Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties Real Estate. Tips for home buyers, home sellers by Gita Bantwal,Realtor at ReMax Centre Realtors.

I came across information about these programs which will be useful to Active Rainers.These are free photo editing applications.

GIMP which stands for GNU Image  Manipulation Program is a free image editing softare. http://gimp.org.

It offers tutorials on the basics. This is a great program to get rid of unsightly items that show up in our pictures. It is available for Windows,Mac, Linus and other systems. It has powerful editing options.

Adobe has launched Photoshop express ( photoshop.com/express ) an online application which is a free tool.

Good pictures are very important when we post  listings on the internet because most buyers begin their search on the internet. I will be trying GIMP later because I just took some pictures that need to be edited.

Buckingham Springs is wonderful resort like community in Buckingham for 55plus community.

This lovely home is priced to sell. It has been well maintained and comes with a one year home warranty by AHS. Washer, dryer, refrigerator, and custom window treatments are included.

The home has two bedrooms with walk in closets,  two baths, 1 car garage with inside access , breakfast room.front porch with retractible awning.

 

I was glad to read in the newspaper that the Philadelphia Sheriff's office is working to protect the rights of homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments.

The link is www.phillysheriff.com

You can call a Hud approved counseling agency at 8005694287.

Also see if you qualify for Homeowner's emergency mortgage assistance program HEMAP by calling 800 342-2397

The most important thing to do is to call your lender and see how they can help you.Do not ignore letters from lender.

If you are thinking of selling please use an experienced agent .

Buckingham Springs is  a resort style community located in Bucks County Pa for peopel aged 55 and over.. There are homes with 2 and 3 bedrooms and some of them have a garage.

The community has an elegant clubhouse with an exercise room, library and lots of activities. There is a heated pool and outdoor spa.

There is a private bus that takes you to weekly shopping trips . They also have day trips and other events.

It is within minutes of fine restaurants in New Hope and museums and restaurants in Doylestown.

There is professional managemnt company on site.

Homes are available priced in high $100s to mid $200s.

If you would like to look at homes in Buckingham Springs call Gita Bantwal at ReMax Centre Realtors. I am a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and specialize in helping Seniors.

www.gitabantwal.com email gita01@aol.com

Call 215-343-8200x124 or 2153438206 direct

If you are selling your home on your own please read these tips. These are not meant to discourage you but to help you.

1. Please keep you valuables away. Do not leave jewelry on your dresser.

2. Please hide prescription medicines .

3. When someone calls you for an appointment , take down their number and then call them later so you know who you are dealing with.Try to check the number with reverse directory.

4. If you are having an open house make sure there is someone else with you at all times.Have people sign a ' SIGN IN' sheet and take down their name and telephone numbers. They may give you wrong name and you can not do anything about it.

5. When you are showing the home do not let people come when you are alone, unless you have no choice.  Turn on all lights before they come so you do not have to go into any dark rooms,  Let them enter the room first, you follow them. Have your cell phone with you. Alert someone that you will be showing at that time and to call you at a certain time to make sure you are safe., if you are showing it by yourself.

 There is a great site called www.livemocha.com  It offers inter active lessons  and it is better than using language software. According to this site you can practise speaking with native speakers and receive feedback.

I checked out the site and these are the languages it offers : German,  French, Spanish ,Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin(Chinese).

It offers self guided lessons,online tutorials and practice scripts.

I would like to  learn some of the above languages but have not yet decided which one I should start with. Maybe I will wait till I am working with a client who speaks one of these languages .

Based on in information in multiple listing here are some interesting facts about detached homes in Upper Moreland Township . priced under $300k

There are 35 single homes listed with a minimum of 3 bedrooms.

Of these homes :

15 homes have a garage, 28 have a basement and 13 have both a garage and basement.

11 of the 35 are one story homes. 5 of these have a garage and 3 have a basement and garage.

If you are looking to buy a home in the area, this is a good time to buy. Rates are low and if you are a first time buyer you can take advantage of the First time buyer Tax credit.

Visit my web site and look up all available listings www.gitabantwal.com

Based on in information in multiple listing here are some interesting facts about detached homes in Pennsbury School district. priced under $300k

There are 57 single homes listed with a minimum of 3 bedrooms.

25 of the 57 homes have minimum 2 baths.

19 homes have a garage, 10 have a basement and 6 have both a garage and basement.

38 of the 57 are one story homes.

If you are looking to buy a home in the area, this is a good time to buy. Rates are low and if you are a first time buyer you can take advantage of the First time buyer Tax credit.

Visit my web site and look up all available listings www.gitabantwal.com

I looked up single homes (detached ) in Upper Southampton in the multiple listing.

I was surprised to see that there are 34 active listings priced upto $400,000.

There are 4 homes under contract pending settlement under $400,000.

This means it still is a buyer's Market and you have a large selection of homes.

If you are a seller it means you should price your home right from the beginning.

Homes priced right are selling . Hire an agent who will market it well and make sure your home shows better than the competition. You can have it professionally staged or your agent can guide you., Remove all clutter and keep it clean.

There were 28 single  homes that sold in last six months in this price range.They sold for an average price of $283,855 and were on the market for an average of 60 days. ( days from listing date to date it went unde contract for sale)

This info  is subject to errors and omissions.

Visit my web site and look up all available listings in Upper  Southampton, Bucks County

www.gitabantwal.com