Things to Do in Philadelphia, PA

He or she works 60-70 hours per week, and improving the condition of a condo in Philly is just not in the cards for him or her. These folks are very different from our parents who had garages full of every tool ever made. Or had neighbors, who we actually knew, from whom we could borrow tools.

Also, being a first time condo buyer, with a limited life expectancy of ownership (2-5 years maximum), many buyers know that practicality plays second fiddle to the interior condition, or showing ability, as they "buy for today", and want the finished kitchen with granite and stainless steel appliances.

And with the disbursement of many revitalized neighborhoods throughout the downtown Philadelphia area, there really isn't a concentration or centralization of the "location, location, location" issue. Today, you can find Million dollar condos in Old City, Art Museum area, Queen Village, Rittenhouse, Society Hill.....on and on. Now there are many extremely desireable neighborhoods in the downtown Philly area.

And price even becomes of less importance as we see a large number of first time buyers getting considerable help from family members, if not an outright purchase of the condo by a parental figure. I wouldn't go as far to say that there is not a cap or a ceiling, but it is sometimes easier to spend someone else's money - the elasticity of such is a bit higher in such cases.

Condo buyers here in Philadelphia looking to purchase their first piece of real estate, don't want it to be bricks and mortar. They, as a whole, have a tendency to focus on showing ability, and are very visual and emotional in their condominium decision making. And my motto for years has been, "If it shows well, it is going to sell well", all other factors being equal. Take two hypothetical condos- equal in ALL factors, yet one is sparkling clean and even smells good, and the other is dirty, smelly, and has crappy fraternity furniture strewn about. The cleaner unit is going to sell for significantly more, and do so in a much shorter period of time.

So in certain circumstances, and in this case, first time Philadelphia condo buyers, as a whole, you can forget the old notions of location, location, location, and join the band as we all extol the virtues of showing ability, showing ability, showing ability.

Philadelphia real estate may be the most undervalued and underperforming asset on the East coast. The City's location is arguably better than any other metropolitan area in the United States, including New York City and Los Angeles. It was only 240 years ago when Philadelphia was the most important centralized meeting place in the colonies. That might seem like an eternity but relative to the total timeline of human existence, it really isn't. Humans have been populating North America for thousands of years and although the political and social influences change constantly, the pros and cons of a City's geographic location remain constant.

If one was to disregard current political and social conditions of cities and just focus exclusively on geography, it would be tough to argue that Philadelphia not rank at the top. There is no other city in the country with more population in a 250 mile radius than Philadelphia.