Philadelphia, PA

Remax Affiliates is Moving to Northern Liberties !

It was a big decision to move from Port Richmond, a neighborhood to which the owners Chris Somers and Steve Osiecki have many deep ties. But the door of opportunity opened and they stepped into a new and exciting Real Estate future with a new location in Northern Liberties, a new construction building that is modern, sleek and posh in a dynamic area for consumers and agents alike. In addition, the office will now be able to serve a greater portion of the Riverfront Neighborhoods into Center City because of its more centralized location. The office is a Philadelphia brokerage, serving all of Philadelphia in addition to Bucks and Montgomery counties.

Northern Liberties itself offers a series of challenges as far as selling and buying is concerned. The market slow down has affected many of the high profile developers as a few projects have either slowed down or sadly failed on their first effort. But Chris and Steve have a much brighter perspective and the skills to help propel their colleagues to meet growing success in their new location. The area is extremely vibrant and energetic with tremendous room to grow.

The Rialto Building itself is a 7 story all glass professional building. It is part of the Piazza project, an area surrounded by an incredible array of gastro pubs, fine restaurants and casual fooderies as well as shopping, galleries, boutiques, and entertainment. Parking is free and abundant. Who would not want to come here every day to work and partake in such a dynamic culture - top agents and consumers alike ?

The suit does not make the man in the same way that the building will not make the business but in this case The Rialto location certainly builds confidence and pride, especially the incredible view from the settlement room of all of Philly ! There is something to be said about that and more !

Contact us today for more info at thesomersteam@yahoo.com or @remaxaffiliates or @phillyrealty on Twitter ! Stay tuned for more information and updates to come !

Related Posts:

Owner With a Leading Eye on The Future

Northern Liberties: Philadelphia's New Culture

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If interested in buying or selling properties in Northern Liberties, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com or 215-400-2612 . You can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter . For investment properties, check out our new investor site at Philly Investor Hub !

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Areas of specialty include Northern Liberties, Old City, Center City, Fishtown, Graduate Hospital, Art Museum, Queen Village, Pennsport, Old Kensington, Port Richmond, Bridesburg, Society Hill, Loft District, Spring Garden and more !

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I can barely have a conversation these days without the words "in this economy" creeping into it. As in "how about this economy", "what are you suppose to do in this economy", or "who is spending money in this economy?" It reminds me of the New York attitude, where "what do you expect, its New York" is an absolutely acceptable response to any complaint one may have about the city. As a Philadelphian who travels to NYC regularly, I do understand the New York attitude and often agree with it. It is the city that never sleeps after all. But I find the pervasive 'in this economy" state of mind very unfortunate, so the following is a quick summary of what I learned at Wharton Business School.

First, the #1 rule in economics is Buy Low, Sell High. Prices for almost everything are in most cases at ridiculously low now. Blue chip stocks are at a decade low, autos are being sold at close out prices and there are so many real estate bargains it is being coined deal estate or steal estate. Anyone who has money or the ability to obtain through a low interest mortgage should be out scouting for deals and negotiating the hell out of one. Moreover, now thanks to the new phenomenon of appraising using out of area appraisers who are not familiar with the neighborhood and only use comps from the past 6 months you might even pay less than you bargained for because the bank will not mortgage that amount. Due to this, I recommend that even if you are paying cash, to get an appraisal.

Second, when everybody is buying you should be selling and when everyone is selling you should be buying. Please try to buy in a buyer's market, try to wait it out in a seller's market. I truly feel sad for people who owe more than their home is worth right now, because it is their home and not just a bad investment. However, one has to ask what were they thinking? If every TV show, newspaper and magazine was talking about housing bubbles bursting, the top of the market and price increase of 100%, 200%, 300%, these buyers should have took noticed. I'm not saying that they should not have bought a house, but they should have not have bought a super priced with no comps. Of course their bankers and agents did not stop them either, but the final decision rested was with them. Remember, the buyers set the prices, as they are doing right now. If they are not willing to pay the prices, then the prices will come down. It is the very simple rule of supply and demand.

Finally, remember, that the real estate market is cyclical and this is just a buyer's market, the seller's market willl be next. I promise it will come back around, it always does. Moreover, interest rates are still ridiculously low and the government will actually give you $8000 to buy a house if you meet minimum qualifications. If you have the stomach for it, stop making excuses, stop complaining, and start amassing wealth. BUY NOW, HOLD & SELL when the market is hot again. If not, in a couple years you will be kicking yourself for missing an opportunity of a lifetime.

Today was a wonderful day.There were lots of smiles and happy people.There was a closing on a property. It was a condo at Bakers Bay in Philadelphia Pa. Everything went smooth.I have been hearing nightmare stories about condo financing.There wasn't any problem here.There were just happy faces and smiles.It does ones heart good and makes you proud to be a Real Estate Professional.The buyer is a very special friend of mine and I wrote one of my very first blog post about him.He is a first time home buyer and looking forward to receiving his $8000 check from the government as he does meet all the qualifications.He is making an appointment to see his friend Gary the accountant to fill out all the necessary amended forms.

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I wonder, do you have "THE TALK" with your buyers? If so, what are you saying?

I recently referred a buyer out to my partner. She has been calling me for about a year. I would hear from her every couple of months when she would have a question on real estate. She was back and forth with her decision to buy a home and decided a couple of months ago to take the dive. I was happy for her that she had finally made her choice. BUT, my plate was full. I was working with quite a few buyers at the time she called me and I knew I wouldn't be able to give her the attention and care she needed so I decided to refer her to my right hand man in real estate because I knew he would take good care of her.

My partner would call me on updates on what they were doing and I'd check in with her from time to time to see how she was doing. Her road has been an emotional one. She found a home pretty quickly, submitted an offer, and it was accepted. Problem: the listing was a short sale and shortly after the agreement was signed, the seller decided she wanted to keep her home and her bank granted her a loan modification.

A few days passed by and she found another home, an offer was submitted and rejected because the seller accepted a higher offer.

After a couple more disappointments, she calls me and tells me how discouraged she was getting with this process and how it was so emotionally draining. Then I had an "Ah haaaaaa" moment. I referred out but hadn't had "THE TALK" with her.

*I make sure to have "THE TALK" with all of my buyers.*

I told her that since we hadn't gone out together, I hadn't had the chance to have "THE TALK" with her like I have with all of my other client's on our first outing. She says to me, "Well what's that?" Then I began to give her the talk:

"Ok, I'm just going to give it to you real here. This is not meant to scare you but to prepare you. This process can be a bitch at times and at times it can be your best friend. I tell this to everyone so when these ups and downs come, you're well prepared and you're expecting it. This search can get on your nerves. What you're going through is typical and honey, you ain't seen NOTHIN' yet. I've seen worse. I sometimes like to liken this process to labor. It can suck and take you through all types of pain and the best part about it is the birth at the closing table. You get anxious. You get emotional. No matter how thorough and proactive we are, a wrench can come from any direction and knock you off your square. You can have your eyes set on a house and your offer can get rejected. You can have your eyes set on a house and be in contract and then the inspection comes and unveils a bunch of issues that you never expected. And while we can simply ask the seller to make repairs, they can and sometimes will give us hell about them. There can be issues with the title. And let's not talk about the bank who can wait until the last minute to drop a bomb that that you may or may not be able to recover from which is why I always give the advice to always have more money than is expected for closing costs for those little "just in case moments". Now once, again, I don't mean to scare you but I need to make sure to prepare you."

Her reply, "Wow, I never knew. So what I am going through is typical?" "Yes ma'am," I said to her.

A couple weeks later when she started to get discouraged because she hadn't found anything else to her liking yet, she called me and thanked me for "THE TALK" because had she hadn't heard my brutally honest talk, she would've thrown in the towel in her search.

What I find is that my talk, though brutal, is effective. Every time a buyer faces a challenge, I get the same response, "You told me to be prepared for these things. I'm glad you did."

So, back to my original question, do you have "THE TALK" with your buyers?