From: Wags [Wags@AbeandWags.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 9:28 AM
To: wags@abeandwags.com
Subject: March 2009 Laurel Highlands Newsletter from Abe and Wags
You are on
the private e-group of Adrienne "Abe" Wagner and Robert "Wags"
Wagner, Realtors of Prudential Preferred Realty, Laurel Highlands Office,
Donegal PA, in the Laurel Highlands of SW PA, USA. If this message comes
to you in error our apologies. Please let us know and we will clear you from
this group. This update is not an attempt to solicit the offerings of other
brokers and is for informational purposes only. Properties referred to are
those listed or represented by our team and do not represent all properties in
market area. All opinions are ours alone.
Before any
substantive discussion about real estate with us refer to the PA Consumer Notice.
Thank you to
all who enjoy our updates! Always know that we do post these updates on our Newsletters Page on
our website so if in the future we may seem to be late please check our site,
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March 2009
Newsletter
In this
Newsletter:
1. Market Overview: Buyers Market
2. Seven Springs: Southwind closing out,
Sporting Clays Center and Spa.
3. Hidden Valley: Resales vs. new construction.
4. Flight 93 National Memorial
5. Local: Laurel Highlands Summit
6. State: PA Stability
7. National: Budget Proposal
8. Team News: Awards and Education
9. TEK TIP: Navigate Words toolbars, free
worldwide calling, funny signs and more.
1. Market Overview Inventory and days on market continue
to grow. Several properties are now going into their second year of being
active listings. These conditions are all indications of a deepening buyers
market. Make sure you are working with a Designated Buyers agent in this
changing environment!
You will see
movement in this market. We believe there will NOW be three types of sellers.
The first has always been the most prominent, “This is my price, end of
story.” And you may decide to pay that
given the location, features, and condition of the property. Seller number two
will have purchased PRIOR to 2006 and will be able to be priced under #1. And the new comer to the line up is the
MOTIVATED SELLER who truly wants or needs to sell.
We’re hearing
from comrades in sections of Arizona and Florida that prices are beginning to
turn upwards. The hard part of “WAITING” for the rock bottom of a buyer’s
market is that you wait too long!! Unless you are really tuned into the market
it will begin its upswing WITHOUT YOU! RE/MAX has an outstanding commercial
that every buyer out there should take to heart!!
FIRST TIME
HOME BUYERS NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE $8,000
BUYER CREDIT! View the information on our property information page.
2. Seven Springs posted 6 resale transfers for the
first quarter, that’s even with 2008. Prices here are still slow to adjust even
with the statistics strongly indicating a buyer’s market.
With only 28
resales posted for 2008 the biggest challenge in this market is going to be
getting comparables for appraisals.
Soon
Southwind will be closing on the last of the pre-sold new construction town
homes. A letter went out in February from Seven Springs to prospective buyers
stating that the newest community offering has been put on hold for now. The
Sporting Clay Lodge is under construction, the new shooting course has been
started, and a request submitted for a third liquor license. Trillium Spa is scheduled
to open this month call 800-452-2223 ext 7123 to book your session! The Golf
Course is OPEN
with early season specials!
Keep an eye
on our BLOG for updates in
between our e-newsletters.
3. Hidden Valley had 11 resales recorded for the first
three months. In 2008 that number was 29. Listing inventory for this side so
far is holding around 60. The four new construction condos in Summit Place are
still available. We hear that they should be completed sometime this May. It
appears that prospective buyers have found resales to be more intriguing in
this price range ($325 - $349). According
to the Planning Commission the Green Tee Lots are still awaiting approval along
with the new lodge. The Golf course is OPEN with
early season specials!
4. Flight 93 National Memorial – The creation of this estimated 58
million dollar Memorial is going to be a story to write about in itself! If you
visit the National Park Service
(NPS) web site you will find very few recently posted stories on the process of
acquiring the necessary property. Nor will you find much at all about the
impact this site will have on the local Boro and Townships that will be dealing
with a whole new list of issues!
Think Gettysburg, PA.
Where once there were only fields and farms now there are cities
traffic, hotels, restaurants, and many more visitors! Where do you begin? First
try starting with land acquisition, permitting, water, sewer, utility lines,
roads, building the structure, all in two and a half years! Talk about a honey
do list!
Granted there will be phases but the list above contains
the basic fundamentals. To begin with Svonavec’s, the owners of the ground where Flight
93 was brought down have donated the immediate six acres. They own another 274
acres that appraisers are trying put a value on so that the courts (still
unclear as to State or Federal!) may determine the price that will be paid.
We whole heartedly support this project yet are concerned
of the impact of the sheer numbers of projected visitors to this very rural
area. The new memorial is projected to have 1,900
vehicles passing through during the weekday with 4,200 on weekends!
As we
continue to be watching for economic Good News for our state and local areas,
construction for this Memorial is on the fast track. In fact 5.475 Million is
contained in the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill. THAT MEANS JOBS!
When it’s all said and done the planned memorial will cover 2,231 acres! Even
though there are details to work out
(such as land ownership) work begins! Go to our BLOG for more on this story.
We’ll be
hearing from Dee Kaplan, Deputy Secretary, Dept of Community & Economic
Development and Cindy Dunn, Deputy Secretary, Department of Conservation &
Natural Resources. Session topics with guest speakers include, “Dynamic
Community Strategies: Community & Business Development in Historic and
Scenic Areas, Show Me the Green: Resource Stewardship to Sustain our
Communities, Show Me the Money: Creating Business in Resource-Connected
Communities, Show Me the Place: Community Asset Planning and Management –
Cultural and Natural Resources as Economic Development Tools, and Cool Vision –
Are You ‘Next Gen’ Ready?”
We hope to
see a full house!
6. State: Given this economy we decided to
revisit where our resort home owners reside full time. Checking on their area
of primary residence give us (and you), insight into the stability of their
livelihood and likeliness of needing to sell a second home. Pennsylvania
still lays claim to almost 80% of the home owners at both Hidden Valley and
Seven Springs.
Consider our
neighboring states like Michigan with all
of the GM manufactures scaling back employees. Or Ohio where the DHL
company with 8,000 employees recently shut down their facility. What part
of the economic mix would knock the wind out of our markets? We decided to do
some investigating to see if we could uncover any interesting economic
information! CLICK HERE for
more and a graph of where Laurel Highland home owners live.
7. National:
Our National REALTOR Association believes that the budget proposal has a “small
section that has the potential to become a major impediment to a recovery in
real estate markets across the nation. As currently drafted, the plan changes
the Mortgage Interest Rate Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage
deductibility on families earning over $250,000.”
The concern
is that if passed it “will result in further erosion of home prices and
values.” Our organization is working hard to prevent enactment of this segment.
This generation has unprecedented access to our leaders. With one click of the
mouse we can send an e-mail with our thoughts and concerns to our multiple
state and national representatives and it will arrive the same day (barring
firewalls and security systems!). No Stamp needed.
We urge you
to be involved citizens and take the time to let your ELECTED representative
know what’s on your mind! For the first time in history we will be able to
watch and participate as this process develops.
8. Team News: Prudential Realty National recognized
our efforts for 2008 with the Leading Edge Award. That means we were in the top
7% of agents NATIONALLY in the Prudential network. Our stats help to keep our
sellers acutely aware of the market changes and their competition. Recently we
started comparing mortgages to sales price. This information gives us insight
into many different competitive market scenarios for our sellers.
As a Quality
Service Certified Team we were awarded the Platinum
Client Satisfaction Award, which is the highest level in the industry. This
was based on independent surveys sent to our clients by the Leading Research
Corporation and showed a 100% satisfaction rating. We strive to EXCEED the
clients’ expectations and we accomplished that last year. Our goal is to do the same this year!
We’ve had six
transactions close or go under agreement so far this year. One was over list price, Two
were 100% of list price, Three were
above 95% of list price. We are watching over 25 different market statistics.
This information keeps our sellers informed of the changes occurring in
pricing, days on market, inventory, market absorption, and many other pertinent
variables!
We just returned
from the Resort and Second Home Symposium in Naples, FL and had some great
sessions including learning more about the new 1004MC form appraisers are NOW
required to use. MARKET ABSORPTION RATES
are a required statistic for all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Some areas
are now experiencing fewer days on market, increasing prices, and seeing the
market begin it’s up turn! Check out our BLOG for a slide show of Port Royal!
Education has
been high on our list of priorities this year! Our focus has been on social
networking and video classes. As of February 20 all of our listings may be
found on YouTube. We have become addicted to one hour webinars on all types of
technology topics!
9. Tek Tip: This month’s newsletter includes a
tool to navigate MS Word tool bars, free worldwide mobile to mobile calling,
and making your own road sign for fun and more. Here is a link to our technology
newsletter.
We appreciate
your feedback or questions. Please ask for Abe or Wags personally. Feel free to
forward this newsletter in entirety to any other interested parties.
The Real
Estate Team for all Seasons.
Adrienne
"Abe" Wagner, Associate Broker
CRB, CRS,
GRI, e-PRO, OA, RECS, RSPS, SRES, TRC
412-897-8535
cell AB 065065
Robert
"Wags" Wagner, Realtor
CRB, CRS,
GRI, e-PRO, OA, RSPS
Prudential /
Fine Homes/ Developments Specialists
412-551-1859
cell RS 250265
Prudential
Preferred Realty
3802 State
Route 31 Suite 1
Donegal PA
15628
Office
800-419-7653
Fax
724-593-6123
e-Mail rwagner@topproducer.com
Web Site: www.AbeandWags.com
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