By George Berkheimer for the Bedford Gazette
Now in its 23rd year, Howard Hanna Bardell Realty in Bedford has seen its fair share of change in the real estate market.
Fortunately, said owner Sean Bardell, the agency has been able to adapt to all of it, and even find advantage in adversity.
“We have four offices, and about 60 associates,” he said. “We haven’t necessarily grown in terms of space or associates during the pandemic, but we’ve grown in other ways.”
The biggest change, he said, is that Howard Hanna Bardell Realty is now licensed as a real estate broker in Maryland.
“We have a lot of reciprocal business there,” he said. “A lot of customers we see come from Maryland and need to sell houses when they move here.”
In other cases, he said, his office encounters clients from another part of Pennsylvania who begin looking for property in the Bedford area but end up settling on property across the state line in Maryland.
“It’s something we noticed emerging as a trend during the pandemic,” Bardell said. “We were doing a lot of referral business. Some of our agents in our Bedford, Somerset and Mount Pleasant offices stepped up and said they’d be willing to do business across the state line, so we made a commitment to do it.”
Caring Community
Like a lot of business owners in Bedford County, Bardell initially moved away after graduating high school.
“I joined the Navy because I wanted to serve my country and see the world,” he said.
Although he had job offers from other parts of the United States when his enlistment ended, he chose to come back to Bedford County.
“The number one reason was because of the scenic beauty, it’s one of the most scenic places I’ve ever lived, and family and friends were a large part of that decision,” he said.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
“There is just something different about the people here in the community,” Bardell said. “They are friendly, they’re caring, they’re giving, and just willing to help others. I didn’t necessarily see that in a lot of other places I went or lived.”
Magnetic Draw
When it comes to being successful in Bedford County, Bardell credits the people in the agency’s offices as being the primary ingredient in the secret sauce.
“There are a lot of local organizations that help businesses here, in addition to the lenders and banks,” he observed. “We try to connect with them and with the community and give back. I’m proud to say our employees are involved in a lot of local nonprofits, they sit on boards, they volunteer. The biggest connection we have with the community is our people.”
Outside of the office, Bardell and his wife have another connection to the community as outdoors people who enjoy staying active.
“We love to hike, run, bike, kayak, anything to get outside,” he said. “We spend a lot of time in Buchanan State Forest, Blue Knob, Warriors Path State Park, and Shawnee State Park. We also appreciate having great trails like the Huntingdon and Broad Top Rail Trail, the Shuster Heritage Trail, and the Turnpike tunnel trail in Breezewood to explore.”
As avid road cyclists, Bardell and his wife have come to appreciate the relatively quiet roads throughout Dutch Corner, where they live.
“There are so many different loops you can ride there, so every ride can be different, and you can easily extend or shorten your rides to get different mileage depending on how you feel,” he said.
The ability to do that is something that has attracted a lot of other people to the area, and not just to visit.
“As a real estate agent, I’ve noticed that we’ve had a lot of people move to our area because of the outdoor recreation opportunities it offers,” Bardell said. “We experienced a lot of that during COVID, and it’s still continuing.”
People from the surrounding metropolitan areas who visited Bedford County in the early part of the pandemic were looking for access to state parks and trails.
“They wanted the ability to get out and do something without being worried about the lockdown,” he said. “What they found here was a reason to stay.”