Pike/Wayne Real Estate

Karen George lost her battle with cancer recently.  She was an extraordinary woman - generous, kind, and talented.

I'm reposting this blog started by Paula Henry - Karen's medical expenses won't go away now that she is gone; please consider a donation to help her family during this terrible, dark time.

Karen - you will be missed, never forgotten, always loved.

Last night we had the fantastic pleasure of visiting some friends while they were staying at their cabin in Promised Land.

The night was chilly for August so we had a roaring fire going.  My husband brought his guitar, and our hosts added their guitar and banjo to the mix and we had ourselves a fantastic Pocono Mountain Hoe-Down!

While the kids were running around like lightning bugs, and the katydids provided background vocals, those of us sitting around the fire were treated to a VERY eclectic mix of some great music - including Desperado, I'll Fly Away, Amazing Grace, Foggy Morning Breakdown, Rocky Top, Fried Ham, and my favorite, Mountain Dew.

This is what summer in the Poconos is all about for me - we had so much fun, telling stories, roasing marshmallows, singing, (or attempting) - it was so hard to have the night end.

It was too dark to shoot a real video of some of our shenanigans last night but I thought I'd include this YouTube clip of Mountain Dew.  Unfortunately, Grandpa Jones' version is not available but this one is good.

A lot of people make fun of country and bluegrass music - but I tell you what - it takes some serious talent and skill to play stuff like this. 

Be a Tigger - take two minutes and tap your toes and get a smile on; here's a great way to get over the hump on this Wild Card Wednesday.

 

When you put your home on the market, one of the first things you must do is de-clutter. But you already know that.

The question is what do you do with your stuff?

If you're like most people, you may stick it in the best hiding place available: your closet(s). HOWEVER, closets are among the most important things to buyers who are looking for new digs.   They want to have room for all of their stuff.

If the closet if stuffed to the gills, the message the buyer gets is "This home does not have enough storage."

(This Tuesday Tip is a day late - my apologies.  Tuesday was a busy day for this real estate agent!)

 

 

Here are some tips for eliminating the scare factor in your closets when your home is for sale:

• Empty your closet and thoroughly clean it - no cob webs or dust bunnies allowed!
• Pack away or donate seasonal and rarely worn items, especially bulky coats and sweaters.
• Too many shoes makes the space seem smaller. Pack shoes you rarely wear.
• Sort clothes by type: sleeveless together, short sleeve together, long sleeve together, etc. There should have enough space for hangers to glide somewhat freely across the rod.
• Use matching hangers for a uniform look. Eliminate unused hangers.
• Put a basket of scented soaps on the shelf to make it smell nice. A stale smelling closet is a turn off.

What to do with those shoes and items that take up too much space, but you can't pack them away yet? Get plastic sweater boxes with lids, and slide them under your bed...out of sight.

Need more inspiration? Get some closet clutter busting tips here. Here is a Myth vs. Fact article on de-cluttering on HowStuffWorks.com.

Putting your home on the market can be really intimidating - there is often much to do to prepare your home for sale and make it appealing to buyers. De-cluttering is the cheapest and often the most effective step to take! Read more of my Tuesday Tips for Real Estate here.

©2008 by Karen E. Rice Scary Closets? Tuesday Real Estate Tip,  originally published by the author on PikeWaynePABlog.com.  All rights reserved.

 

WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Paupack Group Independently Owned and Operated

Karen E. Rice is a real estate agent working in Pike & Wayne County of Northeastern PA in the Pocono Mountains. Lake Wallenpaupack is one of Pennsylvania's most popular destinations for vacations, retirement, and purchasing a home.

Okay, I have to admit, for some reason tonight's episode of Deserving Design made me cry - host Vern Yip redecorated a master bedroom for a couple who has spent many years taking care of over 60 foster children.  Maybe it was the little kids...I wondered what their stories were...

Vern more than made up for his horrible knotty pine disaster from before. 

He transformed a blah, boring, very ordinary and unremarkable home into a showstopping design dream with a warm, richly colored, engaging family room... and the "SURPISE" master bedroom. 

(Is anyone really "surprised?"  I mean, all you need to do is watch ONE show, and you KNOW Vern is going to do something "special" for you besides the initial design project.)

In spite of the obvious "staged drama" (I saw the lady "gasp" before she actually stepped into the room, LOL) this show did touch my heart. And it made me very very jealous.   

And it convinced me even more that you don't have to be afraid of color - you just need to be afraid of doing color POORLY.

An example of doing color poorly, besides painting knotty pine, is painting the beautiful rocks surroundng your home to look like aluminum foil covered props, instead of native stone boulders.  (I kid you not, I saw this done....saw a similar experiment when someone painted their stone fireplace metallic silver. )

When putting your home on the market, many people are adamant that everything be as neutral as possible.  So that the buyers can imagine their own color schemes, etc.  While that may certainly be true, I have also been "underwhelmed" along with more than one buyer who has walked into new home after new home after new home...and has failed to be "WOWed".

Maybe taking the plunge and splashing a bit of color on the walls and mouldings would be "just the thing" to take your home from boooooooring to beeeeeeeeautiful.

 

Here's another Karen's Friday Five line up - this time we're focusing on things for families to do within 20 minutes or less of Lake Wallenpaupack.

1. Claws-n-Paws Wild Animal Park. This "Zoo in the Woods" has a petting zoo plus all sorts of animals to look at.  Tigers, panthers, parrots, oh my!  Not far from Lake Wallenpaupack, just off Ledgedale Road.  I remember the kids and I were totally amazed at how LOUD the lion roars!

2. Costa's Family Fun Park.  This place has everything from batting cages to water slides to go-karts. Even ice cream and snacks! Located on Route 6 - just before Lake Wallenpaupack office.

3. Triple W Horseback Riding - for the equestrians visiting the area, Triple W has pony rides for young children and various levels of trails for riders with varying levels of horseback riding experience.  They even have some camping trips, cowboys for hire, and more!  Only a few minutes from Hawley and Lake Wallenpaupack.

4. Stourbridge Lion Rail Excursions/ Train Rides - young and old alike love trains.  Honesdale in Wayne County is the "Birthplace of the American Railroad" and here's your chance to "hop aboard" and ride the rails!  Click here for schedules, fees, and special excursions.

5. Fun-n-Games Family Fun Center.  Sometimes, you've had enough of the great outdoors and need someplace cool to hang and just chill for a while.   Fun-n-Games has provided an indoor fun place here in Wayne County for many years.  Web City is a humongous indoor playground.  In addition to Web City, there are: miniature golf, bumper cars, simulated rock climbing, and all sorts of arcade games (many of which dispense tickets that can be exchanged for prizes).  Plus, there is complimentary coffee for the parents! Located near Honesdale's Cinema 6 and across the hall from Pizza Hut, it makes for a perfect "rainy day" activity - or any day activity!  Great place for birthday parties, too!
No website, but here's their phone number.  (800) 253-9111

Lake Wallenpaupack is a great place to bring the whole family; there is so much to do in Northeast PA - not just in Pike and Wayne County, but in the entire Poconos region.

 

©2008 by real estate agent Karen E. Rice.  5 Fun Things for Kids at Wallenpaupack.  All rights reserved.  This article was originally published by the author on PikeWaynePABlog.com.

August 15 & 16 2008 - Open House for This WAY COOL Hamlin Home for Sale!

Friday August 15 - stop by and see me from 4 - 6 p.m.

Saturday August 16 - I’ll be there from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

This is a great house for buyers who need lots of room, inside and out. Situated on over 4 1/2 acres, the full finished basement, two car attached garage, pool, 4 or more bedrooms, 3 full baths, and a gorgeous kitchen all fit together nicely to make this $274,900 home a steal for a savvy buyer.

Read more details on the blog I created especially for 429 Cemetery Road in Hamlin.

This blog was originally published by Karen E. Rice on PikeWaynePABlog.com and is being reprinted / syndicated here on ActiveRain.com.

One of our family's favorite things to do is pack up and hit the beach at Promised Land State Park. The kids really get a kick out of the ducks that hang out around the beach area.

I took this picture during one of our recent excursions; unfortunately the perfect circle was broken by one duck who decided to look for a fish!

Real estate in the Promised Land area is often affordable and is certainly desirable to those who wish to be near the state game lands or the park. Some Promised Land properties for sale are PA state cabins on leased state land and are only available to PA residents with cash; no mortgages allowed.

Leased land properties (state cabins) often have outhouses or composting toilets rather than traditional septic systems, though some have running water and all the creature comforts modern folk desire.

There are other homes for sale in the area that are suitable for year round use and are available to anyone - these are on privately owned / deeded land.

Interested in the Promised Land area? Here are some listings to get you started.

AWESOME HUNTING CABIN - On 1/3 Acre, Adjoins PA Game Land, near Promised Land!!!!   

This is great for hunters who are looking for a little spot to crash after a long day chasing the big bucks in the woods - this proptery has thousands of acres of game land for the back yard.

The seller is willing to contribute toward the cost for putting in a well, too!  So you won't have to rough it TOO much!

 

More Promised Land Real Estate For Sale:

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Promised Land Area - all homes, some are state cabins, many are year round homes.

PA State Cabins - mostly all state cabins. There may be one or two in here that are like state cabins, but are actually on privately owned land. Not all are near Promised Land; some are in the Pecks Pond or Dingmans Ferry / Bushkill area.

 

WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Paupack Group Independently Owned and Operated

Promised Land Lucky Ducks - Copyright 2008 by Karen E. Rice.  Originally published by the author on PikeWaynePABlog.com

Karen E. Rice is a real estate agent working in Pike & Wayne County of Northeastern PA in the Pocono Mountains. Lake Wallenpaupack is one of Pennsylvania's most popular destinations for vacations, retirement, and purchasing a home.

There are so many lakes here in the Poconos of northeast PA. Some allow motorboats, some do not, some are private, and some are owned by the state of PA.

Below I've created a map with some info on several of the lakes in Wayne and Pike county. This collection is not at all complete and is a work in progress, but I thought that it will be helpful in locating a lot of these lakes.

Sometimes the Google map is missing the actual lake, so I created a placemark with its approximate location. Eventually, I'll link photos of these lakes, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

So my Tuesday Tip for this week is: USE MY MAP! :-) Use the tools to zoom in and out and to navigate around the area. If you have any questions or would like more information on these lakes, please feel free to email me.

View Larger Map

©2008 by Karen E. Rice Lakes in Northeast PA - Tuesday Tip was originally posted Karen E. Rice on http://www.pikewaynepablog.com. All rights reserved.

WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Paupack Group Independently Owned and Operated

Karen E. Rice is a real estate agent working in Pike & Wayne County of Northeastern PA in the Pocono Mountains. Lake Wallenpaupack is one of Pennsylvania's most popular destinations for vacations, retirement, and purchasing a home.
Lake Wallenpaupack

I will be attending Fast Track training in Matamoras, from WEICHERT, REALTORS this week so that I may better serve you - my customers.

WEICHERT, REALTORS definitely believes in educating their agents.  There is a ton of training available to me as a WEICHERT agent, from in-office sessions, to online classes at "Weichert University" to all day sessions like this one.

This means that I will be better trained to meet your real estate needs more efficiently and with the knowledge you need and expect from a REALTOR.  A real estate agent NEVER gets too much education - knowledge is power, and I want to be a powerful agent for you!

The training runs from Monday - Thursday & is all day long.  While I will be checking and responding to emails at night, I will not be available during the day, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me right away.

In the meantime, feel free to search real estate listings here, and be sure to send emails with any questions - I'll just be answering late at night!

 

I have a Jack-Sack (named after Jack Bauer's Man Bag) that I carry in the back of my van.  In it are several tools that I may need during my real estate adventures:

• a real tape measure (I dislike the digital ones because they are innacurate)
• a 100' tape measure
  
• a hammer
• flashlight
• utility knife
• vice grips or adjustible wrench
• a screwdriver with multiple tips
• plastic clamps
• duct tape, clear packaging tape, and electrical tape
• plastic nuts/bolts for sign riders
• a pry bar for making holes in the ground for signs when the ground is too hard
• toilet paper
• a few towels or rags
• hand sanitizer

Today I learned of a couple new ones:

• wasp & hornet spray
• baking soda or meat tenderizer
• bottled water to make the above into a poultice

My daughter, my son, and my customer's daughter all got stung today when we were looking at a vacant property - there was a lovely hornet's nest just under the deck railing.  My customer and I had no idea until I had opened the door to the home and the kids started screaming bloody murder.

Thank heavens nobody was allergic.  I was skeered to go back and shut the door and lock it (we didn't go in) because the bees were there - but like a brave little REALTOR, I did.

(updated to add some suggestions from the comments.  I honestly NEVER would have thought of TOILET PAPER! LOL)