Two years ago, the company built the first phase of this expanding club at Roesville, which was named Delaware’s Best Active Adult Community in 2011. The Roesville Club was complete with a media area, card section, fitness room and kitchenette. The homeowners were thrilled to have a space that fit all their needs at their current size, which came at no additional cost to them. They immediately created a weekly activity calendar that included everything from community dinners to yoga classes.

Responding to the growth at Roesville over the past two years, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons just completed a new and bigger temporary Roesville Club, again at no charge to the homeowners. The builder was thrilled to recently grand open the new temporary club which is double the size of its predecessor. Offering similar amenities, this expanded club gives residents more space to continue their numerous social activities and events.

Everyone keeps talking about how hard it is to get a mortgage with today’s tighter lending standards. Many people actually disqualify themselves without even talking to a mortgage professional! But with both money and houses on sale, now is a really great time to buy. In fact, 8 of 10 homeowners would say now is a great time to buy a home.

So if you are thinking about moving up, moving down or just taking advantage of ridiculously low interest rates, here are some tips to help you present a stronger application.

1. Income Documents

Most lenders want to see a full month of paystubs and the last two years complete Federal Tax returns. If you are on a pension or social security, they will also want to see the award letters. Assembling them ahead of time and holding on to every paystub you get is a good idea even before you find a home and/or submit your mortgage application because it will save you time later. (more…)

Do you ever wonder what all those initials are about? You know that long list of three and four letter abbreviations after Realtor’s names? If you were to look at mine, you would see Kathy Sperl-Bell, Broker, ABR, CRS, SRES. Most consumers do know what a Broker is, but don’t know and probably don’t really care about the others.

As a Broker, I do care because it tells me a lot about the REALTOR® that I may be thinking of hiring or to whom I may be sending a Referral. (more…)

Everyone with a web site just assumes that you will know how to use it. “Publish it and they will come!” But every site is different and I thought it might be helpful to introduce you to ActiveAdultsDelaware.com and all the ways you can use this site to find the house you are looking for.

First, you can search all properties for sale in Sussex County, Delaware that are listed in the Multiple Listing Service. It doesn’t matter with whom the home is listed; you do not need to go to Realtor.com or Trulia.com or Zillow.com – every listed property can be found right here.

Resale homes as well as many of the model homes to-be-built in new home communities can all be found by searching right here.

Look at the home page and notice right at the top it says Search Coastal Delaware Homes. (more…)

2011 Ended with a flurry of activity and the opening of our own Brokerage – Active Adults Realty. After years of planning, education, finding just the right location, renovating that building, hiring the right team – an experienced Office Manager and a couple of great agents, we are ready to start 2012 with enthusiasm and lots of positive energy. This Tuesday, the Lewes Chamber of Commerce and representatives of the local business community will be here with the “Ribbon”, the big scissors and the local press to officially open our doors for business. I’ll be sure to post the photos to share this experience with all of you.

If you have opened your own business or been a part of a new venture, you know that it is exciting and scary all at the same time. As the Broker-Owner, the buck now stops with me!

So, here are my personal resolutions

• Stay Focused and continue to work with the people we know and understand – Boomers and Beyond or what the real estate world calls “Active Adults”. I firmly believe it is not possible to be all things to all people. (more…)

There are certain truths in every business, things you just know to be true. After 10 years in Real Estate, I have learned that some things never change. These truths are undeniable:

1. Your first offer is usually your best buyer
2. On a resale, no one wants the middle unit
3. No one searches the Internet for a 2 bedroom home
4. Pricing your home at $299,999 misses all the people searching for homes $300,000 – $350,000
5. Empty homes look smaller
6. It takes both sides – buyer and seller – to make a good deal
7. If it seems to be good to be true, it probably is
8. All Real Estate is Local – What happens in Lewes is different than what happens in Las Vegas
9. Staging works – Typically a staged home sells in 50% less time for 5% more
10. Homes listed with a REALTOR sell for more money than a For Sale By Owner!

Can I prove all of these? Maybe not, but I can share 10 years worth of stories that illustrate these Realities.

If it seems too good to be true it probably is and that applies to homes. When I get a call telling me

I’m looking for a bargain

or asking about buying a short sale or foreclosed home, I can tell they probably just saw a segment on CNN about the housing market. Or maybe they heard that commercial on satellite radio about the thousands of foreclosed homes that can be bought for pennies on the dollar.

There are great deals on good homes that happen for various reasons:

(more…)

Today is the 1st of December. Where did the year go? In Coastal Delaware it went quickly because we were BUSY! I know you all watch the news like I do and get depressed by the reports of “depressed housing sales”. Well, I find myself talking to the TV and asking “Why don’t you come to Lewes or Rehoboth Beach and see how well the real estate market is doing here?

They’re evacuating New Jersey

So many of our Buyer Clients are coming here from New Jersey I joke that it feels like a “Permanent Class Reunion”. (more…)

You’ve heard of the “Last Chance Workout” if you’re a fan of The Biggest Loser. Amazing what they can accomplish given the opportunity! Well there are some “Last Chance Opportunities” at several of our Active Adult Communities.

Holiday Incentives

Independence is one of those with a Holiday Incentive from now through December 23rd. Today I found notes I had made in February 2008 when we saw some of the first ever incentives from Schell Brothers at Independence. They were offering $15,000 in options/upgrades and a hard hat tour of the Clubhouse.

That was then and this is now – (more…)

What a great question Bob –

“How do you price a home a few years old in a community that is still selling brand new homes?”

First, think about SELLING when you BUY!

None of us knows what tomorrow will bring so when you are buying in a new home community, here are a few tips:

Do not scrimp on upgrades.

Buyers will not consider your home if you do not have (more…)