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Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Why Selling Your Home in Winter is a Good Move
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I got a call from a friend the other day who wanted to know when she should put her home on the market. She tried to sell her beautiful 4-bedroom, 2 ½-bath spacious Colonial last year without success in the flooded Lancaster County real estate market.
My friend had heard as I did that winter is not a good time to put one’s home on the market because the traffic isn’t there.
We all were wrong.
There’s a missed opportunity for sellers who wait until the spring to put their homes on the market. Here’s why:
Common knowledge tells people to stick the for sale sign as soon as the spring rains soften the ground. That means, most people will be doing the same thing and your home will have to compete with dozens of similar homes.
That competition just isn’t there in the winter months. That means your home will stand out to the more serious buyers who would brave icy driveways and snow storms to see your home.
Let’s face it. People don’t stop looking for homes just because the holidays come and go. In fact, my business started to pick up last January, even more so this January. And judging by the number of Weichert listings I have seen go under agreement this week alone, it seems as though this year started out with a bang for a lot of agents.
The other thing potential sellers have to think about before delaying the inevitable is that this year is promised to be an even more flooded market because of the “shadow inventory” the talking heads keep warning us about.
Shadow inventory are the homes that banks were foreclosing on when the robo-signing scandal hit. These are homes that have been sort of in limbo until that scandal was resolved.
Economists expect these homes to start flooding markets in the next few months. Whether that happens here in Lancaster, only time will tell.
But don’t wait to find out.
When do you think is a good time to list your home?
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Posted by: Carrie Cassidy at 11:00am
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Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Gaga Over Gaga
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The last few weeks, Lancaster County has been talking about Lady Gaga. I don’t know much about her but even I was spending time talking about rumors that she may be moving to our fair corner of the world.  
The rumors started on Facebook and Twitter about her house-hunting in a gated community in northern Manheim Township called Bent Creek. The neighborhood of mini-mansions has several homes for sale that would match a pop music star’s taste and budget.
While there’s been no confirmation of her making an offer on one of them, it hasn’t stopped people from talking about Lady Gaga moving into the neighborhood.
They’re also asking: Why Lancaster County?
That answer seems to be simpler than the rhinestone-covered outfits the superstar usually wears. Her boyfriend is a Lancaster County native whose family lives in the area. She has come to visit her boyfriend, Taylor Kinney, who stars in the hit TV show The Vampire Diaries. (The couple met when Kinney, a 2000 graduate of Lancaster Mennonite High School, played her love interest in one of her music videos.)
In fact, a picture of a stiletto-healed Gaga walking around a grocery store up that way made the rounds on Twitter a few weeks ago.
But buying a house simply to have a place to stay when visiting your beau’s parents? Say that is the reason. Fine. Women have do ne far more for far less. Even if that’s the only reason for her home-purchasing plans, the “Marry the Night” singer will quickly learn there are other reasons to love the place where I’ve called home for more than a decade.
Let’s look at Lancaster County’s central location. It’s perfect for any jet-setter who likes to be a short drive from beaches, mountains, rivers and major cities – Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and, of course, her home town of New York City.
And you can’t beat the scenery on these drives. There are miles and miles of fields dotted by cows and punctuated by turn-of-the-century farmhouses. It’s actually for what Amish Country is best known. There are miles of horizon along which you can almost always see a gorgeous sunset.
We have great communities like Lititz, where you can walk down the streets lined with mom-and-pop shops with chocolate from Wilbur’s factory wafting in the air. Lady Gaga has been spotted at several of these businesses while visiting this small little burg, like Dosie Dough and the General Sutter Inn.
We also have some of the oldest attractions in the country.  For example, our part of the world boasts such historic venues as the Fulton Opera House, Central Market and my personal favorite – the Intelligencer Journal. Though it’s more of a business than an attraction, this is one of the oldest newspapers in the country and it features a museum of sorts on the side of its press building along Queen Street.
The display of newspapers is located across from one of the entrances to one of Lancaster’s hottest attractions, the Lancaster County Convention Center, which successfully blends Old and New Lancaster.
I haven’t even started to mention the popular attractions in the suburbs, like the Strasburg Railroad and the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, and the many shopping venues and award-winning restaurants filling our county.
Perhaps the most compelling reason why Lady Gaga will learn to love Lancaster County is the people who live and work here. Take it from a transplant of more than a decade. The caring nature of those who I have had the privilege of calling neighbors and friends is why I can’t picture myself living anywhere else.
So, with all this information, there’s only one question left to ask: Why wouldn’t she want to call Lancaster County home?
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Posted by: Carrie Cassidy at 8:18pm
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Friday, September 2nd, 2011
All Real Estate is Local
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The other day, the National Association of Realtors put out a news release via Facebook that pending home sales were down across the country. On the same day, the Lancaster County Association of Realtors was quoted in our local paper that home sales for Lancaster County were on the rise - and not by a little.
 This kind of mixed messages can confuse buyers. But one thing they should keep in mind is that real estate is location - not just from county to county but from neighborhood to neighborhood.
For example, look at Manheim Township, where I call home. You have some homes sitting on the market with no activity for weeks and months. These are often overpriced homes in a not so popular neighborhood.
Then you have a situation like the home I sold in Blossom Hill, one of our area's most desirable communities. This lovely cape sold in 7 days.
My seller actually got fed up with people telling her not to sell in this market. They kept saying its' a bad time to buy and sell real estate. A week later, she was bragging about selling her home so quickly and that they had competing offers.
It's like she told me, "People still have to buy and sell homes. It's not like the world stops."
She's right. The world of real estate never stops. It may stall for a bit but it keeps moving so long as sellers price their homes right and make them look their best. That will give sellers the best chance to sell quickly no matter which neighborhood your house is located.
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Posted by: Carrie Cassidy at 5:22am
Tags: lancaster, real estate, local, buyers, neighborhood, manheim township,
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Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
4 Bedroom Home for Sale in York
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read one of my first blog posts. It's been a long time, but I've shaken off the rust and am ready to start writing. My goal is to bring you interesting content weekly.
I selected one of my new listings as the launching off point for this blog. it's 508 N. Pershing Avenue in York’s north section -- a spacious semi-detached home with more than 1900 square feet and has 4 bedrooms, although five is possible with a privacy violation. There’s even a bonus room in the clean, full basement, giving the new owners plenty of storage space.
Besides being totally renovated, what’s great about this home is the location! First of all, it is very close to all of the major highways that run through York County. You can easily get on I-83 or Rt. 30 in a snap. This home, which is located across from the Jefferson Center, also is just a couple blocks from Sovereign Bank Stadium and just a few more from the downtown area. You’re close to all that York has to offer without the noise common to bustling city streets.
Even more of an escape is this home’s private, fenced yard. You’ll feel like you’re a world away! Inside the house is more of an escape – from renovations. The hard work already has been done for you.
Let’s start on the first floor. Anyone who walks inside 508 N. Pershing Avenue can immediately see this amazing, open floor plan. New carpeting covers the living and dining areas, and laminate fills the spacious, renovated kitchen. There are new cabinets – and lots of them! There’s room for all your pots, pans, food, and anything else you’ll want to store. Not only does the open feel spill into the kitchen through the pass-through window, where there’s a breakfast bar, but there are also several large windows, one of which looks out onto the large yard. The renovator gave the kitchen some style with some wainscoting too.
Upstairs, you’ll find five bedrooms, large enough for even the pickiest person. Everyone can have their own space and there’s a renovated bathroom that’s bigger than most city homes. There is a balcony that overlooks the yard off the one bedroom. Every single room has been painted in a tasteful color and replacement windows have been installed in almost all of the rooms.
This is a great deal for anyone seeking a move-in ready home that costs less than rent. A monthly payment can be $481 a month, depending on interest rates and other factors. Not a bad price for a completely renovated home that will be yours!
If you’d like more information on this York home or would like a private showing for this home or any others for sale in York, Lebanon, Lancaster and Berk counties, call me at 717-575-5598. I would love if you’d share this post with your friends and family if you like what you read. And, of course, you can always call or text me at the above number or email me at CCassidy@WeichertEH.com should you want to talk about buying or selling a home.
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Posted by: Carrie Cassidy at 12:25am
Tags: york, york county, real estate, house, home, for sale, buy, sell
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