts of a lot of people it was fought and passed the PA house but someone decided to take their ball and go home. seems funny that we cant end our year in November I thought these guys were working for the people.

are we stupid

Are we stupid? you may ask why would I ask this ? because I can't believe what is going on and we let it. This January 1, 2011 Pennsylvania the first state in the nation will require sprinklers in single family and duplex properties. And the chorus of "but it's for your own good" rises to a crescendo.. it amazes me how many people don't even know that this is going into effect. The cost of this along with some other "no value to the buyer" added requirements is going to add approx $10,000 to the cost of a new home. Some buyers think well our insurance is going to go down, my first hand experience with investment properties that we own was the same units with sprinklers cost us an additional $100 per year over the same unit without sprinklers. This theft of your hard earned money came about because of the sprinkler industry getting the right lobby to yell loud enough. Most don't even understand that the sprinklers are not designed to save your home but give you an additional 7-9 minutes to get out of your house. York County also has the hardship of having properties on wells which will require additional pumps etc. I have yet to see facts or figures on how this will save anymore lives than smoke detectors. why do we not get to choose? I guess we are just too stupid.....