Monday, March 16, 2009

Bucks County Open House Extravaganza - Sunday March 22nd from 1-3

Prudential Fox & Roach is having an Open House Extravaganza this Sunday 3/22/09 from 1-3 p.m.

So far, we have over 1500 houses signed up and will be held open. Go to the Prudential Fox & Roach website and click on the red box to the left to see how to search open houses. We also have a super-cool tool directly underneath (Home Tour Planner). You enter in the MLS numbers of the open houses you want to visit, and this tool will come up with a customized map for your tour.

But the most happening, wildly popular, open house will be held here:



112 Fair Oaks Court
Newtown, PA
$240,000
Come visit me (and maybe a few of the other 1,500 open houses) this Sunday!





Friday, March 6, 2009

3 Ways to Find Your Zen When Negotiating Real Estate Transactions

1. Keep it civil.

I wrote a post What NOT to do in a Real Estate Transaction waaaay back in January of 2008. I think my favorite line of that post was "never start negotiations with an opening salvo to the other party." Look, you don't have to be friends with the other party, but keeping the dialog civil, on-task, and moving forward is going to accomplish your goals. Once the other party hates you, it's difficult for them to remove the emotion to work through the deal. Antagonistic negotiations often de-volve into fighting over trashcans and a $30 bathroom mirror (I've seen it happen).



2. Learn the Serenity Prayer. Repeat as necessary.

You can't control the other party, you can only control your end of the deal. People have complex lives going on, with motivations, finances, and weird dynamics that you never will, nor would want to, understand. Trying to figure out the other person, while good for hours of discussion, usually isn't very productive. Take a look at the offer, figure out how to make it acceptable to you, turn it back over to them and let them do the same.




3. Take the time to remove the emotion.

It's VERY typical to get emotional during negotiations. Heck, even I get irritated when I sell my fix & flip properties. It's ok. It's human. You're on opposite teams in this game. So, while you can rant and rave about how CHEAP the Buyers are being, or how NITPICKY the home inspector was, take the time you need to remove that from your response. Usually, by the next morning, you can look at the situation with a clear mind. Take the time you need to think things over, because you might regret losing a workable deal by telling someone to go pound sand.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Bucks County Real Estate Inventory - February 2009

Bucks County has seen some positive movement on the Months Supply of Inventory (the number of months it would take to sell all the homes on the market at the current sales rate). Our December numbers were 16.2 months, which was the highest MSI (Months Supply of Inventory) we had seen in over two years. Our January 2009 number dropped to 13 MSI, and February ended at 11.2 MSI. Although it's an increase of 42% from Febrauary 2008, and 110% from February 2007, I'm pleased to see a consistent trending downward of the MSI since our high in December.

***Hint - click on the picture to enlarge***