Nick & Trudy Vandekar

Many buyers today don't have enough savings for a downpayment. But the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) is helping buyers by monetizing the First Time Buyers Tax Credit allowing them to use it as a downpayment helping those who are short of money. This money can be used towards the downpayment requirement or towards closing costs.

Of course there are some restrictions and the plan varies depending on what you are buying. For New construction PHFA will lend you $6000, if it is a resale then that figure reduces by $1000 to $5000. If you repay this loan before June 30 2010 then it is interest free.

Of course to obtain this loan you must be a first time homebuyer; must fall within the federal tax credit income guidelines, must be obtaining a PHFA first mortgage; and the program cannot be combined with any PHFA down-payment and closing cost assistance programs.

As this is financed by $5 miilion of PHFA's own funding their is limited availability. To help PHFA has posted a chart on their website that shows a list of local lenders who participate in PHFA loans by county.

This can help you take advantage of the tax credit now before the program comes to an end by selecting a home and makeing an offer with a settlement date on or before November 30th. As many loans are taking longer to close this deadline is approaching fast to use this program. It can take 60-90 days from making an offer to settlement using these types of loans, so you need to act now. Call if you need help.

So to continue with this series, last week on a glorious summer day we visited Chanticleer in Wayne, PA on the Main Line outside of Philadelphia, one of our favourite places. This is a wonderful garden that in our opinion rivals Longwood Gardens and feels more real. What I mean by that is Chanticleer in Wayne, PA does not groom the plants for just a one week show, what you see is how it really is. There may be some weeds in the borders, the plants show there age sometimes and whilst there is this reality it is still impressive.

Only open during the summer it is located on Church Road in Wayne. It was the hope of Christine and Adolphe Rosengarten and has been open since 1993 to the public. We love wandering the paths as you can get inspiration for your own yard or garden. The layout of the beds and the water features are magnificent and well worth the visit. You can sit and enjoy the gardens as there are seats scattered around to enjoy the vistas laid out before you. Friday evvenings the gardens stay open till eight and you are welcome to bring a picnic and abottle of wine to enjoy. It does get rather busy on Friday evenings and the limited parking does fill up but it is well worth it to wind down a long week enjoying these magnificent gardens at Chanticleer, Wayne, PA.

Enjoy this short video of our visit.

When searching for a home, remember to smell the flowers along the way - or is it the golf courses. Philadelphia has many private and public golf courses. Four links are very useful for locating a course near your new neighborhood:
www.golfphilly.com, www.golfphilly.org,
www.golflink.com/golf-courses/city.aspx?dest+philadelphia,
www.philadelphia.com/golf/,
www.golfholes.com/pa/philadelphia-golf.htm.

Each site lists many of the same locations, but with a little different twist. Aside from the courses, there is information about the facilities where you can take the family for a meal. No matter what the weather, it is always a calming rest from the rigors of house hunting to enjoy a relaxing meal and get to know the golf possibilities in your new surroundings.

One of American's top ten courses (as designated by Golf Digest Magazine), Merion Golf Club, will be hosting the Walker Cup Matches this coming September 12^th and 13^th. The Matches face America's best amateurs against those of Great Britain and Ireland. Tickets are available at www.2009Walkercup.org. George Herbert Walker was the grandfather to Bush 41 and great grandfather of Bush 43. As the 1920 United States Golf Association President he was interested in starting a competition between teams from around the world. His inspiration came from two matches William C. Fownes, of Oakmont fame, had staged against a Canadian team. In 1921 Walker lead a team to Hoylake and defeated the British. The following year a call went out from the USGA for teams from around the world to meet at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, NY. Only a team from Great Britain and Ireland could afford to come. The press called the Matches the Walker Cup, and it stuck.

The Merion Golf Club's layout was designed by Philadelphian, and Club member, Hugh Wilson. He also designed the public course in the Philadelphia Park District, Cobbs Creek Golf Club, The Olde Course. The course is well worth the investment in time, probably under five hours, and money, a lot less than you expect.

First, find the house with our TEAM. Then take the family for a meal at a course of your choice. Maybe golf will follow!

Ever since I moved here 20 years ago I have loved Valley Forge. 3700 acres of National Park right on your door step to enjoy, trails to jog, bike or hike hills or along creeks or the Schuykill River. This 10 minute video gives a short tour of the park with some interesting clips from around the park. Hope you enjoy and make a trip, it is well worth it. For more information you can read some of the history on our website.

This is the beginning of a new series I decided on today as I was driving around that there are masses of places I like, that you may not have tried. Some are restaurants and cafes, some are stores, some are just cool places like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, always worth a visit.

Today I discovered a really cool little place to eat. Gateway Shops just off the 202 and 252 supposedly Wayne but more like Devon and really close to Chesterbrook is a place I like to hang out. it has cool shops and cafes aplenty. It is one of those places that is a raging success, always busy with some anchor stores like Staples, TJMaxx and of course Trader Joe's. I was walking along and discovered this nice little place for a bite to eat.

It does not look much, how many of the best places to eat look like that but it is clean and interesting. There are times when I want a burger, but I often fancy something a little different and I love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. The food here is Persian with lots of different kababs of chicken, beef, lamb and vegetarian, so there is something for everyone. You can have a simple kabab with bread, a flat style Persian bread, or there are platters with rice etc. Lunch specials run till 2 PM and include a free lemonade or iced tea with your meal.

I had a chicken kabab and it was succulent and tasty, it hit the spot and although I was tempted I resisted the delicious looking pastries that were available for a dessert. Give it a try and suprise yourself. Decor is pretty basic with bright colors.