The Little Realtor

Ask anyone who has to commute outside of the city, and weaving your way through city traffic will definitely add another 15 minutes to your commute. Well with this week's home, that city commute time gets pretty short. 2532 South Street is a quick hop onto South Street bridge to get out of town. Also an awesome location for city walkers and certainly for those who work at Penn or CHOP!  And while most of South Street is pretty busy, this far end of the street stays pretty residential. Plus its only a couple blocks to the Schuylkill River trail! 2532 South Street - $575,000  3 beds, 2 1/2 baths, 1844 sq ft, central air, 3 beautiful stories, an upstairs laundry, large back patio and a den/family room off the kitchen! On top of all of that, this home has some real charm left to it and even some room for added equity.  And you can take a look yourself this Sat AND Sun, the 20th & 21st, from 2-3 both days.  Click the...

In the age of the internet, we all love to offer online advice, give our take on an experience, and aid in the general knowledge of the community. We offer our insight into the latest restaurant, shop, or experience in order to assist the next customer/client/buyer in making the right decision. But would you do the same for your Realtor? You should. If you liked their service, that is. And if you did, referring them to your friends, family and colleagues is the best thank you you can offer. And maybe not for the reasons you think... "We obviously already share the same awesome hair dresser... we should share the same Realtor!"  Obviously referring someone to your agent helps with their business - its potentially another commission check in their pocket and obviously that's a major gift you are sending them. But the importance of referrals goes way above that. Referrals are a way of reshaping an agent's business. Most people don't know how real...

There are a zillion 'Rent or Buy' financial calculators out there. They all work under the premise that you may actually save money, or potentially make money, by purchasing a home instead of renting one. And while often times, especially in high-rent areas like Center City Phila, that is the case - you CAN save more a month and turn a profit on increasing equity in a home purchase - that's not the only factor in deciding to purchase your first home. Savings. Ok, this is included to some extent in a lot of calculators and is certainly a financial decision but if you don't have a nice amount of savings in the bank, taking care of the initial costs to purchase a home (think down payment plus closing costs) simply may not be doable. There is no easy calculator here as there are several factors, like down payment options and tax rates, but purchasing a home is pricey up front. And you can't take all your savings and throw it at a new home. You need to have ...