Real Estate Information Archive

A lot of people may say they’ll lend a hand when it’s time for you to move, but when the big day finally arrives, good help can be hard to find. If your friends and family pull a disappearing act on moving day, don’t stress! Most items in your house can be moved with just one person.

Here are six tips for the solo mover:

Safety Note: Don’t try to be a hero! If you don’t feel in control of a heavy piece of furniture, don’t move it! A hospital bill is a lot more expensive than a mover’s fee, and sometimes hiring help is the only safe option. If you’re on a budget, check out these eight ways to cut your moving costs by $100 or more.

1. Strip it. If you struggle to shift your dresser just a few inches, getting it down a flight of stairs can be downright intimidating. But, a lot of heavy furniture can be disassembled, which makes it much lighter and easier to move. Take out drawers, remove cushions, mirror or glass tops, knobs and feet. Basically, anything that’s screwed on can be taken off to lighten the load. Tip: Use an ice cube tray to keep track of small parts during the move.

2. Rent moving gear. One dolly can prevent a lot of sweat and frustration (and possibly a hernia). Plus, the cost of renting a few moving tools for the day is a drop in the bucket compared to hiring professional movers. Visit your local hardware store and check out their furniture jacks, scissor lifts and dollies. They’ll do the heavy lifting for you!

3. Don’t lift, slide. You could rent commercial sliders, but a large blanket or throw rug all work just as well! Lift the legs of your furniture one at a time and put them onto your makeshift sliders. Then, drag! Patience is key – move slowly to avoid damaging your floor, walls or furniture. Tip: If you get the furniture onto sliders, but still can’t move it with your arms, use your leg strength! Lie on your back, place your feet on the furniture and push with your legs.

4. Walk it out. If you don’t have a slider handy, and you’re moving a chair, use it’s legs. It’s time consuming, but you’ll avoid the heavy lifting! Put the chair on its back two legs and “walk” the chair left foot and then right foot. You’ll eventually get it out the door.

5. Remove the hinges. If you ordered some furniture and then had it assembled inside of a room, getting it outside can be tricky! Before you think about sawing that entertainment center in half, try taking the doors off of their hinges. You’ll gain a few inches of wiggle room – which can sometimes be enough to slide that bulky furniture right on out!

6. Beware of the second floor. If you have extremely heavy pieces of furniture on a second or third floor – such as a big sofa or desk – it’s really not safe to move it by yourself. This is because once you angle something down the stairs, gravity will actually increase the weight of the furniture, and it’s very easy to lose control!

Information from 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.

I read a recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled “How to Fix a Credit Report Error Before It Bites Back” and being in the real estate business for many years it had a number of good points that are useful to all of us and especially if you are looking to purchase a Harrisburg PA home. We all have heard and seen the trials and tribulations when a bad credit score derails a purchase or if approved the interest rate is higher than the going rate for most borrowers.

What are the causes and what are the remedies? Naturally, late payments are definitely going to have a negative impact on your credit score and your ability to make a purchase. AND yes sometimes there are reporting errors by a creditor for a number of reasons, including reporting a delinquency that is not yours because there is one or more John Jones that lives in your area. And I am sure there are many people who can give me examples of bad reporting. BUT you do have some recourse in these examples such as disputing the claim and/or providing proof of payment – that is the best way to counter the negative by keeping good records.

Also, it is up to you to monitor your credit report and the best (and it is free) way is to go to AnnualCreditReport.com and you can receive a report once a year at no cost to you. That is an excellent way to insure that the Credit Bureau has all the correct information. Yes, there are offers, at a cost, to give you the same information but free is for me and I hope for you also. Soon I will provide info on Credit Repair concepts and hopefully help you in that arena.

If you are looking for information on who you can talk to about credit, please let me know, and especially, if you are considering purchasing Harrisburg PA real estate. Please also visit my web site, DonRoth.com, to have access to all of the properties that are for sale in the Harrisburg area.

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.

In the old days, and we are not talking that old, renting was usually viewed as a cheaper alternative to buying. How times have change. Today, it's actually cheaper to buy than to rent in the major U.S. cities, according to data released by Trulia Research in its Summer 2012 Rent vs. Buy Report.

Trulia's report doesn't simply compare a monthly mortgage payment to a monthly rent payment. It factors in all cost components, including transaction costs, upkeep, taxes, and opportunity costs. With a 3.5% fixed-rate mortgage, itemized deductions at the 25% federal tax bracket, and a seven-year time horizon, home ownership is cheaper than renting in all of the 100 largest U.S metropolitan regions Trulia follows.

We are not talking about small differences either. In fact, in many of the markets Trulia tracks the differences are quite staggering. 

Even in more fashionable districts, the difference remains pronounced: Buying a home is 24% cheaper than renting in Honolulu, 28% cheaper in San Francisco, and 31% cheaper in New York.

If potential clients need another reason why they should consider buying over renting, Trulia's report could prove quite persuasive. If they need another reason, just point to today's ulta-low lending rates.

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.

Whether you are moving across town or across the country most Central Pennsylvania home buyers are looking for up to date information in the areas that you are moving to. We now have an continuous guide for many of the areas in Central Pennsylvania that we hope you will find beneficial when relocating. Please enjoy and let us know of any recommendations you want us to consider. The following Central Pennsylvania counties are included in this guide; Adams County, Cumberland County, Dauphin County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Huntingdon County, Juniata County, Lancaster County, Lebanon County, Perry County and York County. 

Welcome Home. The relocation guide to Central Pennsylvania!

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.

This is a great article by Peter Fletcher of Residential Settlements!

A pre-approval is one of the greatest assets a home buyer can get.

Pre-approval is a written assessment of your worthiness for a loan. When you seek pre-approval for a home loan, your lender will assess your ability to pay, as well as your credit history, to decide how much they are willing to lend you.

Although you can make an offer and go through to the start of property settlement without having pre-approval, smart home buyers get pre-approval before they make an offer.

Really smart home buyers get pre-approval before they even start going to home opens.

Here’s why you should, too:

1. You get a better choice of properties. When you visit a home open and talk to a real estate agent, letting them know that you have pre-approval is a sure-fire way to get them to take you seriously as a buyer. Once a real estate agent knows you’re serious about buying, they’re likely to call you about potential properties before they’ve even hit the market, giving you a better choice of properties, and potentially cheaper deals.

2. You get a better deal. To sellers, pre-approval is almost like a guarantee that the deal they strike with you won’t fall over. Sellers want certainty, because if the buyer they choose can’t get finance, the seller will have to start marketing their property all over again. To them, this certainty is worth money – I’ve seen plenty of deals where the seller has accepted a lower offer because that buyer had pre-approval and the higher offers didn’t.

3. You won’t waste time looking at homes you can’t afford. Getting pre-approval will give you a much better idea of what homes are within your price range, so you’ll know in advance which properties are too pricey to waste your time on.

4. You won’t have your heart broken. Imagine falling in love with a property and even going so far as to make an offer on it – only to find out at that it’s out of your price range! Save yourself the disappointment of having a deal fall through by knowing in advance what you can (and can’t) afford.

If you’re planning to buy a home, get a pre-approved home loan from your chosen lender. Your seller, real estate agent, and settlement agent will thank you for it – and you’ll be glad you did.

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

In December 2011, Congress reached a last-minute deal to fund the payroll tax cut extension. The payroll tax extension will provide a 2% tax reduction for individuals earning up to $106,800, so the tax extension will be very helpful for many Americans who are struggling during these tough economic times. But like so many things in our tangled economy, there's a flip side. In this case, the tax cut deal has a rippling effect that will impact the mortgage world.

Here's what's happening and what it means to home loan rates:

What is happening and why? To put it bluntly, the passage of the payroll tax cut extension is being funded via a mandate to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the nation's largest providers of mortgage money) to increase their guarantee fees or "g-fee's" by at least 10 basis points on the rate. So rather than giving a par rate of 4.00%, for example, the par rate is now increased by at least 10 basis points, or approximately 4.10%. But as you probably know...home loan rates are priced and offered in .125% increments, so this will most likely impact the consumer by .125% in rate. Whether you agree or not on the politics behind this cost being passed along to folks who are taking out mortgages, the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the increase will ultimately pay for about $35.7 Billion of the cost of the payroll tax extension.

What exactly is this "g-fee"?

The guarantee fee or "g-fee" is an amount charged by mortgage-backed securities (MBS) providers, like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to help protect against credit-related losses in the overall mortgage portfolio. In other words, it acts a lot like insurance and helps lower the overall risk...which means home loans can be offered at terrific interest rates to borrowers that have good – but not perfect – credit.

What exactly is the impact of the rate increase? 

For example, for a $200,000 home loan, the increased g-fee (assuming a .125% increase in rate) would equate to $250 more per year in interest, or $7,500 more over 30 years. Someone buying or refinancing a home can certainly choose to buy down the cost with cash up front – but most folks will not do this.

Who will this impact?

The change will impact all new borrowers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The bill will also impact Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans by increasing the annual mortgage insurance premium that borrowers pay by one-tenth of a percent.

When will it start? 

Officially, the increase to guarantee fees will begin on April 1, 2012. However, the increase is already starting to be seen in rate sheets right now, since home loans being originated now will likely not be closed, pooled and securitized until April.. .and therefore will need the increased g-fee priced in earlier.

How long will this be in effect? The increase will be effective through October 1, 2021.

The bottom line is that the g-fees will be going up... and this will impact homebuyers looking to obtain a home loan through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA.

The good news is that home loan rates are still at historic lows right now, and it's a great time to purchase a new home or refinance. If you or anyone you know has any questions, please call or email!

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.

Below is a visual showing why “waiting for prices to drop” doesn’t make sense in this market....

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 all have heard or read it is a good time to purchase Harrisburg PA real estate considering the near historic interest rate environment that we are experiencing. Hopefully this chart will provide you with a perspective that you may not have considered previously. Yes, the mortgage process is a little bit challenging than in previous years but lenders are still making loans and want to make loans to qualified buyers. So when you are considering the purchase of a home hopefully this graph will give you an insight that you may not have considered before. And if you are not planning to move at this time today may be the time to consider a refinance of you existing mortgage. Because as been said many times the money should be in your pocket rather than some other entity.

If you are considering the purchase of a home and are curious of what may be available in any price range in the Harrisburg area please visit my web site, www.DonRoth.com and click on the search listings button. Or if you would like some assistance on how the home buying process works please contact me at Don@DonRoth.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.

Rismedia.com reports there are various signals that the real estate market is on the rise. They have recently reported statistics pointing to an industry turnaround, including a 15 percent rise in housing starts in September; a surge in builder confidence in October, an increase in mortgage applications and a slew of regional market improvements across the country.

A recent Marketwatch story written by Amy Hoak points out that housing markets in the Great Plains, including those in North and South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Louisiana and Iowa, are showing the most signs of strength these days, according to a recent report from Veros, a risk management and valuation services firm.

Hoak notes that Bismarck, North Dakota., is expected to be the strongest market in the country in the year ahead, with housing values appreciating at a 5.6% clip, according to Veros. Our Harrisburg/Carlisle market is projected to be among the strongest to rebound in 2012 making now a great time to buy!! Get your dream home now before prices start to go up.

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.