Suburban Philadelphia Real Estate News

Cutter's Mill, The Natural Pet Place, believes that your pets also deserve the best.

Cutter's Mill's logo is that it is The Natural Pet Place.  They offer a "wide variety of natural, organic, holistic foods for dogs, cats, companion birds, small animals, fish and reptiles, plus a wide variety of unique and "gotta have it" accessories."

When they say that they offer over 50 brands of traditional, premium, natural, and organic foods for your pets, you can believe it.  The aisles are stacked with a wide assortment of foods of every imaginable type and make.  They even include a raw bar and an amazing display of baked goods.

Only open since March, the store itself is beautiful with a nice upscale feel: wood finishes on the floors and fixtures, great and imaginative lighting, kiosks handling dog beds, toys, bones, and all kinds of accessories.  When I dropped by Sunday, they had a rep from Wellness Core Foods describing their foods and health benefits.  Cutter's Mill has a nice open layout with seats up front and a wide variety of items tastefully displayed for easy access and perusal.

The friendly staff encourages you to bring your pet, and they were able to answer all the questions thrown their way by the pet owners.  They really seem to enjoy being there, visiting with the pets, and working with their visitors - the Trader Joe's of pet stores.

This is an upscale environment as evidenced by the Nieman Marcus inspired $2500 dog bed emblazoned with Swarovski Crystals so the pricing can match.  By signing up  for their newsletter, however, you will be notified of all the specials for each month so you can take full advantage of everything that is offered during the year.  They also hold many special events from Letterman's Stupid Pet Trick Auditions to Pet Psychics and they support the local community with Certified Visiting Dog Trainers and many Animal Rescue groups.

If you are looking to pamper your animal with some special food or gift, this is definitely a place to look for that distinctive gift.  If you are concerned about your animals diet or your pet has some special needs, this is the place to ask your questions. 

They are open seven days a week and they do have four locations in the region but this is the only one in this area.  Enjoy and say "Hi" to Gus while you're there.  If you have any questions, let me know.

The Paoli PA Station serves the SEPTA R5 Regional Rail system as well as the Amtrak Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian trains.

With its key position on the western end of the Main Line, Paoli is a prime commuter and regional rail station.  It provides easy access to the city for those living locally with ample parking and plenty of space for dropping off or picking up passengers.  In addition, it is surrounded by some great commercial areas.

Through the frequent Amtrak connections, it also affords convenient access to Harrisburg and points west or Philadelphia and points east.  The next closest Amtrak stops are in Ardmore to the east or Downingtown (and Exton for many trains) as you travel west.  The station is serviced by both Amtrak's Pennsylvanian and  Keystone Service trains.  The video will provide a better view of the station itself and the Amtrak Keystone Service passing through:

As far as real estate, the market here has held up very well until this year.  Looking strictly at zip code 19301, sales activity peaked in 2005 when 119 units sold.  This dropped to 83 in 2006, rose to 102 in 2007, and then dropped to 96 in 2008.  In 2009, through July, only 38 properties have closed with an additional 15 pending - running further behind 2008.

Prices have also taken a hit recently.  In the early 2000s, the average sales price was just above $300,000.   This average then rose to hit a peak in 2006 at $441,000 (also the slowest recent year for sales).  Prices then drifted down in 2007 to $421,000, and back up in 2008 to $440,000.  In 2009, they have fallen back 15% to $377,000.  There are also an additional 15 pending homes with an average price of $490,000, and 45 properties are actively for sale at an average price of $616,000.  We would expect to see the average pricing rise as we continue through the year.

Paoli is a convenient station both for short distance commuting as well as long distance travel.  The station is easy to access for people from throughout the area and has plenty of parking.  The station is expected to undergo further renovations soon and could become a key transportation hub if plans proceed to extend service up towards Pottstown.

As always, if you need additional information, please do not hesitate to ask anytime.

(All statistics per the TrendMLS System and believed accurate but not guaranteed.)

Note: Property now has accepted agreement.

Now we move up quite a bit in price level from the Union Ave Lansdowne Upper Darby foreclosure.  As I mentioned when looking at the Union property, foreclosures do come in all price ranges and conditions.  Whether the property is worth $10,000 or $10 million, if the owner has financial difficulties, the home can become a bank owned property.  This is another of those cases.

Valley Rd is a custom home foreclosure situated in Paoli, PA Tredyffrin Townshipon 2.6 acres being offered for $599,900 (just reduced!) and currently listed by Danielle Mateu. 

This is a 4 bedroom home with 3 full baths and 2 partial baths and is located in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. The same purchase conditions apply as seen on most bank owned homes in that the property is offered in as-is condition, the buyer must be preapproved, and there will be additional corporate addendums at offer acceptance.  It includes a finished basement, many upgrades, rear deck, and a spacious open floor plan on both levels.  The video shows it best (note that there is wallpaper on the second floor, not graffiti or damage):

There is a wide variety of housing in the immediate area with recent sales ranging from a $312,000 former 1886 Schoolhouse to a $2+ million 8500 sqft estate home on over 7 acres.  Currently there are 5 homes on the market with an average price of $740K and 10 properties have settled in the last year with an average sales price of $978,000 (no pending properties).

This is a great example of the variety that may be found in bank owned properties.  With over 4700 sqft (per the tax records), Valley Rd appears to be a tremendous value.  At this level, it could offer a great chance for a new buyer to come in and reconfigure/upgrade to their own custom specifications.  Depending on the expenses involved, it could also work for a contractor or builder who may try to upgrade and flip it.  In either case, it is important to remember that this is an as-is sale so any buyer must do their due diligence carefully. The property appears to have already been remodeled once and still shows six bedrooms on the tax records.

Thank you again for taking the time to visit.  As always if you have any questions, need any additional information, or would like to see the property, please feel free to contact me anytime.  More to come soon.