It looks like Tony Chennault, the Wake Forrest gaurd has applied to the NCAA for a hardship to transfer to Villanova. Here’s the link from the Philadelphia Daily News:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillyhoops/148444795.html
Photo Of The Day
Give it a try. It’s the best up-to-the-minute real estate information app. I pay for it so that my users can get it for free. It’s totally free so just check it out and let me know how you like it.
Alan J. Heavens' excellent analysis in the Philadelphia Inquirer 2/12/12
I’m finally scanning some of the pieces I’ve saved from the Inquirer. Alan J. Heavens has written the real estate column for years in the Philadelphia Inquirer. This column really stands out. It is unusual for any writer in a large paper to be this transparent, “The Obama Administration’s record bringing this situation under control is abysmal.”
Get that? Read it again: “ABYSMAL.” Heavens goes so far as to accuse Obama of using the real estate market as “election year posturing” in his (now mostly forgotten) State of the Union address. The President’s latest proposal is to allow loans not owned by FNMA or FHLMC to be refinanced by the FHA. Heavens describes (with generous sourcing) why this will not work. Heavens makes some suggestions of what will work.
Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a “smartphone.” But I have a great app for those who do. It will give you all real estate listings within a geographic area. You can filter by price, size, area, etc.
If you would like to try our free app for smartphones text MELICH to 87778. You will receive a text message with a link to download the app. It’s absolutely free for my users and is powered by TREND which is the actual MLS for our area. So unlike Trulia or Realtor.com the information is “real-time” and absolutely up-to-date.
In the latest issue of Business Insider Steve McLinden has some suggestions for sellers. The author doesn’t tell us if they’re in order of priority but first on the list is “Price it right from the get-go.” Truer words have never been written! McLinden writes: “Consider that of the homes that took four months or more to sell in the past year, almost half of their owners accepted less than 90 percent of the asking price.” I would go even further and say that once a property is overpriced it becomes stigmatized. Agents know it’s overpriced. Buyers know it’s overpriced. And when the seller finally realizes it’s overpriced it’s too late. Even with a drastic price reduction it will be difficult to get agents and buyers to see it.
One of McLinden’s suggestions I disagree with vehemently. It’s way down the list; and I don’t know what he’s using as a reference for it. But in “Be your own spokesperson” it becomes obvious that he’s never been on a showing with a buyer where the seller was there. Buyers are ALWAYS put-off by a seller showing their own home. And I have never– in 17 years of real estate– been able to sell a property where the seller tried to show it.
Several examples of seller-showing disasters come to mind. First a little background: Buyers have many properties to see. Time is always limited. So I’m with a buyer and we’re scheduled to see about a dozen properties. Immediately buyers know that if a seller is there it will be a waste of time–so they’re not listening. So we enter the home and we’re going downstairs and the seller is leading us to the hot water heater–not something that a buyer needs to see immediately. In the 21st century it can be assumed that most properties in our area have hot water. But then the seller tells us that it’s “brand new.” Sure enough it’s clean and modern. But the installation tag is from three years ago. That’s not “brand new” in a buyer’s mind. We didn’t even go up to the second floor.
In another example with a different buyer the seller met us at the door and started “chatting us up.” I actually had to tell them that we had many, many properties to see and we’d really just like to view the house. So the seller leads us upstairs with a yardstick and proceeds to measure the “extra deep” closets for the buyers. Again–buyers will make their own decision about what is a priority for them. We actually were late for another appointment and walked out without even seeing the kitchen.
Sellers hire a professional to sell their house by listing it. Leave the selling to the professionals. If a seller must be home for a showing, best to leave the showing agent to do their job. They know their buyer and their buyer’s priorities better than the seller ever will.
Sen. John Sununu's excellent analysis
In this piece published last Friday, former Senator John E. Sununu recounts his meeting with FNMA executives Dan Mudd and Richard Syron. Five years ago Sen. Sununu confronted them about lending standards and other issues with FNMA. “They didn’t want to hear it.” and “they had clearly embraced a business model that socialized potential losses while providing private returns.”
And this is exactly why we are all hurting right now: the “socialized losses.” The “Readers Digest” version goes something like this: Political pressure to reduce lending standards leads to excess lending. Regulators that recognized the problem were marginalized. Lenders continued to lend to those that could never repay and investors in those loans believed their investments were sound. Housing prices soared on the increased demand. Sub-prime borrowers (as they often do) defaulted. Private investors (who carried all the risk) lose their investment. Housing prices plummet on excess supply AND the unavailability of funds because of increased fear on the part of lenders.
At least prosecuting Mudd and Syron may begin to place some punishment on those that were responsible. And at the same time heal the market.
The Wall Street Journal‘s third quarter survey of housing market conditions reveals what most agents already know: home prices are down. That makes it a great time to buy! Further, The Wall Street Journal reports: “monthly mortgage payments on the median priced home—including taxes and insurance—are lower than the average rent levels in 12 metro areas.” That means that if you’re thinking of signing another lease–don’t. Just yet anyway. At least take a look at what you can afford. It’s a great time to see properties because sellers that are on the market this time of year are anxious to have their properties shown. And they may be more willing to negotiate. The results of the survey are revealing. Read the entire article here:
Stronger Lure for Prospective Home Buyers
While I can’t speak for other agents, today is a regular work day for me. Drop off a 2nd deposit check to a listing agent; review 5407 documents for an upcoming transaction; review CMA details for an upcoming listing. But a brief look at today’s headlines would suggest that more than a few Americans need to get their priorities straight.
Of a woman using pepper spray at a California Walmart, Lieutenant Parga said, “Somehow she was trying to use it to gain an upper-hand.” She was trying to keep other shoppers away from merchandise she coveted. Hmm–definitely a well grounded individual with their priorities straight.
But this following one is my favorite. Now–I’m not sure about you–but I have at least three waffle irons. One from each grandmother as they became too elderly to make waffles. And another one from a great aunt. I haven’t used them in years but they’re in a box either in the attic or the barn. Also, every garage sale I’ve ever attended has at least one waffle iron for $1.00. So I’d say that the United States is probably oversupplied with waffle irons. And from the video here it is pretty clear that most of these shoppers don’t need any more waffles. So– too many waffle irons plus too many waffles and this is what you get:
Have a great day whatever you’re doing today!
Originally National Rolling Mills, the site of Uptown Worthington by O’Neill Properties gets its name from Worthington Steel which acquired National Rolling Mills in the 1980′s.
The site has been under development for several years. Most recently a new Target and Wegman’s opened in 2010. O’Neill Properties, which is suing Citizens Bank over financing, will turn over part of the site on Matthews Road to PNC Bank for a new branch to open next year. Also, O’Neill has changed the original plan to include 753 apartments instead of luxury condos.
Here’s the piece from the Daily Local News about the most recent changes to the development:
Think for a minute about those things in which we take pride. Those of you who know me personally know that I’m fiercely proud of several things. Chief among them: a proud Villanova and Conestoga graduate; a proud Catholic and Italian; my integrity and sincerity.
But there’s an intense pride in our geographic associations that unites us. I’m not only a Chester County native–I’m a Pennsylvanian. I’m part of that humble colony created by William Penn on his vision of “Greene Country Towns.” I share the pride of those noble ideals that were so successful and helped create our great industries that changed the world–Philco, Atwater-Kent, Bethlehem Steel, The Pennsylvania Railroad, Smith-Kline, Rohm & Haas, and Sun Oil just to name a few. I share the pride of our world famous institutions–the Philadelphia Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, and of course Pennsylvania State University.
Every Pennsylvanian knows the pride I’m talking about. You don’t have to be a Penn State grad to feel the pride of Penn State’s world famous football and academics. You don’t have to be a Penn Stater to feel the intensity of walking toward Beaver Stadium on any game-day Saturday with 100,000 people. Anyone who’s been to a Penn State game knows the feeling. On that day we’re all Penn State.
And so too today we’re all Penn State. This is a tragedy we all feel. And through all the headlines, frenzied Facebook posts, tearful phone calls from friends, and cable news coverage, I keep saying to myself: “just one phone call could have prevented all this suffering.” When Mike McQueary showed up at Joe Pa’s house on a Saturday morning nine years ago after witnessing that horrible crime why didn’t they just call the state police? Just one phone call would have spared so many others from suffering. Anyone–ANYONE that knew about this could have made one phone call and prevented it from happening again. Why were they all protecting Sandusky? What did Sandusky have on them? Paterno, Spanier, McQueary, Curley, Schultz or one of the (probably) many others that knew about this could have made that phone call. But they didn’t. They protected their own interests and did not care about the suffering of innocent children. There are no words to describe how despicable that is. And it should be punishable.
All of these men were supposed to be leaders. That means to lead–by example–preferably. But instead they’ve been an example of depravity. Paterno, Spanier, and McQueary should have resigned immediately in order to lead by example–but instead we have this morning’s headlines. Nothing can return the innocence of the children abused at the hands of the evil, sub-human Sandusky, but bringing these men to justice could serve as a deterrent. And it would help to restore my faith in humanity.
I never thought I would have to feel shame in saying that I’m a Pennsylvanian. But today, unfortunately, we are all Penn State.
