Photos from Jeff R. Geoghan - Marketing Evangelist and VP
East Petersburg Day at the Lancaster Barnstormers 2007 - a great time was had by all!Located in: East Petersburg, PA
Lancaster City Living, our local city living advocate and information source, released their Spring/Summer issue of Lancaster City Living Magazine last week. This magazine is unique in that it brings together many of the great things Lancaster City residents love in one place - the restaurants, galleries, attractions, theatres, neighborhoods and much more. I like this magazine because it puts the whole city down on paper for my homebuyer clients to study, which helps me immensely when I have to explain the different areas and markets within the city limits.
Lancaster City Living has had an eventful first year under the able leadership of Michael Sprunger. An offshoot of Tabor Community Services, Lancaster City Living has focused from the beginning on improving the home ownership situation as well as "revving up" the residents by showing them what's right at their fingertips. The print magazine serves as a guide or handbook for those interested in owning a Lancaster City home. For a more in-depth profile of Michael click here.
I met with Michael today at his office and we talked about the progress being made in virtually every corner of Lancaster City. He is excited about developing relationships with developers who want to take renovation of blocks of homes to the next level, restoring them and creating more vibrant communities on those blocks. Michael pointed out how Mayor Rick Gray is making himself available to residents if each segment of the city via townhall meetings, and how the response has been very positive with residents asking how they can help keep the momentum going in their neighborhoods. I was once again impressed with Michael's breadth of knowledge on the city (he's lived here for 20 years...and not on the west end) and his desire to see Lancaster City Living succeed.
If you get a chance, check out the new issue of Lancaster City Living magazine! It's also available online in an interactive version here. If you are working with me as your realtor, you can have a free copy - just give me a call. If you are interested in exploring home ownership in Lancaster City, I'd be happy to get you started on your search. My direct number is 717-799-0851.
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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his portfolio. Comments are welcome!
Here it is, hot off the MLS data for February 2008. I've crunched the numbers for Lancaster County, PA for you!
Let's get right to it. Here's what the MLS had to say when comparing last month to February 2007:
For residential properties in Lancaster County, there was a 30% falloff in February sales versus 2007. Of course that's not great news and, as I've commented in previous articles, I believe that's a reflection of the large number of buyers who are staying out of the market while they watch the reports. Also, the 2007 numbers include sales to subprime buyers, which was still going on in February 2007 but stopped in fall 2008. Those buyers are out of luck. As Jim Crawford of Atlanta reviews in his article on "Alt-A" loans, stated income loans and no-doc loans are next on the chopping block (that's already happening). Conventional rates continue to be very attractive, despite the recent runup of about a percent from the lows in early February.
Homes going under agreement dropped as well, by %15 versus last February. Less homes closing, less homes finding a contract. If you're a seller you should be aggressively reviewing your agent's marketing plan and pricing vs. the competition in your neighborhood and home style...
New listings in February rose over last year by almost 10%. More pronounced was the tremendous increase in listings expiring, up to 210 from 139 last year. Overall, there were 23% more active listings during February '08 versus '07. Lots of homes on the market, fewer finding a buyer. Supply & demand in action!
OK, you're probably wondering if I'm going to trot out my list/sale price curve this month. Of course!
The average sale price in February was $177,281. That's another 6% down from January's average and the lowest in over a year. What about list prices for new listings? February's average was $220,683, down about 1% from January. The "gap" between the average list price and sale price was $43,402. That's up almost 20% from January! Not the right direction to be heading...what's all this mean? In my opinion, sellers continue to price hoping to catch a rare desperate buyer, and listing agents are still clinging to CMA numbers from a bygone era (last summer). The good news is that the average list price is coming down in 2008.
As I've said before, I believe that the price "gap" has to close for the local market to click into high gear again. In that respect, February was not a good month. However, rates continue to be attractive and, if you are moving, there's plenty of inventory for me to show you! Give me a call if you'd like more info on Lancaster County homes for sale or any real estate questions.
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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his portfolio. Comments are welcome!
Nestled in West Hempfield Township between Ironville Pike and Hempfield Hill Road is Lake Grubb Nature Park. 54 Acres of forest and walking trails surrounding Lake Grubb. The surrounding area is known as Silver Spring and has a zip code of 17575.
The park is the site of a former iron ore mine. The ore pit has filled with water, creating Lake Grubb. The historic name of the location is Chestnut Hill, and it was owned by the Grubb family, descendants of Peter Grubb, better known for his founding of the still-standing Cornwall Furnace in Lebanon County in 1742. Later, in 1851 the Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Company was incorporated and remained active until 1907. From this site thousands of tons of ore was mined and then sent to nearby anthracite furnaces to be processed. These furnaces were primarily located along the 
Susquehanna River between Marietta and Columbia, PA. due to higher grades of ore found in other parts of the country, and more efficient technologies, this site and others in Pennsylvania gradually closed.
Today, the park is open dawn to dusk with 2 pavilions available for rent. Click here for the Township webpage on the park. There is a new-style jungle gym setup for kids - very nice. The hiking trails are modest and make for a brisk morning walk. Geese and other birds often stop over on the lake and are interesting to watch. Take a moment as you drive by on Marietta Pike in Silver Spring and stop by Lake Grubb Nature Park - I'm sure you'll enjoy your visit.
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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his portfolio. Comments are welcome!
This morning Lancaster County PA had the opportunity to "go solar" - at least in one small way.
The Lancaster County Career & Technology Center hosted an informational event surrounding the installation of a thermal solar system in their project "green" home adjacent to their Mount Joy facility. The event was promoted as an opportunity to see a hot water system going in and ask questions of the manufacturer's rep.
I had a great time talking to various attendees and looking over the systems involved. Kim Patrick and Doug Lyon from LCCTC have done their homework on many fronts. The system being installed is an Oventrop System 5 (see the brochure here) in conjunction with an instant-on electric heater by Seisco.
On-hand was the Managing Director for Oventrop US, Joseph Walsh. Joseph was very knowledgeable and has a good grasp of the emerging solar market in the US.
After a thorough explanation of the system and installation, he took questions from the audience. The topic quickly turned to cost issues, and his response was that a typical installation to drive an 80-gallon hot water heater was between $7,500 and $10,000.
The evacuated tubes that harness the sun's energy are made for Oventrop by Beijing Solar, and are based on a design originated by Daimler-Benz in Germany, where Oventrop is based. Joseph had a sample tube (he's holding it on in the photo) for attendees to handle.
Also note the Seisco unit on the wall in the corner of the photo. This heater will be arranged to provide support heat should the solar system fail to deliver the preset temperature. For example, if the desired temp. is 130 degree and the solar can only manage 100 degrees, the Seisco unit will pick up the extra 30 degrees.
Water distribution is via a PEX manifold - truly trick stuff!
This photo gives you an idea of how they've laid things out. The hot water is fed into a single manifold (to equalize pressure and allow a small 3/8 inch pipe to transmit better to the outlets) with separate valves for each need. Red piping denotes hot, blue cold. The white piping is another green building system - rainwater harvesting. As I've noted in other posts, this home has two 1,300 gallon rainwater harvesting tanks buried just outside. Water is pumped into the basement and into the lower manifold, which is completely separate from the upper blue/red manifold. The white pipes supply the washer, toilets, hose bibs etc. with recycled rainwater.
Overall, the morning was a great insight into just some of the new technologies that are revolutionizing home building in the US. If you are interested in talking green building in the Lancaster County area, keep your eyes on this space for more news as it breaks!
For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his portfolio. Comments are welcome!
The Intellingencer Journal reporter who called me Friday is a regular reader, and wanted to use my post about home prices in Lancaster County as part of an article he was writing about recent home sales numbers. The article was on the front page of Saturday's paper. Interested reader can see it here online. My analysis was fairly well-represented and even my chart was reproduced. Just another example that if you choose to work with me as your real estate representative you're getting an informed, forward-thinking professional as your partner. Kudos to the paper for sharing my blog with their readers!
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Marketing evangelist at one of Coldwell Banker's fastest-growing brokerages. Jeff has been nationally-featured and he's been quoted in Lancaster News, PA Business, WGAL & the Wall Street Journal.
Raised on Long Island, Jeff received his Associate Degree in Business at Suffolk College in 1985. He transferred to Penn State at University Park, PA to complete his undergraduate studies, earning a Bachelors of Science in the Marketing discipline in 1988. RJR Nabisco Brands, who had taken Jeff on as an intern in the last summer of his time at Penn State, offered him a sales position calling on accounts across Long Island. Thus began his career, one which would lead him to Lancaster armed with one of the top resumes in the Real Estate industry.
In the past sixteen years Jeff has worked for several multinational corporations, rising from route sales to managing large accounts and working daily with company chairs and officers. Along the way Jeff acquired his MBA in Business Management at Dowling College in Oakdale, NY. More importantly, Jeff has operating a multimillion-dollar internet sales division and in that capacity handled innumerable customer service calls, successfully resolving the vast majority. This in combination with his years of consultative sales experience has given Jeff an innate feel for the needs of the customer which he has successfully integrated into his Real Estate practice.
With Jeff Geoghan as your representative, you can be assured of the very best in personal, professional service. Contact him today to discuss your real estate hopes and dreams.
Jeff R. Geoghan strives to provide the very best in service and expertise possible to his customers. Whether you are looking to sell a home or buy your "dream home", Jeff Geoghan is the right choice. Also, Jeff is an agent focusing on ways to encourage the growth of "green building" practices and energy efficient homes, for greater environmental stewardship in the real estate process.
Throughout the United States, there is a rising interest in ways to beat skyrocketing fuel prices, live more independently of the "grid" and protect the environment of which we are all called to be good stewards of. The sentiment has even reached into the state and federal governments, who are now beginning to recognize this movement as "not going away" and are working on incentives to spur development. The good news is that homeowners have more resources at their fingertips that ever before, and that accomplishing the goals of independence, savings and environmental stewardship are more attainable than ever.
The Real Estate industry nationwide, however, has huge opportunities available to share these emerging and now-standard technologies with the home consumer. In the home sales process, little to absolutely no emphasis is placed on the energy consumption of the home or the degree to which "green" building practices are employed (in new homes especially). In our fossil-fuel world of central Pennsylvania, home sellers, buyers, builders and agents do not focus on doing things better & cleaner but take fuel oil, gas and grid electricity for granted even as these items rise in price constantly. There is a better way!
The mission of Jeff R. Geoghan, his partner firms and YourLancasterHome.com is to bring change to the industry in central PA by focusing on the ways Real Estate customers can save money, improve their lifestyle and reduce dependence on fossil fuels with their attendant costs. Through his affiliation with the Green Building Association of Central PA Jeff will help educate his clients on ways to improve homes through "green" projects, and inform buyers on the merits of different new home constructions. Through his affiliation with the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Jeff will help educate on ways to reduce energy expenses in the home, and to explore alternative energy options that are already available. Lastly, as an official Energy Star Partner Jeff will educate on the relative merits of appliances, insulation, lighting and other energy-saving strategies. Here at YourLancasterHome you will find benefits offered nowhere else in the Real Estate industry today.
With a solid track record of residential sales in and around Lancaster County, Jeff is well-placed to offer the top-notch service expected of a professional agent. If you, as a prospective home sales customer, are looking for the edge in energy management, Jeff stands alone as the agent of choice.
"We beleive Jeff went above and beyond the normal service. He made us feel like we were the only clients he had. We highly recommend Jeff" - The Haines - Hamilton Park
"Jeff was a pro in all respects to our sale and purchase. He was calm when times were stressful. He always returned our calls promptly! We felt like Jeff was working for us every day...he was wonderful from the first open house through settlement"- The Swionteks - Manheim Township
"Jeff was a pleasure to work with...I will be recommending him to my friends! - The Johnsons - Lititz
"Jeff was an outstanding agent, and we would highly recommend him..." - The McEdwards - East Hempfield Township
"Jeff answered every single question we had about the process...we would recommend Jeff to anyone" - The Gildeas - Manheim Township
"Jeff Checked things even more thoroughly than we did. He was fun to bounce ideas around with, can see possibilities, helps bring relevant information and confidence to decision making" - The Weavers - Columbia
"I told a lady my kids were playing with at mall to call you...and gave her my name as a reference" - The Saint Cyrs, East Petersburg"
"Jeff was looking out for us and when he saw something that was not right in a house, he was honest enough to let us know. He really was looking out for our interests" - The Maris' - Manheim Township
"Jeff was willing to show us many homes without us feeling like we were inconveniencing him. Seeing numerous homes helped us narrow down our priorities...he was patient with us!" - The Stoltzfus' - Lititz
"Was very quick on our counteroffer - coming to us on a Friday night to sign, ensuring that we would get the house" - The Halls, New Holland
"The first afternoon we met, I was sold on Jeff" - Alisia Lara, Lancaster City
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