Heather Oberhau, Bucks County Real Estate, e-PRO

Remember when we talked about Acreage vs. Privacy?

You have a powerful tool in Google Maps that allows you to preview properties before you ever make an appointment to view them.  Using Google Maps, or even Google Earth if you're feeling adventuresome, allows you to preview the area, assess the property, and locate any positive or negative features of the property.

Using my previous post as an example, I put both the addresses into Google Maps and selected the satellite image.

Here are the maps of the properties:

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

You can see where I'm going with this, right?  It's a quick way to check out the area and lot, and in many cases you will be able to eliminate homes or consider others simply by doing this step.  You can also be aware of some hidden surprises - quarries, air fields, community parks, etc. There may be things that will impact your decision (good and bad) that are not within eyesight of the home, but are readily apparent on the map.

Pretty helpful, isn't it? 

'Tis the season to be wrapping up - not only my gifts but my year end stats. I've been going through my business this year, figuring out where my business has come from, what it looks like, and where it's going.

First, I want to thank all my family, friends, and past clients for all their referrals over the past year. I'm so proud and grateful that you've entrusted me with your own friends and family. Almost 70% of my business this year came from you, and it's a rockin' way to run a business. I work with nice people, do a great job for them, and they send nice people my way. Perfect!

Thank you.

Down to the nitty-gritty of my sales numbers. I think they show that you CAN sell a house in this market, and I know how to do it. The table below shows my average days on market and sale to list price vs. the averages for Bucks County through December 9th.

No real estate today, just fun, random Christmas stuff.

Inspired by my friend Dana, here are 5 things that put me in the Holiday spirit:

1. Andes Mint Cookies. I make Christmas Cookies for gifts and this year I'm making around 20 dozen. I usually follow a theme of make a cookie, stick a candy bar in/on it, and voila! This is by far the quickest, easiest, and yummiest of them all.

2. Bad Santa photos. I must be the meanest Mom in town, because when my kids cry on Santa's lap, I laugh and say, "Quick take the picture!" This is my favorite from the Ellen Show's gallery for the sheer, glorious chaos of it; the little girl hoping her brother doesn't ruin it for her, the throwdown tantrum, the clearly overwhelmed Santa. Fabulous!

3. Bath & Body Works Evergreen Wallflowers. We put our tree up on Christmas Eve, so these let me have a "Christmas-y" feel in the house, and keep our Christmas Eve tradition.

4. Having shopping marathons with my husband. We take off two or three days right before the holiday and have shopping marathons and get all our shopping done in a few days. We get the kids to school, go out to breakfast (a must!), and then hit the stores hard. I'm cranky after 3 stores, my husband has unlimited stamina. I complain, he pushes me on. We have a lot of fun.

5. Hallmark Ornaments. Read it and weep, suckers! I've got the ENTIRE Holiday Barbie series from Hallmark, starting in 1993. I don't know why I like these so much. The tradition of them? The feeling of remembering those Christmases as I put the ornaments on the tree? The thought that I'm investing in something unique that I can hand down to my kids? Not sure what it is - I just love them.

So, share with me...what are the things that get you in the holiday spirit?

Thanks to one of my favorite clients Fabio for asking the question that spawned a blog. I've been having a bit of writer's block recently.

Anyway, Fabio asked how November turned out after reading my post showing the months supply of inventory on the market in October 2008.

The answer? Better.

We finished November of 2008 with 14.7 months supply of inventory of single family homes in Bucks County. Sure, it's up 53% from November 2006, and 34% from November 2007. However, it's down from our October number of 15.7. (Go us!)

Looking at the two year cycle, we're currently right where we had previous peaked in December of 2008. Since November and December usually carrying the most inventory due to seasonal buying patterns, I'm anxious to see how our December turns out. Stay tuned!

Regardless, I want to reiterate that we can still sell your home in this market. Even in this "down market" the average days on market for my listings this year was 43 days. The average for Bucks County was 72 days. We can get it sold!

If you're a Buyer who is out there in the market, but not making offers, you're missing out.

You need to play to win.

I'm not one to advise people to make rash decisions, or to be risky with their money. Especially not with real estate transactions that can total in the hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars. I believe in taking the time to find the house that you are totally, unequivocally in love with. I believe in feeling comfortable with your price range. I believe in doing your research on an area, school district, and property before moving forward.

However, if you're ready to buy, you really need to jump in the pool and get swimming. Rates are down, inventory is high, Sellers are motivated, and the time is right.

I've been scoring some serious, serious deals for my Buyers (and myself) over the past few months.

Here's the thing...take a shot. Write the offer and see what happens. I'm not encouraging you to get crazy - offering pennies on the dollar only works on late night infomercials. Review my post last year on low-ball offers done right. However, this is definitely the market to start putting some offers on paper, and see what happens.

If you never put in the offer, then they won't be able to accept it.