House Price Info In Lewisburg (Scranton, Harrisburg: houses, neighborhood, purchase)

[PAorBust]

Hi All,

We are getting ready to re-locate to Lewisburg, PA. We currently live on Long Island. When you are looking to purchase a home, it isn't at all unusual (and it's even acceptable) to offer someone 20-25K less than their asking price on their home in NY. I don't exactly agree with it...but this is the way they do things here. Someone actually offered us 60K less than our asking price on our house and our home was only priced in the low 300K's!!! (I didn't accept it and even told them to tell the guy I'd rather burn my house down than sell it to him for that price...but anyway) When I asked my realtor in Lewisburg what people offer there when they like a house...5K, 10K, 15K, less; her response was that most houses go for asking price or at the MOST
5K less. Now I do know I'm a "relo" (NY slang for relocation), and in NY a "relo" usually pays more than the average local shmoe...but what about PA? Was my realtor accurate or is she just trying to make a higher sale? I certainly don't want to insult anyone with too low of an offer (like I was insulted with the 60K less offer) but I also want to get as much house as I can for the money, like anyone else would.

So...PA folk...specifically Union county folk....what's the deal? Educate me on how a nice, well-respected, PA citizen would act and what they would offer on a home....say priced at 197K. I am soooo ready to get out of this New Yorker way of thinking and acting.

Thanks!

[Dawne]

Well, since I'm a "neighbor" living in Snyder County I'll venture to answer this. For a house where the homeowner is asking $197K (and of course this depends on the house and what type of work needs to be done, the neighborhood, etc.) I'd probably offer $180 to $190 and see where it goes from there.

In this area $197K is pretty much a move-in ready house with not much work to be done. If what you're looking at needs significant work I'd lower the offer to $175 to $180.

And don't forget to make your offer (if they accept it) contingent on a host of property inspections, including a home inspection, septic inspection (if the home isn't on sewer), well inspection (if it's not on city water), termite and other bug inspections, and a radon inspection.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you make out.

[PAorBust]

Thank you, Dawne...your advice is invaluable to me. I also appreciate the heads-up on the inspections. For the first time in my life I am hearing about "radon inspections". Here on Long Island (where radon is virtually non-existent)...we only worry about Brookhaven Labs pouring pollutants into the water causing breast cancer...never heard of a natural occurance like radon before

I will be sure to get all of these things checked out.

Thanks again for your kind input and I look forward to being your "neighbor" soon

[storminateacup]

Good luck with your move.We just moved to Selinsgrove( one town over from Lewisburg) from Mastic and we are loving it!

Dawne will give you tons of good advice. She has helped me tremendously.I think she should get a commission for helping with relocations to the union/snyder county area. LOL

[PAorBust]

Originally Posted by storminateacup

Good luck with your move.We just moved to Selinsgrove( one town over from Lewisburg) from Mastic and we are loving it!

Dawne will give you tons of good advice. She has helped me tremendously.I think she should get a commission for helping with relocations to the union/snyder county area. LOL

Hey...did you really? What do you think of Selinsgrove? We want to move to Lewisburg but for the price we want to pay...we can't find a house we want. Seems like just the "reject" houses are available. Our price range is up to 190K. We've seen alot of nice houses but either they are right on a busy road...like route 45. Or they are across the street from a radio tower!! Or they need extensive work because the previous homeowner didn't have the money to keep the house up. Or they are a gorgeous house with less of a yard than I have now (I live in Rocky Point) And these aren't "cheap" houses by any means. I would think that a 150-170K house there would be equivalent to a 300K to 350K house here on Long Island...and like Long Island...in Lewisburg the salaries just aren't enough to afford those types of houses. It's just so hard trying to find a nice house when you live 4 hours away. How did you do it?? Oh and to make matters just a little more interesting...I have a 5 month old and a 2 year old and two dogs...so I need a fence....Fences in PA....oh...that's another nightmare...LOLOL

I am so jealous of you!! I just can't wait to get the heck out of here

[storminateacup]

I am going to PM you.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by PAorBust

I am so jealous of you!! I just can't wait to get the heck out of here

Welcome in advance to Pennsylvania! Contrary to popular belief, we're not all "anti-New Yorkers." I actually wish more of you would consider moving to my neck-of-the-woods instead of moving to everywhere BUT here! LOL! I love your accents!

[SteelCityRising]

For what it's worth, homes in Snyder County will probably be slightly less expensive than they are in Union County. Lewisburg has a bit of an "uppity" reputation and its quaint Main Street atmosphere with annual tourist-attracting festivals has boosted housing prices to being somewhat high for a rural area of Central PA. In contrast, Selinsgrove is further removed from the I-80 corridor, which makes it less attractive to tourists, its downtown isn't quite as "quaint" as Lewisburg's, and Susquehanna University's reputation tends to lag slightly behind Bucknell University's. On a scale of 1-10, Lewisburg would be at a 9, and Selinsgrove would be at an 8, so you'd adjust housing prices slightly downward accordingly. There's also been stronger residential growth in Union County than in Snyder County according to the U.S. Census Bureau (even though Snyder County seems to have the edge on commercial growth). As such, a higher demand for housing leads to higher prices, just as in any supply/demand economic relationship.

I hope to do a photo tour of Selinsgrove sometime during this month, so stay tuned! Perhaps I'll even take a few photos of Dawne while she's wandering around the front lawn in her bathrobe looking for the newspaper. LOL!

[Dawne]

OMG, Paul! You'll scare everyone away from my area if you take a picture of me in my bathrobe!!

Everything you said is correct. Selinsgrove is in the process of hiring a Main Street Manager, and just got the Main Street grant, which includes a facade grant, so that should greatly improve the downtown area.

Storminateacup has a Selinsgrove address and phone number, but her home is actually just over the Union County line so her kids will go to Lewisburg schools. The lines around here are a bit odd. Winfield, which is also a nice community with several housing developments that are affordable, is in Union and Snyder Counties, so kids go to both schools, depending on which side of the line they're on.

There are actually some homes in the Selinsgrove area that are selling for $300,000 plus. I honestly don't know where people work to support that kind of payment - probably commute to Harrisburg. However, most homes are quite modest, have a decent yard and some even come with fences already!

I always recommend this website in your search for a home. You can customize your search to school district, community, house price, number of bedrooms, etc.

BOWENRESOLUTIONS.COM

[PAorBust]

Thank you Dawne and ScrantonWilkesBarre!!

I will check out that link and I will also not rule out Selinsgrove...

But UGH...another 5 hour trip with an infant and toddler to look at more houses in a different area now...I dread that!!

How is the Selinsgrove school district?

Accent? what accent!!! LOLOLOL