Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties Real Estate. Tips for home buyers, home sellers by Gita Bantwal,Realtor at ReMax Centre Realtors.

This is an experience I had when I first got into real estate and this was my first listing. An experienced broker had the buyer. That was a help. The buyers got a mortgage commitment and everything was fine. Then a month before settlement, the buyer's agent informed me that the buyer would be on permanent disability income which was less that the income with which he  he qualified for mortgage. The buyers had very good credit and were putting down 20%. . My seller had paid up the mortgage which was good. We asked the seller if he would give financing and he agreed. So we went to settlement with seller financing.   I mention this to sellers. Even if you have a mortgage commitment , things can change. We have to be on our toes and there are no guarantees till we hand over the keys to new buyers.

Based on listings in Trend mls system there are 55 residential units for sale in Warrington township,  priced between $239,000 and $1000,000.

As of today they have 15 units under contract for an average days on market of 57.

Of these units , 12 are listed as pending  ( low price $239,900 and high price of $661,875 ) for an average price of $414,494 and 45 days on market.  While 3 are active under contract,  with average price of $296,367 and days on market of 69.   It seems the prices are higher than last year, but it is taking longer to sell.

in April 2006 average days on market was 37 while it went up to 53 days in April 2007.The median sale price was $400,000  in April 2007 , which was an increase of 24% compared to April 2006.

There are some really nice houses and buyers should take advantage of low rates and large inventory to find the house of their dreams.  It is not like when it was a seller's market where there weren't many houses to look at.

Warrington township is located in highly acclaimed  Central Bucks School District . Go to www.cbsd.org and read all about the school district.

To view all available listings in multiple listing in BUCKS COUNTY  go to my web site www.GitaBantwal.com and click on home finder.

If you are planning a vacation you might want to look at some of these sites.

If you are looking at last minute travel, gonowvacations.com has some good all inclusive fares.

Here are some other sites:

http://www.mobissimo

www.sidestep.com

www.kayak.com

www.expedia.com

www.cheaptickets.com

I have used mobissimo and expedia often.

You might also want to compare with the fare on web site of airline it self. Recently I found a better price on British airways site www.ba.com

Have a great vacation.

Gita Bantwal, Realtor

Specialize in selling home in Philadelphia,Bucks County and Montgomery county

I am sure most of us have had an experience where we list a house and receive an offer in the first week.  It may not be a full price offer and the seller says, " It has only been on the market for a week. Let us wait."  The seller does not take the offer.  The buyers find another house.

As weeks and months go by ,  you do not get any other offer and then when you do get an offer,  it is less than the first offer.  The seller may end up taking it or countering to get the offer that was turned down a few months ago.

When a house is first listed, it creates a lot of activity and when a person makes an offer ,  it may be based on comps provided by their agent or it may be a buyer looking for a bargain,  but when the house is on the market for a long period, the buyers are more likely to make a low offer.  So after waiting,   the seller may end up with the same price that was turned down.

I had one such experience last year.  I listed a house for $450,000 . Within a few weeks got an offer for $400,000 no contingencies.  The seller turned it down and he was right in this case, because the market price was $450,000  and the reason the buyer offered the price was, he was looking for a bargain and because it was a cash deal..

Unfortuantely, prices started going down.  More houses came on the market in the development. There were 15 houses at one time. Some were relos who sold for less and my seller had to reduce the price to keep up.It finally sold for a little over $400000, after being  vacant for a couple of months.  No one could have foreseen the values coming down in the area, but it happened, though  it should not have happened.

 In  this Buyer's market,  the seller should be honest with the agent and tell the agent the bottom line and realize that there are  more homes for sale than number of  buyers looking to buy..

But  on a more positive note, I was glad to see the statistics for April 2007 compared with April 2006 and in many townships in Bucks County price of homes have gone up over 20% compared to  same period last year..

Here is some information on Apartment Complexes in Bucks County.   I have mentioned the rent based on information I read and it is subject to change.  I have no idea if there is vacancy or not and if interested you may go there and check it out.  Some of the amenities may have been discontinued.I am not responsible for errors and omissions in this post, nor do I recommend any particular apartment.

BENSALEM     Salem Harbor on State Road in North East between Grant and Linden Avenue. Located along the Delaware river.

1 bedroom units start at  $890 and 2 Bedrooms from $1070 .Washer,dryer included.

They  have balcony or patio. and walk in closets.

Amenities include pool,kiddie pool,fitness center,tennis court,shuttle service to train.

BENSALEM. Franklin Commons . Located near I 95 and Rte 13 off Park avenue.

1 bedroom  from $845 . 2 bedrooms from $1015.

washer/dryer are optional,.They have tennis courts and fitness center.

BENSALEM Trevose. Arbor Lane at 600 Old Street Rd, Trevose.

1 bedroom from $830 and 2 Bedroom from $955

Patio/balcony. Onsite laundry facilities available.

The above are some that I am aware of.  There may be more.  Also private investors might have apartments or single homes for rent. Read the Philadelphia Inquirer or Courier Post. You can look up classifieds at www.phillyburbs.com

Settlement usually takes place in an hour and we set up settlements at our office every hour on the hour. The last Friday of the month is when it is busiest.

Many of us have experienced an all day settlement or one that was postponed on the day scheduled for settlement.

I have had a few of these over the years. May be some of you might want to share your experience as well.  We can all learn from these and take care that it will not happen again.

Many years ago I sold a condo to a buyer with great credit.  She was a FHA buyer.It was a quick settlement . We received the mortgage commitment with requirement that they needed the condo questionnaire. The mortgage company informed me the night before settlement that there was 1 more investor in the development  that changed the ratio.  I looked at the number of units rented and realized that the unit I was selling was considered an investor condo and actually when my buyer bought it the ratio would change.  But I could not talk to anyone the night before.  My buyer had gone to spend the night at her mother's house as she had packed everything and I could not reach her. The phone was disconnected.  I met her at the scheduled walk through as planned  at 8 am and had to tell her the news.  I had also told the listing agent the previous evening so the seller was prepared.  I called the department of Housing in Philadelphia and the mortgage company but had no luck.  The buyer had already got the movers and they were on the way. ( These days there are more owner occupied units so it is not a problem.)

The seller being an investor agreed to rent to her for a month.  We got a different mortgage, not FHA, and she settled a month later.

Now I am cautious if there are too many investors in a development.

Warminster township is about 10 square miles and according to its web site has a population of 32,832. Warminster is about 20 miles North of Philadelphia and it is convenient for those who work in the city to commute to Philadelphia from Warminster.  R2 Warminster train runs from Warminster frequently during peak hours.  The full schedule can be viewed at www.Septa.org.   R1 train goes from Warminster to Philadelphia International Airport.  Besides the train, the bus runs from  Warminster and goes to Willow Grove Mall and Philadelphia and Fern Rock train  station , where you can take the subway.

Warminster has a Free Library and Public Golf Course.  The Benjamin Wilson Senior Center is located in Warminster. There are Community service organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis, Jaycees.  There is a recreation Center.

Warminster is a great place to shop.  There are stores like Kmart, T J Maxx, Kohls, Ross, AC Moore, Rag Shop, Payless Shoe Store, Radio Shack, Dollar General Store, and Dollarland. There are many supermarkets like Giant, Genuardi,  Shop Rite,  and of course  Starbucks.

Housing is affordable and taxes are low.  This makes it very attractive to people and we have more and more people moving to Warminster.