James & Amy Galligan

Our daughter Emily will be 13 years old on Tuesday so we had a Birthday party for her last night with some family & friends...I wanted a special cake for her special birthday so I searched the internet for specialty cakes (like the ones I see on TV)... I found Merry's Cakes and was happy to find that they were close by and actually made nice looking cakes...

We ordered the cake from Merry's Custom Cakes in Stroudsburg and it was beautiful & delicious... I have never had a cake from there before but let me tell you I will order from Merry's cakes again & again!!!

I had no idea that this shop even existed but everyone at the party now knows where to find them because the cake was great!! The shop is built into the front of their home & tucked away off of Shafer's Schoolhouse Road, she has made thousands of cakes and so many different designs too...

Emily's face when I brought the cake home was priceless and she was so happy with the Irish designs all around and her picture even on the cake... Everyone loved the look and taste of the cake, it smelled so good on the way home that I wanted to sneak a taste (but I didn't).

So many styles & choices of cakes & filling to choose from...

Click here to go to Merry's Cakes in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania!

The following information should give you a better understanding on how the LOCAL Real Estate Market is happening here in the Pocono's...

This update includes data on Stroud Township, Stroudsburg Boro, Hamilton Township, Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg Boro, Middle Smithfield, Price & Smithfield Townships and the totals on what is currently active, pending & closed for 2009.

Listed = all the residential homes currently on the market waiting to be sold

Pending = homes that have had Buyers write an offer that agreeable to the sellers & is no longer available (we do not know the sales price until the home closes)

Sold = these homes have closed and have new owners, plus we can now see what the final selling price...

TOWNSHIP / BORO Listed Pending Sold

East Stroudsburg 43 4 1

Middle Smithfield Township 262 31 13

Price Township 50 5 4

Smithfield Township 64 9 5

Delaware Water Gap 2 1 0

Hamilton Township 57 5 3

Stroud Township 198 12 26

Stroudsburg Boro 27 5 2

Totals: 703 86 40

Averages for the above Numbers:

703 Homes Listed: List price is $261,785 2,261 Square feet 156 Days on Market

86 Pending Homes: List Price is $200,044 2,021 Square Feet 121 Days on Market

40 Closed Homes: List Price was $191,715 2,288 Square feet 112 Days on Market

Average SOLD Price is $183,054

"Based on information from the Pocono Mountains Association of REALTORSâ Multiple Listing Service for the period os Jan, 1st, 2009 through Feb. 24th,2009."

Please remember that these above numbers are only the local averages for each Township or Boro...

To find out the current value of your home in TODAY'S market, please call James & Amy Galligan at Keller Williams Realty for a free, no obligation consultation!

570-421-2890 Keller Williams Realty

570-656-2235 James Galligan Directly

Or visit us on the web at: www.galliganrealty.com

We recently attended Floyd Wickman's Master Sales Academy Conference in Chicago and it was a wonderful time to meet up with friends from all over the world & also to learn something that would help us in our business of Real Estate...

If you would more info on Floyd Wickman, Please CLICK HERE!!

To get more information on Floyd Wickman Training Programs, Please CLICK HERE!!

His training Programs & Coaching have really made our business go to the next level by holding us accountable & giving us the necessary tools to get the job done!!

I love Pizza & when I was a kid living in Philly we had Santucci's Pizza across the street and they had some of the best pizza I had ever tasted!! I miss being able to run over & pick up a Philly Cheesesteak that would leak out of the bag by the time I got back home... (but that is whole other story)

We just got back from eating at Venuto's Old World Pizza on Main Street in Stroudsburg, Pa.... This place has been open for the last few months but we have never had time to run in & see what they had to offer...well I have waited TOO LONG!!

Great Pizza with many choices & just the way they made it years ago..I guess that would make sence since the name is Old World Pizza!!

They have Signature Pies named The Michelango, Giotte, Leonardo, Bellini, Raphael & more.... I had the Giotto (marinara, mozzarella & basil) & it was delicious & did not lay heavy in my tummy... Jim had the Bellini (chicken,multiple cheese & more) & also commented on how well it tasted..

Plus I ordered a salad & it was HUGE and the garlic knots were tasty!

We recommend Venuto's Old World Pizza on Main Street in Stroudsburg so try it out today, You WON'T be sorry!!

They also have so much other stuff to choose from & the service was great & they were very friendly!!

Everyone is meeting people, blogging & talking about Real Estate all the time but are we doing it in the way that would bring us more business or is it costing us business???

SO....Who is The Bad News Realtor??

Well hopefully, not you!! They are the Realtors that all they do is talk about how the market stinks, nothing is moving, prices are falling, nobody is buying, it is the slow time of year, negative, negative, negative.... They go negative on their blogs, websites, emails, listing appointments & will tell who ever will listen to them...

(but who really wants to listen to that)....

Who wants to work with a depressed, negative Bad News Realtor??

My husband has been on multiple listing appointments where the previous Realtors have been so negative & down at the appointment that the seller is feeling depressed & down too. They already prep the seller by saying, "Well you know the market is so slow right now and it is all over the news so probably your home won't sell right away." or "Oh, it's not really busy right now."

By being so negative and depressed, they make the positive agents look even more energized & ready to sell their house, no matter what TV says about the housing market...

When we go into a listing appointment we do the following:

We go in with a positive view on the market & know the local market...We are busy & we let them know that...Rates are better than ever so buyers are coming up all the time...We will do what we say we will do in order to sell your home... Know your stats & where leads are coming from... Use graphs from Realtor.com & others to show how busy your homes are doing on the internet....

I think the main thing is: If you go in with a positive attitude the seller will feel positive about you & that you are the REALTOR that can sell their home.... If you go in all depressed & down, the seller will move on to the Realtors they believe can sell their home & have the right mindset to do so!

Also, be careful what you blog about....bashing fellow REALTORS, your board & deals that went bad (even if you do not use names) is not a really good idea... There is always somebody, somewhere that knows who or what you are talking about. Plus is this how you plan to get your listings SOLD by fellow Realtors??

Remember that clients who are looking for a REALTOR can read your negative blog posts and may feel that if things go wrong or a snag happens, they may end up on the blog...

Would you want to send a referral to a negative agent or a positive agent??

Nobody wants to work with The Bad News REALTOR...do they??