Leo Vinteler, Exquisite Service, Certified Fine Homes & Estates Agent, PA

Berks County Ready Home Search

Hi and welcome to my blog posting about the best way to look for a home in Berks County. After years of testing how people search for a home and what they like best when looking for a home, I developed a Ready Search on my website. It seems that more people like the search to be all done for them and with just one click on the School District or the Price Range you can see all the homes for sale in the specific Ready Search.

My Ready Search also contains Berks County Luxury Homes and Berks County Historic Homes.

It is the easiest home search you will ever do, and keep in mind that I'm still refining this Ready Search to get you the easiest and most accurate search.... after all what is the most important thing when you are looking for a home:

Easy

Reliable

Quick

Informative

Leo's Ready Search is a work in progress and will soon contain Condos, Commercial, Industrial, Multi-Unit and will extend to other Counties....

Stay toned and for now for Berks County follow the link bellow....

www.LeoVinteler.com

www.StageWithLeo.com

www.LuxuryHomesBerks.com

www.LuxuryHomesBerksCounty.com

Definition of a Luxury Home,

Did you know:

The world economy grew 25% in 2006 according to Forbes magazine (the fastest growth in recorded history), and a record 9.3 million household in the United States now report assets of $1 million or more, not including their home according to research group TNS. This is up 5% from the year before! The growth for 2007 might not be out yet.

Why is this important? The richer America gets, the less rich we(Americans) look, huge deficits, huge export deficits and billions spent in the two wars...But there a few of us who can still live the good live and not worry about the next day. Here is how I think a Luxury Home is defined.

Most agents incorrectly think a Luxury Home is based on its size, well than what is a Luxury Home?

I think is simply what a home offers, like:

1. High quality

2.Great location

3.Nice floor plan

4.Upgrade amenities

5.Upscale lifestyle for the owner

Are there homes like this?... all over.

Still think that size is what makes a luxury home? Think about it for a second. What makes a hotel room a luxury hotel room? It is the differences in the key areas like amenities, quality, view, décor and service. That's why 63% of consumers prefer upgraded amenities and character to square feet when purchasing a home.

Certainly we can all imagine in our minds eye the enormous castle or a fabulous estate on the hill, complete with butlers and maids, but is this an accurate definition of today's Luxury Home? Luxury homes are often described as expensive homes. But cost is only a measure of luxury, a way to measure the differences in any community. Cost can also vary greatly between areas of the country. A luxury home price in the one part of the country may not be able to buy a modest home in another. So price alone is a poor description of a luxury home.

Looking at it another way, luxury homes also include many types of properties from ranches, town homes, condominiums and apartments, to custom homes, villas and brownstones. But one area that all luxury home specialists seem to agree on is that location is a key ingredient to desirability. Location is often a reflection of lifestyle, a key component in the luxury homeowner's decision making process. And therein rests the key ingredient that needs to be understood for real estate professionals that want to move into this growing market niche. According to John Brian Losh, publisher of Who's Who In Luxury Real Estate, "When luxury buyers look for a home ... they look for a lifestyle change - and they want the home to reflect the lifestyle of the area.

Luxury Home Agents please comment....

See my BLOG www.berkscountyluxuryhomes.com

www.LuxuryHomesBerks.com

Wyomissing PA

Luxury Homes,,, why would anybody pay 40k a year in taxes.. a client once asked me,, what do you tell her. PA and Specially Berks County has a big issue with property taxes. Taxes in Berks County seem to get out of hand in most instances, when it comes large properties it gets to the point of ridicule, Why would anybody pay 40k a year in taxes,, because they can, because having the home on the hill shows status, I told her, It is like buying a Rolex, you don't need one but you buy it to show ether that you have money, you made it, or you are in a huge dept...

Reading Pa the center of our county has a 5% transfer tax..., Helped a client recently buy a secluded home in Reading he had to pay 25K just in transfer tax to buy this house,,, how do you tell people that these homes are worth the money they spend. Wanted some feedback from real estate professionals about the taxes in your areas and what your counties have done to reduced taxes, I can pass your answers to our Senator,, see what he thinks...

Our tax rate is average about 3500/100k assessment..

I think is big, some townships have got to 4500/100k assessment... this can be good for anybody except for the county and the schools... but can you imagine what John and Jane, the 75 years old neighbors are going through....

The Luxury market is hurting? I don't know perhaps if you live in some parts of country, where some developments of Luxury homes values fell 50%. Now if you live in Manhattan it might be a good idea to smile if you own a piece of land... look at the following statistics from the year that just ended... Is this a local bubble... some think so. Some say that the Manhattan market is driven by Europeans buying all that is for sale.. perhaps, truth is that bubble or not it still gives the rest of the country a last hope in the luxury homes market, or perhaps false hope that things will get back to the 2003 market where you list one day, next day you go pending...

Truth is that Berks County homes have lost value like everywhere in most of our country, not so bad depending on the type of property you own... but in the Luxury, Historic homes market things do not look that bad in our area... homes are still selling. Good time to buy a hi-end property? I think so, but do not overpay... you are looking to buy a Luxury, Historic Property please get representation from an agent who can provide for you info and advise you to a successful transaction...


The average sale price of all Manhattan apartments was up 12% to $1,395,000
Condominiums sold briskly and made up 55% of all deals for the first time.
Condos increased by 9% on a price per square foot basis to $1,222
The median condo price was up 17% to $1,100,000
Co-ops increased by a more modest 3% price per square foot to $918
The median co-op price was up 2% to $666,000

Why are European Luxury Consumers Different?

I tell you why, European people are mostly about originality, when it comes to owning something it has to be something different than anybody else... i have a friend in Romania who got a Cell Phone in payments like a mortgage for 7 YEARS.... are you out of your mind.. but is different than most people' cell phones...does the same thing but cost thousands of Euros...

When it comes to homes even worse...

The emotional dimension of how and why Europeans trade up is a bit different than it is for Americans. While all New Luxury buyers are concerned with quality and emotional payback, European consumers tend to be much more focused on conveying a personalized and individual sense of style in their clothing and accessory choices. Also, Europeans tend to be more concerned about a product's "genuineness." They care greatly about an item's "provenance," where its ingredients came from, how it was made. As a result,successful New Luxury players in Europe tend to trumpet their authenticity.

I am from Europe and when I go back I feel funny because I think different now.. I would never in a million years pay 2000 Euros for sunglasses... they do..

Why I posted this ... our dollar is going down, and Euro up... you know what that means ..... Some Europeans are buying here....

Get ready for them.... Good luck