About Our Business
Mark Harvey Smith
Mark Harvey Smith
Real Estate Broker & Community Consultant

412-585-2227
mark@markharveysmith.com
Visit the website for Downtown Charleroi, PA real estate
www.downtowncharleroiparealestate.com
Visit the website for Downtown West Newton, PA real estate
www.downtownwestnewtonparealestate.com
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Mark Harvey Smith,
Broker

412-585-2227

Fax: 412-871-5724

752 Rebecca Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15221
Real estate broker hits stride
with hard sells

By Eric Heyl
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 5, 2009
You think it's difficult peddling a house in this recession-ridden real estate market?

Imagine the challenges in unloading a slightly used Mennonite church. Or the difficulties in
attracting a purchaser able to afford a 65-acre farm complete with barn, orchard and lake.
Tall orders, to be sure, but ones that don't faze independent specialized real estate broker
Mark Harvey Smith.

"Economic and community development consulting are my bread and butter," said Smith, 46, of
Wilkinsburg. "But occasionally I'll take on a unique property that might need some extra
attention and an aggressive marketing effort in order to be sold."

Such efforts would appear to be necessary for two properties Smith is attempting to move --
properties that, given the current economic climate, might be expected to be cobweb-riddled
by the time a closing occurs.

One is the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church on Murray Avenue along the Squirrel Hill-Greenfield
border. The other is Wolf Lake Farm in a secluded section of New Alexandria, Westmoreland
County.

The church, with an asking price of $349,000, has been on the market since April. Smith said
the congregation no longer needs it after agreeing to purchase the United Methodist Church
in nearby Swissvale for its new home.

So if you've been searching in vain for a place with a cozy 130-seat sanctuary, choir loft,
nursery and classroom space -- oh, and don't forget the elegant stained-glass windows -- this
might be the place for you.

Just don't go thinking you're going to buy it and go all bistro like the Church Brew Works in
Lawrenceville, with its beer tanks positioned delightfully and sacrilegiously on the former
house of worship's altar.

"It's located in a residentially zoned area, which limits its potential re-uses somewhat," Smith
said. "But we've still had some interest from a day-care operator and a Buddhist group."
No members of any Eastern religion have looked at the farm, owned by Westmoreland County
Conservation director Kim Miller. The property, which lists for $975,000, has been for sale for
about a year.

Smith insisted the near million-dollar asking price hasn't hindered interest. But he said the
farm's many updates may have rendered it a little less rustic than some potential purchasers
would prefer.

For example, don't expect to sully the barn with anything as dirty as hay.
"The barn has 2,300 square feet of finished living space, two loft office spaces on the second
floor and a third floor that is used as a gym," he said. "The lower level features a parking
garage for three or four vehicles and a half-bath with a granite sink top."
Though peddling such places in a down economy is a daunting task, Smith isn't complaining.
"If someone wanted me to list a conventional single-family home, I probably wouldn't do it," he
said. "The odd and unusual properties -- those are the ones I prefer."