Lauren Krady Lancaster PA Realtor

Here are some things happening this weekend around Lancaster:

Thursday dec 4^th Open House at Community Homeless Outreach Center
Drop In 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Help us celebrate our one year anniversary! Brief remarks at 3:00 p.m. Experience how your support has made a difference for homeless individuals in Lancaster County. Meet our clients. Hear their SUCCESS stories! See our new shower & laundry facility. Light refreshments served. Additional parking on Water Street. Open to the Public Location: 210 S. Prince Street

Friday December 5^th: This is the start of the third season of the popular Ice Park at Clipper Magazine Stadium. The special cooling system will make it possible to skate on our 135' x 80' ice rink in temperatures up to 60 degrees.
http://lancasterbarnstormers.com/schedule_icepark.cfm to see the schedule

$6 tickets $3 skate rental

Friday December 5^th - Downtown Lancaster First Friday:Over 60 galleries, museums, shops, and restaurants extend their hours. Many artist premiers and openings. First Fridays are a great time to experience downtown Lancaster! Join the thousands who enjoy the evening's artistic energy and fun surprises that make each First Friday special. Downtown Lancaster 5 PM - 9 PM www.lancasterarts.com

Friday December 5^th 5-9 pm and Saturday December 6^th 10-3 Downtown Lancaster: Visit Santa in Binns Park , Listen to the strolling musicians, see the model train display at Citizens bank 2^nd floor corner of King and Queen streets.

Friday December 5^th 5-9 pm Holiday Karaoke downtown Lancaster corner of King and Queen St. Horse drawn carriage rides, $5 per person.

Saturday December 6^th Jazz in the Atrium Series concert with the Mitchell-Ruff Jazz Duo. For ticket information, www.pamusacad.org Pennsylvania Academy of Music, 42 N. Prince Street 8PM

Friday December 5^th Lititz Tree lighting and songfest in Lititz Springs Park. Santa will arrive and join in the festivities on Friday evening and his visiting hours for the holidays will start that night. Lititz Spring Park.

Park City is the local mall conveniently located off of Route 30 and Harrisburg Pike. It is a great place to take the kids on a rainy day and play in the play area in the lower level food court. Kids can run around and climb over the obstacles and parents can drink coffee, use the free wi-fi, or just sit and watch.

JC Penny, Sears, Bon-Ton, Boscov's, and Kohls are all in this mall making it a great place to do your holiday shopping. Santa has taken up residence on the main level in the middle of the mall.

Last year they added on with The Fountain Shops, a wing with Williams Sonoma, Starbucks, J Jill and other fine shops. They also added JB Dawsons, a great restaurant. And here is a tip: kids eat free all day every Sunday!

There are two great resources for first time home buyers in Lancaster. If you are looking to get educated about buying a house, credit counseling, and other related issues, check out these two organizations:

Lancaster Housing Opportunities Partnership 44 N Christian St; STE 300, Lancaster www.lhop.org

Lancaster Housing Opportunities Partnership provides education on the process of buying a home and what to expect from lenders and agents. The classes are in English or Spanish and cost $15 to attend.

The website says:" Eligible first time homebuyers may qualify for closing cost and down payment assistance loans with LHOP's Homebuyer Loan Program. These loans are provided in combination with mortgage products offered by Partnership Lenders to purchase homes located in Lancaster County, outside of Lancaster City, and at the minimum meet FHA requirements. Funding for the CHB Loan Program is not guaranteed and CHB Loan approval is subject to overall availability of funds and individual eligibility for the CHB Loan Program."

TABOR Community Services, Inc. 308 E King St www.tabornet.org

Tabor provides counseling for home ownership, budgeting, credit improvement, debt management and more. There website states: "Tabor Community Services, Inc. is a non-profit housing and consumer credit counseling organization with a mission to rebuild communities by helping families find housing and financial solutions."

Now is a great time to buy, there is a large selection and rates are very low; today the rate for a 30 year fixed conventional with 20 percent down payment is around 5.25%!

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Lauren Krady is a real estate professional with Coldwell Banker, the nation's oldest and most trusted brand. She is a member of the Jeff Geoghan Realty Group and serves all of the Lancaster City PA homes market with superior customer service and dedication. Contact Lauren to start your home search in Lancaster City and beyond by calling her at (717) 824-7236.

More good news for those of us in Lancaster county. In October Forbes named us "One of the 10 best places to ride out the recession." Now Kiplinger.com has named us one of the "six real estate safe havens" accross the country. These places are noted for there stable home values, comparatively low foreclosure rates, and housing affordability.

Kiplinger wrote: "Known as an Amish cultural hub, [Lancaster County] is also home to a diverse group of industries, including printing and food processing. This helps keep the local market stable and unemployment low, as losses in one sector aren't devastating to the overall economy."

This confirms what I already knew and have been telling people. Lancaster is an affordable place to live and housing prices never got out of control and therefore haven't come crashing down. The article also said that home prices have gone up 1.6 percent in the past 12 months.

The other five safe havens Kiplinger named were Albuquerque, N.M.; Burlington, Vt.; Clarksville, Tenn.; Pittsburgh; Johnson City, Tenn; and Burlington, Vt.

You can see the article here: http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/slideshows/slideshow_pop.html?nm=RealEstateCities

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Lauren Krady is a real estate professional with Coldwell Banker, the nation's oldest and most trusted brand. She is a member of the Jeff Geoghan Realty Group and serves all of the Lancaster City PA homes market with superior customer service and dedication. Contact Lauren to start your home search in Lancaster City and beyond by calling her at (717) 824-7236.

Was anyone brave enough to go to the sales on Friday? I thought about going to the Tanger and Rockvale Outlets in Lancaster, they were open at 12 am, but the warmth of my bed won out.

We did attend the Mayors Tree Lighting in downtown Lancaster City. They close a few blocks of King St and Queen St so people can fill the area to see the stage. We try to go every year and this year I forgot my camera! It wasn't too cold this time and the kids enjoyed seeing the big Christmas tree and the huge fire truck bringing santa. Its always a festive time with the singing, central market is open late, the stores are open, and this year santa took up residence in Binn's Park.

If you didnt make it this year try to come out next year.