I just had to share these signs of Spring with my friends here on Active Rain. The temperatures are still a little nippy, but the signs of warmer days to come are here in bright yellow!
On my way to the office every morning, I pass this well kept property with its beautiful seasonal flowers and White Birch. I always mean to plant bulbs ... Oh well!
Pansies on the Porch are a cheerful way to welcome Spring!
Have a wonderful Spring Day!
The SECOND ANNUAL ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE takes place this Sunday in Milton, Delaware.
When I found this button on Green ClipArt, it hit home! My husband Bill is mostly Irish. I am half-Irish; it is Kathleen on St. Patrick's Day. AND, we are very green.
In addition to our real estate business, Bill and I also own a remodeling company called Gotcha Covered. Bill is absolutely committed to NO WASTE on our job sites.
EXTRA SIDING OR FLOORING? It goes into the shed or back to the vendor.
APPLIANCES BEING REPLACED? Into our shed for use in a rental, a fixer upper, or to be donated to a local Thrift Shop.
OLD WOOD? Removed from an attic or floor to be replaced? Saved for a future project. A new dining room table maybe?
BACK TO THE PARADE ON MARCH 15TH - LOOK FOR GOTCHA COVERED'S VAN WITH OUR GREEN ON!
HISTORIC COTTAGES moved to make way for new development? BUY THEM, move them and find a way to re-purpose them. IDEA- Design a new house by combining several small cottages on a new foundation. Remodel and update electrical, HVAC, kitchen and baths. Renovate porches, refinish the windows and doors, add insulation and some of that gorgeous leftover siding, add those appliances removed from an earlier remodeling project, and VOILA - an affordable 2 bedroom, 2 bath cottage with a front porch and a side porch. When complete, this home will be able to sell for around $150,000. With today's FIRST TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT, this will be a great starter home and it will have a history.
THE PHIL-MOOR COTTAGES were a fixture on Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I have met so many people whose parents, grandparents, family and friends grew up renting a Phil-Moor cottage for their summer vacation at the beach. There have been cottage sightings reported in the local newspaper and the other day, a local reporter came to the job site to take pictures and find out what's going on. Now that all three of the cottages are in place on the new foundation, the remodeling work begins.
Where are the PHIL-MOOR Cottages now? They are in a little town called Ellendale, Delaware. Located just east of Rt. 113, one block off Rt. 16, Ellendale is experiencing renovation all over town. On Friday nights during the summer season, the beach traffic from Washington, DC, slows to 25 MPH as they cruise through town en route to Rehoboth Beach or Lewes for the weekend. We call these folk the "WEEKEND WARRIORS". When they get back up to speed, they pass the town of Milton about 8 miles East. That's the town we live in. When developers get back to work, the distance between Milton and Ellendale will shrink even more.
A few more miles and they intersect with Rt. 1 and head south. Another few miles and they can head east to Lewes. The Rehoboth Beach or Dewey Beach crowd continue south another few miles to their weekend getaway. On Rehoboth Avenue, where the PHIL-MOOR Cottages used to welcome earlier WARRIORS, that site now sits vacant and FOR SALE - no new townhouses were ever built. TOO LATE, the cottages have found a new home and they will become a home with a story for some lucky family soon.
When the siding is in place and the renovations have been complete, I'll post the rest of the story on this blog. We are planning to host a house-warming and invite the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce members and the press to toast the PHIL-MOOR Cottages past and future and put a good Irish Blessing on the property.
The moral of this story is - The Best Way to be Green is to REUSE and RECYLCE.
HISTORIC LEWES FARMERS MARKET has expanded the season for 2009. The new dates are May 30 through October 10. I'm already dreaming of heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn, fresh picked peaches and mushrooms. The Farmer's Market is open every Saturday during the season and it's my first stop of the day. Lucky for me, our RE/MAX office is just down the street from the market!
SUPPORT THE MARKET - The good folk at Fish On Restaurant in the Villages of Five Points in Lewes are putting together a special "Farm to Table" dinner on Friday, March 13, from 5pm to 9pm. There will be the regular menu plus a very special menu featuring local ingredients.
No reservations are needed, and part of the proceeds will benefit the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. So join all of your farmer's market friends for dinner. If you're new in town or just visiting for the weekend, there's no better way to get acquainted with Lewes and the friendly people that live here year round. Should be a heck of a lot of fun, and we will definitely wander from table to table to visit.
FEES can add up in a new home community and make for unhappy homeowners. It can be like pulling teeth to get a complete accounting of all fees and expenses when your clients are among the first buyers, but a recent experience tells me it's worth the effort.
When I have buyers that are looking at a new home community, I always make sure they knew about any capital contribution, homeowners dues and all other common types of expenses. I practically badger the Community Sales Manager to provide all the information my client has a right to expect. When it comes to taxes and utilities, it's understandable perhaps that the builder can't provide accurate numbers and here's where the surprise can come later. Most of the new active adult communities, for example, are not located in areas served by existing town water and sewer. Developers are responsible for providing water and sewer; often they choose between 2 or 3 providers to build a community system with the idea that it will tie into a county system down the road. There is intense competition to land contracts with each new community and even towns and counties are privatizing these services
My husband Bill likes to say that water is the new oil, and today's phone call proved him right!
One of my clients just got their first quarterly water bill and it was a shocking $700! Lots in this community are about a 1/4 acre or less but they have a complete irrigation system. He and his neighbors are now having wells dug to use for their irrigation systems, which should be a big saving. I can only hope that the sales people are now recommending that all buyers put in a well; I will certainly tell all of my buyers to do so.
To all of your clients that want maintenance free living, with irrigation systems and landscaping included, prepare them for the fees they don't see yet. For the clients that are overlooking upgrades to more energy efficient systems before spending everything on granite counter tops, remind them that electricity, gas, propane, oil and water prices are all going up.
Very quickly, we become a source of real information about communities attracting our buyers' interest and that makes us even more valuable.
PS - I know I need to learn HTML, but I didn't want to wait to post this information! Cut me some slack.
The best buy has to be new construction, right? After all, the builder is probably offering free upgrades and help with financing. According to media reports, builders have unsold inventory and will do whatever it takes to get a sale. MAYBE! In some parts of the country, that may well be true, but not all. In Coastal Delaware, for example, that inventory sold in 2008 and builders are no longer building to inventory.
Sellers of existing homes are more motivated, aren't they? MAYBE! Not every seller is on the verge of foreclosure. Sellers will have to consider any offer. Not necessarily, but most will at least counter any reasonable offer. Does it matter how long the home has been on the market? PERHAPS! But, in this market, every home has been on the market too long.
When you have a choice of both Resale Homes and New Construction, here are some suggestions to help you make the best choice -
Don't limit your selection of homes before you see what's available. You just might find your perfect home is already designed, built and ready for you to move in. The better buy is the one that's right for you.
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Boomers and Beyond at the Beach in Delaware! We cover all of Sussex County, Delaware from the Atlantic Ocean to the Maryland border - all of Sussex County and most of Kent County.
Delaware is ranked as one of the Top 5 Most Tax Friendly States for Retirees with no Sales Tax and low property taxes. Are low taxes alone enough of a reason to move to Delaware? NO, but we can show you all the other reasons.
If you are considering a move to Coastal Delaware, you need the help of a professional with the knowledge, background and experience to help you make an informed decision. There are as many ways to be a Realtor as there are people.
The way I choose to be a Realtor is to specialize in two disciplines:
• Represent Boomer Buyers from outside the immediate area and help them find the right home in the right community or town for them. And it doesn’t stop there. We will help them negotiate, get inspections done, pick an attorney, get financing and anything else necessary to complete the transaction and begin their new life in Coastal Delaware.
• Represent Boomer Sellers who may need to sell their homes here to downsize or move closer to family and friends elsewhere. It’s not easy selling the family home, but we’ll do our best to make it as stress-free as possible.
I don’t try to be all things to all people. I do focus on Boomers & Beyond at the Beach in Delaware and those who plan to live here at some point in their future. We use the term “beach” loosely these days. After all, Delaware is a small state and in Coastal Delaware, you can’t be more than an hour from the beach no matter where you live!
The beach is more a state of mind and I think that’s why Coastal Delaware appeals so much to Boomers & Beyond.
This is my full time career and I do my best to stay current with trends and technology that help me do a better job for my clients. After 30 years in the technology industry with companies like Wang Laboratories, Compaq Computer Corporation and a smattering of Beltway Bandits, you’d think that would be easy. With technology moving so quickly, however, I’m amazed at how much it has changed the real estate industry and how much there is to learn every day.
I moved to Delaware back in 2000 just before getting into real estate. I met my husband and partner, Bill, shortly after and we have become a great team. During the week, Bill runs our Construction business, Gotcha Covered, a full service remodeling company. On the weekend, he joins me and works with our real estate clients. He brings a wealth of knowledge to our real estate business and is a resource for our clients during the process of buying or selling a home and long after.
Bill is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), which basically means that he understands and applies the principles of Universal Design (UD) to every project and every real estate purchase. UD says that all living space should be designed to be usable by everyone regardless of size, age or ability. When I heard about the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) program about six years ago, it made perfect sense for me to take the classes and earn the designation. For us, it just makes sense to specialize and to become expert at everything Coastal Delaware has to offer Baby Boomers. We hate to be called seniors, so I just use the initials – SRES, but we are thinking about retirement, where we want to live and how we want to live the best part of our lives.
I also pursued the training necessary to become a member of the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS), the organization representing the top 3% of Realtors® who produce over 20% of all real estate transactions. Finally, I have been an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) for 5 years, working primarily with buyers coming to Coastal Delaware from surrounding states. We are surrounded by states with high populations, high incomes and even higher taxes.
I look forward to helping you find your next home.
Kathy helped us purchase our retirement home near the beaches in Delaware in 2008. After finding a description of the house on the Internet, we searched for local real estate agents and left a message on Kathy's phone. She called within an hour to discuss our interest and needs. Within a day or two, Kathy went to the property, shot many interior and exterior photos and reported on the condition of the home and its landscaping. She also checked other listings for similar properties for us to see. We soon traveled to Delaware and met Kathy. With all of the information Kathy had provided us, we were able to make a quick decision and write a contract on our dream home. Kathy made all the arrangements for the inspection and several other contingencies, and the closing could not have gone more smoothly. Kathy has since been a great help to us in finding contractors to do minor repairs and additional landscaping. Thanks to Kathy, we are looking forward to spending many enjoyable years in our new home. -Jean & Mike Bower
"My initial contact with Kathy was via E-mail and phone from Florida as I planned a house hunting trip to the Lewes - Milton area. With her assistance, we found a home and neighborhood that fit the very particular needs of a recently retired couple and an aging senior citizen. Kathy immediately impressed me with her grasp of the unique style, age and design of a home that would satisfy the contour of our needs while at the same time meeting our budget. Her knowledge of the market and its trends together with her vast experience and credentials were invaluable as were her guidance, patience and diligence. We are most grateful for our experience with Kathy during the home search as well as before and after the purchase since it was pleasant and professional at every turn. The entire process was certainly complicated by the fact that we were more than a thousand miles away and yet we hardly noticed. Kathy Sperl-Bell has left quite an impression in our minds and a very large footprint upon the real estate market of Sussex County Delaware." - Rick & Maureen Dailey
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