Labor Day Weekend...A Family Rite Of Passage...! - 08/31/08 08:39 PM
Labor Day weekend is truly a portal through which we exit 'summer mode' and enter 'fall mode' and alter our lifestyles accordingly...
Vacation time, air conditioning, baseball, leisure, outdoor living, & lawn mowing become 'back to school', open windows, football, full work schedules, 'back to TV', & leaf raking and tree trimming...  
A true 'family' rite of passage...  
We spent all weekend with family activities...spreading top soil at oldest son Jason's place till everyone's back ached, helping Aunt Laura trim some bushes and weed her front garden, watching football (including working the snack bar) after attending church services, and we'll … (17 comments)

Fran's Friday Forum...Life Lessons Learned...! - 08/29/08 09:32 AM
As most of you know who read my blog regularly...I enjoy life...!!!  
Now, I didn't say life was easy...I just said I enjoy it...  
My favorite expression around the office is, "NOTHING'S EASY"...Does this mean I am a 'glutton for punishment' when I say, 'I enjoy life'...???  
Of course, it's not the 'problems' I enjoy...It's the 'solving of them' I guess that makes life interesting...   When my 11 and 13 year old boys asked if they could mow our lawn, I deduced that they really wanted to ride around on a tractor...not really cut grass...So I looked around … (18 comments)

The Slippery Slope In Real Estate Transactions...!!! - 08/27/08 11:49 PM
No one can deny that these times in real estate require practices that differ from the practices we implemented during the boom real estate years...And I'm talking about every facet of a real estate transaction...and virtually every member of Active Rain is impacted by this phenomenon!  
Gone are the days when a property sold in less than a week...  
Remember the days when properties received offers higher than the listing prices...  
The stated income borrower, the no doc or limited doc transaction, the LTVs in excess of 120, and many other 'typical' transactions are all history...  
This … (48 comments)

Ash Bash B'Gash...Starts Kindergarten Today...!!! - 08/26/08 10:08 AM
My youngest daughter Ashley who turns five on Thursday started kindergarten today! Oh was she excited...her Hanna Montana backpack properly hanging from her little shoulders...her blond 'Dutch Girl' hair bouncing side to side...and that huge smile on her face which reads, "Wow, am I gonna love this, or what...!!!"  
We frequently talk about milestones here on Active Rain...  
Remember your first blog...your breaking the 10,000 point milestone...then your 50th post...your 100th...your 100,000 point milestone...your climbing in the rankings...your first 'feature'...every 'feature' after that...Lenn Harley leaving her first comment on your post...and other AR epiphanies...  
These 'Rites of … (17 comments)

Taking A Holistic Look At Real Estate...Shedding Myopia...! - 08/25/08 09:06 AM
Active Rain, our beloved real estate network, is composed of real estate agents, brokers, lenders, loan officers, stagers, appraisers, home inspectors, title people, and various and sundry other real estate related enterprises...  
Most of us, including myself, can be guilty of looking at the real estate market in a rather narrow vein...usually along the lines of our particular careers and life endeavors...kind of from our own ivory towers...  
We even place parameters beyond which we feel incapable of discerning...here comes our myopia...  
Is it that we feel unqualified to appear an expert in other fields than our own...we … (16 comments)

Tent Caterpillars...Nature's Ugly Brushstrokes!!! - 08/24/08 05:06 PM
The area of Pennsylvania I live in is prolific with magificent vistas...You can look in any direction and be wowed by some part of God's magnificent creation...  
But like life itself, there is an element of imperfection or taint noticeable in just about every 'natural canvas'..."Adam, why did you have to go ahead and eat that fruit...you couldn't have been hungry..."  
This year, what taints our area's countryside, are those God forsaken tent caterpillars...you see them everywhere...it's almost as if high fuel prices have a cause and effect relationship with tent caterpillars...both are ugly and reprehensible...and both share center stage right … (19 comments)

Circuses, Carnivals, Country Fairs, and Feasts...!!! - 08/23/08 07:32 PM
As a kid...I remember once a year the circus coming to town...and a highlight of the event was watching the circus elephants erecting the tents bright and early in the morning...this was almost as exciting as what went on INSIDE the tent! The clowns, the acrobats, the jugglers, the fire eaters, the magicians, etc...all set the pace for every weekend beginning in early spring and going through Labor Day!  
Then there were the 'firehouse' carnivals...these would last a week or more near the end of the school year or closely thereafter...and would supply side shows, games of chance, lots of fast … (8 comments)

Can Anything Good Come From New York...??? - 08/23/08 02:33 PM
That title, of course, is very facetious...I love my neighbors to the immediate north...and it is quite unfair to throw all of New Yorkers in the same category...after all...just like my beloved state of Pennsylvania, New York is a conglomeration of many diverse peoples and cultures and political persuasions...  
Just so, there is a Mother/Daughter real estate team located in New Paltz, New York...wherever that is...that captures my fancy...  
In a few short months Barbara Carter and Becky Cook have become some of my best friends here on Active Rain...As I get to know their families and real estate practices … (20 comments)

Post Pourri...Fran's Friday Forum...!!! - 08/22/08 09:39 AM
Summer's winding down, school here officially starts next week, and football practices are heating up...!!!  
SUMMER IS WINDING DOWN
          As the August evening shadows lengthen, and the twilight air adopts a cool edge, there are those who wait for this time of year to close on a home purchase...what with the beginning of a new school year, the end of summer vacations, and the attempt of many to 'conclude' the year on a positive note! Get out and enjoy this optimum weather period...fresh air is as important to our health as good nutrition...!  
SCHOOL IS OPEN
          I … (16 comments)

Random Acts Of Kindness...A Rarity Or Reality??? - 08/21/08 09:36 AM
Don't just tell me you love me...show me! If I had to give a one line synopsis of what the Bible is all about (a ridiculous task), that would be it!  
And the most powerful examples of God's love are spontaneous and random acts of kindness...when you witness one you'll know it!!! I was lucky enough to witness one yesterday!  
My son Josh, who will turn 14 in October, after 5 years of playing midget football, is now practicing for his middle school football squad...Josh has always been a big kid...and has never desired to be a receiver or … (24 comments)

The Search Is On...Title Insurance Explored...!!! - 08/20/08 10:17 AM
The Search Is On...!!!  
In our earlier days, to acknowledge receipt and appreciation for a title insurance application or referral, we sent out a post card with the prominent phrase, "THE SEARCH IS ON"...  
Actually, there were some selfish and self serving reasons for sending such a post card!
They kept our name and phone numbers in front of our customers, they provided the file number assigned to that matter for easy reference, and they established an open line of communication between us and those others having an interest in the property...  
Now, with the onset of the Internet … (20 comments)

Kid Friendly...Amish Sheds...!!! - 08/19/08 10:58 AM
Amish sheds are 'kid friendly'...!!!  
A couple of years ago we ordered one of those Amish made sheds for our rear yard...  
Where most families store garden tools and equipment in such an outbuilding, supposedly, this would alleviate keeping our kids toys, bikes, balls, pogosticks, hula hoops, scooters, skateboards, etc. in our garages...thus creating more room for our cars and other 'adult' toys...it also creates a demarcation point and keeps kids in their own zones...as much as possible...  
Well, our shed, which was ordered to match the siding, shingles, and color scheme of our home, took only about … (19 comments)

Midget Football...A Survival Guide For Parents...!!! - 08/19/08 09:30 AM
If you're reading this you're probably a parent of a youngster involved or soon to be involved in midget football...!  
Not all midget football programs are alike...the best way to assess a youth football program is by evaluating its organization...and how kid friendly they are!!!  
Having been involved in two rounds separated by a couple decades...I may not be an expert, but I think I have some good suggestions...in fact, you can apply what you read here to some other youth sports as well...  
In any youth sports organization you will find many agendas...kids playing because they want to, kids … (6 comments)

Labor Day...Not What It Used To Be...!!! - 08/18/08 09:01 AM
It's just two weeks until Labor Day...always celebrated on the first Monday of September...the first day of September, this year!  
I'm not sure how or when this holiday began, but I suspect it somehow was designed to honor all who labor to earn a living, particularly those in manufacturing or labor intensive jobs...those jobs where both head and hands play a significant part!  
Well if that's the case, our country has fallen away from that profile of the early to mid 20th Century...hardly anyone works in a sweat shop, on an assembly line, in a manufacturing facility, or in a … (19 comments)

Too Nice To Blog...??? - 08/17/08 07:57 AM
The weather today was so super, and there were so many good reasons for staying outside that I really didn't feel like blogging!  
But blogging has become a discipline and requires reliability, dependability, consistency, regularity, and sacrifice...  
So here goes...  
We started this beautiful sunny Saturday August day with a midget football scrimmage...the hour ride through some of the nicest Pennsylvania countryside to get to the opposition's field didn't prompt any complaints...  
The scrimmage went well...despite the usual early season disorganization and 'Keystone Cop' like behavior of the coaches (read: fathers of the starting team)...  
This … (19 comments)

How Long Do You Stay In Dodge When Everyone Else Is Getting Out...!!! - 08/15/08 08:46 AM
As Title Insurers we're committed to our communities and the real estate located there which we may be asked to insure...  
We also may be expected to take on a certain amount of risk...after all, 'risk' is what insurance is all about, isn't it...!  
Actually I start every scenario (read: title problem) with trying to figure out 'how to insure'...I have rarely declined to insure a parcel of real estate...theoretically if it's real estate and its location can be accurately identified...it ought to be 'insurable'...albeit with the proper safeguards or protective devices as we say in the industry!  
And I don't … (20 comments)

Realty And Reality...Another Overview...!!! - 08/14/08 08:48 AM
I love the play on words that exists between realty and reality...one simple letter 'i' having the power to alter so greatly the meaning of words that appear so similar...!  
Many members of Active Rain consider themselves 'virtual' inasmuch as they mostly work out of their homes and not in an office environment...'Twitter' is for many of these people 'the office water cooler'...  
With Title Insurance one can start off 'virtual', but sooner or later there must come REALITY...otherwise no REALTY is conveyed...  
When transactions are closed, 'real' documents are executed, 'real' identities are verified, and 'real' monies are … (17 comments)

Youth Football...A Mid August Tradition...!!! - 08/13/08 10:14 AM
Every year for the last 6 years I have had at least one son playing what we call 'Midget Football'...  
The season starts with rigorous 4 days a week practices lasting 2 hours...the kids whose ages range from 7 through 13 are sorted out by age and assigned to appropriate teams...  
The practices are from 6PM to 8PM so as to avoid the usual intense heat of the day and take advantage of an early evening breeze which occurs most everyday in our area!  
The practices consist of a series of calesthenics, stretching, and warming up activities and … (12 comments)

Title Insurance...A Simple? To Understand...Conundrum...!!! - 08/12/08 10:28 AM
For thirty seven years I have tried to educate myself and others around me as to 'what title insurance is'...and I have failed...!  
Something the title insurance industry itself has not succeeded in doing...explaining and justifying its existence...  
And I myself have written far too many posts attempting to explain title insurance...it's not that it's so difficult to understand...otherwise how would I of modest intelligence grasp it...but it's the technical, legal, and local custom aspects which render it nuanced at best!  
At times, it seems the harder I try to explain, the more confused my hearers become!  
… (15 comments)

Active Rain Means Active Green For Active Sowers!!! - 08/11/08 11:21 AM
Well if you live in the northeast and you sowed the proper seeds this spring, you should be reaping a wonderful harvest...!  
It has rained just enough, from early spring on, to keep lawns green in the northeast part of our beautiful USA through this middle of August and it promises to continue through early fall...!
You can even see a bountiful harvest for the corn crop, soy bean, and other crops growing on farms throughout the northeast...  
But what about the real estate market...isn't Active Rain, after all, a web community of real estate professionals?  
Well, … (13 comments)

Nifty...Nifty...Look Who's Fifty...!!! - 08/10/08 08:24 PM
Tomorrow is My wife Benita's fiftieth birthday...fifty...a special number...one signifying 'Jubilee'...among other milestones!  
Now we are supposed to go to dinner at the famous Yellow House Inn located just a few miles north of our home in Douglassville, Pennsylvania...in fact, just a few weeks ago, she and her mother who was visiting from Dallas, Texas, dined there and had an excellent meal and time together.  
Now Benita and I lost our Father and Mother within 5 months of each other last August and January...the memories of those losses still fresh in our minds and thoughts to this day...  
… (22 comments)

Sunday Something Special...!!! - 08/09/08 11:30 PM
We live in a busy world...everyone is busily involved in some daily routine that occupies nearly every waking moment...  
Even my kids who play electronic games incessantly, and those who are addicted to TV watching, or those politicos who surf from news channel to news channel or internet site to internet site seeking 'good news' are missing it...!  
Missing it? Missing what? The 'Good News'...  
We have become a society of 'sayers'...but have lost our ability to 'hear'...  
Ask the people around you the state of our economy, our society, our family life, life in general...I'm betting … (22 comments)

Saturday Sojourn...No Rain...Painting Weather!!! - 08/09/08 02:49 PM
With a western facing garage, it is necessary to plan on painting garage doors early AM while the sun is rising from the east and the nice cool shade provides ideal cover from the summer August heat...  
And so, bright and early, Dad and three sons set out to accomplish the fete and do an admirable job in the process...  
At the ages of 10, 12 & almost 14, there is still much to learn and much to be taught about painting, fixing, cleaning, and generally efficient good work habits...  
We come up with a 'game plan', go over … (11 comments)

Fran's Blog...An Open Door To Your Next Real Estate Transaction!!! - 08/08/08 09:10 AM
How would you like to have ONE place (not the only place) on the internet from which to launch your next search to buying or selling real estate!!!  
Before I explain, you can go ahead and make Fran's Blog one of your browser favorites, or bookmark this blog, or just remember what follows...!  
If there were one portal through which you could enter and be assured you can find and be directed to all the information you need to make good sound intelligent and informed decisions regarding your next real estate transaction...and that portal COSTS YOU NOTHING...would you be … (10 comments)

Patriot Land...Your Father's Title Company...!!! - 08/07/08 08:18 AM
Yesterday my post was a spin off of the old 'Oldsmobile' ad tag line...'Not Your Father's Oldsmobile'...  
One of my best buddies on Active Rain, Barbara Carter of New Paltz, New York, wrote me that her father had worked for 'Oldsmobile' and was familiar with that particular ad campaign...  
Yesterday's post sought to highlight how the cross section of Active Rain bloggers is a cut above the rest of the real estate industry...not necessarily in production or volume, but certainly in ethics, principles, and professionalism...  
It has been noted that 'Oldsmobile', through that ad campaign, distanced itself from its own … (14 comments)

Realty Or Reality...The Ies Have It...Just Another Fish Story! - 08/07/08 12:25 AM
I is the difference between realty and reality...  
That is not intended to be just another 'neat slogan' or ad line...nor is it merely bad grammar or usage...nor is it but a 'play on words'...  
It is what describes what I do in business...  
If I can't make a difference in a person's transaction of real estate, then I don't deserve to get paid...and in fact, I become a sham...an 'unreality'...an unessential piece of the real estate transaction process...  
Every title person should examine their role in the process...and what service they're providing to make real estate … (29 comments)

Active Rain...Not Your Father's...Real Estate Website...!!! - 08/06/08 10:36 AM
I don't know how many of you remember that old Oldsmobile commercial with a similar sentiment as my title here!  
The commercial attempted to convey the fact that the 'new' Oldsmobile had all the latest bells & whistles and state of the art engineering...unlike the cars of your father's generation which were closer to the horse & buggy than to modern day jet flight...anyhow, you get the picture, I'm sure!!!  
Also, a subliminal and subordinate message was that 'Oldsmobile' was just a little something special over and above your run of the mill automobile...!  
Never mind that Oldsmobile … (19 comments)

The Old Salt...And His Blog...!!! - 08/04/08 10:26 AM
OK...it's my first day back to work from almost a week at Chincoteague and Assateague Islands in Virginia...and it's taking me some time to get back into the swing of things...to rinse off all the salt from the air and the ocean so to speak...  
A week without internet access, without e-mail access even, away from my daily routine, away from my favorite eating places, my own bed, my own shower, my own home, my own garage, etc...  
I mean, after all, transitioning is what life's all about...  
I kinda like 'transitioning'...it gives one a chance to reassess … (30 comments)

Family Vacation...Or Journal Of A Lost Blogger...!!! - 08/02/08 08:13 PM
As most of you probably already know my family and I just returned from a vacation on Chincoteague Island, Virginia...a neighboring island, Assateague Island, is year around home to its own registered breed of horse...every year on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July there is a 'pony swim' where about 75 of these beautiful and intelligent animals swim across a narrow channel separating the two islands...Assateague with its lush beach and nature preserve on the ocean side and Chincoteague Island sandwiched between the mainland and Assateague...The entire herd never exceeds 150 ponies...  
On Thursday, some of the ponies are auctioned off to … (29 comments)

We're Baaaaaack...Pheeeewww...!!! - 08/02/08 03:25 PM
Almost a whole week without internet access...worse yet...without access to my Active Rain friends...!!!  
I tried like crazy to find some kind of 'hot spot' around our cottage on Chincoteague Island, Virginia...but nothing doing...it just wasn't in the cards for us to have contact with my friends on Active Rain...  
However, we endured, had a great vacation, lots of memories, funny situations, and some not so funny ones...  
I kept a log each day...which I'll be sharing with you...but it's always nice to be back home! 
Just an aside...Brian Schulman, my friend from Lancaster County, must have … (25 comments)

 
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Fran 'The Title Man' Gaspari Title Insurance-PA & NJ

Limerick, PA

More about me…

Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.

Address: 408 W. Linfield-Trappe Road, Limerick, PA , 19468

Office Phone: (610) 495-9855

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