Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com in Maryland and Virginia

LOVETTSVILLE IS GETTING A NEW POST OFFICE - THE POPULATION IS GROWING.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:05:53 -0500

With the New Town Center coming along, a new builder on the scene building lovely new homes in Lovettsville, it's time for a new Post Office. It's on the way.

The old Post Office is staffed with wonderfully friendly folks who will also help us from the new location.

Welcome to Lovettsville. A quiet place with a comfortable small town atmosphere AND the excitement of new construction, new shops, new employment centers nearby, highly ranked public schools and convenient commuting routes. Lovettsville real estate is growing, but not losing it's small town charm.

Three years ago when I moved to my new home in Lovettsville, the population was about 900 folks. It's now estimated to be about 1150. We're growing.

Lovettsville VA Map.

With the New Town Center coming along, a new builder on the scene building lovely new homes in Lovettsville, it's time for a new Post Office. It's on the way.

NEW HOMES IN LOVETTSVILLE, COMING ALONG. I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET MY NEW NEIGHBORS.

CHECK OUT THESE PRICES. THEY CAN'T BE MATCHED in NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

City	ListPrice	Type	Style	BR	BathsAll	# Gar
Lovettsville	$287,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$307,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2
Lovettsville	$277,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2

Don't forget to ask about the Homefinders.com New Home Buyer's REBATE. The REBATE for these homes in $3,500. The builder is paying $5,000 for closing help for our buyers. These homes qualify for USDA financing with ZERO down payment.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.

LOVETTSVILLE SERVICES FOR HOME OWNERS IN LOUDOUN COUNTY.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:05:08 -0500

OWNING A HOME IN LOVETTSVILLE, VIRGINIA gives me a unique insight into the local service providers in this area of Loudoun County.

Today was the date for servicing my Heat Pump system. My home is 3 1/5 years old and, understanding the critical importance of maintenance for all systems in a home, I called a local service company for the annual service. My heat pump received a complete cleaning and servicing and I'm good for another year.

Meet the Dodson Heating and Air Conditioning, Co., Inc.

Located in Hillsboro, a community in Purcellville, Virginia, this is a family owned business and they have been providing services since 1971, Al Dodson, Michael Dodson and Kelly Dodson.

I love working with family owned businesses. These folks were recommended to me by my plumber, who was recommended to me by my septic system maintenance company. . . . . . . That's the way it goes.

ALL LOCAL, ALL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND ALL PROVIDING EXCELLENT SERVICES AT GOOD PRICES.

Air Conditioning and Heating
Dodson Heating & Air Conditioning, Co., Inc.
13945 Mountain Road
Purcellville, VA 20832

Landscaping
SHORES LANDSCAPING
Grounds Maintenance, Treework,
Bobcat work, Snow Removal
Jeremy Shores
703-727-2178

Hardware
Nichols Hardware, Inc.
540-338-7131
131 N. 21st Street, Purcellville
If you can't find it here, it hasn't
been invented yet. Friendly
personal service. Furniture too.

Banking Services
Cardinal Bank
440 East Main Street
Purcellville, VA 20132
540.338.3325
Friendly personal service.

Lovettsville Real Estate Services
Homefinders.com
39355 Tollhouse Road
Lovettsville, VA 21080
800-71107988
Helping Lovettsville home buyers
find a wonderful new or resale home.

WELL DRILLING SERVICES
Runyon Well Drilling & Pump Corporation
Leesburg, Virginia 20177
703-777-2270
Well drilling company with a personal touch.
For a personal recommendation, contact Lenn Harley,
800-711-7988

Septic Field Installers and Services
McKim Construction
Residential Excavation Specialists
Loudoun County
540-822-4600

Plumbing
Bernie Blum
Lovettsville, VA 20180
540-822-5538
Recommended highly.
Many years experience and knows his business.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988,

Serving home buyers in Loudoun County, Virginia.

OPTOMISTIC ABOUT THE ECONOMY AND THE REAL ESTATE MARKET FOR THE NEAR FUTURE? THINK AGAIN!

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:13:03 -0500

REPORTS OF INCREASED BANKRUPTCY FILINGSreveal an interesting statistic. Not the number of bankruptcies filed. Not the number of folks filing chapter 13 to repay some of their debts. Many chapter 13 reorganization for wage-earners are filed by home owners who are facing foreclosure.

From Inman: "ABI projects that a continuing rise in unemployment, foreclosures rates and health care costs will lead to more than 1.4 million consumer bankruptcy filings in 2009, up from 1.1 million in 2008 and 801,840 in 2007" more. . . . . .

What these statistics mean to me is that there are another 1.4 million consumers who are now OUT OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET FOR 2-4 YEARS and until they can re-establish new credit and IF the guidelines do not become harder to permit them back into the housing credit market.

NOT A ROSY PICTURE. I don't like to paint a pessimistic picture of the real estate market for the next several years, but . . . . there it is. Increased bankruptcy filings are just another nail in the coffin of the housing industry.

The loss of buying power and credit of millions of American consumers is one fact that the Congress, Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury and the President of the United States either chose to ignore or of which they are oblivious. Either way, they are not facing the facts before their eyes.

"Honey, how long will we be in Chapter 13?"

"Five years, Dear, if we can make the payments."

DALE CITY, AFFORDABLE HOMES IN WOODBRIDGE, MARKET REPORT FOR REAL ESTATE SOLD IN DALE CITY JUNE 2009.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:14:11 -0500

DALE CITY OFFERS LOCATION, PRICE, COMMUNITY SERVICES AND AMENITIES FOR HOME BUYERS IN WOODBRIDGE, A TOWN IN PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY.

DALE CITY, planned and developed beginning in the late 1960, Dale City real estate is popular with military families stationed at Ft. Belvoir over the years. With Route 95 leading directly from Dale City into Washington, D.C. many commuters selected Prince William County, Woodbridge and Dale City in Woodbridge as a wonderful place to buy a home, close-by public schools schools, amenities and fabulous shopping. See County Map below.

THE DALES OF DALE CITY. Ashdale, Birchdale, Barksdale, Cherrydale, Cloverdale, Darbydale, Evansdale, Forestdale, Glendale, Hillendale, Kerrydale, Lindendale, Mapledale, Nottingdale, Oakdale, Princedale, Queensdale, Ridgedale, Silverdale, and Trentdale to name a few. Streets in each community begin with the same first letter for easy navigation.

Homes in Dale City are located in communities with mature trees, wide streets and offer popular home styles in all price ranges.

Andrew Leitch Park. Planned for active home owners, the community of Dale City offers recreational facilities for residents planned to provide activities for families of all sizes and ages. This neighborhood park is home to Waterworks Waterpark. Some of the features at the water park include a beach pool entry, enclosed speed slide, circular open slide, three jungle walks, baby pool, beach volleyball, shade pavilions,

DALE CITY OFFERS WONDERFUL VALUE TO HOME BUYERS. The average SOLD price in June 2009 for Single Family Homes in Prince William County was $292,805. The average SOLD price in June 2009 for Dale City Single Family Homes was $178,726.

DALE CITY HOMES SOLD IN JUNE 2009

City	Street Address	List Price	SOLD Price	Incentive	Close Date
Woodbridge	3391 BRISTOL CT	$83,900	$92,000	$	22-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3701 CHICO CT	$89,900	$105,000	$	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3705 CHICO CT	$97,900	$95,500	$	19-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4208 GUSTUS DR	$98,900	$125,000	$6,250	19-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14358 SALSBURY CT	$99,900	$99,500	$	12-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13791 MEADOWBROOK RD	$100,000	$110,000	$6,600	3-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13829 LONDONDERRY CT	$100,000	$115,000	$	25-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3916 FORESTDALE AVE	$100,000	$116,500	$	24-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4507 EATON CT	$101,900	$113,000	$	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4523 KNOLL DR	$110,000	$120,000	$	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4611 EVANSDALE RD	$111,900	$115,900	$	1-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13865 MONTOCLAIR LN	$113,900	$145,000	$	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14800 DALEY LN	$115,000	$121,000	$	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3631 FREEMONT PL	$116,500	$125,000	$6,250	2-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14300 BROOK DR	$117,900	$140,000	$	23-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14203 BISMARK AVE	$119,000	$110,000	$3,300	15-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4305 KENTLAND DR	$119,000	$124,000	$	9-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13845 MEADOWBROOK RD	$120,000	$120,000	$3,600	19-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13000 KOLMAN CT	$120,000	$121,000	$	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3113 BRADFORD ST	$123,000	$128,000	$	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5008 LINFIELD DR	$123,600	$115,000	$	10-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13730 MELLOWDEW CT	$124,550	$140,000	$4,200	9-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14315 BELLEVILLE AVE	$124,900	$122,000	$4,500	12-Jun-09
Woodbridge	12921 KERRYDALE RD	$128,900	$155,000	$9,300	15-Jun-09
Woodbridge	12905 KERRYDALE RD	$129,900	$129,900	$3,900	25-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13647 GREENWOOD DR	$129,900	$130,000	$	22-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4722 KIRKDALE DR	$134,900	$160,000	$4,240	11-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14496 BOYD CT	$137,000	$130,000	$	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5285 SUDBERRY LN	$139,900	$147,000	$7,350	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5259 MEDWICK CT	$139,900	$179,000	$10,590	3-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3226 BRADFORD ST	$139,900	$140,000	$	19-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4521 KENTLAND DR	$140,000	$140,000	$4,200	18-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14503 SILVERDALE DR	$144,900	$150,000	$5,000	2-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13725 GRAN DEUR DR	$145,000	$141,500	$5,600	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13795 MEADOWBROOK RD	$149,900	$150,000	$4,500	3-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13788 MEADOWBROOK RD	$150,000	$155,000	$5,000	3-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13506 PRINCEDALE DR	$152,900	$175,000	$7,875	3-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13576 PRINCEDALE DR	$152,900	$153,000	$	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4502 KENTMORE DR	$153,500	$163,000	$1,000	2-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3806 DEL MAR DR	$153,900	$142,000	$	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13497 PRINCEDALE DR	$156,900	$166,000	$6,595	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13862 MONTOCLAIR LN	$159,900	$159,900	$4,797	24-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5578 NEDDLETON AVE	$160,956	$180,300	$6,000	8-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14447 SIMMONS LN	$166,900	$175,000	$	10-Jun-09
Woodbridge	15126 CLOVERDALE RD	$170,000	$191,000	$10,000	4-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14816 DANVILLE RD	$175,000	$175,000	$9,953	9-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13527 DELANEY RD	$178,500	$218,000	$5,908	25-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5537 NEDDLETON AVE	$189,000	$187,129	$4,000	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4217 HOFFMAN DR	$195,000	$195,000	$	15-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14295 BOWMAN CT	$198,900	$195,000	$5,000	12-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4305 HEMINGWAY DR	$209,000	$196,000	$5,880	15-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5602 ROUNDTREE DR	$210,000	$210,000	$5,457	22-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13214 NICKLESON DR	$214,900	$214,900	$8,000	4-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4513 HENDRICKS DR	$215,000	$194,000	$3,400	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13708 PALM RD	$217,000	$217,000	$6,510	30-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5644 NEWTONE CT	$218,500	$218,500	$7,648	12-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4744 KIRKDALE DR	$219,000	$224,000	$8,000	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4516 HAMILTON DR	$219,950	$185,000	$8,050	2-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13937 REXBURG CT	$220,000	$225,000	$6,750	16-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4620 KENWOOD DR	$220,000	$185,500	$	8-Jun-09
Woodbridge	3508 CARSON DR	$224,900	$224,900	$11,500	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5941 ROTH CT	$244,500	$235,000	$	8-Jun-09
Woodbridge	6151 TAFFY CT	$246,900	$240,000	$4,800	4-Jun-09
Woodbridge	14655 CLOVERDALE RD	$250,000	$250,000	$7,500	3-Jun-09
Manassas	6053 OMEGA LN	$250,000	$263,000	$7,890	9-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5713 RHODE ISLAND DR	$269,500	$290,000	$8,000	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13923 RUTGERS CT	$271,000	$275,000	$	19-Jun-09
Woodbridge	4300 GRANBY RD	$279,900	$239,500	$	15-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13062 THRIFT LN	$284,900	$280,000	$10,000	5-Jun-09
Woodbridge	6057 PONHILL DR	$295,000	$298,000	$7,500	10-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13535 QUATE LN	$297,700	$325,000	$9,750	17-Jun-09
Woodbridge	5702 NORTHTON CT	$299,900	$310,000	$9,300	26-Jun-09
Woodbridge	6371 OLIVE CT	$340,000	$330,000	$9,900	8-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13941 REXBURG CT	$349,000	$280,000	$8,500	29-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13168 QUADE LN	$437,500	$462,900	$	8-Jun-09
Woodbridge	13073 QUADE LN	$444,800	$440,000	$13,000	18-Jun-09

POTOMAC MILLS MALL for world class shopping. Northern Virginia's shopping Paradise. Folks come from all over the area to shop the outlet stores and regular merchandise stores at Potomac Mills Mall. Stores for just about everything including: Cards, books, gifts, children's fashions, department stores, entertainment, groceries, theaters, health & beauty, home decor, home furnishings, jewelry, luggage, men's & woman's fashions, music & entertainment & video, eye ware, restaurants including sit down and carry out, shoes, sporting goods, toys & games.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988. E-mail.

Search Listings for Homes for
Sale in Prince William County, VA

Find homes for sale that you would like to visit, just contact us by phone or e-mail and we'll arrange a tour of these homes for you at your convenience.

ACTIVERAIN LOSING GAS? BY WHAT MEASUREMENT?

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:15:19 -0500

ACTIVERAIN HAS MUCHO MOJO!

Inspired by a post by Robert Swetz about ActiveRain losing gas, I thought a comparison of other real estate related web sites was in order.

WHY ARE YOU AN ACTIVERAIN MEMBER? Your motivation for membership may influence your opinion about the present day status of ActiveRain on the Interent.
ACTIVE MEMBER - You probably realize the value of regular posting to ActiveRain.
ACTIVE MEMBER BUT ONLY POST TO MEMBERS ONLY - Perhaps blogging is a vehicle for personal expression.
ACTIVE MEMBER BUT POST PRIMARILY TO LOCALISM - Use ActiveRain for business generation and don't really care about the personal expression.
MEMBER BUT NOT ACTIVE - You may not realize the benefit of Active Membership. Invited by a member but not really interested in blogging.

When I read a post about ActiveRain losing gas, or as often expressed, losing Google juice, I always want to ask, compared to what? I'm not sure that ActiveRain is

losing gas,
losing rank, or
losing status as a premier real estate realted blog.

COMPARED TO OTHER REAL ESTATE WEB SITES, two measurements that I use to determine Interent synerby are pages indexed by Google and Google backlinks. Pages indexed by Google represents opportunities for a Google return in a consumer search. Number of backlinks represents the popularity of a site, used by Google for page rank. Compare the following:

Pages Indexed
ActiveRain.com	951,000
Realtor.com	2,950,000
Inman.com	36,000
Housevalues.com	309
Zillow.com	2,380,000
Homagain	2,140,000
Realtor.org	37,300
Trulia.com	4,300,000

Backlinks
ActiveRain.com	1,670
Realtor.com	4,130
Inman.com	1,930
Housevalues.com	59
Zillow.com	3,860
Homegain.com	1,060
Realtor.org	2,900
Trulia.com	3,190

With a membership of 151,552, as of this a.m., ActiveRain has 951,000 pages indexed. If you are posting regularly to ActiveRain PUPLIC pages, Google is going to crawl your post.

EXAMPLE: My post SELLING A HOME IS A VOLUNTARY DECISION - OR, IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO TO THE CLOSING TABLE was posted on July 2, 2009 @ 6:58 a.m. It was indexed by Google on July 2, 2009 @ 12:51 GMT. This is the result I see regularly. My Localism posts, all PUBLIC are indexed within minutes of publication.

THAT IS GOOGLE JUICE! I do not believe that ActiveRain is losing gas.

*This number does not represent the total Google backlinks, only major ones are reported.

The case against inflation

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:46:00 -0500

For new ActiveRain members who aren't familiar with Matt Heaton, read his blog.

If you're looking for a "rosie scenario", you won't find it here. If you're interested in understanding why this mess has lagged on for so dang long, read Matt's blog for the past year or so.

Folks have ceased to ask me when I think we'll dig out of the mess and hearing my last prediction of "hopefully 5 years".

All I can say is "save your money and stay out of the mall". We're in for a bumpy ride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Via Matt Heaton (Timu Corp - CEO, ActiveRain - Co-founder):

My in my last blog post a mid-year update to my 2009 market and economic predictions I got multiple comments about the economic threat of inflation or even hyper-inflation rearing it's ugly head.

"It will be interesting to see how those TARP funds play out and what the aftermath will be. My guess will be massive inflation.... think about it this way."

"One thing is for certain. If inflation rears its ugly head, interest rates will increase to combat that."

"Still have you noticed how no one is talking about the inflation rate? We know that in order to spend the "trillions" that more money will have to be printed."

This also seems to be the common thread in the media and much of the financial world, everybody is expecting or thinks we are currently experiencing a huge, hidden inflation. I'm going to lay out the case, why I not only don't any evidence of it, I expect the opposite, a very deflationary outcome, over the next several years.

Truth be told the central banks around the world, including our FED, are desparately trying to return to an inflationary environment. There is nothing they fear more than deflation, but their efforts to reignite the inflationary engine can only be described as an epic failure.

We already had the massive inflation through credit expansion

For about a 5 year period between 2002-2007 and maybe a little bit before the US went through a massively inflationary period, not represented by the standard government inflation or money supply numbers. It was caused by what many sometimes refer to as the "shadow banking" system (because it doesn't show up in the numbers) that drove massive credit expansion.

Not that it was exactly very hidden. It drove speculative bubbles all around us, both residential and commercial real estate, commodities, corporate debt fueling leveraged buy outs and equities. If you believed the CPI numbers published you saw inflation rates of around 2-3% during this period. Several economists have calculated the real inflation rate was actually somewhere between 10-15% annually during this period. This lead to both real interest rates that were very negative, and also a very negative real wage growth.

The last year and a half we've seen the exact opposite, a massive credit contraction, driving deflation across almost all asset classes. Just as the government numbers as an artifact of what they measure severelly understated the inflationary period they are massively understating the amount of deflation that is ocurring. Look around at real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities. Do you see rising or falling prices over the last two years?

Credit destruction is MANY times larger than credit creation

The most common inflationary argument is the FED and other central banks are printing trllions, upon trillions of dollars that are being pumping into the system. While there has been a couple trillion in money put into the system, the actual amount used to monitize debt through quantitative easying is only around a trillion or less. Now counter balance a trillion vs. over $50 trillion in global wealth destruction in 2008 alone. What's the bigger number? To put in bluntly the FED and other central banks are merely pissing into the wind with their efforts.

The money isn't moving

Now here is the real crux of the problem for central banks why money supply creation and stimulus are not having their intended inflationary effect. While the technical definition of inflation is size of the money supply, all the inflationary effects people worry about are instead driven by the velocity of money. A small amount of money moving very fast through an economy creates more inflationary effects than a large amount of money sitting on a balance sheet plugging holes.

In fact the velocity of money has completely collapsed as it's being used to pay down and service debts or cover losses. The last time the velocity of money was this slow, was heading into the Great Depression. Below is a chart of MZM the broadest measure of monetary velocity.

The hyperinflationary setup

For those people worried about imminent hyper-inflation, it might be worth looking historically at characteristics of hyper-inflationary collapses. There have been dozens of well documented ones throughout history, some of the ones that come of most peoples minds first are the Weimer Republic in 1920's Germany and recently in Zimbabwe.

Hyperinflation almost always occurs following a severe deflationary collapse. While I've made my case we are experiencing deflation right now, we are no where near what would be considered a collapse, yet. It also ocurrs in a countries that base purchasing power on a stable foreign currency. In other words if you have the world reserve currency like the US dollar, is near impossible to get hyperinflation. It's much more likely you see hyperinflation in foreign countries that attempt to peg their currencies to the US dollar, which would result in a relative strengthening of the dollar.

I could see us, creating a setup for hyperinflation if the dollar looses reserve currency status, and we experience a deflationary collapse, but it would take us several years to get there.

Interest rates rising without inflation

Ok, so I've gone on record saying I expect rising interest rates and possibly a crash in the US Treasury market within the next year. If rates are rising doesn't that imply inflation? Well not exactly...

Inflationary expectations are only one component of what sets interest rates, the other major one is risk of default. The higher the risk of default the higher rates must go. It's this rising risk of default that I expect to significantly push up rates not inflation. In fact the rising rates may have a highly deflationary impact as it will further choke off credit, stalling economic recovery.

More charts, "Dude, where's my inflation?"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident" Some Fourth of July thoughts and hopes!

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:13:57 -0500

RICHARD WEISSER's tribute to our forefathers is worthy of repeating.

Just as the American flags in the photo brighten my spirit, so do his words make me choke just a bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Via Richard Weisser Coweta Fayette Real Estate ERA United Realty:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

Although we often take these words for granted, they are the cornerstone of our republic - an enlightened premise upon which our nation was built.

The fifty-six men of wealth and influence that signed the Declaration of Independence knew that in doing so, they were guilty of the capital offense of treason and faced the hangmen's noose.

But the prospect of self-determination was so compelling that it overrode all trepidation and fear of consequences. And this fervor for freedom enabled a rag-tag group of militias to defeat the better armed, better equipped, and better trained battalions of British Redcoats.

Lest we ever forget, our government was born of revolution. It was purchased with the blood of patriots that would rather die than to succumb to the whims of a monarch thousands of miles away.

It is my most ardent hope that we do not desecrate the courage and sacrifice of these free-thinking rebels by giving up their legacy of freedom that was bequeathed to us.

It is our duty and obligation to protect and defend their precious gift of independence!

Have a great Fourth of July!

All content, including text, original art, photographs and images, is the exclusive property of Coweta Fayette Real Estate, Inc., and may not be used without the expressed written permission of Coweta Fayette Real Estate of ERA United Realty Newnan Georgia. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted, Copyright 2003-2009. Richard Weisser 770-827-6225.
Learn more about Coweta County and Fayette County Georgia Real Estate, and to search the entire Georgia MLS for free with no registration required visit CowetaFayetteRealEstate.com! Photos of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Get the latest GA Foreclosure List Updated Daily!

SELLING A HOME IS A VOLUNTARY DECISION - OR, IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO TO THE CLOSING TABLE.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:03:07 -0500

MR. SELLER, WOULD YOU PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US IN TO SEE YOUR HOME LISTED FOR SALE?

A thoughtful post by Paddy apologizing to home owners who have listed their for sale inspired me to post about the same subject, from a different perspective.

Well, of course we buyers agents try to accommodate the seller's wishes about access to their homes listed for sale. We have no choice. The seller determines access. However, the key words there are "homes listed for sale".

What does "FOR SALE" mean?

It means that the home is listed FOR SALE by the owner with the understanding that interested home buyers will be visiting the home to walk through it to help them, the home buyers, determine whether or not the property will be considered as a future home. Often, after trying to get access to a home listed for sale, I come to believe that the seller wishes to sell but doesn't want anyone visiting. Fact is, many home buyers need to visit a home for sale more than once before making an offer. This is particularly true of first time home buyers, which is a huge percentage of our market today.

WALK THROUGH QUICKLY THEN BUY. Probably no asset offered for sale in the world is purchased with less investigation than real estate. Yet, this asset is gong to be, not only a possession of great value, usually encumbered by a costly lien secured by a note with a pay-off of many, many years. Of course, there will be certain limited investigations and verifications following a Contract of Sale. However, the fact is, most home buyers will make the largest consumer purchase of their lifetime following one or two visits to the property for sale. Contingencies to the contract protect the home buyer to the extent that the buyer is able to verify the value and condition of the property, but not until they have entered into a contract and deposited earnest money, usually $Thousands, as a sign of good faith on the part of the purchaser to protect the seller.

All of the above sounds routine and it usually is. However, what is so often missed is the difficulty that serious, qualified and motivated home buyers have just getting access to see the home listed for sale.

WARNING! HOME FOR SALE.

SHOWING BY APPT. ONLY!
LISTER MUST ACCOMPANY!
LIMITED SHOWING HOURS!
24 HOURS NOTICE REQUIRED!
CALL LISTER!
CALL OWNER!
NO LOCK BOX
PRINCIPALS ONLY
APPT. MUST BE VERIFIED
CALL LISTER FOR COMBO

IS THE SELLER A BARRIER TO SALE? When scheduling tours of resale homes for buyers, I often have to ask, "Do these folks really want to sell this property?" How do they expect to sell it if they won't let folks in to see it? Far to often, in my experience, prospective home buyers are treated as intruders.

"WHY DO THEY NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN?" That was the comment from a listing agent when I called for an appointment for a follow up visit to a home for sale. The list price was $1,200,990. Yet, the sellers, through their agent, made showing almost impossible. Fact is, I was touring with the husband for two weeks to select homes to show his wife who had to travel from San Diego so they could make the final decision together. The husband and I toured every afternoon for 2 weeks and narrowed the selections to five homes for sale. Time for the wife to arrive to help with the final selection.

IT'S NOT CONVENIENT THIS WEEK. That comment came from a listing agent when I tried to make an appointment for one of the five homes. My buyers had set aside two days to tour 5 homes. Yet, it "was not convenient" for the listing agent to show it that particular week. With no lock box, we had no access without the listing agent. The listing agent was the broker, so, no higher authority to appeal. Sadly, that home was elimitated from consideration. The home my buyers purchased was vacant and they spent a good hour touring, measuring, discussing, placing furniture, planning carpeting, etc. When buying a home, sometimes buyers just need time to help themselves "feel at home" in the house. When scheduling a tour of homes for buyer clients, I begin to make appointments fully two days prior to the tour. It often takes that long to reach the "agent must show", "no lock box", "limited hours", etc. listings and get the showing confirmed. I'm relentless and unless someone says that we cannot see the property, I keep trying until I get all properties selected scheduled. It's exhausting and time consuming, but just part of the job. However, it doesn't really have to be as difficult as it is. It often appears that sellers or their agents believe that theirs is the only home on the market.

WE WERE 22 MINUTES LATE! I have been denied entry to homes for sale when we were early or late for the appointment. When we tour homes listed for sale, we are often scheduling 3-6 or more homes at a time. It is virtually impossible to arrive at a specific time for each appointment. I allow reasonable drive time between properties and 15-30 minutes to tour each home on the first visit. Yet, we've entered some homes whereby the sellers complain that we are early or late with a scowl and a very unwelcoming attitude. What are their priorities, to sell the home or to adhere to a strict showing schedule??

HOW TO SELL A HOME FOR THE BEST PRICE, IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME WITH THE BEST TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE SELLER!

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

NEW REAL ESTATE ENERGY USE MANDATES INCLUDED IN THE ENERGY BILL

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:55:32 -0500

I've been reading the NEW CLEAN ENERGY LEGISLATION. New home builders and consumers will see dramatic changes in new home construction and/or new home prices.

Energy Efficiency Provisions

Building Standards.

ACES establishes new standards for building efficiency, requiring new buildings to be 30% more efficient in 2012 and 50% more efficient in 2016. States are offered allowances that they can sell to support adoption and enforcement of the new standards. The Department of Energy must enforce the standards in states that do not incorporate the building standards into their state building codes.

This mandate includes new residential construction.

Builders who have been incorporating energy efficient building techniques will be far ahead of the market. Reducing energy use standards by 30% by 2012 is quite a feat and I suspect that it will increase the cost of new construction a good bit. That may help the sale of resale homes until the improved energy efficience standards are extended to existing homes. The standards will be established to cover existing homes.

Section 202, Building Retrofit Program:

Establishes a program under which the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of EPA support development of standards and processes for retrofitting existing commercial and residential buildings. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide funding to states for cost-effective building retrofits, with funding increasing in proportion to efficiency achievement. Also supports improved water efficiency and other environmental goals and provides special levels of support for retrofits of historic buildings.

IT'S COMING FOLKS. I PLAN TO BECOME A GREEN CERTIFIED REALTOR IN SEPTEMBER.

MANY BUILDERS HAVE ALREADY INCORPORATED "GREEN" MATERIALS AND FEATURES.

WATERFORD VIRGINIA IS CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY IN RED WHITE and BLUE.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:25:08 -0500

Waterford Virginia in the Loudoun Valley is the perfect place to celebrate the 4thof July in 2009 with the Red White & Blue of the American Flag. Settled in the 1730s, Waterford is a small oasis of history in Western Loudoun County where residents and visitors can imagine themselves living in the 18th Century just by looking around at homes, estates and farms that date back to the beginnings of our great country.

Homes and Barns in Waterford Virginia date back to the 18th Century.

CELEBRATING AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE - Hanging out the flag!

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

Waterford Virginia

CALLING ON ALL GEEZERS! We've been maligned by a young whipper snapper.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:27:49 -0500

WHAT IS THE GOAL? TO SELL REAL ESTATE or to blog?? A reality check.

Drop in on Josh Murphy and answer his question. "If You Are Reading This, then Participate, why not? Its free?"

THE IDEA IS TO SELL REAL ESTATE. It can be done without participating in social networks. Most folks understand that. There is far more real estate sold by agents and brokers who DO NOT participate in social networking than that do.

Perhaps it's a comfort level of the agents who are quite pleased to do business the way they are doing it.
Perhaps it's because they can't type.
Perhaps it's because they don't need more business.
Perhaps it's because they were never writers.
Perhaps it's because they are sick of hearing about social networking.
One thing I know for sure. It is NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE!

Unless Josh wishes to simply exhibit a sad degree of gratuitous ageism on ActiveRain, young whipper snapper that he appears to be, my question is. . . . why do you care how other agents in your office market their services or their listing ???

NEWS FLASH! Those folks are competition. I'll bet that they understand that.

I'll bet further that there are a few members of ActiveRain that manage to get a serious amount of business from blogging, web sites, networking despite being older than dirt,

Many of us old Geezers on ActiveRain could be enjoying an afternoon with friends.

What are we doing?

FREDERICK COUNTY MD DOWN PAYMENT AND CLOSING COSTS LOANS UP TO $25,000 FOR ELIGIBLE PROPERTIES AND HOME BUYERS

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:35:28 -0500

FREDERICK COUNTY BANK OWNED HOMES / FORECLOSURES FOR SALE

Lenn Harley, Broker for Homefinders.com and the Homefinders.com network is approved by Frederick County, Maryland to represent home buyers applying for a Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance Loan under the Frederick County program designed to help home buyers purchase bank owned foreclosed properties.

Home Buyers in Frederick County can now obtain down payment and closing cost help from the Fredrick County Neighborhood Conservation Initiative Program (NCI).

Highlights of the Down Payment Assistance

Zero Interest Down Loans for qualifying home buyers.
$15,000 down payment help home buyers who occupy the homes.
Additional $5,000 for some Frederick County employees.
Additional $5,000 for qualifying bank owned homes in some zip codes.
Only Bank Owned Foreclosed properties qualify for purchase.
30 Year Fixed interest rate loan only.

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES * TOWN HOMES * CONDOMINIUM HOMES

Employees who qualify for an additional $5,000 include:

City of Brunswick
City of Frederick
Frederick Community College
Frederick County PUblic School
Frederick County Government
Frederick Memorial Hospital
Maryland State Police, Frederick Brracks
Frederick County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association w/ LOSAP requirements

Home must be buyer's primary residence. Buyers must meet income limits, $86,250 to $162,700 depending on number in household. Contact us for details.

EXAMPLE: HOMES ELIGIBLE FOR NCI DOWN PAYMENT AND CLOSING COSTS LOAN.

Home #1	21701	$127,000
Home #2	21702	$194,900
Home #3	21703	$214,900

Loan term for Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance is a 15 year loan @ 0% interest.

Contact Lenn Harley for help and information, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

WALKERSVILLE MARYLAND, NEW HOME READY FOR DELIVERY JULY / AUGUST, Discount Priced at $369,000.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:21:30 -0500

FOR HOME BUYERS WHO WOULD LIKE NEW CONSTRUCTION BUT CAN'T WAIT FOR THE PROPERTY TO BE BUILT, BUILDERS SPECS ARE THE ANSWER.

Popular builder offers the new home in Frederick County below at an affordable price of $369,000.

Kitchen featuresinclude, Stainless Steel Appliances, kitchen island, Dishwasher, Disposal, Icemaker, Microwave, Self Cleaning Oven, Gas Oven Range, Side By Side Refrigerator. Energy Star Appliances*.

Master Bath features include Separate Bath and Shower, Two Person Soaking Bathtub,

Amenities throughout the house include: Crown Molding, 10 Year Warranty, 9 Foot Ceilings on Main Level, Wood Floors in Foyer, Sprinkler System in House for Fire Prevention, Lawn Sod in Front and Back Yard.

Roomy Lot - .24 Acre Lot, 10,411 Square Feet. Approx. 2,400 Square Feet Finished on Main and Upper Level plus unfinished basement.

ALMOST FINISHED WITH - KITCHEN AND MASTER BATH

NO FREDERICK CITY TAXES!
4 bedroom,single family
Minutes from Historic Downtown Frederick
Views of Catoctin Mountains
Convenient to I270,I70 & Rt.15

WALKERSVILLE IS JUST 4 MILES NORTH OF THE TOWN OF FREDERICK.

Ask about the Homefinders.com New Home BUYERS REBATE. The REBATE for this new home is $3,600.

100% financing available for some models. Homes qualify for FHA, VA, USDA financing.

Demographics
--Average Income Families
W/Children $76,956
--Average Age 35.7
--Percent Married 62.3
--Percent With Children 39
--Percent High School Graduates 87.7
--Percent College Graduates 37.3
--Average SAT Scores 1047
--Expenditures Per-Student $7,958
--Land Area 662.9 Square Miles
--County Population 195,277
--Population Density Per Sq. Mile 295
--Population Growth Rate (5 yrs) 2.1%

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

BUILDER IN LOVETTSVILLE REVITILIZED NEW CONSTRUCTION IN NEW TOWN CENTER.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:24:25 -0500

THE NEW HOMES IN LOVETTSVILLE ARE NEW SELLING. THIS IS WHAT RESIDENTS OF LOVETTSVILLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. We've been waiting for construction to begin again on these wonderful lots in the New Town Center. What's next? Commercial development? Let's hope so.

HOMES ARE SELLING FAST AND CONSTRUCTION IS VIGOROUS.

Construction underway on another lot. About 3 months to delivery.

Home is almost complete. About 45 days from delivery.

Ready for a new family. About 2 weeks from delivery.

CHECK OUT THESE PRICES. THEY CAN'T BE MATCHED in NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

City	ListPrice	Type	Style	BR	BathsAll	# Gar
Lovettsville	$287,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$307,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2
Lovettsville	$277,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	3	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2
Lovettsville	$297,990	Detached	Colonial	4	3	2

THESE HOMES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR 100% FINANCING FOR QUALIFIED HOME BUYERS.

With Seller Closing help and the Homefinders.com New Home Buyer REBATE,

your acquisition cost for these homes may be $ZERO.

LOVETTSVILLE NEW TOWN CENTER MAP

LOUDOUN COUNTY VA MAP

Lovettsville Virginia is in the rural area of Western Loudoun County, Virginia.

Demographics for Lovettsville
-Population Approx. 1200 (recent new home sales)
-Land Area .91 Square Miles
-Growth Rate (last 5 years) 5.9%% (Loudoun County)
-Average Income Families W/Children $80,000
-Average Age 34 years
-High School Graduates 87%
-Average Age Homes 27 years
-Owner Occupied 80%

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

"NEVER A FEE TO BUYERS"

Lovettsville Virginia Homes in Rural Loudoun County
Homes for Sale in Lovettsville
Facts about Real Estate in Lovettsville

CALIFORNIA AGRIBUSINESSES "TOO BIG TO FAIL"? Says Who??

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:48:47 -0500

William Johnson of San Diego writes passionately about the crisis in the water supply of his beloved area in California. William just returned from a trip east and commented about the "green" that he observed here. There's more to the "green" in the east than what we enjoy in 2009.

WILLIAM: The green here this year and for the past couple of years is all part of a cycle. We go in cycles of about 7-8 years. I've watched it for quite a few 7-8 year cycle repeats.

When this cycle is completed, which, if I can predict accurately from memory, will be about 2 years. Then we in the east should enter into a dry cycle and our grass will be brown, the corn will grow to only about 2 feet, the folks in Frederick County MD will have water trucked in to many areas because the wells will be dry and the city water drastically low, etc.

In areas that are overbuilt for the existing infrastructure of the towns, mandatory water restrictions are in place even in this year of water abundance. In Purcellville, a builder wanted to add another 240 town homes to the water supply. Thank goodness the town council rejected the application. It would have meant that the existing already low supply would have been reduced to every resident that depended on the local water supply.

Typical Farm in Northern Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain Range.

Our farms are not massive agribusinesses that we see in California, but farmers with truck farms who have no product to sell in our dry cycles. California relies on full fruited trees and plants because they sell to huge suppliers and have to have "super market ready product". In dry cycles, our truck farmers sell fruits and vegetables that are small and not attractive. I still buy them because I know they are local and our farmer families hard working neighbors. We don't have the vast water dependant development that they have in California. Here, when it doesn't rain, the fields are dry.

So, we can enjoy the green forests this year, but for how long??? Perhaps the agricultural enterprises in California can be deemed to be "too big to fail" and qualify for some massive federal aid from tax payers across the country. Makes sense to me. I'd rather subsidize food for our nation than the Wall Street Gangs. Of course, there might be some spill over.

Frederick County Parcipitation averages Jan.-Dec. **

Avg. Precip.

2.8 in

2.7 in

3.3 in

4.3 in

3.9 in

3.7 in

3.5 in

3.6 in

3.1 in

3.3 in

2.9 in

That's about 40 inches of rain fall annually. Enough to grow significant crops. Yet, in dry years, the fields produce little to nothing to market because the farms don't have artificial water supplies that we see in California. In the east, if the rain falls, the crops flourish. If the rain doesn't fall, there are no crops.

Rainfall in San Diego appears to be quite low based on historical data. Yet, California is where the massive agribusinesses are located and the massive water supplies needed. Nature is opportunistic and plants only grow naturally where the conditions are friendly. When mankind moves the plants to an unfriendly location, producing an engineered environment, it could eventually fail simply because the need to maintain the engineered environment far exceeds the profit from the plants growing there. Unless, the massive businesses that provide these artificial environments are deemed "To Big To Fail". It is clear to many that California cannot subsidize these massive engineered environments for crops. California has deficits/debt the likes of which we can only imagine, yet they are real. The country, all of the country to some extent has become dependant on the produce from California. Does that make the California agribusinesses "To Big To Fail"? Could be.

Normal Percipitation for Leesburg, VA.

MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnua

Inch

3.29

2.47

3.64

3.48

4.45

4.21

3.68

3.82

4.16

3.38

3.52

3.11

43.21

The message here is not the water supply. It's the water usage.

** I've used Frederick County, MD as the example of our area simply because it's an area that suffers crisis in water supply in our dry cycles.

SIGNS OF SUMMER, VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL IN LEESBURG

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:20:12 -0500

SUMMER ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN ON SUMMER BREAK.

More signs of summer in Virginia. Many local churches offer Vacation Bible School for local residents for a week or two during the summer vacation months.

Moms and Dads walking little ones to Vacation Bible School in Leesburg this a.m.

Sign up folks. The children will enjoy the games, activities and bible stories.

Some locations in Loudoun County this year include:

Vacation Bible School VBS in Loudoun 2009

Purcellville Baptist Church Purcellville, VA June 22-26

St. Francis deSales Catholic Church Purcellville, VA July 13-17

Cornerstone Chapel Leesburg, VA July 20-24

Hamilton Baptist Church Hamilton, VA August 3-7

Blue Ridge Bible Church Purcellville, VA August 3-7

Chick the Church to link to the individual theme.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

LANDSCAPING WHIMSY - Let your imagine go wild. Add color and fun to your landscaping.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:08:53 -0500

What can you do with 1.63 acres in Lovettsville in Loudoun County, Virginia?

ADD A BIT OF WHIMSY TO YOUR LANDSCAPING. MAINTENANCE IS MINIMAL.

Unique items add beauty and fun to your landscaping.

Chinese Wheelbarrow.

Chinese Statuary - Horses

Add some height with some Bamboo poles.

Rock formations add beauty to any landscaping.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA BRINGS US THE CIRCUS IN SUMMER 2009.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:48:45 -0500

THE CIRCUS IS COMING! THE CIRCUS IS COMING!

Conveniently located at Dulles Town Center in Sterling Virginia just off Route 7 and Route 28, we saw the rides going up, game tents and food outlets going up today and the Circus folks getting ready to show you a great time.

THE MOST POPULAR RIDE, THE FERRIS WHEELE.

COTTEN CANDY, POPCORN AND CANDY APPLES ALL AT THE SAME TIME?

Do I see a Space Needel?? Come one, come all!

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

FREDERICK COUNTY NEW HOMES - 100% FINANCING - BROKER REBATE and 2,408 Sq. Ft. Plus 2 Car Gar. & Basement.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:18:02 -0500

FREDERICK COUNTY NEW HOME * WALKERSVILLE * 100% FINANCING * $7,500 CLOSING

100% FINANCING FOR QUALIFIED HOME BUYERS IN WALKERSVILLE, MARYLAND.

LOOK WHAT $314,990 WILL BUY WITH NO MONEY DOWN for eligible home buyers.

TO BE BUILT: 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 Baths, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen with Island, Family Room,
Full unfinished basement that can be finished with a Recreation Room, Full Bath and 2 car garage for $314,900.

100% Financing with $7,500 Closing Help from BUILDER.

NEW HOME READY FOR DELIVERY IN 5 months. Still time to close before December 1 and be eligible for the $8,000 Income Tax Credit.

100% FINANCING AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED BUYERS. $7,500 CLOSING HELP FROM BUILDER.

4 Bedrooms, 2 1/2 Baths, Living Room, Dining Room, Sun Room Extended Family Room,

Kitchen with Isle, unfinished basement and 2 car garage.

NEW HOME UNDER CONSTRUCTION - READY IN 45-60 DAYS.

$4,000 REBATE to Home buyer. Contact Lenn to Register and for directions to model home.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-Mail.

Builder delivers these lovely homes with fully installed sod in front and back of the homes.

PURCELLVILLE REAL ESTATE - NEW HOME FOR SALE ON 3 ACRE LOT - LUXURY REAL ESTATE IN LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:42:50 -0500

ALMOST FINISHED, THIS LOVELY NEW HOME IN PURCELLVILLE can be ready with your selections in just 60 days. Fabulous home on a beautiful wooded lot with privacy and room for all.

HOME IS 60 DAYS FROM READY FOR YOU TO MOVE IN.

$599,900

Broker Rebate - $7,000

Buyer Indentive From Builder - Negotiable

Flexible Financing

This spectacular home is loaded with special features, including:

GRANITE COUNTERTOPS IN GOURMET KITCHEN * 3,535 FINISHED SQUARE FEET ON LEVEL 1 & 2.

3 CAR SIDE LOAD GARAGE * 3 FULL BATHS ON BEDROOM LEVEL * POWDER ROOM ON MAIN LEVEL

3 ACRE WOODED LOT ON QUIET ROAD * GAS HEAT * FIREPLACE IN FAMILY ROOM * BRICK FRONT

HOME IMAGE AFTER COMPLETION (minus dormer decorative windows)

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

LOUDOUN COUNTY HOMES IS A DIVISION OF HOMEFINDERS.COM.

SERVING HOME BUYERS IN LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA

LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA ANNOUNCES THE ARRIVAL OF SUMMER!

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:42:27 -0500

DRIVING AROUND NORTHERN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND COUNTRY ROADS, as I often do, one of the nicest things to view is the wildflowers.

THE TIGER LILYalways announces the arrival of SUMMER. This year, I spotted the first Tiger Lilies in Lovettsville on the 21st of June.

SUMMER TIME IS HERE!

These Tiger Lilies blossomed in the moat in front of my home on the 21st of June.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.

PERHAPS THERE ARE BETTER WAYS TO SELL PRODUCT OR SERVICES THAN COLD CALLING!

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:00:20 -0500

WE'RE NOT RUDE. YOU'VE INVADED OUR SPACE AND NOW YOU WANT OUR TIME.

Your want to PUSH and we want to PULL. Since we're the ones that might be buying, we get to make the rules.

Inspired by, Realtors ---- Barriers to Information by Judith Sinnard - The Floor Plan Lady

Ms. Sinnard implies that we Realtors are rude or something because we don't want to sit through a telephone presentation of her product. Good grief! The intrusion of cold callers is so annoying, laws have been enacted to protect the consumer. Of course, since we're in business, we're not protected. That doesn't make the calls any less annoying.

She writes: "If you don't want me to call ... I'm not going to call ... it is polite for me to ask, and abruptly slamming the phone down on my ear is an unnecessary emphasis to your response of "NO" ... I get the message. But do you? Where will your new information come from?"

We don't want you to call. We never do. We never did.

Now that I've let that information out, will the calls continue? Of course, they will. The reason some of us hang up is because it's often the only way to end a conversation. Honest, I've tried. I've tried over and over again. Vendors who are trained and experienced cold callers don't take "no" or "no thanks" for an answer. You just go on and on. "Let me show you." "Are you connected to the Internet?"

Well, I'm always connected to the Internet. Because I'M WORKING!

Has it occurred to you that, if I'm on the phone with you, I could miss an important home buyer call???

When we try to end a telephone conversation and state that we don't want to see a demonstration, does that stop the presentation? Of course not. You just drone on and on about how fab your product is and how it will enhance my business and how top producing agents, blah, blah, blah. . . Sometimes you'll even try the inane "Oh, you don't want any more business?"

Update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Update

EXAMPLE: It's 1:30 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2009. I just got a phone call from a California number, 925-598-0081. The caller was super friendly, often a top off because home buyers are not usually that super friendly at the beginning of a call. The caller introduced herself a "calling from Leapfish. I had to laugh. I told here that her timing couldn't have been worse and that I had just blogged about vendors calling. She then said "Oh, you're not interested in promoting your business?" To which I replied "and that statement couldn't have been more stupid." She hung up.

I'm very busy today revising a web page for water front properties in Maryland to develop referral business for a broker that visited me last week. Revising a web site is complicated business and we need to concentrate. This cold caller not only broke my concentration but she insulted my intelligence with her inane statement. GEEZ!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You ask, "Where will your new information come from?"

HERE'S THE ANSWER:

COME OUT, COME OUT WHERE EVER YOU ARE OR WHO EVER YOU ARE:

Put up a good web page,
Optomize the content to produce in normal Google SERP for your important key words.
When an agent or broker wants what you're selling, we'll search Google and view the products from different vendors.
It's simple PULL advertising. If we contact you, we have already decided that we probably want your product.
If you telephone and try to PUSH your product, you will meet a lot of resistance because we get those calls every day from vendors of products in which we have no interest.

It isn't up to vendors to determine what we need or want.

COME OUT, COME OUT WHERE EVER YOU ARE OR WHO EVER YOU ARE: Put up a good web page and if we want what you're selling. . . . . we'll find you!

After all, as a red blodded American, shopping is one of the things we do best.

"SNAPPING TURTLE" IN MY BACK YARD. A BIG SNAPPING TURTLE IN LOVETTSVILLE VA.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:35:01 -0500

WHO PUT THAT BIG ROCK IN MY BACK YARD? NO, IT'S SUPER TURTLE!!

Glancing out my back window on Friday made me look twice. You know the feeling. You see something and then look away. However, the brain won't compute. So, you have to look again, and again. That's exactly what happened. Time to grab the camera.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

To get perspective on the size of this turtle, look at it next to the septic access in my back yard which is about 32 inches wide.

What kind of turtle is it? It's a Snapping Turtle, of course. How do I know that? As far as I'm concerned, there are only two kinds of turtles, Snapping Turtles and those that went into the soup. Snapping Turtles are often found in areas around water and there is a creek that goes through the moat in front of my home as well as a creek that runs down the hill on the left side of the lot, which is where it probably came from. It was a BIG turtle. Since I've spent a lot of time on lakes in the area, I see them often, but never one this big.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-Mail.

SIGN OF THE TIMES FOR LOCAL RESTAURANTS STRUGGLING TO STAY OPEN.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:41:27 -0500

Restaurants in many areas are closing. This is sad because so many lose so much. The losers are the owners, investors, waiters and waitresses, chefs and cooks, servers, bus staff, cashiers, cleaning services or crew, local taxing entities, advertisers, hostesses or hosts, food suppliers, kitchen equipment suppliers, and so many more entities are harmed when a single restaurant closes.

Businesses have found interesting ways to survive.

Last year the sign below read, "5 Course Meal Deal $12.00".

CECIL COUNTY WATERFRONT HOMES OFFER PROPERTIES IN A WIDE RANGE OF PRICING. Chapter 1.

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:07:46 -0500

WHAT IS THE "MLW" FOR WATER FRONT PROPERTIES? This is one thing you need to know if you are interested in buying a water front home in Cecil County, Maryland. Boaters are familiar with the "Mean Low Water" information about properties on the Chesapeake Bay or the Rivers and inlets.

Water front home buyers are a savvy group. They pay a premium for water front real estate but the property must offer the features they want. Some questions we get might include:

Name of the water body, meaning river, creek, inlet, cove, interior bay, marshes, on which the lot fronts.
Water frontage in feet.
Mean Low Water depth at low tide. This measures represents the condition over a period of 19 years.
Mean High Water and Mean Spring High Water representing high tides over a period of 19 years.
Ordinary high water line and ordinary low water line is the present day measurement.
Average water depths around the property.
Distance to the navigation channel, where applicable.
Disclosure of any wetland (marshes, swamps, tidal flats, 100-year flood plains, etc.)
Water and sewer availability.
Docks, Piers and Bulkheads constructed on the property.

Real estate agents who specialize in water front properties will provide this information for prospective home buyers. We understand the importance of these matters for boating enthusiasts and water front home purchasers who have specific goals for the use and enjoyment of the property they wish to buy.

Follow this series about waterfront properties in Cecil County and contact us if you wish to tour homes for sale with water front exposure in Cecil County, Maryland.

A future chapter will discuss the fabulous fishing in Maryland.

MAP OF CECIL COUNTY, MARYALND

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-Mail.