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    <title>Harleysville-Lansdale Real Estate and More</title>
    <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/</link>
    <description>Issues and insights affecting Real Estate Agents, Buyers, Sellers, and the community in Montgomery County PA and beyond.</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1458595/invest-in-real-estate-with-a-self-directed-ira</guid>
      <title>Invest in Real Estate with a Self Directed IRA</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Did you know that you can &lt;strong&gt;invest in real estate with a Self Directed IRA&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Many people would love to take advantage of the current housing prices and low interest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Investment Property&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/1/5/8/0/ar12646432908511.png&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; alt=&quot;Investment Property&quot; width=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;rates to purchase an &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; However, many of these same people lack &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;the additional a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;nd significant cash often needed to purchase an &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Such potential investors don&amp;rsquo;t realize that money they have currently invested in retirement accounts can be redirected to purchase real estate.&amp;nbsp; Certainly, such a decision should be reviewed with a competent financial advisor, but it may be an excellent way to diversify and grow an investment portfolio.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Return on Investment&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/9/3/6/3/ar12646430536391.png&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; alt=&quot;Return on Investment&quot; width=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Most Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA&amp;rsquo;s) are held with major brokerage firms which only deal in the more traditional investments (stocks, bonds, etc.).&amp;nbsp; However, it is only the limitations or rules of the brokerage firm that restrict you to these traditional investments.&amp;nbsp; A Self Directed IRA is easy to establish and will allow you to invest in all of the investment types that are permitted by the IRS, including real estate. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ff6600;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;How to set-up a Self Directed IRA?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;There are numerous firms that can help you establish a Self Directed IRA and act as the custodian for your account (just as a brokerage firm might act as custodian for your traditional IRA).&amp;nbsp; One good resource is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.entrustcama.com&quot; title=&quot;Self Directed IRA's&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;EntrustCAMA&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; In many cases, the necessary forms can be completed online in just a few minutes and the custodial fees are relatively low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ff6600;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;What other steps are needed to buy an &lt;strong&gt;Investment Property&lt;/strong&gt; in a Self Directed IRA?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;One of the first steps is to fund your Self Directed IRA.&amp;nbsp; You can make contributions to it just like a traditional IRA.&amp;nbsp; You can also transfer or rollover funds from a traditional IRA (or other qualified retirement plan) into your new Self Directed IRA.&amp;nbsp; If you have enough assets in your Self Directed IRA to purchase a property outright, that simplifies things, but there are also lenders who will finance property purchased within Self Directed IRA&amp;rsquo;s.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Once you identify a good &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt;, you proceed with the normal steps of submitting an offer through closing on the property as you would for a personal purchase.&amp;nbsp; Because of IRS rules, however, you don&amp;rsquo;t personally sign any documents related to the purchase of the &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Everything must be in the name of your Self Directed IRA and you direct the custodian to sign all necessary documents for the purchase.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In addition to a good Realtor and a qualified custodian, you should also consult with a CPA or financial advisor competent in Self Directed IRA&amp;rsquo;s.&amp;nbsp; With this team in place, you can diversify your retirement plan and take advantage of the many investment benefits that real estate has to offer.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;There are terrific deals in real estate right now.&amp;nbsp; Coupled with the low interest rates, these deals make it a great time to consider buying an &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Profit&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/7/5/5/ar126464345955787.jpg&quot; height=&quot;142&quot; alt=&quot;Profit&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling an &lt;strong&gt;investment property&lt;/strong&gt; in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Search for Investment Property&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Search for Investment Property&lt;/a&gt; in Montgomery County, PA.&amp;nbsp; Get more information about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=pagecontent.asp&amp;amp;nav=1&amp;amp;pid=441&amp;amp;acc=106381&quot; title=&quot;Buying an Investment Property&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Buying Investment Property&lt;/a&gt; in Montgomery County, PA.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2010, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.  &lt;strong&gt;Invest in Real Estate with a Self Directed IRA&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:10:17 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1458595/invest-in-real-estate-with-a-self-directed-ira</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1455044/the-most-depressing-day-of-the-year</guid>
      <title>The Most Depressing Day of the Year</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;I heard on the news that &lt;span style=&quot;color: red;&quot;&gt;yesterday was &lt;strong&gt;the most depressing day of the year&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Whew!&amp;nbsp; Thank goodness that day is behind us.&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red;&quot;&gt;January 25th was depressing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; for a number of reasons:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;The Most Depressing Day of the Year&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/0/5/6/0/ar126452190106505.jpg&quot; height=&quot;188&quot; alt=&quot;The Most Depressing Day of the Year&quot; width=&quot;175&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; float: right; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;It was a Monday.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;It was windy and pouring rain (at least here in &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County, PA&lt;/strong&gt; it was).&amp;nbsp; Snow would have been far more uplifting than all the rain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;Spring still seems very far away.&amp;nbsp; Vacation even farther&amp;hellip;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;It is exactly one month after Christmas.&amp;nbsp; All the holiday fun, decorations and good will have passed.&amp;nbsp; The credit card bills have arrived.&amp;nbsp; Even the retailers aren&amp;rsquo;t offering the deep discounts like the ones we saw prior to the holidays.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;Three weeks have passed since New Years.&amp;nbsp; Many are finding that their resolve to fulfill those resolutions is quickly fading.&amp;nbsp; For some the weight isn&amp;rsquo;t coming off, for others the home is still disorganized with unfinished projects, and for the ActiveRainers we aren&amp;rsquo;t blogging and commenting as much as we should.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;Perhaps it would be good to keep in mind that nothing magical happened when the clock turned to 2010.&amp;nbsp; Real estate is just as challenging as it was in 2009.&amp;nbsp; Modifying the daily routine is just as difficult too.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;But today is Tuesday.&amp;nbsp; One day closer to spring (and Christmas).&amp;nbsp; The sun is out in &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County, PA&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Good and bad days are sure to pass.&amp;nbsp; But remember, &lt;strong&gt;the worst day of the year&lt;/strong&gt; is behind us (and it really wasn&amp;rsquo;t that bad).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;Smile, be happy and write a blog post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #2828c8;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Papyrus;&quot;&gt;~Lisa&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2010, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&amp;nbsp; The Most Depressing Day of the Year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:09:23 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1455044/the-most-depressing-day-of-the-year</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1432821/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-december-2009</guid>
      <title>Montgomery County, PA Market Report for December 2009</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County, PA Market Report&lt;/strong&gt; for December 2009 shows some positive news.&amp;nbsp; A long streak of year-over-year falling prices has ended and the year-over-year number of home sales remains in positive territory. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The average price of a home in &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County&lt;/strong&gt; increased to $310,012 compared to $305,882 for December, 2008; a 1.4% increase.&lt;/span&gt; This ends a 24 month streak in which home prices had fallen from the prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/4/9/0/5/ar126348163350944.jpg&quot; height=&quot;367&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The number of homes sold this past December increased to 513 units versus 494 homes sold in December of the prior year; a 3.8% increase.&lt;/span&gt; This marks the 6th consecutive month that the number of homes sold has increased from its prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/8/9/0/6/ar126348186060988.jpg&quot; height=&quot;367&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;A particularly interesting observation from this &lt;strong&gt;market report&lt;/strong&gt; is that December's numbers should give a more normal indication of the market in comparison to November when the original first time buyer tax credit was set to expire.&amp;nbsp; That deadline caused an unnaturally high amount of sales in November, but also caused the average price to dip significantly for that month due to the generally lower price range of first time buyers.&amp;nbsp; One might have expected December's number of sales to suffer due to the forced activity the previous month.&amp;nbsp; However, December's sale increased over last year and the average price jumped by 12.8% from November's level of $274,706.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;By the way, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=text&amp;amp;id=6786&quot; title=&quot;Home Buyer Tax Credit&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;home buyer tax credit&lt;/a&gt; has been extended and expanded to include &quot;current&quot; home owners. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Montgomery County, PA Market Report for December 2009&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:38:58 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1432821/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-december-2009</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1387483/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-november-2009</guid>
      <title>Montgomery County, PA Market Report for November 2009</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County, PA Market Report&lt;/strong&gt; for November 2009 shows that home prices again declined from the previous year&amp;rsquo;s level while the number of home sales rose dramatically. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The average price of a home in &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County&lt;/strong&gt; dropped to $274,706 compared to $295,494 for November, 2008; an 7.0% decrease.&lt;/span&gt; This marks the 24th consecutive month in which home prices have fallen from the prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/3/1/6/ar126097495061376.jpg&quot; height=&quot;367&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The number of homes sold this past November increased to 860 units versus 479 homes sold in November of the prior year; a 80% increase.&lt;/span&gt; This marks the 5th consecutive month that the number of homes sold has increased from its prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/3/0/5/2/ar126097500425035.jpg&quot; height=&quot;368&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;If anyone had any doubts about the popularity of the $8,000 tax credit that was set to expire this past November, this &lt;strong&gt;market report&lt;/strong&gt; should make it crystal clear.&amp;nbsp; An 80% increase in the number of units sold at generally lower price levels can only be attributed to one market segment; first-time buyers.&amp;nbsp; They definitely showed up in force to settle on homes before the anticipated expiration of the tax credit.&amp;nbsp; By the way, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=text&amp;amp;id=6786&quot; title=&quot;Home Buyer Tax Credit&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;home buyer tax credit&lt;/a&gt; has since been extended and expanded to include &quot;current&quot; home owners.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Montgomery County, PA Market Report for November 2009&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:50:32 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1387483/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-november-2009</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1084796/the-difference-between-a-short-sale-and-foreclosure-in-montgomery-county-pa</guid>
      <title>The Difference Between a Short Sale and Foreclosure in Montgomery County PA</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is a Short Sale?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A short sale occurs when the sales price of a property is too low to pay off the mortgage balance(s) and all other necessary selling expenses (closing costs, other liens or judgments, etc). In this case, a lender may agree to accept less than what they are owed to allow the sale to proceed. Although there are exceptions, lenders will usually require some proof of a financial hardship before agreeing to discount the outstanding mortgage balance. There are also many other criteria that lenders consider in the decision to approve a short sale and that approval must be received for a sale to occur. Approvals are usually obtained by communicating and negotiating with a bank's loss mitigation department. If approved, the lender receives the proceeds from the short sale. Although the sellers receive no proceeds, they are usually relieved of at least a sizable portion (and many times all) of the mortgage debt.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is Foreclosure?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A short sale is not foreclosure. In fact, a short sale is a means to prevent foreclosure. In Pennsylvania, foreclosure is the legal process that banks must follow in order to have a property sold at a Sheriff&amp;rsquo;s Sale to recoup the debt owed to them by a defaulting borrower. The Sheriff&amp;rsquo;s sale is the ending event of the foreclosure process and often takes 4 months or more from the initial filing of a foreclosure complaint by the lender. Because of the legal fees, filing fees, Sheriff&amp;rsquo;s fees, and months of accruing mortgage interest, foreclosure is a very expensive process for the lender. In many cases, a bank would rather take a smaller loss via a short sale rather than risk an even greater loss after foreclosure. This is especially true if a short sale can be completed before foreclosure is initiated and foreclosure costs start to accumulate onto the debt owed to the bank.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are a home buyer interested in purchasing &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loperrealty.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;selected=foreclosure&quot; title=&quot;Short Sale - Foreclosure Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;short sales, foreclosures, or other distressed properties, click here to search for these specific properties&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are facing financial difficulty, would like to avoid foreclosure, and would like to consider a short sale, Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for assistance in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Broker Info&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/9/5/6/6/ar124416395466594.gif&quot; height=&quot;121&quot; alt=&quot;Broker Info&quot; width=&quot;255&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 08:11:20 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1084796/the-difference-between-a-short-sale-and-foreclosure-in-montgomery-county-pa</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1323458/tax-credit-lots-of-buzz-lots-of-questions</guid>
      <title>Tax Credit: Lots of Buzz, Lots of Questions</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;The Buzz&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/4/0/5/9/ar125752650395048.jpg&quot; height=&quot;109&quot; alt=&quot;The Buzz&quot; width=&quot;165&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 0px 5px; float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #006600;&quot;&gt;Well, by now most AR members know that an extension and expansion of the first-time buyer tax credit is imminent.&amp;nbsp; This news is creating a lot of buzz which hopefully will translate into some home sales (we&amp;rsquo;ll see).&amp;nbsp; As this is breaking news, however, it&amp;rsquo;s also generating a lot of questions.&amp;nbsp; A couple of good ones that I have been asked (and don&amp;rsquo;t yet know the answers to) are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #006600;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ed5f00;&quot;&gt;Is the any retroactive feature in the new version of the tax credit for current homeowners.&amp;nbsp; For example, if a couple sold a home and bought a home earlier in 2009 (assuming all other criteria are met), would they be eligible for the $6,500 credit?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ed5f00;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Questions&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/3/2/7/ar125752663272376.jpg&quot; height=&quot;125&quot; alt=&quot;Questions&quot; width=&quot;125&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #ed5f00;&quot;&gt;If a current home owner buys a new home and makes it his/her principal residence (again assuming all other criteria are met), does that homeowner need to sell the prior principal residence or can it be kept as an investment property?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #006600;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #006600;&quot;&gt;If anyone know the answers to these questions or has some other good questions of their own, please post your responses.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Update on The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Not So Fast, Sparky&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:02:57 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1323458/tax-credit-lots-of-buzz-lots-of-questions</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1321798/update-on-the-first-time-home-buyer-tax-credit-not-so-fast-sparky</guid>
      <title>Update on the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit &#8211; Not So Fast, Sparky</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Not So Fast, Sparky&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/7/0/3/9/ar125745119193072.jpg&quot; height=&quot;174&quot; alt=&quot;Not So Fast, Sparky&quot; width=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 2px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;This is an &lt;strong&gt;Update on the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit&lt;/strong&gt; specifically addressing some recent reports that the &lt;strong&gt;tax credit&lt;/strong&gt; has been extended.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; While some significant steps have been made towards extending the &lt;strong&gt;tax credit&lt;/strong&gt; and even expanding it beyond &lt;strong&gt;first-time home buyers&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;it seems that these reports are a bit premature in claiming this as a done deal.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Here&amp;rsquo;s what I found out on the subject.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;A bill was originated in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 10, 2009 to extend the availability of certain unemployment compensation benefits (totally unrelated to the tax credit or housing in general).&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;That bill was passed by the House and made its way to the Senate where numerous amendments were made including those related to the &lt;strong&gt;first-time home buyer tax credit&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The Senate unanimously passed their version of this bill yesterday, November 4, 2009.&amp;nbsp; However, there are still significant hurdles that the legislation must clear before becoming law.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Namely, the bill now moves back to the House and the differences must be resolved.&amp;nbsp; The bill would then move on to the President for signature into law.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;So again, it&amp;rsquo;s a bit premature to count on any &lt;strong&gt;tax credit&lt;/strong&gt; beyond the current expiration date of December 1, 2009.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;It is very encouraging, however, that the amended bill passed through the Senate with a unanimous vote showing strong bipartisan support.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Here are a few provisions (as I understand them) of the bill as amended by the Senate:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;Time Extensions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;The $8,000 &lt;strong&gt;tax credit for first-time home buyers&lt;/strong&gt; would be extended until May 1, 2010, except that buyers who are under a written contract by May 1, 2010 can even take advantage of the tax credit until July 1, 2010.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;Expansion Beyond First-Time Home Buyers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;tax credit&lt;/strong&gt; of up to $6,500 would be available to &amp;ldquo;Long-Time Residents&amp;rdquo; who have owned a home and purchase a new one.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A Long-Time Resident is currently defined as one that has owned a home as their principal residence for any 5-year consecutive period during the 8-year period ending on the date of the purchase of the subsequent principal residence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;Increased Income Limits&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;The income limits for eligibility of the &lt;strong&gt;tax credits&lt;/strong&gt; would be increased from $150,000 to $225,000 for married persons filing jointly and from $75,000 to $125,000 for other taxpayers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Update on The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Not So Fast, Sparky&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:22:02 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1321798/update-on-the-first-time-home-buyer-tax-credit-not-so-fast-sparky</link>
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      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1319062/wordless-wednesday-big-fish-little-fish</guid>
      <title>Wordless Wednesday: Big Fish, Little Fish</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Scott&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/6/4/2/1/ar125734188812469.JPG&quot; height=&quot;293&quot; alt=&quot;Scott&quot; width=&quot;220&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 2px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Scott, Jr.&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/7/2/8/ar125734209082761.JPG&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; alt=&quot;Scott, Jr.&quot; width=&quot;220&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 2px; vertical-align: top;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Wordless Wednesday: Big Fish, Little Fish&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:49:05 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1319062/wordless-wednesday-big-fish-little-fish</link>
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      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1318988/the-worst-showing-of-her-life</guid>
      <title>The Worst Showing of Her Life</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;The Worst Showing of Her Life&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/4/1/9/0/ar125733832409148.jpg&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; alt=&quot;The Worst Showing of Her Life&quot; width=&quot;110&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 2px 5px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;I happily had showing appointments lined up for this past Sunday.&amp;nbsp; But, when another client asked to see a home on Saturday, Lisa took the appointment to give me a little bit of a break.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m going to be paying for that thoughtful gesture for quite a while as, in her words, this turned out to be &amp;ldquo;the worst showing of her life&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;The &amp;ldquo;worst showing of her life&amp;rdquo; had nothing to do with our clients (they&amp;rsquo;re terrific people) or with the property, but rather with the tenant&amp;rsquo;s easily excited dog.&amp;nbsp; Lisa had instructions that there would be a small friendly dog in the home and to not let him out.&amp;nbsp; Just after entering the home, the pooch appeared sprang up and sprinkled a bit on Lisa and on the floor.&amp;nbsp; With each effort to calm down the canine, he released again and again.&amp;nbsp; Lisa quickly ceased all contact with the dog and began to case the house for paper towels and cleaning supplies.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Diaper Dog&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/8/8/7/4/ar125733814347886.jpg&quot; height=&quot;187&quot; alt=&quot;Diaper Dog&quot; width=&quot;110&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 2px 5px; float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;With the mess cleaned up, my dear wife regained her composure to resume the showing.&amp;nbsp; That is until the dog became excited again and started to jump up.&amp;nbsp; Lisa yelled &amp;ldquo;no&amp;rdquo;.&amp;nbsp; The dog stopped, gave her the puppy eyes, and rolled over on his back.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Despite the recent events that would suggest against her next action, Lisa praised the dog with &amp;ldquo;good boy&amp;rdquo; and gave him a scratch on the tummy.&amp;nbsp; Apparently this was just too much for the dog to handle because he unloaded like a baby getting a premature diaper change, soaking Lisa in dog pee.&amp;nbsp; Her blouse, skirt, shoes and jacket all took direct hits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Now before you think that this is the end of the showing from hell, think again.&amp;nbsp; The client (husband) inadvertently let the dog out of the house.&amp;nbsp; For the dog, this was great fun and he began a game of &amp;ldquo;catch me if you can&amp;rdquo;.&amp;nbsp; Our clients along with poor pee soaked Lisa spent the next 20 minutes in the rain and mud before finally getting the dog back in the house.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;As I said, I&amp;rsquo;ll to be paying for this showing for some time to come.&amp;nbsp; If I had been on the showing, there might be one less dog in the world right now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;What&amp;rsquo;s your worst showing story?&amp;nbsp; Please share. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; The Worst Showing of Her Life&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:51:10 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1318988/the-worst-showing-of-her-life</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1318032/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-october-2009</guid>
      <title>Montgomery County, PA Market Report for October 2009</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County, PA Market Report&lt;/strong&gt; for October 2009 shows a continuation of recent patterns; home prices again declined from the previous year&amp;rsquo;s level while the number of home sales rose. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The average price of a home in &lt;strong&gt;Montgomery County&lt;/strong&gt; dropped to $285,817 compared to $304,327 for October, 2008; an 8.2% decrease.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; This marks the 23rd consecutive month in which home prices have fallen from the prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/1/8/1/5/ar125728062851818.jpg&quot; height=&quot;368&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Home Prices&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;The number of homes sold this past October increased to 731 units versus 604 homes sold in October of the prior year; a 21% increase.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; This marks the 4th consecutive month that the number of homes sold has increased from its prior year level.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/1/2/1/4/ar12572807441216.jpg&quot; height=&quot;367&quot; alt=&quot;Montgomery County PA Market Report - Homes Sold&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px 0px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;How is it possible that home sales are increasing, but home prices continue to fall?&amp;nbsp; In a very general sense, the overall decrease in housing prices has caused some buyers to step into the market and snap up good deals.&amp;nbsp; Specifically and probably to a larger extent, the first-time buyer tax credit has resulted in an abnormally high number of sales at the lower price ranges of the market.&amp;nbsp; Also, &lt;strong&gt;housing inventory&lt;/strong&gt; remains relatively high at approximately 8.5 months (even with October&amp;rsquo;s impressive sales rate).&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;Housing Inventory&lt;/strong&gt; is the number of months it would take to sell all of the currently listed homes at the current seasonally adjusted monthly sales rate.&amp;nbsp; Until we start to consistently see &lt;strong&gt;housing inventory&lt;/strong&gt; down near 6 months of supply, look for continued (but hopefully moderate) pressure on home prices.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #eb5e00;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;To get a sense of the broader national &lt;strong&gt;housing market&lt;/strong&gt; (which will certainly have some effect on our local &lt;strong&gt;housing market&lt;/strong&gt;), check out my blog from this past weekend:&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Market Outlook: The Calm Before the Storm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; Montgomery County, PA Market Report for October 2009&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:57:18 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1318032/montgomery-county-pa-market-report-for-october-2009</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1313075/market-outlook-the-calm-before-the-storm</guid>
      <title>Market Outlook: The Calm Before the Storm</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Calm Before the Storm&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/4/2/6/5/ar125700747256244.jpg&quot; height=&quot;182&quot; alt=&quot;Calm Before the Storm&quot; width=&quot;275&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 2px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;I attended an eye opening seminar this past week.&amp;nbsp; The speaker was Dave Liniger, chairman and founder of RE/MAX International.&amp;nbsp; I found it extremely interesting to listen to the insights and opinions of this man.&amp;nbsp; You may have you own opinion of him (his brashness is likely to draw an opinion or two) or possibly you&amp;rsquo;ve never heard his name, but he started and currently runs the top rated (by Entrepreneur Magazine) real estate franchise in the world and has been summoned for advice on the &lt;strong&gt;housing markets&lt;/strong&gt; by members of Congress and organizations such as NAR.&amp;nbsp; So when he spoke, I listened intently.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt; To be blunt, a lot of the information about the near &lt;strong&gt;future of the housing market&lt;/strong&gt; was sobering.&amp;nbsp; I have seen some posts here on AR that project continued hard times for real estate, but I have also seen many posts (and written a couple myself) that were more upbeat or pointing to signs of improvement.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m not sure whether it was Dave&amp;rsquo;s no-nonsense style or just the volume of supporting data, but I left the seminar with a distinct sense that any recent improvements in home prices and sales could just be a calming before the real storm begins.&amp;nbsp; Here are some key reasons for that outlook.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: black;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc6600;&quot;&gt;Unemployment&lt;/span&gt; is forecast by the Federal Reserve and by NAR to average just above 9.5% through 2010.&amp;nbsp; The Fed further predicts that it will remain above 8.0% for nearly all of 2011.&amp;nbsp; This alone makes me wonder how NAR&amp;rsquo;s prediction of increasing homes sales and prices for 2010 could hold true.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: black;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: black;&quot;&gt;Another large round of &lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc6600;&quot;&gt;mortgage resets&lt;/span&gt; is just beginning and will grow through 2010 and 2011.&amp;nbsp; For those who don&amp;rsquo;t know, a mortgage reset is when an initial fixed rate period expires and the interest rate adjusts to reflect current market conditions and other terms of the reset.&amp;nbsp; In most current cases, these initial fixed rates were very low and the resulting reset rate is substantially higher; high enough that many of these people will no longer be able to afford their mortgage payments.&amp;nbsp; For the most part we have made just it through the first wave of resets known as the &amp;ldquo;sub-prime mortgage crisis&amp;rdquo;.&amp;nbsp; I say made it through, but look at the number of foreclosures and short sales left in the wake.&amp;nbsp; Beginning at the end of this year, a second and equally sizeable wave is coming in the form of expiring option ARMs (see graph below).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Mortgage Resets&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/0/4/1/8/ar125700739381403.jpg&quot; height=&quot;521&quot; alt=&quot;Mortgage Resets&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: black;&quot;&gt;Both of the above points result in the next predictions related to &lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc6600;&quot;&gt;foreclosures&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Foreclosure sales are currently at a record annual rate of just under 1.8 million units and are forecast to increase to about 1.9 million units by the middle of 2010 before declining to 1.1 million units in mid-2011.&amp;nbsp; For comparison, foreclosure sales ran at an annual rate of about 0.5 million for much of 2005 through 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;big style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;If you were like me, you probably looked at some recent positive signs in your local &lt;strong&gt;housing market&lt;/strong&gt; and thought just maybe we were turning the corner.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; By taking a hard look at some data like that given above, you really have to consider that any recent uptick is just a smooth spot in the bumpy road that lies ahead.&amp;nbsp; The good news is that if you know what lies ahead you can prepare and actually prosper as a result.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at &lt;strong&gt;215-513-1333&lt;/strong&gt; for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Market Outlook: The Calm Before the Storm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:56:15 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1313075/market-outlook-the-calm-before-the-storm</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1306601/wordless-wednesday-fall-foliage-on-the-perkiomen-trail</guid>
      <title>Wordless Wednesday: Fall Foliage on the Perkiomen Trail</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/0/8/3/8/ar125668525683807.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/6/2/0/ar125668538002628.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/0/0/9/4/ar125668544549003.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;Perkiomen Trail, Montgomery County PA&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Perkiomen Creek, Montgomery County PA&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/9/6/0/ar125668548806938.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;Perkiomen Creek, Montgomery County PA&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Perkiomen Creek, Montgomery County PA&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/4/1/6/7/ar125668555476144.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;Perkiomen Creek, Montgomery County PA&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;540&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&#174;, RE/MAX Realty Group at &lt;strong&gt;215-513-1333&lt;/strong&gt; for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottloperteam.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &#169; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Wordless Wednesday - Fall Foliage on the Perkiomen Trail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:08:10 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1306601/wordless-wednesday-fall-foliage-on-the-perkiomen-trail</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1298091/the-benefit-of-an-adjustable-rate-mortgage</guid>
      <title>The Benefit of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;ARM&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/7/9/4/9/ar125623474394977.jpg&quot; height=&quot;97&quot; alt=&quot;ARM&quot; width=&quot;75&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;The benefit of an &lt;strong&gt;Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt; is very simply in the money you can save due to the lower interest rates offered with these mortgage products.&amp;nbsp; That&amp;rsquo;s not to say that there aren&amp;rsquo;t risks involved with an ARM&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt; as &lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;there are many varieties of ARMs with varying degrees of risk&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; However, an appropriate ARM for an appropriate borrower will balance that risk to an acceptable level and still provide a nice financial reward.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;By way of example, here is my own experience with the savings produced by &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;selecting an ARM.&amp;nbsp; My current mortgage is a 7-year ARM and I am 6+ years into it (74 months actually).&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Interest Rate&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/2/1/7/6/ar125623487567125.jpg&quot; height=&quot;75&quot; alt=&quot;Interest Rate&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px; float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;At the time that I took out this mortgage, &lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;the prevailing rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan was about 5.0%.&amp;nbsp; By taking the &lt;strong&gt;Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt;, I was able to get a rate of 4.125%&lt;/span&gt; (with no points) and I originally mortgaged $217,000.&amp;nbsp; Now, all the necessary figures have been provided to generate the comparison below.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; style=&quot;width: 530px; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;width: 143px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; width: 142px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;30-year fixed rate&lt;br /&gt; at 5.0%&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; width: 109px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;7-year ARM&lt;br /&gt; at 3.75%&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; width: 96px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Difference&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;width: 143px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Monthly Payment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: red; width: 142px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$1,164.90&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #000099; width: 109px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$1,051.69&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #009900; width: 96px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;-$113.21&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;width: 143px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Total payments&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;over 74 months&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: red; width: 142px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$86,202.60&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #000099; width: 109px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$77,825.06&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #009900; width: 96px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;-$8,377.54&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;width: 143px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;Principal paid off&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;over 74 months&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: red; width: 142px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$22,545.32&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #000099; width: 109px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$25,713.70&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; color: #009900; width: 96px;&quot;&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;$3,168.38&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Mortgage Loan&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/3/7/3/0/ar12562349703735.jpg&quot; height=&quot;80&quot; alt=&quot;Mortgage Loan&quot; width=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px; float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;As I am about to refinance and payoff this current mortgage, I look back happily on my decision to use an &lt;strong&gt;Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt; as it saved me $8,378 in payments to date.&amp;nbsp; I also have to factor in that, even with the lower monthly payments, the ARM actually paid off $3,168 more in principal than the fixed rate mortgage would have.&amp;nbsp; That brings my total savings to $11,546.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Of course, I&amp;rsquo;m now in the position &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Savings&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/2/9/1/7/ar125623504071927.jpg&quot; height=&quot;85&quot; alt=&quot;Savings&quot; width=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px; float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;big&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;of refinancing which costs money that I would not have had to pay if I just had a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.&amp;nbsp; Those costs are about $2,200 (Pennsylvania is among the highest in the nation when it comes to title insurance costs).&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;So, I still saved $9,346 by going with the ARM.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;As for my new mortgage, I was tempted to go with a 30-year fixed rate this time around.&amp;nbsp; But on a recent dip in mortgage rates, the spread (or difference) between the 30-year fixed rate mortgages and a 5-year ARM was about 1% again.&amp;nbsp; Where I live (in &lt;strong&gt;Lansdale&lt;/strong&gt; PA) I was able to get&amp;nbsp;a 5-year &lt;strong&gt;Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt; at and attractive&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;3.75%&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;My plan is to keep the same payment as my current mortgage with the difference being applied to pay down the principal more quickly.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial; color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;This is just one illustration of how using the correct &lt;strong&gt;Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt; can save a significant amount of money for the borrower.&amp;nbsp; There are certain scenarios and certain borrowers for which an ARM is not the right mortgage product.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Conversely, I often see buyers considering a 30-year fixed rate mortgage when it absolutely makes more sense for them to use an ARM (i.e. a buyer who knows they&amp;rsquo;re only going to be in the home for a few years).&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff6600;&quot;&gt;The bottom line is that a borrower should really educate themselves about the different mortgage products available and carefully weigh the risks and rewards of each one.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages are very attractive right now, but you could literally and unnecessarily be giving away thousands of dollars to the bank by only considering this type of mortgage.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial;&quot; /&gt; &lt;/big&gt;&lt;/big&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loperrealty.com/home-buyer-info.aspx&quot; title=&quot;Mortgage Calculator&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To use a handy Mortgage Calculator Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in &lt;strong&gt;Lansdale&lt;/strong&gt;, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loperrealty.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; &lt;strong&gt;The Benefit of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:13:35 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1298091/the-benefit-of-an-adjustable-rate-mortgage</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1184862/spacious-circa-1835-farmhouse-harleysville-pa-19438-359-900</guid>
      <title>Spacious Circa 1835 Farmhouse, Harleysville, PA 19438, $359,900</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;font-size: 10pt;&quot;&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentName&quot; style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-size: 13pt;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;br /&gt;Scott &amp;amp; Lisa Loper &amp;amp; Elinda Kormann &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentPhone1&quot;&gt;Office Phone: (215) 256-1200&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentPhone2&quot;&gt;Office Fax: (215) 256-9309&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentPhone3&quot;&gt;Direct: (215) 513-1333&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentWebsite&quot;&gt;Website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loperrealty.com/PA5573366&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.loperrealty.com/PA5573366&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;agentEmail&quot;&gt;E-mail: scott@loperrealty.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/agents/186/photos/106381.jpg&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; id=&quot;agentPhoto&quot; height=&quot;119&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;92&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;mainphoto&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366.jpg&quot; id=&quot;mainphoto&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px 20px 5px 0px; width: 336px; height: 252px; float: left;&quot; /&gt; 
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&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;369 Broad St&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HARLEYSVILLE, PA 19438&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;MLS#:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot;&gt;5573366&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;Price:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot;&gt;$359,900&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;Bedrooms:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;Full Bathrooms:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;Half Bathrooms:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;Municipality:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class=&quot;detail&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;L Salford Twp&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;&quot;&gt;A wonderfully rare combination; this &lt;a href=&quot;http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=535622&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;spacious circa 1835 farmhouse&lt;/a&gt; is situated on a large scenic lot yet within walking distance to the shops, restaurants, and parks of quaint Harleysville. A pretty brick walkway leads through flowering gardens to a covered patio with adjacent koi pond. From the patio, enter into a welcoming eat-in country kitchen. A circa 1900 addition is now the library with abundant windows, gleaming hardwood floors, and 12~ ceilings. Opposite the library, a generously sized dining room boasts the home~s characteristic deep window sills. The living room is expansive and features a floor-to-ceiling bow window and built in shelving. A separate study and a full bath complete the first floor. Upstairs, you~ll find a spacious master bedroom with a walk-in closet, three other nicely sized bedrooms, and a separate sewing room. A laundry room and hall bath with double vanity complete the second floor. A full basement, garage, &amp;amp; outbuilding provide abundant storage.&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 275px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-01-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo1&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exterior Side&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 275px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-02-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo2&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kitchen&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-03-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo3&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kitchen&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-04-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo4&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Library&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-05-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo5&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dining Room&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-06-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo6&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Living Room&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-07-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo7&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bedroom - Main&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-08-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo8&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bedroom 2&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-09-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo9&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bedroom 3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-10-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo10&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exterior&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://media.reliancenetwork.com/dyna_images/mls/316/5573366/5573366-11-alt.jpg&quot; id=&quot;photo11&quot; alt=&quot;369 Broad Street, Harleysville, PA 19438&quot; style=&quot;border: 1px solid ; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 188px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exterior&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;vertical-align: top; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:31:02 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1184862/spacious-circa-1835-farmhouse-harleysville-pa-19438-359-900</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1295626/wordless-wednesday-fatherhood</guid>
      <title>Wordless Wednesday: Fatherhood</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Fatherhood&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/0/6/2/1/ar125612985412601.JPG&quot; height=&quot;375&quot; alt=&quot;Fatherhood&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; style=&quot;border: 5px solid black;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;Contact Scott Loper&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;, Associate Broker, Realtor&amp;reg;, RE/MAX Realty Group at &lt;strong&gt;215-513-1333&lt;/strong&gt; to buy or sell a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loperrealty.com/remaxparealtygroup/modules/agent/agent.asp?p=findahome.asp&amp;amp;mode=N&amp;amp;acc=106381&amp;amp;selected=qck&quot; title=&quot;Home Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.&lt;span&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Wordless Wednesday - Fatherhood&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/8/3/1/6/ar125435000461384.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;The Scott Loper Team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/3/4/7/ar125435005174361.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;RE/MAX Balloon&quot; width=&quot;50&quot; height=&quot;63&quot; /&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Scott Loper - Associate Broker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Lisa Loper - Sales Associate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: red;&quot;&gt;RE/MAX Realty Group&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;439 Main Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Harleysville, PA 19438&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style=&quot;font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; color: #000099;&quot; /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; color: #000099;&quot;&gt;Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Scott Loper Team Lansdale &amp; Harleysville PA Homes (RE/MAX Realty Group)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:08:26 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://lansdale-real-estate.com/post/1295626/wordless-wednesday-fatherhood</link>
    </item>
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