Why so many homes for sale? (Philadelphia, Allentown: foreclosures, lease, mortgage)

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Sounds great! What office would this be? The slow down development wizard?

Well, I think you folks could always consult the administration in Scranton for advice on slowing down development. After all, our city has consistently lost population for a good 50 years now. These folks are experts on how to drive away residents. LOL!

[KristyLiz]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Sounds great! What office would this be? The slow down development wizard?

Bravo!!

[Coastalminded]

Look, I gave my opinion and my thoughts on the Lehigh Valley......and I am not here to argue. Don't jump the gun, 2kids and your done, I am not bitter as a person, not at all. Come over to my home and I would welcome you in for dinner. But objectively, no, I am certainly not pleased with what I have witnessed happen here, again, just in the Lehigh Valley which historically comprises the Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton areas only. You can say that I, along with thousands of other LV born and raised folks feel just the way I do, this I know from being out and about. Read the daily paper, comments from people spouting off about everything I listed and many more things that I did not touch on. Like schools for example, I know very little about how schools rate here relative to the U.S. average.

And SWB , I would vote you in, as you are exactly right. SWB has it right about this area. The housing market is just what he described, here. There are quite a few builders who have begun developments, have installed the roads and utilities underground, and guess what? You see a sample home or 2 sitting there for MONTHS now. I could name 3 such developments within 5 miles of me that are suffering. Builders are advertising free brand new cars with the purchase of a pre-construction unit. Or, upgrades that were built into new constuction is being given away and builders are absorbing their losses somehow. Its true. There should be a hold on new permits being issues. There is plenty of Open Houses every single day at many projects, our agent we just worked with holds them 3 days a week. She sits there and watches TV for hours on end with the occasional "looky lou" stopping in. Existing homeowners are competing with new construction big time. There is a large selection of existing homes to choose from and a small pool of buyers. SWB, you have got it right.

I am not trying to keep anyone out of the LV, thats just ridiculous. I stated I was biased.

I see things for what they are. And have been told I have very good insight into most things to be honest.

Good things about the area, there are some. Of course there are. Moving here and starting a new life from somewhere else could prove to be wonderful, absolutely.

From a natives eyes we would just see things different is all. Good things would be probably the very mixed culture. And Musikfest every summer is a big event. Plenty of roads, close to NJ/NY. And BTW, I never said I was against people from NJ/NY moving in, and if I did that is not what I meant to convey. I do not blame them for coming here, it is perfectly alright. I have noticed that many , many have moved out not long after moving in though. Maybe after 2 years to escape capital gains? i don't know, perhaps.

My advice as someone asked where to choose out of several counties would be to stay out of the immediate LV area, like I said in my post. I do not think many are moving into Allentown , but home prices are very affordable. Certain areas in A-town you cannot safely live. Especially with children. Bethlehem, my choice would be the North side for sure especially with the casinos coming in and an already crowded 3rd. and 4th street areas. My opinions only. Easton is a mess from what I see. Maybe i'm wrong.

Put it this way, drive through any of the major cities and you will cetainly see poverty, empty buildings, storefronts boarded up and a gringy sort of look to things. You can see that "downtown" sure is down.

Immigration, illegal I mean, is a problem. Blue collar workers are being priced out by immigrants doing anything from framing homes to painting them, when framed.

I love PA's license plate.....a neighbor just remarked to me it is so appropriate as it reads as the state motto "Visit PA" .com He said yeah visit and get out, there's nothing here anymore.

Ever here that Billy Joel song "Allentown" ? "Its the Pennsylvania we never found."

Well we're waiting here in Allentown....and I won't be getting UP today....well, that Allentown he is talking about is not Allentown N.J., near Six Flags....its my Allentown I can see from my home where I live. Listen to his song actually, and than ask yourself, what has really changed since he wrote that song....and do not bring up sports teams, or more history museums, think about what he wrote about and see what has really changed.


And no one needs to tell me to move out "If You don't like it here!" I am getting out one day soon. Every single one of my classmates that got out after graduating never came back, not one. They have done very well in other areas. I have found I made mistakes and should have furthered my education instead of working in the family buisness, but that is what you think you should do when you are young. It is common to have family buisnesses here all over the LV area. It was a secure thing to do with the demise of the Major players in the region during the early eighties.

Oh, the best thing about living here is you are only 2 hours from the Jersey Shore, that is the best thing-lol. Best wishes , its all just my opinion. Did not mean to offend. There are thousands that would agree and thousands that would strongly disagree.

[ScranBarre]

I think Coastalminded is certainly entitled to his opinion, and you folks shouldn't be driving him into the ground for speaking so candidly. If he were the type of person who planned to live here another 20-30 years while whining and b*tching for every one of those years, I might just have to smack him around a bit, but if he's just biding his time over until he can find a greener pasture, then I say more power to him. I feel the same way about folks in my area. Don't like it here? Fine. Express your disgust. Just don't do so for year after year after YEAR---it just negates your credibility and makes people wonder why you haven't moved yet. That problem is alive and well in my area. I know plenty of middle-aged malcontents who have been unhappy living in NEPA for decades, yet they refuse to move. They claim they "can't afford to" after all those years, but that's just a lie, as they could easily sell their homes here and move to another area. Why should folks like that stick around and make themselves so miserable?

I'm glad he and I see eye-to-eye on the housing market issue. I've seen the SAME problems here in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as well. Housing developments are popping up everywhere, and now many of these same developers who thought their lots would sell like hot cakes and that their executive-level McMansions would fly out of inventory are swallowing their pride and bending over backwards to entice buyers to check out what they have to offer. Housing developers here advertise on the sides of buses, freeway billboards, on the radio, and even now on television. They continue to have this mindset of "build it, and they will come," even though as we can now see they are building, yet buyers are NOT coming. Meanwhile those trying to sell their existing homes are competing with these developers for the same dwindling pool of buyers. We're in a housing glut now in much of Eastern PA. I never thought I'd see the real estate market here in NEPA slow down with all of the demand from buyers moving here from NY, NJ, and SEPA, but it inevitably has. The bi-weekly real estate publication here for the Wilkes-Barre area is now up to around 90 pages, nearly double what it was at just a few years back. Each page is brimming with "New Listing" while those that say "Pending" or "Under Contract" are as scarce as hen's teeth. The Lehigh Valley is in the same boat. Too many people were speculating and saying "build, build, build!!!" and now we have a huge glut.

[ScranBarre]

Just to put things into perspective, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Board of Realtors now has 1,254 listings for single-family homes alone in Luzerne County. This is for a county of around 300,000 residents.

Even more shocking is the Greater Scranton Board of Realtors, which has a whopping 1,653 listings for single-family homes in Lackawanna County, which has only 200,000 residents.

[toobusytoday]

I certainly am not pro development but there is legally no remedy to stop development if a property is zoned correctly and it passes perk tests. There is no "office" that oversees slowing down development. In my township, the majority of the supervisors are anti-development but they cannot do anything but make sure that builders are following the letter of the law.

And who in the world is "driving him to the ground for speaking so candidly"? We're all speaking how we feel, aren't we? I hope no one is taking any of this personally. We chose our area because the growth was slower then where we were moving from but realistically, I know it can't be stopped, so I just hope I can live with it and enjoy life.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I certainly am not pro development but there is legally no remedy to stop development if a property is zoned correctly and it passes perk tests. There is no "office" that oversees slowing down development. In my township, the majority of the supervisors are anti-development but they cannot do anything but make sure that builders are following the letter of the law.

And who in the world is "driving him to the ground for speaking so candidly"? We're all speaking how we feel, aren't we? I hope no one is taking any of this personally. We chose our area because the growth was slower then where we were moving from but realistically, I know it can't be stopped, so I just hope I can live with it and enjoy life.

I understand that legally there is no way to slow development, but you better believe I wish there was. One would think that developers would notice the housing glut getting worse in your area and put a halt to new construction on their own accord until the market picked back up, but it seems as if greed prevails in PA. I'm aghast to see that one of the newer subdivisions in my area just gave folks AERIAL RIDES over their property so prospective buyers could check it out from above. Developers are getting desperate, yet they continue to build, build, build. It's sheer stupidity, if you ask me.

[Coastalminded]

Hey, its not a problem, I can take a hit. After all, I am a Konkrete Kid, so bring it.

And if you are living in the LV area for any length of time, you had better know what a Konkrete Kid is. IF you do not, then Houston, we have a problemo....

In all seriousness, I am not taking any of this personally, really. And in fact can you please direct your eye balls to the name I chose to represent myself on this little message board. Thanks very much for your 1 second of time. Thats where I am going physically, not just in my mind. When I set my mind on something, It Gets Done.

So while I may be factually accurate, and many do not like what I think and feel perhaps, if you think PA. is the place for you than come on in, there is an enormous amount of inventory to choose from. Find a GREAT agent, not just an agent, and you can do well.

That should not be hard to do because the mediocre agents are all suspending their licenses according to the local rag, and only the better are still out there pounding the pavements. Many have gotten other jobs as if you don't have sales you starve. When this whole thing picks up again here in THIS area, home prices will be higher than one might expect them to be. PA. is no southern state where the cost of living is lower hence real esate may be also. I am not knocking southern folks by any stretch. Whats my point?

My point is (factoid) that Lehigh Valley real estate prices are going up while most other major markets around the US are going down. It was just again in the newspaper. Wonder why that is?

You tell me. I know why but have said enough already.

"They build and build and do not stop and think about anything but money, money money"......anyone know who just stated that in the Morning Call last Thursday?

clue: He holds a high office position but is losing control and mad as hell.

[Coastalminded]

Hey Proud liberal wack job.......while you may have some facts about real estate, your ass-umption about Lehigh Valley residents saying "Huh"?? when they hear of the mascot being named Ferrous?

WOW.

But ya know what, we're all just living here in Trannsylvania, that dark , coal laden state, so yeah, your right Siegfried.

By chance, on a lighter note, have you ever been in that bar up there around the Scranton area where (I Swear) when you are standing at the bar, the entire floor is sinking, and very visibly sinking from the underground coal fires? The entire baroom is on an angle! And the place is o-l-d. You know the name of that joint?

I think the name Iron Pigs fits the LV area perfectly......after all, the robber barons, in their greed, were Pigs when it came to Iron, Coke, and Steel. Left so many standing at the welfare office with severe health problems to boot.

I'm outta here for 12 days.....actually for good. Rant over.

[toobusytoday]

Was there a post deleted somewhere? You seem to be just talking to talk, Coastalminded so I don't know quite what to address.

Many of us that moved here or are moving here are NOT doing so because it's cheaper or are escaping the city. I've never lived in a city. We moved here because my husband got a job near Quakertown. If you read some of the posts you'll see that many of the people that inquire about the Lehigh Valley from North Jersey or NY lose interest when they find that we don't have passenger trains. We paid the same price for our current house as we sold our former house for.

Yes, things have changed. Um, that's what happens. If you moved out of the area you would realize that not too many places stay the same and if they do, it's usually not a good thing. My hometown in lower Delaware is completely different (not better), as is my husbands hometown in upstate Delaware. Shoot, the place we moved from just ten years ago has changed so much that I got lost the last time I visited.

My point is that change is not unique to the Lehigh Valley and for me the best thing I can do is to help my own community by volunteering and attending meetings of the school board and township meetings. I can help shape the future in my own little world by stepping up to chair committees because too many people will just complain among themselves about the "new" people and then not do anything themselves.

Sorry for totally derailing the thread. Why are housing prices up? One guess: It used to be that a farmer would sell ten acres to ten different people who would each hire a contractor and build a house. Now they sell those ten acres to a builder who builds ten homes on spec and he has to wait for them to sell at his price because he probably set the price with the bank. I'm sure there are some nervous developers and banks. In a big company like Toll Brothers, they have so many whole developments around, they can afford to just wait for the market to correct itself. In my neighborhood a builder bought several of the lots and built the houses but just as many were individually bought and then they hired a sub-contractor to build them.