Last year I read an article by Gayle Guynup, Editor of Style Magazine, entitled Places I have called home and put it in my file for future blog posts. Sometimes I feel like I have lived everywhere. Lately our Buyer Clients are coming from so many different states, I’m having a lot of fun talking about all the places we have in common.

Started thinking about that country song “I’ve been everywhere Man” – it’s a great way to travel through all the places I’ve lived, so, here I go -

I’ve lived in:

New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, New Jersey again, New York again, California, Missouri, New York again, Virginia, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia again, Maryland, Virginia yet again, North Carolina, Delaware. And now I live and work in Lewes, Delaware. Whew!

Here are some of the towns I’ve lived in:

Flushing, Middlesex, New Orleans, Pompton Plains, New York City, Los Angeles, Kansas City, New York City again, Arlington, Oakton, Silver Spring, Falls Church, Cranston, Yarmouth, Boston, Sudbury, South Boston, Houston, Wilmington NC, Wilmington DE, Milton and Lewes.

Where are you from?

Coastal Delaware is becoming the Boomer melting pot and we see this trend continuing for at least the next 10 years. Increasingly our clients are coming from New York and Jersey, but they’re also coming from:

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, DC, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire. They’re coming back from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and even as far away from Washington, Arizona, Minnesota and more.

Where are you coming from?

Nationwide Open House Weekend is happening in Delaware and all over the country on Sunday, April 29th, 2012. Who doesn’t like to look at homes for sale and this weekend you can browse to your heart’s content.

To see more information about any of these homes, just click

on the Photo to preview it online.

All of us at Active Adults Realty are supporting this campaign by holding Public Open Houses at some great homes in Coastal Delaware -

Heritage Shores

One of Delaware’s most complete Active Adult Communities where life truly begins at 55+. Heritage Shores is the only Active Adult Community in Delaware with an 18-hole Championship Golf Course. Amenities included:

• 28,000 square foot Heritage Club
• Passwaters Restaurant and 1730 Tavern and Grill
• Grand Ballroom with a Stage and Dance Floor
• Wood Workshop
• Arts and Crafts Room
• Billiards and Card Room, Library and more
• Aquatic and Fitness Center with both Indoor and Outdoor Pools
• Aerobics Studio
• 4 Tennis Courts
• Full Time Activities Director

Linda Chick and Debbie Shearer will be hosting Open Houses at these three beautiful homes, all available right now, come on out on Sunday, April 29th between 12 and 3pm:

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If you live in Middletown, Delaware, you may not know that there are at least 15 other Middletowns, making it a very popular name for a town. Several of them are in the surrounding states and lately I have been getting calls from people in Middletown, New York, and Middletown, New Jersey, in particular. Lots of them are thinking about moving to Delaware. Then I looked in my own database of current clients and found 15 people that I have already been working with.

What’s in a name?

“Middletown” means the average or typical American small city. There are places actually named Middletown in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and elsewhere.

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Reverse Mortgages are not just for the older seniors anymore. In fact, Baby Boomers in their early 60’s now make up 20% of the prospective reverse mortgage candidates! Why?

According to Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, “Consumer attitudes about reverse mortgages are changing because the recession has eroded confidence about retirement security and Americans will rely more and more on these measures. (more…)

My favorites are topped with the Three Bs – The Beach, The Boardwalk and The Bandstand!

1. The Beach has been replenished and the wide expanse is ready for Summer.
2. The Boardwalk has new boards great for strolling or power walking the one mile stretch. Bill says it reminds him of his childhood, memories of the games and the rides – and they are still there today.
3. The Rehoboth Bandstand and the great concerts all summer long. The bandstand has been providing FREE entertainment for Rehoboth Beach and its visitors since 1963.  Each year over 50 bands are selected to perform in an open-air concert venue.
4. Great Seafood Restaurants including two of my favorites: Fins and Big Fish Grill. Always fresh fish and great service.
5. Specialty Shops like Something Comfortable and In2Soles. Looking fantastic AND being comfortable at the same time? Both of these locally owned specialty shops offer that and more.
6. Get Down in Town, March 30th, 6 – 9 pm. Second Annual Stroll Rehoboth with great deals and great food. Restaurants pair with Retail Shops all over town for this truly unique shopping experience.
7. Clear Space Theatre  The Clear Space Theatre Company, a 501(c)3 cultural organization, founded in 2004, is located at 20 Baltimore Avenue (Beach Block), Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. Professional productions and educational opportunities.
8. Mosaic’s Second Saturday – Destination Art – Year round! So many great galleries make for a pleasant stroll through town. Check times and featured artists.
9. Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival every November. With over 100 films over 5 days, there is always a great selection of films you just won’t find anywhere else. The Film Society offers film events all year long.
10. The Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival every October. This could possible be my favorite event of the year since Bill and I met at the Festival in 2000. Hard to believe this will be our 12th Anniversary! Can’t wait to see the lineup for this year.

Thank you to Vanessa Spiegel who has said that we can share this information with family and friends. A friend forwarded it to me and I thought I would share it with you here.

I hate to admit my age, but when there are substantial discounts involved, why not! So wherever you are Vanessa Spiegel, thank you.

I’m Not Getting Older, I’m Getting Discounts by Vanessa Spiegel
BUT YOU MUST ASK FOR THEM !!!

As I was waiting in line behind an older gentleman at Wendy’s recently, I heard him ask for his senior discount. The girl at the register apologized and charged him less When I asked the man what the discount was, he told me that seniors over 55 gets 10% off everything on the menu, every day. (more…)

Today we had buyer clients here from North Carolina. Originally from Northern New Jersey, just like I am, they had retired and moved to Coastal North Carolina several years ago. It’s a beautiful area with lovely beaches, but here they were wanting to look at homes in Delaware. Why you might ask? They want to be closer to their family now and the grandchildren are living in New Jersey! As much as Coastal Delaware has its resorts and beach towns, it is also just two hours from about anywhere you want to go in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

“Where we live in North Carolina, we always see a lots of cars with New Jersey license plates and a lot from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland all the time in North Carolina. But, you know, we never see anyone with a Delaware license plate!”

Do Delawareans stay in Delaware?

Like many Baby Boomers, people I meet here in Delaware would love to spend a few weeks or maybe a few months traveling or perhaps living part time in Florida. We had dinner last night with another couple who had just spent one month in the Keys. We spent two weeks there in February ourselves and we both agreed that was long enough.

The big advantage of Coastal Delaware is Location, Location, Location. That plus Taxes, Taxes or should I just say Low Taxes, makes this the new Boomer Melting Pot.

How do you make decisions, especially really important decisions like choosing where you want to live when you retire? Buying a new home at this time in our lives can be overwhelming for some and yesterday one of my clients asked if I had a Checklist that I could send  her.

Let’s break this Checklist into Sections, starting with

Location

Do you want to be

• in a community or in a town?
• close to the beach?

If a community, what kind?

• Age Restricted or All Ages
• Large Community (500 or more) or Small (100–400)

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If you are 65 or over, you are eligible for a property tax credit against regular school taxes assessed on your primary residence. The actual credit is for 50 percent of the taxes up to a maximum of $500. It sounds very simple, but as I was doing the research for myself, I ended up with questions. So, I made some calls and I am sharing those answers here with you.

If you turn 65 prior to April 30th of the tax year, you are eligible to receive this credit on that year’s school district property tax bill. Since I don’t turn 65 until October, I won’t be eligible until 2013.

New Residents

This is a State Program and the current law states that you must have been a full time resident for 6 months prior to May 1st of the tax year in order to be eligible. So, if you moved here in December of 2011 and turn 65 prior to April 30th of this year, you will be eligible for the Senior School Property Tax Credit for 2012. However, if you moved to Delaware in March of 2012 with the same birthday, you would not be eligible until 2013. (more…)

Are you tired of all of the unsolicited credit card, insurance and mortgage offers in the mail?  It seems like half the mail is magazines and junk and the other half is offers of credit.  If you would like to stop these unwanted solicitations, I have a solution for you.  Visit www.optoutprescreen.com and opt-out of future credit solicitations.

OptOutPrescreen.com

OptOutPrescreen.com is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to Opt-In or Opt-Out of firm offers of credit or insurance. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you (“Firm Offers”). The FCRA also provides you the right to “Opt-Out”, which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers. (more…)