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The Scott Loper Team Lansdale & Harleysville PA Homes

ReStore - Discounted Building Materials for Your Home Improvement Projects, Montgomery County PA

Looking for discounted builiding projects for your home improvement projects? Check out ReStore. The proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity and you can pick up building materials for a fraction of the retail costs.

ReStore - Discounted Building Materials for Your Home Improvement Projects, Montgomery County PA

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

ReStore - Discounted Building Materials for Your Home Improvement Projects, Montgomery County PA - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

How to Change Electric Suppliers in Pennsylvania

If you haven't thought yet about changing electric suppliers in Pennsylvania, here is a great guide on who you can buy from, who is supplying renewed energy, prices, contracts, early termination fees, and how to do it.


How to Change Electric Suppliers in Pennsylvania

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

How to Change Electric Suppliers in Pennsylvania - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

Not in My Backyard - Wawa Debate in Hatboro, PA

With the recent Wawa debate debacle in Hatboro, it begs the question:

How do retail establishments affect residential real estate?

If you’ve been watching the evening news or reading Patch.com, you probably have heard tidbits of the tug of war between town residents and Wawa Corporation on proposed new stores next to neighborhoods.

It’s currently happening in Hatboro and Cherry Hill, NJ. So, how do these retail entities really affect the value of residential real estate?

Not in My Backyard - Wawa Debate in Hatboro, PAMany of the residents in both of these towns have voiced how they will be affected by noise and traffic next to a non-stop 24-7, 365-day business. The strongest opinions usually come from the neighbors whose homes abut the property that Wawa is looking to build Super Wawas on.

And, with good reason, for they have the most to lose and I’m not talking just financially, but also in quality of life. You don’t often hear about the house that sold for more money than a comparable home because a corporation bought the land right next to it to build retail. If anything, you hear the opposite, or at least I do.

I work with homebuyers every day. They will usually provide quick, negative feedback if the home is located next to traffic lights, train tracks, retail, gas stations, even churches. Indeed, real estate is still about location and external factors.

I’m going to do some step aerobics on my soap box now to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Price You Pay.” Ready?

The home values next to a proposed Wawa will most certainly be impacted no matter how much re-design, engineering and resident input takes place. From its corporate website, it declares that Wawa is committed to being a good neighbor and to becoming an integral part of each community. I believe that, for the most part, and I’ve seen it first hand.

I’ve been a volunteer at Operation Brotherly Love, a charitable event benefiting families during the holidays where Wawa is a leading partner and participant. And I know the stores help with fundraising and donations to local sports teams, schools, etc. These are all good neighborly qualities. But how do they help the people who are their immediate neighbors? Why not take it a step further?

Wawa’s website claims that 9,000 of their 18,000 associates have a 30 percent ownership stake in the company (an employee stock ownership plan). There is no way to calculate how much a homeowner’s property value decreases when a Wawa is built right next door, but what if that homeowner received a kickback like the employee?

Wouldn’t it help offset some of their financial loss? The residents would have to live with the noise and light pollution around the clock. Isn’t that worth something? Or better yet, why not give the option of buying the homes at fair market value and create a larger buffer area of green space between the store and the next home? What about putting solar panels on the store and give the homes around it free electricity? Home buyers are always looking for benefits in features that best suit them.

In Hatboro, there is not only opposition from neighbors, but if the plan evolves, a historic building (the first home of Hatboro) would be demolished that currently houses a vibrant small business (without around-the-clock hours). Again, this is only if Wawa purchases the property and is granted a zoning variance from the borough.

In following this series of events, I was most taken by a comment from Susan Bratton, Wawa’s regional real estate manager, as reported in Hatboro-Horsham Patch.com. She was quoted as saying, “As we mature in a marketplace we are building new facilities and frankly closing older facilities. That’s the beauty of real estate”.

I think the residents have a different view of the beauty of real estate, as do I. When they bought their homes, they had the opportunity to investigate the home’s zoning and the zoning use around them. A change to that said use doesn’t allow them to go back and make their decision over again. Also, older (read: historic) buildings can be and should treasured.

The Romans had it right: Restore everything. Re-use as much as possible. Recycle for a new use.

I have personally experienced a powerful entity buying land next to my own home. It was a school district who gained the land through eminent domain for the purpose of expanding a high school. The opportunity for me to buy that land, to keep it as open space, was not an option because of eminent domain.

So, I got involved with the process of planning and formed a resident group to meet with the school district. That was back in 1998. Today, that space is an athletic field with restricted use and no lights, which was as good an outcome as anyone could hope for. There were times when proposals existed to build on it, make it warehouse space or another school. Ultimately, it would have cost the tax payers too much AND the residents didn’t want it.

So, to the powers that be at Wawa, I ask, what song is playing when you do step aerobics on a soap box? Maybe it’s Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me”?

I would love to get some real statistics from Wawa that shows how they improved a purchased piece of land and positively impacted surrounding residential real estate values. It could be out there. It’s probably on the subject of storm water run-off improvement, but none-the-less one worthy of interest.

~Gina

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Not in My Backyard - Wawa Debate in Hatboro, PA - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

North Penn Spring Craft Fair, Lansdale PA, March 17, 2012

COME ONE, COME ALL! North Penn is hosting their annual Select Craft Show on Saturday, March 17, 2012 from 9:30am through 4:30pm at North Penn High School, 1340 Valley Forge Road, Lansdale, PA.

There will be over 95 top quality craft artists, a homemade luncheon available for purchase, and great items for you and your home!

North Penn Spring Craft Fair, Lansdale PA, March 17, 2012

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

North Penn Spring Craft Fair, Lansdale PA, March 17, 2012 - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

It's Alive! It's Alive! The Pulse of the Real Estate Market in Montgomery County PA

The real estate market is showing signs of heating up, slowly. The number of showings on properties actively listed for sale is increasing, as well as phone and internet requests for more information on homes in the area. Also, a greater number of people are preparing for to buy (meeting with mortgage professional). In talking with other local agents and mortgage brokers, the pulse of the market was unanimously, “getting warmer” and “picking up”. Offers are being generated, and on occasion, competing offers are being presented.

Can spring be in the air early this year?

The housing climate is surely ready. There are fewer homes for sale now than this time last year, so the supply and demand see-saw looks a little different. Buyers still have a healthy supply of homes to browse, but there is about an eight month supply of homes versus a nine month supply in the last year in Montgomery County.

Looking at January of 2011 compared to January of 2012, more homes sold this year: 356 vs. 383. That’s not a drastic difference, but a step in the right direction. That’s the good news. I’d like to think things are finally moving in a positive direction. The not as good news is that the median home price fell when comparing the same period of time for single family homes in our county: $245,000 vs. $239,000. Unless of course you are a buyer, who views this information as a positive and time to make a move.

The mortgage interest rates are also attracting new home buyers and those looking to refinance. Rates are near historic lows, around 4% on a 30 year loan, and in some cases lower. If you are looking in more rural areas, there is a mortgage type called a USDA loan. Yes, that means the department of agriculture. And no, you don’t have to buy a farm to get one. Homes in areas as close by as Souderton (and many points north and west) qualify for USDA loans in Pennsylvania. Buyers can benefit from this type of loan if they have very little money to put down and will not have more than $5000 in their bank account after settlement. There are income limits with a USDA loan as well. Its best to ask a mortgage professional about all loan options to see what is the best fit.

My husband brought home a bouquet of flowers yesterday for me and our daughter. They were a lovely mix of colors including tulips. Seeing those tulips and feeling the current pulse of the day to day business as a Realtor, I couldn’t help but feel like it was already that second season of the year, Spring.

~Gina


The Pulse of the Home Market originally appeared in the Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch.

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

It's Alive! It's Alive! The Pulse of the Real Estate Market in Montgomery County PA - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.