Assessments Affect Value? / Quartz In - Granite Out / 9 Building Updates / Hardcore Comp Data / 

Your Center City Condo Newsletter- May 2017

Quartz Is In - Granite Is Out
And other Trends I am seeing 
"In the field"... 

Like beehive hair-do's and cargo shorts, trends come and go  

*Quartz is becoming very popular and is more common today than granite or marble in kitchen areas.

* Jack & Jill bathrooms are becoming more common than say ten years ago (and buyers seem to like them too).

* Most newer condos now have "4-pipe" HVAC systems and include heat and central air in the condo fees.

* Kitchen floor tile is becoming rare. Most will run the living room hardwood floors into the kitchen and no longer define the kitchen area by floor tile.

* I am (not) hearing bathroom fans as much. Most new bath ceiling fans are quiet or silent.

*Many condos around town have cameras and or listening capabilities. Makes showing condos much more interesting....you know you're being watched.

*Full size stackable washer & dryers are taking place of the older separate floor models. Makes sense- it saves space.

* Most toilets today are the 1.6 gallon flush and I am seeing more and more with the "No- Slam" toilet seats.

* Large linen closets are taking the place of those large soaking tubs. You know...the big silly tubs that rarely get used.  :-)


How Do Assessments Affect 
Demand and Value?

Now that is the million dollar question!

Automobiles, clothes and condos all need maintenance to look and perform their best. Assessments imposed on owners of given buildings are used to make capital improvements and are a necessary evil.

How might that affect value?

I think in the short term, an assessment can lower demand for a building. Who the hell wants to pay for some electric behind a wall or an elevator motor which they are never going to see? (Uh, no one.) Though assessments to fix up interior hallways and maybe a lobby are much easier to swallow.
However, in the long run, assessments can be the best thing to ever happen to a building as the costs of the capital improvements are overshadowed by the long-term value growth.
Look no farther than 2301 Cherry St. (River's Edge) as an example of that argument. When the assessments were first implemented, the demand dropped because no new buyer wanted to pay for the needed improvements. But today...the money spent is bouncing the value of each unit MUCH higher than individual unit's assessments. It's not a hard equation to figure out.
And the new lobby at the Academy House? C'mon... you can't tell me that the individual unit owner cost to do that lobby wasn't worth it...The value added was huge....

So yes, assessments suck in the short term. But very beneficial in the long run in terms of value and demand.

(ps - YES, per the agreement of sale- any assessments that have been approved must be disclosed to a buyer)
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Building Updates

Here is what I am told. Verify for yourself...


The owner occupancy ratio at 2101 Chestnut is 10% - 90% renters

Waterfront Sq. is enacting a limitation on renters

The Savoy at 1806 S. Rittenhouse has an assessment coming down the pike that is close to $28 a square foot. Needed and in the long run..a good thing as values will climb!

Dockside condominiums at 717 S. Columbus Blvd. has been recently approved for conventional financing

The Philadelphian at 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. is making progress on the installation of new exterior balcony rails throughout

Many more buildings are going non-smoking. Here are a few:
Society Hill Towers, Center City One, Academy House, The Rittenhouse, The Hopkinson House, The Murano, The Dorchester. Look for that list to grow substantially. 

Hopkinson House nearing completion of it's lobby work.

2601 (2601 Pennsylvania Ave.)  is upgrading it's steam systems

Penn's Landing Square (130 Spruce) is doing work to it's underground garage.

                                                                                                                                                    MarkNew  

Mark Wade 
Still at the same firm for 28 years

Our office recently moved. 
I got a HUGE corner office overlooking Independence Hall.

 My space is the  FARTHEST from our main front door entrance
 and has a private, unmarked side entrance.

I'm pretty sure that wasn't a fluke.
....Whatever

 


BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
Society Hill Office
215.627.6005

215.521.1523 direct
Mark@CenterCity.com

CenterCityCondos.com

The best time to get me is in the AM 
when I am hopped up on four
cups of Maxwell House.