Tax Aid Volunteers will be providing Tax assistance once again this year!  the volunteers are sponsored by AARP Tax Aid Foundation.

They provide tax counseling for free to older adults in Adams County Pa. This free service id for middle to low income citizens of the county that needs help with tax filing and or questions concerning taxes.

Volunteers have been educated in federal forms, local forms, as well as State forms. They also can deal with property tax and rent rebates forms.

They ask that you bring in copies of their 2010 tax return. W2"s, Social Security earnings statement, property tax  or rent rebate receipts. And any other related information you may have.

They will be available  every Tuesday and Wednesday beginning Feb 7 and ending April 11.  From 8:30 am till noon at

318 West Middle Street Gettysburg Pa

Also starting Monday starting Feb 6 and every Monday they also will be available at the Brethren Home of Cross Keys. They will be hosting there service in the Ensemble Room . 620 Harmony Drive Cross Keys PA . hours are the same 8:30 am till noon.

Help is first come first serve so come early!

This was a bad start to the week. This has nothing to do with Real Estate  but it does make one stop and think.

These young kids piled into the car full of life. Went 2 miles down the road and  swerved into the path of an oncoming truck in the other lane.  All 5 where killed . So very sad. I can not imagine the pain the family's face. I do not know these young kids but my heart is very heavy and sad,

My heart breaks for the family's of these Young kids.

My heart breaks for the driver of the truck .

My heart breaks for the friends and Teachers of these young kids.

Please I urge everyone that reads this. Take a few minutes to tell your kids you love them. Hug them  every morning and night.

Take a few minutes to call a old friend and catch up.

Check in on some neighbors and make sure they are well.

Tell your spouse that you love them and appreciate all that they do .

Life is so short and you just never know.

Our community has a heavy heart today. But soon our lives will go back to normal and all will be forgotten.

Please remember to love and care for all of the people in your life.

It has come to my attention over the past few weeks that some of the troubled buyers in my market are being overlooked. I have had 3 different buyers contact Me with there war stories.

Buyer one.. Has children with disabilities. has a hard time finding an agent that will work with her. Because she is a single mom and can not always afford a sitter when out looking for a home. She had had to bring the children  along. She said they are well behaved it just takes a long time to load and unload them from the car.

Really I ask???? Is there not something in our Realtors association saying we will not discriminate ??  OR  Fair housing something or maybe  just plain common sense that this lady is doing the best she can with what she has been dealt? Are you that busy that you can not help her? I meet her showed her some homes. Yes it was harder then normal .. But she is a serious buyer.

Buyer two,, My husband and I are living apart. he is working 2 hours away and only home on Sat and Sunday. We lost our home years ago. And had many credit problems. She states that many Realtors cut her short and hung up. I listen long enough to hear that she was talking about 10 years ago she lost her house. her credit cards have been paid off. Her credit is a bit low. But she is getting very close to maybe buying a home. She is very serious about maybe only buying a moble or lower priced home. Ok sale number two coming up.

Buyer three.. Has issues. Lots of debt and wants to rent to own. Credit is not awful but no way can she qualify for any type of property. She is upset to the point of tears. I explain to her that is the low point. She can improve from here. It may take a year but it gives her time to get her credit in order and practice paying on time . She hung up and then called back the next day to say thank you. I promised to stay in touch and help her with her questions. I am not really a counsular but I can be human right. Who knows sale number 3??

Point is listen to what your buyers are saying. Maybe you are overlooking some sales. I know I have in the past. Maybe it is good to  have a slow slump...

Had an opportunity to volunteer for the Habitat for humanity build this year in York Pa. I have been asked before but thought I would like to but never really took the time to do it. Well this year I said YES!

It was a fun day spent with nurses, bankers, and co Realtors . We framed walls, added the second floor floor joice., wrapped the outside in house wrap, and so on. It was a stinking 100 degrees outside and no one seemed to care. We where there to get done as much as we could for Habitat that day.

I left sunburned ,sore, tired but mostly with a big smile! I could not wait to get home and tell my friends and family about my day. I so so super excited ! My heart felt good and I was feeling very rewarded for spending my day there. I will keep going back every year to volunteer ! It was a very nice way to give back in my community . I feel Lucky to have nice things and a home to put them in. Wahooo!

Ran out last evening to show a property. Before going I reviewed the home online of course. Just another really old weathered home in town here in Hanover Pa. The owners have passed and it is being sold. Nothing too special I think.

I pull and my thoughts are really not to bad from the curb. Maybe I am not wasting gas on this showing.

Well let me tell you ...I greet my clients and in we go. I stand in the Living room and take a look around.My eyes are greeted  with the homes history.  On the wall is a family portrait . It is  a MOM and Dad with there 9 children. 8 girls and one boy. Taken maybe around the late 70's?  On the other wall is a large plaque with the children's names and birth dates listed on it. Kind of neat! On the china cabinet sitting in the room is the Obituary from 2009 where DAD had passed away in his wife's arms. After 76 years of marriage! WOW.

As we go through the home there are trinkets of family history here and there. There was a charm bracket MOM wore with all of her children names and birth dates on display. There was the hospital bed where MOM? must have spent her last days . No one seemed to want to put it away just yet.

In the kitchen there was the keys to whatever hung on a nail beside the door. Just like my Grandfather did with his gargae key!

Upstairs in the bedroom was a homemade blanket across the bed. More of moms handy work!

There where pictures of the kids growning up scatted about. Marks on the wall where they where measured for height each year.

The yard still had the sitting area where you could see MOM and Dad had spent a many year just enjoying there life together. The old garage still had some very old things men collect .

Long story short we all left with the feeling that this was not just anther old home in town. This place even thought very worn was someones history! Where they shared there holidays , raised there family, shared there sorrows, Laughed , cried, children left one at a time to get married, grand kids came to visit, and some stayed until God called them home.

I was touched. I do not know if the home was ment to tell this story but it did!  Another life lesson!

I have been playing the real estate game with coach Patty       . This game consists of a daily phone call and and tasks to complete every day. I have only been in the game for 2 days out of the 30.

I HAVE LEARNED A BUNCH IN JUST 2 DAYS!!

The importance of scheduling .. Something I stick at..

And yesterday the 80/ 20 rule... Do you know about this rule. Well i had a light bulb moment when I heard this.. It is simply that you need to spend 80% of the time finding and doing business and 20 % on administrative tasks!!

Anyone agreee with this? How do you compare to this 80/ 20 rule?? Just want hear how you orginize your day and if it works for you.

I just finished looking into a new company that has moved to the Hanover pa area.

They shall remain nameless. I never want to slam someone trying to make a living.

They are a credit repair company that took out a good size ad in our local paper.

The ad was nicely presented and informative.  promises to pay the consumer $10,000 if they fail!!

Also the company boosts they are former credit bureau executives.. how can you go wrong.

I had to look into this. Many of my buyers that have some bumps on there credit may want to take this route.

I went to the web site and looked around. Everything sounded good and  no bull it was all on the up and up.

The client had to be responsible for keeping in touch and doing some leg work .

This company will do a lot more then send letters and dispute , they seem to know the ins and out of the credit industry!! I was impressed.

The down fall They charge up front $795.00. Ouch!

I was really thinking hey maybe I can work together with this company and help some of my clients ...

You know always thinking about how to get to a sale..  And a renter to a home owner.

The question is.. Would you as a buyer want to pay $795.00??? That just seems over the top. Or maybe I am out of touch.

Or would you just work on it on your own?? It will time , energy, and patience.. But it will not cost you $795.00... Just some blood,sweat and tears!!!

I have sold homes in and around Hanover School District for years now.

NEVER>>> have I seen the prices I am seeing now.

I just did a quick search of detaches single family homes in the Hanover pa school district.

There are 35 singles family homes priced below $199.900..

Most are in quite neighborhoods.  Some are in town.

All have yards and there own privacy.

There are ranchers, colonials,  an English tutor, cape cods, and farm typr homes.

However my point is just in one smal school district i have found 35 homes that  list from $70,000 to $199.900 !!!

This is big news as we all know you could barly buy a town house for this....

Pay no mind to the media . Look and Buy .. NOW IS THE TIME !!!!

As always I am here to help you with your real Estate needs .sharris@aqre.com

www.buyandsellwithsharon.com

I was just wondering about all the signs that seem to be everywhere you look ... They are the ones that say we will buy your house for cash.. Or they can sell it in 7 days or less.. Or behind in payments.

Anyhow you know the ones.

I just spent some time filling out a form on one of though sites.. I wanted to see what they would offer me for my house. Would this be a fair price? Or would it be like some low ball offer? 

Stay tuned I will let you know what comes of this.. Someone is going to call me within 48 hours.

I plugged in my address and type of home. A 3 bedroom ranch with finished basement.. 2.5 detached garage, pool, and many upgrades.

The form started out nice enough with asking this general info. then moved on to the hard questions.. Mortgage info such as amount owed on the property and monthly payment. Taxes, homeowner fees, and insurance. OK they would in interested in knowing this.

Then moved onto the killer questions .. How much do I think the homes is worth, am I behind in payments, Do I owe back taxes. OK I answers these...

Now comes the really crazy questions..

* would I accept less for the house if they bought it ? If so what amount?

* If I am behind in payments would I consider renting the house back from them?

* What repairs need done? Are you willing to pay a contractor to fix ?

* Is your house listed with a Realtor? If so when does it expire?

* If you are owed equity after the sale can will you accept monthly payments?

* If you want you can sign over the power of attorney to us and we can make your payments for you?

HOW IS THIS REALLY HELPING THE AVERAGE PERSON BEHIND IN THERE PAYMENTS?

OK stay tuned I will let you know what the offer on my home is and how it measures up to a cma done by me....