“Families in the market for a house are shopping at the right time: Nationally, homes are near the most affordable they’ve been in 18 years. In the fourth quarter of 2009 housing was 62.4% more affordable than the same time a year earlier, according to the Housing Opportunity Index, published quarterly by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. The best place to buy right now: Pittsburgh.”

Quoted from Forbes Article Feb 19, 2010

Related Blog Entries:

Pittsburgh Ranks Number One

Pittsburgh in the Top 5

Vandergrift, PA (NE Pittsburgh Suburb) Gets Ranked a Top Town in the Nation to Purchase a Home

As I stopped to get get photos last night, the freshly new place was perfectly lit up. There were young kids hanging out already by the door and some had duffel bags. I thought rather strange. Later after talking with some locals, I heard unconfirmed reports that the first 100 people in the door would get free Big Macs for a year. Rumor also has it that it is one of the most high tech McDonald’s in the area.

Photos Copyright, 2009   Amy S Myers Photography

McDonald’s
451 Hyde Park Rd
Leechburg, PA 15656
(724) 845-2035

Top Cities that were least effected by the Recession from Forbes:

“To identify these cities, Forbes magazine ranked the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas by employment rates, the conventional mortgage home price index, and the average days on the market for properties currently for sale.

The top cities on Forbes list were:”

* Omaha/Council Bluffs, Neb.
* San Antonio, Texas
* Austin-Round Rock, Texas
* Pittsburgh
* Harrisburg/Carlisle, Pa.
* Dallas/Fort Worth
* Rochester, N.Y.
* Houston
* Raleigh/Cary, N.C.
* Baton Rouge, La.”

Quoted from Realtor.org and Forbes, Francesca Levy (11/19/2009)

Heinz Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA

Photo Copyright, 2009 Amy S Myers

Above photos in downtown Leechburg, PA  Painted mural on the side of a commercial brick building in Market Street

above photos (Allegheny Twp) Leechburg, PA

above photo is the driveway to The Allgheny Twp Municipal Building, Allegheny Twp, Leechburg, PA  (All photos copyright 2009, Amy S. Myers)

Lots in the town were offered to the workers of the mill so they could have their own homes.  The town was built with paved streets and sidewalks.  The homes included water, natural gas, electric and sewer lines.  The town was actually built in advance and control turned over to the workers.  At this time in history, this was a unique idea in America.

Today, Vandergrift is getting reborn.  Buildings in the town are being renovated and updated with the help of the V.I.P (Vandergrift Improvement Program).  Washington Avenue boasts of its large Victorian Homes with some on the National Register. There are lots of cute shops and on holidays and special occasions and Kiski Area football games residents and visitors line the streets for parades.

Read more about how Vandergrift was recently recognized nationally:

“A real estate Web site has determined Vandergrift ZIP code 15690 — which includes portions of Allegheny, Parks and Gilpin townships — is among the best places in the country to buy a home.

Using a system that considers home values and school performance, cyberhomes.com ranked the Vandergrift area as the fourth-best community in the country to live in its “2009 Home Value-Schools Ratings Report Card.”

In addition, businessweek.com created its ranking and put Vandergrift at the top. The site used Cyberhomes data in building its list.

What makes Vandergrift’s appearance on the lists notable is the relatively low value of homes in the area.

The median sales price in the Vandergrift area, according to Cyberhomes, is $65,600.

Median sale prices for the three communities ranking higher on the Cyberhomes list range from $260,000 to more than $725,000.

“(We) selected Vandergrift as an example of an area where home values are relatively affordable — as compared to the national average and Pittsburgh area — and schools performance is very highly rated,” said Sarah Weissman, Cyberhomes product manager.

The median sales price in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area is about $125,000, according to Cyberhomes.”

Quoted from TibLive News

Photos Copyright – Amy Myers, 2001-2009

Here is some information from the National Association of Realtors:

“The data on the present home buyer tax credit show that the credit has had its intended impact—sales have jumped in recent months to a projected 5.1 million for the year and housing inventory has been trimmed, thus stabilizing home prices noticeably,” Phipps said.  He also pointed out that each home sale generates approximately $63,000 in additional economic activity, providing a tremendous economic boost to the national economy.”

Read more . . . .

Quoted from Realtor.org

Additional Tax Credit Info

Will The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Be Extended?

Times are Historic to Buy a Home

Use Tax Credit Down Payment?

Homebuyer Tax Credit Window is Ticking Away

Record Lows for Mortgage Rates Still Exist

Homes are Being Swept Up Quickly

Home Buyers Don’t Miss the Opportunity For Your $8000

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to Rise?

More Tax Credit Info Surfacing

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Question

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Loans

Great News! Tax Credit Can Be Used for Down Payment

First-Time Homebuyer Federal Tax Credit Info

So sellers out there, are your walls and carpets dirty?  I had a seller that was not able to see this even after potential buyers made comments.  If you don’t have extra funds for special accents, at minimum make your home squeaky clean and clutter free.  You need to be competitive in this buyers market.

Believe it or not but I have had different buyers bidding and buying properties less than $20K and some that do not need that much work.  It is an  amazing deal and some did not need always need a major overhaul.  As the market begins turn turn around there are going to be less opportunities like this.  The deals that are there will be more competitive.  Some houses such as these can have mulitiple bids on them  (as many as five or ten bidders or more).  If you see a deal move fast and bid competitively whether for investment property or for owner occupied.

It appears that first time home buyers have really taken advantage of the tax credit.    “”First-time homebuyers, most between the ages of 25 and 45, accounted for about 45 percent of home sales from January through July 2009, according to the National Association of REALTORS®”.

“This is a historic time,” says George Jaramillo, a 35-year-old business analyst in Atlanta, who recently bought three homes, two of them foreclosures. “It’s a great opportunity to make some great gains in the future.”  – Realtor.org, Associated Press

One fun thing you must do while you are there is ride the incline to the top of Mount Washington and see the amazing view.  There are also a lot of great restaurants at the top.  So if you are a photo buff like me, or even if you are not,  take your camera and get a shot of you and whomever you are with.  Make a great memory and enjoy the city.

Here are some fun facts about the city:

• Pittsburgh audiences enjoy the nation’s fifth oldest opera company.
• Pittsburgh ranked in the top five Most Livable Cities in the 1983, 1989 and 1985 editions of the “Places Rated Almanac.”
• The fountain at Point State Park, right at the tip of the golden triangle (downtown Pittsburgh) is fed by a glacial formation and sprays 6,000 gallons per minute.
• Pittsburgh is home to nine Fortune 500 companies.
• The Carnegie Museum of Art opened in 1895 as the world’s first museum of modern art.
• Mister Rogers’ real neighborhood was Oakland, home to WQED (the first public television in the country) and the “Neighborhood of Make Believe.”
• Allegheny County has more than 1,700 bridges, 720 within city limits, and 15 major bridges crossing downtown Pittsburgh alone.
• Pittsburgh lost the “h” in its spelling in 1891, but after 20 years of protest, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names relented and the “h” was restored.
• First Retractable Dome – September 1961
  Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena boasts the world’s first auditorium with a retractable roof.
• The First Baseball Stadium in the U.S. – 1909
  In 1909 the first baseball stadium, Forbes Field, was built in Pittsburgh, followed soon by similar stadiums in Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and New York.
• First Motion Picture Theatre – 1905
  The first theater in the world devoted to the exhibition of motion pictures was the “Nickelodeon,” opened by Harry Davis on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh.

and more . . .

Fun Facts Quoted From:  About.com:Pittsburgh

Photo: Copyright 2009 Amy Myers

For my buyers that need to finance, I always suggest about 6 weeks for closing, especially with inspections.  In most “normal” cases that is enough time.  I have seen other odd cases where it can take longer and the reasons can vary.

Just recently I was going to close on a home.  It was delayed because the buyer for my seller’s home had to close on her house first.   Well, this buyer for the buyer in our transaction lost their financing and had to start all over.  When all was said and done, the house closed about two months after it was suppose to and everyone involved was happy.

So consider this with only 6-8 weeks (hoping there are no snags), you need to find that house in the next 2 to 2 1/2 months or sooner.  If you are eager to take advantage, hurry.  If you are not sure where you stand with your credit, just take that step and talk to you loan officer.   Happy Hunting.

Details on First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit