Real Estate Information Archive

If you think of your appliances as one-trick ponies, you’re selling them short! Many of them have secondary talents that, sadly, go untapped. It’s kind of like only seeing Beyoncé sing while standing still, which prevents you from experiencing her other-worldly dance skills (can you say tragedy?).

If you’re open to a little outside-the-box domestic thinking, it’s easy to unlock your appliances’ hidden potential! Here are five ways you can move beyond their user manuals.

1. Make potpourri in the coffee grinder. Your coffee grinder can, in fact, grind more than coffee. Create your own potpourri by mincing up pieces of dried flowers, lavender and orange or lemon peels (or cinnamon sticks). You don’t have to stick with these ingredients – we encourage experimenting with other spices and scents to create your own signature potpourri blend.

2. Remove crayon marks with a blow dryer. Should your toddler (or artistically rebellious teenager) create a crayon mural on the wall, take a deep breath and just reach for the blow dryer. On the hottest setting, the air will be warm enough to melt the crayon. Then, wash the crayon away using a sponge and mild dish soap. Crayola crisis averted!

3. Disinfect sponges in the microwave. This alternate use rivals 90-second popcorn and Pop-Tarts on the awesomeness scale. Along with cooking delicious treats, your microwave is also a master germ-killer. Use it to sterilize and deodorize your sponge by wetting it and microwaving on the highest setting for two minutes to kill bacteria. Carefully remove the sponge and then let it cool before using it again. 

4. Cook salmon in the dishwasher. Before you wrinkle your nose at this idea, remember: the dish water will not touch your food! Be a dinner party magician by preparing a seafood feast in the same device that will clean it up later. Salmon is an especially foolproof option because it’s a “forgiving” fish (i.e. hard to really mess up). Just make sure you wrap the salmon securely in foil and use the dishwasher’s “normal” cycle. The water’s high temperature will poach the fish. Tip: Keep your fish on the top rack for best results. For detailed instructions, visit Wine X Magazine.

5. Warm plates in the toaster oven. Serving a home-cooked meal on a toasty plate is a small touch that can make a big difference at a dinner party. Conventional ovens usually don’t go below 200 degrees (too hot!), but you can rely on Mr. Toaster Oven to achieve this masterful party trick. Place two plates inside the oven for five minutes at 170 degrees for culinary cachet. 

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Institutional-investor money flowing into the single-family rental market has been a recurring theme in these pages over the past couple months. Perhaps it's no coincidence that we've run across more articles on this topic.

In recent weeks, we've noted that Blackstone has spent $4.5 billion buying 26,000 single-family homes, and that American Homes 4 Rent recently bought 10,000 single-family homes to rent. What's more, American Homes plans to go public, having filed a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO). (It's worth noting that Colony American Homes, a REIT managed by Colony Capital focused on leasing single-family homes, postponed an IPO, citing poor market conditions.)

Single-family home rentals have traditionally been the domain of small partnerships and individual investors. Today, billionaires, hedge funds, REITs, and private equity have gotten into the act. This has raised a few concerns, especially in markets like Phoenix that have snapped back hard from the depths of the 2009-2010 sell-off. Institutional-investor money has helped re-inflate home prices in many markets.

The point we want to emphasize is that market composition matters, and that we should always be aware of who and what composes our particular market.

 Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

It's usually a good idea to mix things up week to week; variety helps to hold one's interest. At times, though, the trend – when it's the lead story – simply can't be ignored.

Mortgage rates are the lead story, and they are the lead story because of the trend, which has been up, and up significantly.

When rates rise, they rise for everyone, even if not in equal proportion. That said, rates are at a 14-month high in many markets.

Last week, we offered an explanation for rising rates: “tapering” – the Federal Reserve reducing its monthly purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and U.S. Treasury notes and bonds. (Not coincidentally, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a proxy for the 30-year fixed-rate loan, is also at a 14-month high.) Lower demand on the Fed's part means the yield on these securities must rise to attract private buyers.

In addition, economic growth and job growth have picked up momentum, which also pressures rates to rise.

At this point, we don't expect to see a hard pull back in lending rates. But as we noted last week, the perception that the Fed is “tapering” might be overdone, so we wouldn't be surprised to see rates ease; just don't expect to see a return to the ultra-low rates that prevailed back in November.

The spike in mortgage rates has taken the steam out of refinance activity, and that's to put it mildly. Refinances have suffered four weeks of weekly doubled-digit declines. The latest reported weekly decline, based on MBA data, shows refinance applications were down 15%.

The sharp decline in refinances has caused some consternation, but it shouldn't be unexpected: Much like activity was pulled forward with federal housing tax credits a few years ago, refinance activity was pulled forward by the Federal Reserve's lowering of mortgage rates. The hard economic fact is that rates can go only so low; once the low is reached, refinances will slow.

Purchase activity, in contrast, is more resilient. Purchase applications were down only 2%. We weren't surprise to read a Bloomberg.com article that noted that rising rates were prompting buyers to scurry into action. We've frequently mentioned that rising rates (as long as they are accompanied with economic growth) would prompt more people to act. This appears to be occurring. Unfortunately, action for many is being thwarted by a dearth of housing inventory.

The bottom line is that we've been warning for most of 2013 that the risk in this market is in the waiting. Our opinion remains unchanged.

 Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

During the depths of the housing sell off, when the market was mired in misery, we were one of the few voices of hope. Back then, we were convinced the market would recover and that the prices that prevailed offered exceptional opportunity. Fortunately, we were right on both accounts.

We're still bullish on housing; plenty of opportunities still abound. That said, not all markets offer the same opportunities: some markets are good values, others less so.

We know that many Realtors and agents are active in housing on their own behalf. Renting, rehabbing, and flipping are natural outgrowths of selling. After all, it's rationally worthwhile to take advantage of unique insight and information.

It's also worthwhile to know who's in the market. We've noted in past issues the influx of institutional investor money that has entered residential rental real estate. The large hedge fund Blackstone alone has spent $4.5 billion to buy over 26,000 single-family homes to rent.

The large influx of money has driven up home prices in some markets to the point where value is tenuous, which has prompted some money to leave. Bruce Rose, CEO of Carrington Holding Co., was among the first investors to put institutional money into single-family rentals, but now he's reversing course because rising prices have lowered returns to the point where the risk is no longer justified in the markets where he operates.

The point we want to emphasis is that value matters (it always has), and that a growing number of markets today offer fewer values compared to what was offered in the recent past.

 Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Mortgage rates have been on a tear lately, and by that we mean they've been rising at a precipitous pace. The rise in the 30-year lending rate has been particularly steep.

Many markets are seeing the highest lending rates of 2013. Other markets are seeing the highest rates over the past 12 months. So what's going on; why the dramatic increase?

Most market commentators point to the Federal Reserve, and when they point to the Fed they frequently invoke the word “tapering,” which refers to the Fed withdrawing from the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market. Over the past couple months, the Fed's MBS purchases have declined modestly. At the same time, a growing cadre (though still a small minority) of Federal Reserve bank presidents have expressed the need for the Fed to cease purchasing MBS.

The market's reaction has been to sell fixed-income investments, which has caused yields to rise, including the yields of MBS. Because mortgages are the source assets in MBS, it's only natural that mortgage rates have also risen.

Rising rates have taken some steam out of the refinance market. After two sharp weekly declines, refinance applications fell another 12% nationally last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance activity is the lowest it has been all year.

Purchase application activity has shown more resilience. After falling moderately in the prior two weeks, purchase applications rose 3% in the latest reported week. The fact that purchase activity hasn't been muted by rising rates is reflective of strong housing demand and a strengthening economy.

In the days before the Federal Reserve was active in the mortgage market, rising rates would spark an increase in activity for fear of rates moving higher still. Today, many market watchers expect a rate increase to be followed by a pullback, believing the Fed will again intervene to reverse a rising trend.

Those who head for the sidelines when rates rise might be on to something. To be sure, we believe that higher rates are in our future, but not necessarily in our immediate future. In other words, the thesis behind “tapering” could be overdone; it's not that the Fed is withdrawing from the MBS market, it's that there were simply fewer MBS for the Fed to buy.

We say that because we experienced a lull in mortgage loan originations in March; fewer mortgages means fewer MBS the Fed could buy. But in April, we saw a burst of refinances. Many of these loans will have closed in May, which will lead to more MBS coming to market, and more MBS the Fed could buy.

In short, we're not sold on “tapering” as the Fed's new de facto monetary policy. We need to see a couple months of evidence before jumping on the bandwagon. So don't be surprised if lending rates reverse course and revert to lower ground in coming weeks.

 Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

The reliable way to find a stud is by using a stud finder tool – a basic model costs about $10-$20 at your local hardware store. If you don’t have one, don’t give up hope just yet. Try this easy stud-finding trick!

You’ll need: painter’s tape, one strong refrigerator magnet (a one-inch diameter is perfect), scissors, pencil, ruler (optional)

1. Cut a six-inch strip of the painter’s tape.

2. Place your magnet in the center of the painter’s tape.

3. Fold the tape over the magnet onto itself. It should form a small sling with the magnet at one end. Make sure there is enough tape on the magnet-free end – you need to be able to comfortably grip the tape.

4. Move your magnet-stud-finder along the wall. Studs are wood, but the nails holding the drywall into the studs are metal! When you drag it over the stud, the magnet will stick to the wall!

5. Mark where the magnet stopped with a pencil and you’re done! You’re ready to hang your wall art.

6. If you want to find multiple studs, measure 16” to the left or right of where your magnet sticks. Studs are typically located 16” apart in a home with 8-foot ceilings.

Tip: If magnets and tape seem like too much effort, or this doesn’t work for you, just look for a wall outlet. Studs will generally be vertically aligned with the outlet. Think of it as the fast-game version of finding a stud.

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

We've discussed this before, but it's worth discussing again: Rising interest rates won't derail the recovery (both economic and housing). We appear to be in the minority opinion, though; many of our colleagues think otherwise.

Our thesis goes like this: Rising rates will be accompanied by economic and job growth, which means more people will be able to afford a home, along with the cost of higher lending rates.

At this point, more people working trumps historically low interest rates. Moreover, rising rates accompanied with economic growth will spur people to action: If they believe rates are more likely to rise than fall, they will tend to act now instead of procrastinating.

It's also worth noting that we are still in an unnatural lending environment. The Federal Reserve's manipulation of mortgage rates is an anomaly that can't go indefinitely. (The market can take only so much liquidity before serious dislocations occur.) We think the return to normalcy – a lending market based on natural lending rates, economic growth, and job growth – offers many more positives than negatives.

We've had higher mortgage lending rates in the past and have prospered. If higher rates are accompanied with a strong economy, we see no reason why we wouldn't prosper again.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Three weeks and three-consecutive mortgage-rate increases. That's the lead story on the financing-front of housing. The rate on the 30-year fixed-rate loan is up over 20 basis points nationally based on Bankrate.com's survey of mortgage lenders.

In fact, rates are up to levels last seen in late-March and early-April.

There are a couple of variables at work in the mortgage market. For one, the economy and job growth have shown signs of picking up pace over the past month. More economic growth and more job growth means more loan demand, which pressures interest rates to rise.

More recently, speculation over the Federal Reserve and quantitative easing have pushed rates higher. Specifically, investors and speculators believe it's more likely that the latest round of quantitative easing could end sooner than later. The Fed itself has suggested as much: Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking to Congress this week, didn't rule out the possibility of tapering the latest round of quantitative easing (QE3) by Labor Day if the labor market continues to improve.

Quantitative easing is simply the Federal Reserve injecting money into the banking system by purchasing U.S. Treasury notes and bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed purchases these instruments by creating new money, which it credits to banks' Fed account when the banks sell the instruments to the Fed.

Lately, the Fed has been purchasing theses instruments at the rate of $85 billion per month. The purchases create demand, which, in turn, reduces yield to produce the record-low mortgage rates we've experienced in the past year.

To be sure, Labor Day isn't set in stone, and the Fed is still concerned the labor market could backslide, but it's becoming more apparent quantitative easing won't go on indefinitely. This means a floor has been placed under mortgage rates, so it's become more likely that rates have gone as low as they will go (sans an unseen economic catastrophe).

If housing continues to pick up pace, the Fed will have even more reason to back away from quantitative easing. Housing appears to be picking up pace.

Sales of existing homes increased 0.6% to an annual rate of 4.97 millions units for April. Sales of single-family homes were particularly robust, increasing 1.2% for the month. Existing-home prices also improved strongly. The median price of an existing home increased 4.8% to $192,800 in April – the highest price of the recovery.

We've frequently mentioned that rising prices spur more supply to come to market. That's exactly what's happening. An additional 230,000 units came to market in April. This lifted the supply of existing homes to 5.2 months from 4.7 months at the current sales rate.

On the new-home front, sales growth was even more dramatic, with sales rising 2.3% to 454,000 units on an annualized basis in April. Meanwhile, prices soared, increasing 8.3% to a record median price of $271,600.

That said, new homes aren't pouring into the market like with existing homes: New homes for sale rose only 5,000 for the month, which means inventory remains low at 4.1 months.

In short, the housing market is shaping up nicely as we head into the summer selling season. We expect sales to improve materially as the summer progresses.

 Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

It sounds like a silly question at first blush: Of course, economic growth is our friend. And for the most part, it is.

Economic growth leads to job growth, which, in turn, leads to lower unemployment and higher wages. More people working and earning more money is obviously good for sustaining the housing recovery. We will see higher participation, thus the higher likelihood of sustaining the recovery. (At this point, should we still be calling it a recovery, or simply the housing market?) In other words, housing will resume its rightful mantel as a chief economic driver.

But economic growth won't be all sunshine and lollipops.

With higher economic growth comes higher interest rates on rising consumer and commercial loan demand, and rising investor demand for more yield. Moreover, sustained economic and job growth will embolden the Federal Reserve to withdraw from the mortgage-backed securities market. Without the Fed's current enormous appetite for these securities, mortgage rates will surely rise.

So, yes, economic growth is good, but it won't be so good for potential borrowers who have been lulled into inertia by the false belief that today's interest rates are a permanent fixture of today's lending markets.

   Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Dinner under the stars is one of life’s simple pleasures, and that’s why we think creating a beautiful outdoor dining space shouldn’t break the bank. With a few simple tweaks, you can transform your yard, patio or courtyard into a space fit for a feast. Plus, creating a little incentive to dine at home can save you a ton of money in the long run – the average American family spends $4,000 a year eating out at restaurants!

Here are six budget-friendly patio décor suggestions:

Know the role. Instead of letting your outdoor space become a social catch-all zone, choose a specific purpose. Do you want it to be for dinner parties or slumber parties? Evening entertaining or daytime lounging? Make a decision and decorate accordingly.

Plant perennials. Adding pots full of perennials to your outdoor living space is an easy, cost-effective way to inject some color and visual interest. Why perennials, instead of annuals? You only have to plant perennials once and then you’ll get to enjoy them every year. Bonus: A well-manicured and maintained yard can increase a home’s market value by up to 83 percent!

Go double duty. Opt for furniture pieces that can multitask, such as side tables that work for board game tournaments and ottomans that store outdoor essentials like throw blankets, sunscreen and bug spray.

Shop at the right time. If you need to grab some patio furniture, wait until after July 4^th (prices take a dive after this major summer holiday). Tip: For the very best deals, visit stores like HomeGoods and Big Lots at the end of summer when they’re trying to empty their inventory.

Go big. This may seem counter-intuitive, but a few large pieces of furniture will stretch your dollar further than a collection of several small pieces. Plus, if you have limited outdoor living space, using large furniture instead of smaller pieces will prevent the area from feeling too cluttered.

Add a rug. If you have a covered patio or deck, adding a large area rug is hands-down the biggest-impact décor move you can make. This one piece will tie the outdoor space together and make it feel complete. Tip: The indoor décor doesn’t have to stop with a rug! Don’t hesitate to bring things like lamps, flower vases and throw pillows outside, too.

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.