West End Relay for Life
Team West End Rotary participated in the West End Relay for Life this past Saturday. The event — one of thousands held across the country — is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and serves as the culmination of a year’s worth of fundraising efforts. Thank you, Honi Grasing, for serving as our team captain, and thanks also to my teammates, Joan Loveless, Diana Cardwell, JoLana Krawitz and Jill Rehrig, for making it a fun and productive day.
I can’t wait to see the final fundraising tallies for the team and the relay overall! The generosity of my friends and colleagues helped me surpass my goal.
My broker, Tom Wilkins, broker of record and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates, both gave a personal donation and facilitated a corporate donation from Pennsylvania First Settlement Services. Thanks to Craig Roberts of Pennsylvania First! Both companies support many good causes throughout the year, including the Stroudsburg Relay for Life. I very much appreciate the fact that they reached out to help make the West End’s event a success, too.
June 7, 2011
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7 Ways to Ready Your Home for Spring
Spring is here! Now that the snow is gone, it’s time to deal with the effects of a long winter. Prepare your home and yard for the warm weather with these tips from the 1 Minute Housing Market Housing Trends Newsletter. They’re especially helpful to homeowners considering listing their homes for sale. Call me for more ideas!
7 Ways to Ready Your Home for Spring.
May 19, 2011
Posted in: Poconos Home & Garden, Poconos West End Real Estate, Sellers 140 Comments
Initial Turnout Light at West End Polling Places
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These ducks ventured where voters dared not — Eldred Township’s polling place at the Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company on Kunkletown Rd., Kunkletown. Not more than a dozen-or-so people voted while I was there from 7-9 a.m., poll sitting in support of Dominick Sacci’s Pleasant Valley School Board campaign. Things seemed busier in Chestnuthill Township, where Dominick (top photo) greeted voters at the United Methodist Church in Effort and his brother, Will Sacci (bottom photo), poll sat at the West End Fire Company in Brodheadsville.
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May 17, 2011
Tags: Brodheadsville, Effort, kunkletown, Kunkletown Fire Co., Pleasant Valley School District, Poconos, west end, West End Fire Co. Posted in: Meet Your Neighbors, Out & About in the Poconos, West End in the News No Comments
Pocono Marathoners Run for the Red in Stroudsburg
I took this video on the way to the office this morning. It was after 11 a.m. so the runners you see here were probably coming in at the end. I mention that only because the shot gives the inaccurate impression of a light turnout. Run for the Red benefits the Red Cross. Whether you come in first, last or somewhere in between, your participation is deeply appreciated. In fact, you can hear applause in the background!
May 15, 2011
Tags: American Red Cross Monroe County, Stroudsburg Posted in: Uncategorized 182 Comments
Buying a Short Sale? Make Sure Your Contract Protects You
Short sales are a hot commodity in the Poconos West End real estate market. And they’re not just for investors anymore. Although buyers with tight budgets are often dismayed to find that short sales may require an investment of money and elbow grease that’s beyond their means, the buyer with more cash or solid enough credit for a rehab loan sees a short sale as an opportunity to purchase a low-priced home she can renovate to make her own.
As you may have heard, short sales are tough. They require approval by the sellers’ lenders, and the lenders rarely rush to cooperate. As a result, much patience is required by buyers and sellers both. And the road to closing is rife with roadblocks even after the lender approves a short sale, so it’s prudent for the buyer to make sure his sales contract offers plenty of protection.
Read more about protecting yourself in my Hubpages article, Tips for Protecting Buyers with Short Sale Contracts.
May 11, 2011
Tags: foreclosures, Poconos real estate, Poconos West End, short sales Posted in: Buyers, Poconos West End Real Estate No Comments
Spring’s the Time to Buy or Sell West End Poconos Real Estate
It’s here! Warm weather, green grass, flowers blooming everywhere. It’s at this time of year that the Poconos West End real estate market heats up. We’re seeing more buyers and sellers both — new and returning.
Customers with whom I’ve maintained relationships for the last one-to-two years, as they waited out the most unpredictable phase of the crash, are gearing up to move now. I think their patience will pay off.
West End real estate prices are still low enough to provide excellent value to buyers. I’ve been showing a lot of under-$75,000 homes throughout the Poconos lately to vacation and investment buyers. The condition of Pocono homes for sale at that price elsewhere in the area just can’t compare to what’s available here in the West End. Plus, unlike elsewhere in the Poconos, West End lot sizes are almost always an acre or larger. There’s a lot more bang for a buyer’s buck here.
For sellers, this market offers stability, and thus a level of predictability that we’ve not seen in quite a while. It’s still a challenge to do comparable market analyses in some areas because there’ve been relatively few sales over the last year, but if your home is in Indian Mountain Lakes, Towamensing Trails, Sun Valley, Mount Pocahontas, Sierra View, Birch Brier or one of the other larger developments, we can target your home sale price very accurately. Outside of these communities we use a slightly different metric that’s proving worthy of our confidence — just one of the benefits of working with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associate, which I think does the best in-depth analysis of the Poconos real state market.
For buyers and sellers, real estate transactions are deeply personal and highly emotional. You’re moving on to a new stage of your life. That’s a primary reason I focus my energy on the Poconos West End real estate market — I live in Chestnuthill Township, so I understand your sense of home and place and empathize completely with what your move means to you, but I also know the nuts and bolts of our very local market like the back of my hand. Having me on top of that aspect of your sale leaves you free to focus on your move and your family.
My contact info is on the left. Call me any time with questions about the market or about buying or selling your West End home. Or, if you’d just like to browse, use the link to search the Pocono Mountains MLS.
May 10, 2011
Tags: Albrightsville home for sale, Effort home for sale, indian mountain lakes, Kunkletown home for sale, Mt. Pocahontas, Pleasant Valley Estates, Pocono Realtor, Pocono West End real estate, Saylorsburg home for sale, sierra view, Sun Valley, Towamensing Trails Posted in: Buyers, Poconos West End Real Estate, Sellers 105 Comments
Camelbeach on a Budget
Whether you’re visiting the area or live here, Camelbeach is a must-visit attraction. Unfortunately, it can cost a small fortune for a family to spend a day on the slides. It doesn’t have to, however. Check out these tips from my Hubpages article and have a great time at the ‘Beach without busting the bank.
Save Money at Camelbeach Mountain Waterpark
May 6, 2011
Posted in: Uncategorized 58 Comments
West End Rotary’s 5K Bear Run Start
Thanks to Jim Manello’s excellent leadership, we had a great turnout last Saturday for the 5K Bear Run. The final tallies haven’t been released yet, but it looks like we had over 150 participants and raised over $1500! The proceeds support our West End Relay for Life team and West End Rotary service projects.
April 21, 2011
Posted in: Uncategorized 104 Comments
Breakfast at Hill Top Farms Drive In, Brodheadsville
Breakfast at Hill Top Farms Drive In, Brodheadsville, originally uploaded by At Home In The Poconos.
Yum! Hill Top delivers terrific breakfasts to the Western Pocono Community Library for our West End Rotary meetings, so we knew we’d be in for a treat today when we met at the restaurant for a board meeting. The photo doesn’t do this veggie omelet justice. No exaggeration, it must’ve been filled with half a pound of broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes… and bacon! I had to take the entire side order of bacon and the home fries home in a doggie bag.
Oh! Hill Top’s car nights resume in May. I believe the first one is scheduled for the 4th, but will confirm the date next week. The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates West End bunch is meeting there for ice cream. I’ll double-check the date. Can’t wait!
April 20, 2011
Tags: Hill Top Drive In, Hill Top Farms Drive In Posted in: Brodheadsville, Out & About in the Poconos, Pocono Restaurants, Poconos West End Real Estate 141 Comments
Emu on the Loose in McMichaels
Honey, with her owners in hot pursuit
Those of you who’ve lived in the Poconos West End for a while may remember the great emu escape that took place six years ago and generated a good bit of media coverage. That situation ended tragically. One of the emus was injured in an attempt to secure it and had to be euthanized. Honey, his partner, escaped today.
It appears that she broke through a portion of fence after fighting with her partner. I found her in my McMichaels yard this morning. We tried to funnel her back home, to her pen in my inlaws’ yard next door. She’d get to a certain point, stop, and then backtrack. She ultimate escaped to the property behind ours and disappeared near the border of McMichaels and Effort.
Please use my contact info to call me if you happen to see her. Or, call the PA State Police. Don’t try to approach her. Although she’s very skittish and will run if you get too close, emus can be dangerous if cornered.
April 18, 2011
Tags: Effort PA, mcmichaels, Poconos West End Posted in: Poconos Lifestyle, West End in the News No Comments