The Pep Rally and the Benefit Concert took place last night at the Cape Henlopen High School. The auditorium was packed and the crowd was enthusiastically in support of the Extreme Makeover about to take place in Sussex County, Delaware.

Schell Brothers is scheduled to build a home for the selected family beginning Monday, August 22nd, when Ty Pennington knocks on their door to tell them the good news. Donations filled the barrels for the Food Bank of Delaware. Governor Jack Markell joined the celebration and along with the Schell Brothers family led the Pep Rally.

Do you know the difference between an “off-site stick-built home” and a modular home? I didn’t until I had been in the real estate business for several years. When you see a modular home advertised, you have to ask yourself – “Who is the builder?”

Read this post by Gotcha Covered and you’ll start to see the difference. If you already own a lot and want an extremely energy-efficient home built to your specifications, this is a great way to go. Read More.

Take the tour of the fabulous clubhouse at Independence, one of Delaware’s most popular active adult communities. This is what you expect in a top-rated community, with an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, a state-of-the-art Fitness Center, entertaining space in the ballroom and cafe area, game rooms to rival the best resort. Why take a risk on a community that promises a clubhouse will be built some time in the future? Watch the tour and then go look at the to-be-built models – SEE MODELS HERE.

Have you noticed that the terminology is different everywhere you go? They don’t build duplexes here in Coastal Delaware, but they do build:

• Attached Single Family Homes
• Carriage Homes
• Villas

And some of them look an awful lot like a duplex! Where can you find the best duplex homes?

Heritage Shores

Both Lennar and Providence of Brookfield Homes built what they called attached single family homes for several years at Heritage Shores. Most of them are duplex type with only two end units but others have a middle unit as well. Right now the only duplexes for sale are resale units built between 2005 and 2007 unless Providence or another builder decides to build additional units; Lennar is no longer building at Heritage Shores. You can find current homes for sale listed here -Heritage Shores homes for sale. (more…)

“As of September 1, 2011 appraisals will change drastically. We now must complete appraisals in what is defined as UAD or Uniform Appraisal Dataset format. This is a GSE Fannie, Freddie requirement.”  I saw this blog just this morning posted by Bobbie Smith, a Realtor up in the Poconos. An appraiser in her area, Mary Thompson, was giving her a “heads up” about new appraisal rules coming this September that will make all our lives even more challenging. As a result of the difficult housing market of the past few years, appraisals are the most difficult part of every real estate transaction.

“What does this mean for you? The new reports will look foreign to you and your clients with all the codes we have to use in the reports, so you will have to be versed on what the codes mean. Instead of the old days where we described a property as being Good in condition or Good in Quality of Construction, we will now be using codes such as Q=3 and C-2, etc. It will be far less user friendly to read and more automated system friendly. Fannie and Freddie want consistency across the board for all appraisals nationwide and the codes are the way they are trying to get this accomplished. They have clearly defined what Fair, Poor, Average, Good, Very Good and Excellent Quality and Condition should entail. No more leeway in how appraisers determine this on their own. Lenders are also gearing up for uniform delivery of their loan packages and the UAD is part of this whole process.” READ MORE

The excitement is building as we wait to learn which family has been selected for an Extreme Makeover here in Sussex County, Delaware. Schell Brothers has been selected as the builder for an upcoming episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. The build will take place between August 22 and 29, 2011, somewhere in Sussex County. Read More

“Building Happiness Extreme Performance”
Cape Henlopen High School Auditorium
Time: 8PM – 9:30PM (immediately following pep rally)
Tickets: $30 (Donation)*
*All proceeds from tickets go to “Sussex County Family Fund”.
“Glee” star, Telly Leung to perform and host the show. Variety show with performances by Blue Moon favorite, Pamela Stanley; Delaware Choral Society; Miss Delaware – Maria Cahill; Pianist Melanie Bradley and vocalist Leigh Nordley; First State Ballet Theatre; Pianist and singer Jerry Birl; Vineland Regional Dance Company; Rob and Jen Barbarita jazz ensemble; Shenandoah graduate, singer/dancer Erika Conaway; Delaware Arts Conservatory tap dancers & AMDA dancers Alexa DeBarr and Christine Slato.

Bill Bell, owner Gotcha Covered, has signed up to help build and I expect there will be lots of volunteers lining up to make this a special moment.