R5Realty News and Notes

Market Snapshots and Commentary on Value and Quality of life along the former Main Line of the Pennsylvania Rail Road, up until recently called the R5 Line, and now officially known as the Paoli /Thorndale line. R5Realty runs from Center City Philadelphia through the walkable, Westward outlying Towns & Townships.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Housing Market Update: Lower Merion, Narberth, Delco April 2012


R5Realty Brought Buyers to Lovely 700 Georges Ln. for $325.000
  When this handsomely remodeled Tudor in S. Ardmore (Delco) appeared on market last month at $325,000, R5Realty Buyers were alerted and an offer successfully negotiated within 24 hours. As full-time agents focused on the Lower Merion, Haverford, Radnor and Philly Family markets, we know a win-win deal when we see one. In this case, this redone single was listed at $345,000 last year then Re-Listed this March for $20k less, with new Central Air!


Street AddressTownSold For
Bed
Bath
Sq FtList Price
78 Greenfield AveArdmore$289,900 421,556$289,900
103 Linwood AveArdmore$625,000 73.14,012$719,900
2529 Chestnut AveArdmore Pk$220,000 41.21,648$229,900
2225 Avon RdArdmore Pk$230,000 321,218$249,900
835 Cricket AveArdmore Pk$365,000 42.11,776$375,000
34 Aberdale RdBala Cynwyd$460,000 62.13,399$479,000
620 Cambridge RdBala Cynwyd$900,000 43.24,162$925,000
27 Bala AveBalaCynwyd$234,900 62.13,010$234,900
325 Pembroke RdBalaCynwyd$395,000 622,603$375,000
129 Maple AveBelmontHills$215,000 311,088$239,900
3 Arthur RdBryn Mawr$400,000 32.22,275$439,900
525 Fox Run LnBryn Mawr$840,000 43.13,924$899,000
751 County Line RdBrynMawr$145,000 31.11,185$169,900
1220 Arwyn LnGladwyne$685,000 432,805$669,000
1007 Black Rock Gladwyne$700,000 55.14,593$700,000
534 New Gulph RdHaverford$634,200 42.12,864$659,000
225 Rose LnHaverford$945,000 53.13,670$965,000
1744 Earlington RdHavertown$210,000 32.11,697$229,900
1609 Colony LnHavertown$213,500 311,350$229,900
300 Edgehill DrHavertown$228,000 31.11,780$239,900
1715 Tyson RdHavertown$235,000 31.11,478$235,000
308 Brentwood RdHavertown$255,000 321,488$274,500
1807 Earlington RdHavertown$290,000 32.11,873$299,000
1011 Weller AveHavertown$318,500 421,990$330,000
246 Lenox RdHavertown$337,000 321,977$339,000
2723 Woodleigh RdHavertown$366,000 421,736$364,900
37 E Benedict AveHavertown$475,000 54.13,150$489,900
320 Winding WayMerionStation$610,000 442,724$639,000
322 Woodbine AveNarberth$145,000 311,304$170,000
255 Iona AveNarberth$205,000 321,475$229,000
308 Iona AveNarberth$205,000 31984$210,000
17 Shirley RdNarberth$377,000 421,507$409,000
71 Wynnedale RdNarberth$525,000 51.12,074$539,000
232 Stacey RdNarberth$530,000 544,174$495,000
120 Chestnut AveNarberth$560,000 42.12,401$569,000
511 Dudley AveNarberth$625,000 52.13,020$675,000
426 Brookhurst AvePennValley$349,000 21.11,320$348,900
631 Righters Mill RdPennValley$454,000 32.11456$499,000
515 Fairview RdPennValley$605,000 33.12,535$699,000
926 Conestoga RdRosemont$205,000 311,552$229,000
136 Eachus AveRosemont$216,500 311,184$220,000
6 Braxton RdRosemont$490,500 42.11,846$485,000
407 Barclay RdRosemont$575,000 42.12,488$579,000
700 Georges LnS. Ardmore$325,000 31.51,618$325,000
128 Golfview RdS. Ardmore$610,000 42.13,514$610,000
2050 Old Gulph RdVillanova$635,000 43.13,525$650,000
2044 Old Gulph Villanova$814,000 54.15,836$899,000
19 Fariston RdWayne$620,000 42.12,450$649,000
1468 HampsteadWynnewood$280,000 31.11,624$279,900
511 Ballytore RdWynnewood$650,000 54.24,304$689,000
223 Old Gulph RdWynnewood$655,000 53.13,920$675,000
230 W IndianCreek Wynnewood$707,500 54.13,604$745,000
221 Cherry LnWynnewood$762,500 53.23,961$895,000






Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Power Selling Spring 2012: Wynnewood Sellers Offer a Great Deal and Get a Good One in Return

Haverford Rd./ Wynnewood: Full-Price Offer Before Sunset.
Before sunset on the first day of showings, this 4-bed, 2.5 bath contemporary home had already attracted a full-price offer. And that's where things got even more interesting for the Sellers. By the end of the week, two more offers were received, with the Winning bid at more than $10,000 over asking price and the back-up offer $5000 above asking price.

Fortunately for Sellers - who agreed, in principle, to accept that first, full-price offer of $329,000 - those Buyers chose to have protracted negotiations over minor lender and settlement conditions. It's understandable these Buyers and their agent thought they had leverage to steamroll the Seller's concerns about parts of the deal ancillary to price. In a Buyer's Market, such as we have today, one might expect a Buyer making a full-price offer to have his whims indulged by a starry-eyed seller.
Not necessarily the case.

Sellers, in this instance, had a well-thought-out and months-in-the-works Goal to sell and buy a downsizer before the autumn of 2012. Sellers knew that to effectively sell a home on a busy street such as Haverford Rd., they would have to make the house look great and price it aggressively. Throughout fall and winter of 2011, Sellers got painting and other handyman jobs completed so they were able to hit the market in early March, just ahead of our peak home-selling season.

Sellers' list price of $329,000 was nearly 10 percent less than they paid during last decade's apex of the housing hysteria. Not ideal, for sure, but Immensely Practical. Careful review of recent sales, current listings, and others' failed attempts to sell made it crystal clear to Sellers that listing at what they paid in 2006 would be anathema to the sell-and-downsize gambit. So many sellers are understandably either unable to financially posit or even entertain the notion of getting less than they paid 5-7 years ago. But the numbers don't lie. With few exceptions, houses are bought, sold, valued and appraised based on the amounts paid for recent comparable properties. It is what it is, and if the numbers don't look good enough, figure out a way to hunker down for another 5 years when conditions might improve.

In this case, my Sellers had to make the downsize happen in the 2012 market. Rather than overpricing and pining for bids-  like the other half-dozen similar houses-for-sale  in the neighborhood - these sellers chose to work from a Position of Power. Seems counter-intuitive that a lower list price can bring increased power, but it's frequently the case. When the house hit the market looking great and at a somewhat sub-market price, the Buyers circled like sharks at a submerged slaughterhouse. Yowsa.

When the full-price offer came in hours after showings commenced, Seller was gratified but somewhat underwhelmed by the buyer's out-of-state, no-money-down lender (see 'R5Realty News & Notes' March posting: Sellers Beware Thy Buyers Lender).  Nothing can destroy a seller's dreams like a lender with no significant interest in seeing that the transaction executes seamlessly. For days, the Buyers cajoled and prodded to the Seller to accept their Midwestern lender and loan product. The Buyers even balked at providing a back-up lender who could step in if their preferred "unknown quantity"  lender failed to perform in timely fashion.

Why the big deal about the Lender? When your goal is to sell in the peak of housing season so you can then go out and drive a good deal on your downsize, a Lender who overpromises and doesn't deliver can completely destroy a well-conceived Sell and ReBuy plan.

Longstory short, while Sellers continued to lobby for their Ohio lender and resisted inexpensive think-outside-the box alternatives, another buyer jumped in offering in excess of $10,000 more, and  with no fuss regarding minutiae. The original Buyers were aghast when informed they had been blown out of the water by a party who saw Value dangling on a stick and swooped in to snatch it. Within a day after the new 10k-plus, Local Lender deal was signed, a backup offer for 6k over list came in as well.

What's to be learned? Aggressive prices - even in a buyer's market - can be an effective strategy to sell fast and still get a good number, as multiple parties bid up the price. Buyers know its a Buyers Market and are hungry for good values. A good deal is a good deal,  and if Buyers  can get a deal paying list price or above, it's a lot less hassle and stress than a Buyer having to lowball and convince a seller his house is worth less.

Some folks call the strategy of Pricing slightly under market value, "Power Selling".  It's Power Selling because rather than passively hoping someone approaches your above-market price or ventures into an unsavory price-cutting negotiation, now you have a feeding frenzy and You are holding the fish (so to speak).  Even in a Buyer's Market, feeding frenzies happen. I've seen it multiple times in the spring of 2012 and in each case, it's nice to see Sellers sharing in the position of power for a change.