Like You, He’s Monitoring the Housing Market

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By Jane Holahan

RISMEDIA, Nov. 19, 2008-(MCT)-Jeff Funk says these aren’t the best of times for the real estate business.

But they aren’t the worst of times, either, at least not in Lancaster County.

“Overall, our area is great compared to the rest of the country,” said Funk, of Charles & Associates Real Estate and president of Lancaster County Association of Realtors.

“Lancaster always has been a more conservative area. We didn’t have the subprime loans; there wasn’t a big market here for that. People weren’t interested in financing 100 percent of their homes.”

And prices, while they were rising steadily, never went through the roof as they did in some areas, causing a housing bubble that inevitably burst.

Still, Lancaster County Association of Realtors released its third-quarter figures a few weeks ago, and sales were down 28.4 percent compared to last year.

That sounds pretty bad.

“It depends on which part of the market you’re talking about,” Funk says.

“Sixty-five percent of the homes that have sold every month are under $200,000. If they are cleaned up and priced properly, you’ll get activity. Above $200,000, it slows up some. The $200,000-to-$400,000 market has been down for the last year. Beyond $400,000, I’d describe the market as soft.”

Funk, 50, has been a real estate agent for 20 years, and he’s seen a lot of cycles come and go.

“To a certain extent, this (downturn) is different from others, but it is not, by any means, the worst,” he said. “That was back in the early ’80s, when interest rates were high, and again in the late ’80s. Today, if you have decent credit, mortgage money is available, but you have to put something into it.”

Funk is not painting a Pollyanna picture. Yes, he said, people are in foreclosure, and yes, people here have been stuck with “underwater” mortgages, in which they owe more on their house than it’s worth. He said he’s working with someone right now who is in that situation. And he knows other areas of the country are in serious trouble.

“Basically, there are four areas that are in the tank: Florida, Arizona, California and Michigan,” Funk said, pointing to loan fraud, speculation, overdevelopment of investment properties and inflated prices as some of the culprits.

But Funk sees opportunities here in Lancaster County. It is, he said, a great time to buy a house, even if you have to sell one first.

“Let’s say you want to move up from a $200,000 house to a $300,000 house. You might not get as much for your house, but you’ll get that $300,000 house for less,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re probably better off.”

Lancaster County Association of Realtors is a supportive group that gives Realtors access to listings and educates and provides training for agents. Being president is a volunteer job.

“Basically, you’re giving back to the organization you are a part of,” Funk said. “We have a board; we run it like a company.”

Keeping up with changes in the business can be a particular challenge.

“There are regulatory issues to deal with, disclosures, inspections — these are all things required by the state and by government agencies,” Funk said. “You really have to keep yourself informed and continue your education, because things are always changing.”

The biggest change in the past 20 years has been the Internet, he said.

“People thought Realtors would disappear, that they wouldn’t be needed,” Funk said. “But they are needed more than ever because of the complexity of the business.”

Funk is the designated broker at Charles & Associates and is a partner in the firm.

“The broker is in charge, oversees everybody,” he said. “If there is a problem, it’s my problem. But we have a great group of people who work here, so there aren’t a lot of issues.”

Funk grew up on a farm in Washington Boro. He got into real estate early, buying a few apartments soon after graduating from Penn Manor High School in 1976.

He stayed in the farming business until he realized he couldn’t afford to run his own farm.

“I still go and help on the farm,” he said. “It’s scaled back, but it is still being farmed.”

He and his wife, Donna, live in Mountville. They enjoy traveling, something that became a little easier to afford this past August when a relative of Donna’s won the Powerball lottery and shared his $42.5 million jackpot with his family. The couple got $1.4 million.

Has it changed his life?

“No,” Funk said with a laugh. “I still have a business to run.”

Copyright © 2008, Lancaster New Era, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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