PENN STATE RETREAT

Penn State Alumni, hunters, and outdoor recreational enthusiast's. Don't miss this rural retreat that is perfectly located in the tranquil Amish valley of Brush Valley. Minutes to great hunting on State Forest and State Game Lands, close to the best trout fishing in the Eastern United States, and still just a half hour to Beaver Stadium and the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (according to Sports Illustrated) that is Penn State Football.

If mountain biking is your thing or you enjoy trail running and swimming in ice cold mountain lakes, RB Winter State Park is minutes to the east and Bucknell University is only 25 minutes away too.

Give me a call today for your private preview of this cozy PENN STATE RETREAT.

THERE IS NO NEW CONTRUCTION IN STATE COLLEGE, PA...

or so I'm told almost on a daily basis by the naysayers that think the real estate and contruction industries are dead and buried in an election year economy. This is the group of people that listen to the national news and make the assumption that if things are bad every where they must be bad here too.

Nothing could be more opposed to the truth. The photo above was taken about two weeks ago in a local develop of new homes that has almost completely sold out and the construction is at a break neck pace. The builder isn't building spec homes but there are plenty of custom home buyers to keep them busy.

A quick check of building permits in Centre County shows that through the end of August, only 6 fewer permits were issues than in 2007. This would reflect a flat market rather than a horribly down market.

For information about the local building industry, give me a call or tune in to my weekly radio show on 970 AM WBLF. Ask the Realtor airs every Saturday morning from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. You can always call me at 814-280-0054.

GREAT HOME FOR FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS

Price - $69,900

Qualifies for Centre County Grant Money

Up to $10,000 available for first-time homebuyers to assist with downpayment and closing costs on this 3/1.5 home in Philipsburg.

A must see! Two story, completely remodeled and ready to move in. Tile floors in foyer, kitchen, dining room and bathrooms. New carpet and windows. Double foyer with large storage room.

Call Tim Rogers at Keller Williams Realty for your exclusive preview of this home at 814-280-0054.

This home has been featured on Top Gun Tim's "Ask the Realtor" radio show airing every Saturday morning on 970 AM WBLF radio from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.

SPRING CREEK RENTAL FOR PENN STATE FOOTBALL WEEKENDS!

You could spend $350 a night for a tiny motel room or you could bring the fly rods and rent this cozy stream side cottage with 100' along famous Spring Creek. Sleeps ten, with full kitchen and bath, and wood burning stove. Lovely quiet rear porch overlooking the stream. Enjoy a bonfire stream side after the game and stalk the famous trout that are hiding in the shadows. You can't miss them...they are huge.

One mile to Fishermans Paradise and minutes to Beaver Stadium and downtown State College.

Available immediately with a two night minimum stay. Temple weekend - $1,000 for the weekend

All other home weekends - $1,200

Non football weekends - $1,000

Call Tim Rogers at 814-280-0054 for more information.

What is your excuse?

Born the twentieth of twenty-two children, in a small, rural Tennessee town in 1940, she contracted polio as a four year old and was told she may never walk again. She lost the use of her left leg and was in such a weakened state she was shackled with leg braces. Living in a house with no money for special medical treatments, her TEAM of siblings took over. Thus, her legs were massaged a number of times each day, helping her to regain strength. Her confidence may have flagged at times in her childhood when it seemed she might spend a lifetime in leg braces or even a wheelchair. Through the efforts of her devoted family—and her own steely determination to strengthen herself—she rose from disability to Olympic glory in a few short years.

After five years of leg massage treatment, she one day stunned her doctors when she removed her leg braces and walked by herself. Soon she was challenging her brothers to races in the back yard.

Her love of basketball led her to try out for the ninth grade team where her coach cut her and told her not to bother with the sport. As a tenth grader she was added to the roster simply because the basketball coach wanted her older sister on the team and her father told the coach that the older sister could play if he allowed the younger girl to be a part of the team. The girl with the leg braces that was cut as a ninth grader went on to score 803 points that year which is still a Tennessee record for sophomores.

As a fourteen year old she started running track after the track coach saw her on the basketball court and encouraged her to run.

You see, WILMA RUDOLPH, the girl with the leg braces had never heard of the Olympics as a fourteen year old and two short years later she was toeing the line of the 100 meter dash in Australia where she won a bronze medal.

Four short years later the poor girl from Tennessee that stunned her doctors by removing those leg shackles shocked the world in Rome, Italy.

At the 1960 Olympics, Rudolph won all three of her gold medals in very dramatic fashion. In both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, she finished at least three yards in front of her closest competitor. She tied the world record in the 100-meter and set a new Olympic record in the 200. Rudolph also brought her 400-meter relay team from behind to win the gold. The French called her "La Gazelle." Without question, Rudolph's achievements at the 1960 Olympic Games remain a stand-out performance in the history of Olympic competition.

Are you hurting today? There is nothing you can’t overcome without a singleness of mind and purpose. And I ask again, “What is your excuse?”

GREAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN PHILIPSBURG!

Don't miss this great home with an excellent location in the heart of Philipsburg. This house was gutted and completly rebuilt on the inside and shows like a brand new home. You will find three bedrooms and a large bath upstairs and a large eat-in kitchen, living room and bonus room with a half bath on the first floor.

Check out the hypothetical financing:

Result:
Monthly payment:
30 Years
Interest rate:
6.250%
Loan amount:
$ 74,900.00
$ 461.17 a month

Call me today for a free preview before this home sell's. Remember, interest rates are still at historic low's so give me a call at 814-280-0054.

Fly Fishing pinnacle - The Green Drake hatch on Penns Creek!

Early June on Penns Creek just east of State College, PA. provides for some of the most exciting limestone trout fishing in the Eastern United States. The section of stream from Coburn down to Poe Paddy and about six miles south of Poe Paddy provides scenic beauty and trophy trout fishing in early June. The drive through tranquil Penns Valley and the Amish communities is worth the price of admission.

The famous Green Drake hatch smothers Penns Creek with millions of flying morsels that the trout gorge on from about 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Generally, the first and second week in June is the prime time and you will be catching 16" and larger trout.

For specific information about the current hatch and stream conditions you can visit several web sites including:

Penns Creek Angler http://www.pennscreekangler.com/

The Feathered Hook http://thefeatheredhook.com/

TCO Fly Shop http://www.tcoflyfishing.com/1sc_pennsconditions.cfm

I live on a tributary to Penns Creek and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about catching the Green Drake hatch on Penns Creek.

JUST SOLD!

Great home for first time homebuyers looking for nice neighborhood in good Centre Hall location and a lucky buyer just moved in.

This home sold in 47 days for $97,850.

If you are considering buying a home for the first time and need help with the process of finding a home or navigating the maze of first-time home buyer loan programs, including PHFA and Centre County Grant programs, give Tim Rogers at Keller Williams a call at 814-280-0054.

Spring is finally making an appearance in Happy Valley and just as the tulips are blossoming so is the real estate market as buyers come in to the market at a time when interest rates are at historic lows.

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

WINTER HANGS ON IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Just when our thoughts turn to planning spring break getaways we received a solid reminder about why we need to get away from the cold winter blues. Of course, my son would go out of his way to drive into the winter blues if it meant good snow boarding or "riding" as those in the know call it. I think at this point in the calendar the Florida Keys are looking pretty good although it has been a fairly mild winter.

The photo's were taken along Fishing Creek as it flows down the mountain from Centre to Clinton County in the midst of a fairly strong snow storm.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN CENTRE HALL
Featuring:
* Double lot - .28 acres
* 3 Br 1 Bath
* Quiet neighborhood
* 1,400 Sq. Ft. Living Area
Monthly P & I Payment - $668.37*
* Utilizing Centre County Grant Money

Great first time home in comfortable neighborhood. Move right in and update each room at your leisure. Large double lot for gardening. Walk to Centre Hall Elementary and the Centre Hall Library.

Lovely 2 bedroom home in PENNS VALLEY School District

1.20 acres bordering state forest land

Meets criteria for affordable housing and first time homebuyers programs

1.20 acres bordering State Forest land. Large 2 bedroom home close to State College and Lewistown. Nice opportunity to move right in and stop paying rent. Currently tenant occupied.

Call me for a preview of this home and stop paying rent.

NEW YEARS EVE 2007

Think about the new Years Eve party you could host in this gorgeous bed & breakfast in Victorian Bellefonte. Located on Linn Street amid the splendor of historic B & B's, the stately "Garret" is awaiting its new owners with measured excitement. The new owners may want to continue the profitable operation catering to a loyal clientele built over the past thirty years or return it to a private residence and host private parties for friends and family.
No matter what you choose to do with the elegant residence, call me now to schedule a private tour of the residence and a review of the books. Seldom does an opportunity present itself that can satisfy your dream of owning a part of Bellefonte history.
Call me directly at 814-280-0054.

Visit http://buyBellefonte.com for many additional photo's and details relating to this beautiful home.

The For Sale by Owner Conundrum

I've been talking to quite a few For Sale by Owner property owners recently and I thought I would provide some interesting information and a quick story from the past year. First the statistics taken from the NAR database so they are not tainted by my possible bias as a Realtor.

Average sales price w/Realtor - $247,000

Average sales price FSBO - $187,200

Realtors obtain an average 32% higher sales price than a FSBO on an identical property.

FSBO Methods used to market home

* Yard Sign....................51%

* Friends/neighbors....53%

* Newspaper ad...........31%

* Open house...............29%

* Internet.....................22%

Most difficult tasks for FSBO sellers

* Getting the right price.....................11%

* Understanding paperwork..............16%

* Preparing home for sale...................18%

* Attracting potential buyers............. 9%

* Time management relating to sale...9%

So what does it all mean? I suppose it depends on your viewpoint and my guess is that if you asked a hundred people you would get a hundred different viewpoints.

Now the story. I was representing a buyer earlier this year and he wanted to buy a FSBO property. So I happily scheduled a meeting with the seller and we visited her home. She greeted me at the door and quickly explained that she didn't need a Realtor because she had an attorney. I thought that was a great idea and told her that I was acting as a buyers agent on behalf of my buyer and that my interest was that of my buyer and I would do everything in my power to get the best deal possible for my buyer. She agreed that I would be a buyers agent and she would be a FSBO with a local attorney as her counsel. She agreed to pay me a buyers agent fee and we signed a statement outlining our roles.

We then sat down at the kitchen table and started to negotiate the sale of her house. Of course her attorney wasn't present (it was 7:30 in the evening) and I continually reminded her that I was representing my buyer quite possibly at her expense. She kept telling me not to worry that she had a great local attorney that would handle everything on her behalf. We kept negotiating until we had hammered out a very favorable contract filled with numerous items to help my buyer. She very happily signed the offer and asked for 24 hours for her attorney to review it. I granted the 24 hours knowing that the contract would come back drastically changed after the attorney's review.

The next day the attorney called me and asked me to pick up the executed contract that he had approved with her consent. A bit surprised I headed over to the office and picked up the contract without a single change to it.

I called the buyer and told him it was time to implement all of the items we requested in the contract. To shorten the story a bit, we did as we promised in the contract and the seller kept calling me asking why we wanted or needed to do a variety of things that she thought we shouldn't address. I reminded her that she had signed a legally binding contract that allowed us the options we were requesting, and oh by the way, she would get to pay for some of it as well. She called her attorney about the matter and the attorney explained to her that we could do the things requested, and in fact, we were not asking for anything unethical or illegal. We were simply asking for things that any excellent buyers agent would ask for on behalf of his client.

I'll never forget the final walk-through the day before closing. The seller was present and pulled me aside as the proud new buyer walked through the house prior to closing. She said to me and I'm paraphrasing but the point was very clear, "You have cost me more in this transaction than if I had hired a Realtor to represent my interests. I really think that you asked me to pay for items that you shouldn't have and I wished I had retained the services of a sellers agent but I didn't know you would cost me so much money."

The truth is I did an excellent job representing my buyer and her attorney didn't really pay attention to much of the detail nor did he explain things to her as they were happening. She ended up spending more than she would have saved on commissions with a sellers agent. I love attorney's and have several that are very good friends but they don't do this every day and it cost the seller real dollars.

Keller Williams Realty wins Stevie® Award for Real Estate Sales Organization of the Year

Could this be the best company in America? Recently, Keller Williams innovative business model was added to the core MBA curriculum at both Yale and Stanford. The company has donated $5.0 million dollars to Baylor University to fund a center to advance the study of residential real estate. “The goal of the Keller Center will be to study the issues that are pressing for real estate companies and agents in today’s marketplace,” Keller says. “For all the awesome research that is already out there, there is an equal amount that is still not being done.”

Keller Williams Realty was recently honored with a Stevie Award in the Best Run Sales Organization category as the Real Estate Sales Organization of the Year at the second annual Selling Power Sales Excellence Awards in Las Vegas, Nev.

The awards were jointly presented by Selling Power magazine, the leading sales management publication with 145,000 subscribers in 67 countries, and The Stevie® Awards, which have been hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” (the New York Post, April 27, 2005).
More than 400 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories this year.

I can't imagine a better place to work and I can't imagine a buyer or seller finding a more dedicated company of trained professionals to represent them in a real estate transaction.

SANTA CLAUS HAS THIS HOME ON YOUR SHOPPING LIST FOR CHRISTMAS

Don't miss the best buy in Penns Valley and it may be the best buy in all of Centre County real estate. The home features 3 br 2.5 baths located in a picturesque valley with views of the adjacent Amish organic dairy farm. There are 2.3 acres to call your own. Enjoy Spring and Summer on the sprawling decks that offer more than 1,000 sq. ft. of outdoor relaxation. A finsished basement offers additional opportunities and if you are a sportsman, there is a self-contained luxury gun safe that will house your collection of firearms or other collectibles in a fireproof room. There is a brand new septic system, a Koi pond, and for those looking for additional space don't miss the detached garage with office and workshop.

Santa's elves told me you could wrap this home up and put under the tree for Christmas for $229,000. Yes, that is not a mistake. $229,000 if you get to it before the Grinch does.

As the saying goes, "Call me now."

Here is the headline in today's Centre Daily Times, "Rules may raise housing prices." The subheading state's, "County looks at easing ordinances to create more affordable dwellings."

I have blogged on at the mouth about my perspective relating to Affordable Housing in the Centre Region. The speech police want us to call it "work force housing" and I will bring that to the attention of Anne Danahy before the rath of the work force housing god's descend upon her and threaten to move her into a palatial Centre region abode.

The government wants to come up with a game plan to adjust, tweak, reduce or eliminate any number of encumberances on affordable housing. What are the reigns holding back Affordable Housing (Work Force housing) in the Centre region? According to the experts they may include regulations such as zoning, land development, park land and street standards. Maybe we should mandate a wind farm in each AH development to help reduce electric bills (oops, I forgot, we all love that stuff just not in the Centre Region or in our backyard--I'm sure we can arrange some carbon offsets to make us all feel better). I didn't notice they were mandating a Starbucks in every new affordable housing development but what is a worker to do without one down the street from his/her house? The answer in some people's eyes is to ship off taxpayer dollars ($35,000 of them to be exact) to their friends that live somewhere else, maybe even in another state, to study the dilemma for twenty-four months.

Again, I know I am a simple minded country boy that resides in the hillbilly country of Penns Valley, but allow me to offer a better solution for the $35,000. Let's create a vehicle whereby those in need can meet with and discuss their options with those of us that actual place people in affordable housing every day as a vocation. We are Realtors in the local community and some of us don't limit our practice to those professionals with a minimum income of $200,000 per year. I know of a Realtor in our town that won't even talk to a buyer unless they are willing to spend a minimum of $200,000 on a home.

I have placed buyers in homes as low as $14,500 and currently I have three properties that can be purchased for under $130,000. If we use the USDA rural housing guide that tells us that low income (they didn't get the memo from the speech police either because that is what they call the loans) mortgages can be used on a property priced at $179,900 or less, there are currently as of December 5, 2007, 121 homes that meet this guideline. That represents 26% of all the homes currently for sale in the State College, Penns valley, Bald Eagle, and Bellefonte school districts meet the low income (there it is again) guidelines as set forth by USDA. Not all of the homes will qualify because they won't make loans in several of the elite neighborhoods of the Centre Region, however, almost one in four houses currently for sale would work for those considered Work Force (I'm getting it) housing.

Now the dirty little secret. Not all of the homes are across the street from University Park. You can't walk to the mall or Wegmans from most of the houses. And this is where the esteemed leadership comes in. Another simple minded idea from that hick Realtor in Penns Valley. Let's ask our government to provide for mass transportation to some of the areas where the housing is available but the commute is a burden. Maybe they could work on infrastructure improvements in some of those areas so the $10,000 septic tanks and the soon to be imposed septic tank taxes and inspection wouldn't burden the homeowners. More public water would help alleviate the $4,000 water well costs associated with building homes in those areas. Just a couple ideas. I have many more but we will save them for another day.

One final comment before we revisit the CDT headline. One of those organizations mentioned in a recent CDT article that is so interested in assisting people with "work force housing" has enacted some of the most ridiculous regulations on those same people when they want to take advantage of the grant money. They actual increase the costs to the buyer for using the money but I don't want to point fingers at anyone in particular. I've had two clients use this money this year and those stories will be re-capped in another post.

So, back to the headline. The county wants to ease ordinances to create more affordable housing. Haven't the cumulative effect of a hundred years worth of ordinances helped to get us into this situation? I want to attend the meeting when the elected officials explain to their campaign contributors exactly why the ordinances won't apply to them. Now that will be a fun blog post to write about.

DAY SPA FOR SALE

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Successful day spa operation with eleven year history of growth and profitability. An entrepreneurial individual will find a thriving business with an opportunity to grow sales and profits.

You are buying the business, contents and supplies, and the existing client base numbering more than 300. The existing lease can be continued with a new owner.

Call me for an exclusive showing on this business.

Thought for the week!

As a student of history, I always admired and respected Winston Churchill. He said,

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

If we only had the courage to believe that when faced with life's difficulties.