Kathy's Blog

Who Cares About the Market?

2008-07-20T19:09:05Z

Who cares about the market when you get to spend a day with your family? I didn't think about real estate once! This little cutie is my grandson. I could watch him sleep and still find him amusing. He is just 6 months old and has so many facial expressions. I really think he is very much aware of what's going on around him but just can't verbalize it so he makes faces.

Active Adult Communities - A Growing Market in Delaware

2008-07-20T18:08:29Z

Delaware's newest Active Adult Community is almost complete! Below are 59 photos of the 4 models currently under construction. Prices begin at $229,900 up to $279,900. Price of a standard model includes 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, 10,000 square foot lot (no lot lease!), walk-up stairs to floored storage over attic, hobby room, laundry room, and the community will have walking trails, a 10,000 square foot lodge with indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, a grand ballroom, billiards, exercise room and much more! Look for a mid-August Grand Opening!

Delaware Active Adult Community $229,900

2008-07-06T17:27:24Z

80"> 3 bedrooms, 2 baths ranch with 2 car garage, walk-up stairs to attic storage above garage, hobby room, internet center, great room, gourmet-style kitchen, breakfast room, laundry room, PEX plumbing, Rinnai tankless waterheater, Energy Star certified by independent 3rd party, 3 elevations to choose from at no extra charge. Options include: sunroom, screened porch, basement, 2nd floor loft with 4th bedroom. Community size will be 470 homes. HOA fees will be $95/month after the Lodge is built. Lodge will include: indoor and outdoor pool, billiards room, game room, travel library, grand ballroom, his/hers lockerrooms, bocce, tennis, putting green, basketball, children's playground and fitness trails throughout the community with exercise stations. All nestled in a quiet area of trees and farms. This is fee simple ownership too! No lot leases here! Community Grand Opening expected in August 2008!!!

Active Adult Communities - The Salvation of the Real Estate Market?

2008-07-06T16:43:23Z

Active Adult: This is the fastest growing market in real estate. These buyers are sophisticated, patient and know a good deal when they see one. They have made their mistakes and learned from them. They know that when the market is down it is the BEST time to buy! That's why you see so many 55+ buyers out there.

I used to specialize in first-time buyers. We got hit pretty hard by the mortgage industry shake up. After a few months of trying to fix what couldn't be fixed, I shifted my focus to what was working.

Active adult communities are hot right now - especially in Delaware. I have been doing a lot of research on this market and have familiarized myself with almost every Active Adult Community in the state. I can tell you where the best deal is and what the hot properties are or will be in the next few months. There are a lot of builders, like real estate agents, who left when the going got tough. The good ones, the ones you want to know, are the ones who not only stayed, but expanded. These agents and builders are going to be around long term and are preparing for it.

Delaware is especially attractive to builders and buyers. The location is central to just about every major city in the Northeast. The housing prices are the best bargains in the northeast. The property taxes are the 3rd lowest in the country. What other states have no sales tax? No inheritance tax? No tax on Social Security benefits?

Where do you think all those people from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland are going to retire? Take a look at the relocation statistics and you'll see that Delaware is expected to have 70% of it's population over 55 by the year 2011.

If you are an agent in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Maryland, I may have a few listing referrals for you very soon!

Contact me for information about the best deals in Delaware.

Today's HOT Deal:

$229,900.00 for 3 bedrooms, 2 baths ranch with 2 car garage, walk-up stairs to attic storage above garage, hobby room, internet center, great room, gourmet-style kitchen, breakfast room, laundry room, PEX plumbing, Rinnai tankless waterheater, Energy Star certified by independent 3rd party, 3 elevations to choose from at no extra charge. Options include: sunroom, screened porch, basement, 2nd floor loft with 4th bedroom. Community size will be 470 homes. HOA fees will be $95/month after the Lodge is built. Lodge will include: indoor and outdoor pool, billiards room, game room, travel library, grand ballroom, his/hers lockerrooms, bocce, tennis, putting green, basketball, children's playground and fitness trails throughout the community with exercise stations. All nestled in a quiet area of trees and farms. This is fee simple ownership too! No lot leases here! Community Grand Opening expected in August 2008!!! Contact me for more information.

Naval Academy Blue Angels Fly Over Graduation!

2008-05-23T21:01:07Z

Today was my son's graduation from the United States Naval Academy! The video shows the fly over by the Blue Angels. The picture below shows him wearing the unofficial t-shirt of the '08 graduates. The next photo is his first salute as an officer in the Navy! What an emotional day! I didn't think about real estate once all day!

Delaware - Facts

2008-05-17T18:42:23Z

Delaware State Capitol: Dover

Largest City: Wilmington

Nickname: First State

State Bird: Blue Hen Chicken

State Tree: American Holly

State Flower: Peach Blossom

Land Area: 1,950 square miles

Motto: Liberty and Independence

Named in honor of - Sir Thomas West (Lord De La Warr), first colonial governor of Virginia

I've also heard that by the year 2011, 70% of the population of Delaware will be over the age of 55. I hope everyone is ready for that!

April showers bring May Showers

2008-05-14T21:57:22Z

It's nice to know the drought is finally over! We had a few really wet days but we've dried out now. It's nice to know a few contractors that specialize in keeping basements dry - more than a few homeowners called to thank me for the recommendation. Even in a traditionally dry area you can get flooded. It's best to be prepared.

Old Dover Days - May 2008

2008-05-12T21:03:04Z

The Old Dover Days Festival has existed in one form or another in Delaware's Capital City, Dover, since 1933. It is held on The Green and Legislative Mall, two beautiful outdoor parks in our historic downtown district. Traditional elements and new components bring in thousands of visitors each year with attendance reaching 15,000+. Attendance is expected to grow in 2008 due to the significant 75th anniversary. There is no admission fee to the festival and parking is plentiful and free. A large portion of our vendors return year after year. Old Dover Days is a celebration of the First State's Capital City and features a parade, maypole dancing, food court, reenactors, walking tours, free entertainment and much more.

How Many Food Miles is that Grapefruit I Ate at Breakfast?

2008-05-09T19:28:00Z

Food Miles

"Food Miles" refer to the distance that your food has been transported between its source farm and where you buy it. Food miles are one measure of the amount of energy used to transport your food and the consequent pollutants released by that transport. Estimates vary but transport may account for 20% or more of the total energy use associated with the provision of a given food item. As such, Food Miles are a relatively simple statistic that can be used to demonstrate the ecological importance of local foods.

Seventeen percent of this nation's petroleum consumption is dedicated to on-the-farm food production. Add on processing, packaging, refrigeration and transport of edibles and food takes a big bite out of affordable oil supplies and contributes to pollution. Domestic food as basic as lettuce we could grow in front yards most of the year, and green houses in winter, travels up to 3,000 miles from field to table.

The science behind calculating food miles starts with a basic formula to calculate "weighted average source distances" (the average distance that food travels from where it's produced to where it is consumed).

the standard formula for the WASD is:

WASD = S (m(k) x d(k))
------
S m(k)

where:

k = different location points of the production
m = weight (amount) from each point of production, and
d = distance from each point of production to each point of use (or sale).

http://www.lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/food_miles/calculating_food_miles.php explains how this takes into effect greenhouse emissions.

Planting a Victory Garden and supplementing with local foods from your Farmer's Market can significantly reduce your food miles.

Container Gardening

2008-05-09T19:23:58Z

More thoughts on the Victory Garden: If you don't have the land available, you can always use containers. Here are some ideas for the container gardener.

Container Gardening Vegetables

Small salad green such as oak leaf lettuce and mustard cress, or vegetables such as silver beet, which have a quick maturing period are ideal. You may be able to get several crops of a quick maturing vegetable from your container. Cherry tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables, including peppers or eggplant can be easily grown in containers, as can root vegetables such as baby carrots, radishes or spring onions. Try planting quick-growing small herbs and leaf lettuces around you larger fruiting vegetables.

Vegetable	Container Type	Recommended Varieties
Beans, Snap	5 gal. Windowbox	Bush types such as blue lake, contender, and tavera
Beans, Lima	5 gal. Windowbox	White Dixie Wonder
Beets	5 gal. Windowbox	Early Wonder, Detroit Dark Red
Broccoli	1 plant/5 gal. pot 3 plants/15 gal. tub	Super Blend, Italian Green Sprouting
Brussels Sprouts	1 plant/5 gal. pot 2 plants/15 gal. tub	Evesham
Cabbage	1 plant/5 gal. pot 3 plants/15 gal. tub	Discovery
Chinese Cabbage	1 plant/5 gal. pot 3 plants/15 gal. tub	Michihli
Carrot	5 gal. Windowbox at least 12" deep	Little Finger, Thumbelina
Cucumber	1 plant/gal. pot	Spacemaster
Eggplant	3 gal. pot	Black Beauty, Rosa Bianca
Garlic	8-inch deep container	Most Varieties
Lettuce	5 gal. Windowbox	Salad Bowl, Ruby, Grand Rapids, Oak Leaf, Buttercrunch, Dark Green Boston, Little Gem, Bibb
Onion	5 gal. Windowbox	White Sweet Spanish, Yellow Sweet Spanish
Pepper	1 plant/2 gal. pot 5 plants/15 gal. tub	Sweet Banana, Yolo Wonder, Long Red Cayenne, Bell Boy, Keystone Resistant, California Wonder, New Ace, Red Cherry, Long Red Cayenne, Jalapeno, Thai Hot
Radish	5 gal. Windowbox	Cherry Belle, Icicle, Champion, Scarlet Globe
Spinach	5 gal. Windowbox	Dark Green Bloomsdale, Melody, America, Avon Hybrid
Squash	2 gal. pot	Scallopini, Baby Crookneck, Creamy, Golden Nugget, Gold Rush, Zucchini (most varieties)
Tomatoes	Bushel baskets 5 gal. pots	Tiny Tim, Small Fry, Sweet 100, Patio, Burpee's Pixie, Toy Boy, Early Girl, Better Boy VFN, Pixie, Red Robin, Sugar Lump, Tumblin' Tom (hanging baskets)

It's Time Again for Victory Gardens

2008-05-09T19:16:51Z

What is a Victory Garden?

During World War I and World War II, the United States government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. Millions of people planted gardens. Emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort - not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty.

Why plant a victory garden?

Today our food travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to table. The process of planting, fertilizing, processing, packaging, and transporting our food uses a great deal of energy and contributes to the cause of global warming.

Planting a Victory Garden to fight global warming would reduce the amount of pollution your food contibutes to global warming. Instead of traveling many miles from farm to table, your food would travel from your own garden to your table.

How can my actions make a difference? I'm only one person.

Each one of us may only be one person. However, we each have an impact on the environment and can make changes to reduce our impact.

I have no backyard, what can I do?

You can combine vegetable plants with flowers in your frontyard. You can plant containers on your porch, patio, or balcony and can grow sprouts indoors. You can also choose to purchase foods which are grown close to home by visiting your local farmer's market. If local foods are not available to you, choose foods which use fewer chemical pesticides - such as organics, are in season, or have minimal packaging.

We need to start thinking like our grandparents. When times were tough during World War I and World War II and food was in short supply, they grew their own. Now, with the ever-increasing cost of gasoline and the impact that has and will have on the price of food, we need to revisit this idea of growing our own. Speaking from my own experience, food I grow myself tastes so much better than the food I buy at the local supermarket. Even the local farmer's markets imports a lot of the food they sell (if you doubt it, look at the empty boxes in their trash!) Whether you believe in global warming or not, shipping strawberries from Mexico or Southern California to my local market is a waste of gasoline, especially if I could have grown them myself in a little container right outside my front door! Check out this website for some really great ideas for YOUR VIctory Garden: http://www.heirloomseeds.com/victory.html

In addition to helping your health, your environment, your wallet and gas, this company donates $10 from every order to the American Red Cross!

This company sells hydroponic supplies for indoor or outdoor gardening! http://growyourownfood.com/products.htm

Why NOW is a good time to buy real estate

2008-04-21T21:28:12Z

My father taught me about the stock market when I was a new investor. He said the best time to buy is when the prices are low. He said the "rookie" investors panic when the prices start to fall but the "pros" start buying and don't stop buying until the prices start going up.

In real estate, NOW is the time to buy. If you look around and see who is buying now, you will see a serious investor. This investor knows that traditionally, real estate is the BEST investment a person can make in their future. The reason for this is that with other "products", when demand increases, companies produce more. In real estate, we only have so much land - we cannot produce more. Therefore, we try to find a home with a good "location". Remember that old saying about the most important feature in a home? "Location, location, location!!!!" These investors are out there buying all the homes with the best location because prices have come down to the point that they are now very good investments. Why aren't you investing like a pro? Do you need help finding the best home in the best location? Call your agent today and jump in the market!