Arleen Pecone

I have a daily routine, I think a lot of people do. If you are in the Real Estate Business your daily routine is not as routine as most, it is usually an "unusual schedule", you work evenings and weekends, but I have had to build "structure" into my day in order to feel Normal. (well somewhat normal because normal isn't as fun as I like. :)

People who know me well know that they can find me out on an hour long walk any time from 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM and most days it is in West Goshen Community Park.

The park is nice, there is a loop that is almost a mile, I add a bend that overlooks the reservoir to mine and it IS a mile. I usually go around the loop at least 3 times, sometimes 4. Somedays I go to other places to walk.

Ultimately, it is a great day when I walk at the park!

I am kind of looking forward to this weekend on Sunday night. BlackThorn, a great Irish Rock Band will be playing on Sunday night at the park.

It starts at 6:30, going to pack a picnic dinner and get some friends together.

It is a good time in West Goshen to see such a good band.

Life in West Goshen is very well, good, to say the least. Today there is a festival in the
Borough of West Chester, the ANNUAL Turks Head Music Festival, and what a perfect day weather wise

http://www.west-chester.com/regionalcal.php?z=2&c=&d=2009-07-19&t=d&f=l&p=1&time=1248014844

I cant tell you how many of these fun events I have attended over the years. It is over at 6 and I have to go to the airport to pick my daughter up from her trip but after that.....I am going to the festival

We live in a fabulous area, Chester County, high quality of life, great schools, parks, events, economic health.

We all pay fair amounts of our real estate taxes when we own property and it is just a fact of life.

What is usually unknown, is that our GOVERNOR in Pennsylvania passed a law regarding taxes and as citizens, we have a right to appeal the amount that we pay. My client and builder friend told me about this a couple of years ago when I was selling homes for him in Downingtown.

Since just like in other parts of the country, the values of property has dropped in Chester County, (another fact of life in 2009), it may be a good time to personally take the initiative to make a property more marketable especially if you would like to sell and/or you have a client Seller. (for Realtors)

I was recently working with a client who was considering a house that was on the market in Downiningtown area and "the taxes are just so darn high". (over $10,000) so I suggested this to the Sellers Agent.

This is not advertised, I just lucked into the information so I made sure I have it clear. I researched what can be done through the tax assessors office and a couple of my local connections.

The COMMON LEVEL RATIO is determined by the State and changes annually in July. In Chester County, currently it is 51.7 and it is due to change in July. Anyone can appeal their "assessment" by providing documentation to the Board of Assessment Appeals which would include the fair market value of a property. The way to get this is to show recent sales of similar properties and/or an appraisal. If the Board accepts the information, the Board will apply the common level ratio to the fair market value and the result is the new assessment and will be effective for the following year and forward. e.g. property fair market value is $400,000 times 51.7 equals the assessment.

The assessment also has a "formula" for determining the amount in taxes depending on what township and school district you are in.

All appeals must be filed by August 3^rd.

http://dsf.chesco.org/chesco/cwp/view.asp?a=1413&q=573702

This is the page in the county web site where you do this process.

Hope this helps

I read an Article in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday written by Alan Heavens who has been writing about Real Estate for just about as long as I have been selling real estate. The title of the Article is "Not Much of a Buyer's Market". http://www.philly.com/inquirer/real_estate/42688487.html

I had to chuckle to myself when I read it because it brought to mind that so much of the understanding that people who are buying Real Estate is about "EXPECTATION". Is a Buyers' Market when you can buy a house at a real inexpensive price?

Whenever we want something, when we have High Value for it, we always HOPE that it costs LESS because we want it. It's human nature.

Real Estate is LOCAL, it 's about where you want to live and the "condition" is relavant to what you expect it to be like for the price you are willing to pay. The more desirable the location, the higher the price. The better the condition, the higher the price......It is a process of education and elimination.

Here are some statistics for the West Chester Area Sales:

I was just reading some statistics, houses in West Chester Area School District real estate sales from

March 2008 to March 2009.

Houses sell in average 70 days and Seller's are getting an average of 94% of their List Price.

This is good information if you are thinking about Buying or Selling and you want to live in the School District of West Chester.

This study was restricted to homes priced from $300,000 to $600,000.