Posts in category 'The Sun'

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood real estate columnist! I can say with 100 percent conviction that I never thought I would be writing about real estate during a pandemic.

That said, we've got a lot to discuss.

Your local real estate office is affected by Governor Tom Wolf issuing all non-life sustaining business in the state to close. As of the writing of this article, our physical office in Hershey is closed, but we continue to work remotely.

How is this government mandate and other COVID-19 issues affecting the real estate market? From what I'm seeing, buyers still want to buy and sellers still want to sell.

During the week of March 16, there was a spike in homes hitting the market mid-week. That volume dipped by end-of-week, but...

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Several years ago, I interviewed Ruth Goepfert, founder of the Hummelstown Swim Club. This comment stuck with me: each year the board voted to do something to improve the swim club. Sometimes it was something big (adding a kiddie pool and fountain); sometimes it was small (adding a sand box). She said this mindset dramatically impacted their business.

Recently, I worked with Phil Guarno, owner of Fenicci's of Hershey, in facilitating an entrepreneur field trip for high schoolers. Guarno told the students that each year

he puts a significant percentage of his revenue toward a capital improvement fund, as he was taught to do by former employer Bill Marriott. Each year, Guarno improves the physical aspect of his restaurant.

As I show homes all over Sun Country, I view firsthand the impact seemingly small actions (or...

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Is Sun Country Buying Too Much Home?

Do you really need a larger home? This question may seem counterintuitive coming from a real estate agent.

Here's a case for buying a less expensive home: Financial experts say a good rule of thumb is to spend about 2.5 times your gross annual salary on a home and to keep your housing payments around 25-30 percent of your monthly income. The top 20 percentile

of earners nationwide know this; they spend 29.9 percent of their monthly income on housing, while the bottom 20 percent pay almost 40 percent.

In Sun Country, which includes all townships and boroughs in Elizabethtown Area, Derry Township, Lower Dauphin, and Palmyra Area school districts, the median home sale price in 2019 wa...

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For Your Protection, Get a Home Inspection.

That's the name of a document I share with all home buyers.

Home inspections give buyers detailed information about a home prior to purchase. Inspectors take an in depth look at your potential new home to evaluate the physical condition, identify needed repairs, and estimate the remaining life of major systems and equipment.

In very few cases will you, as a buyer, want to forgo a home inspection (those cases could include new construction, highly competitive bidding situations, or personal subject knowledge). In the Pennsylvania Association of Realtor's Standard Agreement for the Sale of Real Estate, several inspections are listed for buyers to elect or waiv...

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At a recent sales meeting, our director of operations introduced a new software program to our office, saying, "Well folks, it's here. Predictive analytics and AI have officially hit the real estate world."

Artificial Intelligence – basically using computer systems to make decisions that would normally require human intelligence – is entering our lives rapidly in many forms: Google searches, SIRI, selfdriving cars, and much more. This new access to information is giving me, as a realtor, a better understanding of our overall market with its needs and trends.

I'm led to ask some sweeping questions, like: in which Sun Country municipalities do people tend to stay in their homes longest? Who is most likely...

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