Phoenixville, PA

I was privileged enough to have received an invitation to the retirement party for Dave Evans, a lifelong banker and business associate and friend.

The gala was hosted by Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust, indicating the mutual respect and admiration accrued over Dave's many years of service. He leaves behind a well-trained staff of mortgage professionals who will surely carry on his legacy at the consumer-friendly, local banking institution, more affectionately know as Phoenix Fed.

Dave oversaw operations in the mortgage department at Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust for many years.

He is an avid golfer and a 'not so shabby' tennis player, I'm told. I'm sure Dave will pursue both those interests with much rigor and enthusiasm now that he has retired. Travelling with his wife will also be on the Evans schedule of things to do.

The memories of many closings shared between us will last for many years. Stories, both serious and funny, fill our minds and provide much to talk about whenever we gather to eat or share a beverage.

And the well-attended gathering last night to celebrate his retirement attested to Dave's popularity among notables in the real estate world in the Phoenixville and Southeastern Pennsylvania area. In fact, I never saw so many local title people gathered together in one place, not to mention the many real estate agents among his sphere of influence.

I couldn't resist writing this post to memorialize his retirement and our friendship, both personal and professional.

May The Lord be gracious to him and his family, and provide them with many more years of joy and happiness...!!!

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Last week we needed to go up to Lowes at Oaks and as it was a great weekend weather wise and it was our wedding anniversary we decided to find somewhere for breakfast on the way. We wanted somewhere different and a little funky. As Phoenixville could be on our way if we took backroads we thought we might find somewhere good to eat.

We drove up over the hills and coming along Whitehorse Road to the junction with Route 23 I spy the Bookend Cafe out of the corner of my eye and through the buildings from the junction. I point it out to Trudy and she says looks great lets give it a try. So we pulled into the parking lot and liked what we saw.

The food was great, and good enough that I went back this week with two of my sons for lunch and found out a little more. It has been open since November last year and the chef is the owner. He has cooked in Exton at the Brickside Grill I think and left to open a restaurant with a friend when that fell through he relaized that he wanted his own place and settled on Phoenixville where he lives and I believe grew up.

Well he is doing a great job. The tables don't match, there are books to read if you have the time, newspapers for shorter visits, serve yourself coffee and other drinks in the fridge. The food is filling and well cooked and generous. My daughter in law to be, had pancakes and could not finish them and we all were impressed with their size and how moist and fluffy they were. Can recommend the breakfast sandwich, the Reuben, the Italian, Quiche of the day, and the cookies and brownies look great but have not tried them. Coffee tastes good as well.

They also have wireless internet, if you want to get out of the office, but still need to work. What we liked is people talk to each other and there is a really nice atmosphere. The blackboard has the specials of the day. great place to try if you need breakfast or lunch, only open till 3 PM. Did I say it has also been on NBC 10 for lunch place of the day.

Foreclosure Preview:

Yesterday I had the chance to preview an upcoming foreclosure listing in the Winding River subdivision just north of Phoenixville Pennsylvania in Chester County. Please be forewarned that this is a rougher video and the home has only been partially cleaned out, but this will provide you with a better idea of how the properties appear before they are put on the market. You can hear some of the workers in the background. This property should be updated and priced in the next week or so.

River View Circle is another of Danielle Mateu's foreclosures located just north of downtown Phoenixville off Black Rock Rd in the Winding River subdivision. This area of Phoenixville is surrounded on three sides by the Schuylkill River. Winding River is adjacent to the Black Rock County Preserve and the Upper Schuylkill Valley County Park. It is minutes from downtown Phoenixville, Royersford, and Spring City and has easy access to Route 422 to the north and Route 29 heading south towards Malvern.

With no inspections having been performed, River View is another property that appears on the surface to be in basically good shape needing mostly cosmetics. Situated on a cul de sac street, it is a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath single family Colonial on almost a half acre within the Winding River Community of about 100 homes. Per the tax records, it contains just over 3100 square feet of living space with a finished recreation room on the lower level, a nice sun porch off the back, and a nice level backyard for recreation or entertaining. This is best seen in the video:

Like other real estate in Chester County, the Winding River subdivision has recently experienced a drift down in prices. Priced in the $330-$340,000 range in the 2003-2004 time frame, prices rose rapidly until they topped out with an average price of $436,000 in 2006 with 4 sales. Since then they dropped to a $409,000 average price in 2007, $364,000 price in 2008 (3 sales including one low priced foreclosure), and $371,000 in the last six months (2 sales). This mirrors the price trends we have seen in many other local areas.

Unlike the earlier foreclosure videos in this series, this provides some idea of how the properties can appear before they are cleared to put on the market. Much of the material left in the house had already been removed to the garage when this was shot. In some properties you can find quite a bit of damage left by the former tenants, but this appears to be in OK shape although any buyer should still be prepared to make a thorough inspection and plan for unexpected items - particularily since you have no utilities to test any of the systems. Again, once this is on the market, like other bank owned properties, this sale will be an as-is sale, the buyer will need to be pre-approved, and the corporate addendums will be required.

As always if you have any questions, need any additional information, or would like to see any properties, please feel free to contact me anytime. I am still keeping an eye out for a heavy fixer just for contrast with the recent videos.

(All statistics from the TrendMLS system and believed accurate, but not guaranteed.)