This week Shawn DeAngelo of Prosperity Home Mortgage and I discuss five things that affect your credit score and your ability to qualify for a mortgage and get a great rate at the same time. Check out the video of our conversation and don't despair if you have some negative events in your life, we discuss those as well and be aware you may still be able to qualify for a mortgage even after a bankruptcy. For mortgage help contact Shawn DeAngelo of Prosperity Home Mortgage at 484-297-2192 or ShawnD@PHMLoans.com. Buying or selling on or around the Main Line, contact Nick Vandekar, Selling the Main Line with Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., office 610-225-7400, cell or text 610-203-4543, or Nick@VandekarTeam.com. 02/23/2021

We all know what we should do, most of us though, don't do what we know we should or we even sometimes do the opposite. Where a mortgage is concerned that can be disasterous if you want to buy a home.I had a conversation with Shawn DeAngelo of Prosperity Home Mortgages this week about some do's and don'ts when applying for a mortgage, watch our video, admittedly a litte long but packed with information and share any that you can think of that might derail a mortgage in the comments.Interested in buying a Main Line home, contact Nick Vandekar, Selling the Main Line with Long & Foster Real Estate, office 610-225-7400, cell or text 610-203-4543, Nick@VandekarTeam.com, need a mortgage contact Shawn DeAngelo, email ShawnD@PHMLoans.com or 484-297-2192. 02/16/2021

We all know that in today's hot, hot buyer's market that an offer needs to stand out and be a little different. Prosperity Home Mortgage has been offering a great product the Propserity Buyers' Advantage; this is a program where buyers get fully approved for a loan, barring the appraisal and the title work. All paperwork from the buyer is reviewed by an underwriter and a commitment is issued with only the purchase details needing to be completed.I had a great conversation today with Shawn DeAngelo of Prosperity Home Mortgage about this program and some other things about preapprovals and mortgages. Enjoy the video below. Shawn's contact details are at the end of the video.If you are looking to make your offer stand out, then contact Nick Vandekar, Selling the Main Line with Long & Foste... 02/05/2021

I just listed this great townhome in the prestigious gated community of Arbordeau in Devon. Sitting behind its own gated patio, landscaped to resemble a Mediterranean landscape area, this 3 bed 2 1/2 bath home has underground parking for two cars as well. No reason to venture out into the cold or wet when you live here. Take a video tour: Arbordeau is perfectly located on the main line, and has the added security of being a gated secure community. Minutes to everywhere important on the Main Line and a short distance from Jenkins Arboretum, Devon or Berwyn Stations. Plentiful supply of excellent restaurants, shops and bars are all nearby.For your private tour contact Nick Vandekar, Selling the Main Line with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. office 610-225-7400, cell or text 610-203-4543, o... 02/04/2021

As agents for years we have been telling our prospective clients to speak to a mortgage provider and to get preapproved as the first step in searching for and buying a home.Most prospective buyers know this and dutifully speak to a mortgage provider and get their preapproval for a mortgage and with this in hand then contact a Realtor to help them buy a home.But something has happened over the last few years that no longer makes that pre-approval of any value. For the past three years, agents have been talking about the low inventory of homes for resale, as well as the lack of new construction as well. This combined with low interest rates has made it very difficult to buy a home in today's market. The low inventory, combined with low interest rates has created a very strong sellers mark... 01/27/2021

Old Forge Crossing Sales Data for 2020 This condominium development remains popular and whilst the pandemic slowed things down prices rose and the number of total sales for the year were slightly higher. At the beginning of the year things were quite slow, and in 2020 we had just a few more sales than in previous years with 25 total sales. This is in line with what we have seen across the Main Line real estate market with a reduced inventory and many buyers ready, willing and able to snap up inventory when it has come on the market. As a result we have also seen days on market drop to just over 9 across all sales in the year. Prices have strengthened over previous years with a square foot net price of $213.38. Of those 25 sales, 18 were single bedroom units, of which two had dens. Overa... 01/21/2021

I am very happy today to announce the addition to our team of Sindhu Manchester. Sindhu has been hosting my Open Houses at the end of last year and I asked her to join my team after watching her professionalism and style during a very difficult time. Originally born and raised in Zambia, Africa, Sindhu came to New York in 1997 as an international student to pursue a bachelor’s degree in International Business, and later, a higher education in Accounting. Sindhu always knew that she wanted a vocation that would allow her to help others, and found her true calling here, in East Norriton, PA within real estate.  Sindhu recognizes and values the trust our clients place in her, and strives every day to exceed their expectations while guiding them through one of the biggest investments of the... 01/07/2021

Thomas J. Nelson, Realtor e-Pro, CRS, RCS-D, Vets is always encouraging us to Take Action in his posts. This week I got a call from a client who I have been showing homes to for a little while, but all fell short for one reason or another. They had just seen a home they had driven by and wanted to make an offer. It was a coming soon listing, which meant no showings. They loved the location and the look of the lot from the road. It was an estate selling the home, and they did not want to wait till it hit the market. Could we make an offer? I called the listing agent who I know and she was fine with an offer sight unseen. She re-iterated it was an estate and the house needed work. My buyers knew that. So we drew up an agreement of sale, which was very clean, slightly above asking price wi... 07/30/2020

 This beautiful one bed, one bath condo with a rare water view is in a prized location in Old Forge Crossing in Devon PA 19333.After a flurry of activity on Tuesday, we had several offers to review and my sellers selected one they thought was the best. So 437 Old Forge Crossing, Devon PA 19333 is now under contract and a pending sale. The buyer had lost out on several other offers and had learnt their lesson well crafting a strong offer with great terms for my sellers.  Seen by many buyers at 437.OldForgeCrossing.com, this home had lots to offer, with many recent upgrades. Located in Tredyffrin Easttown School district it is a well loved, but little known development. If you are looking to buy or sell in Old Forge Crossing or on or around The Main Line contact Nick Vandekar, Selling The... 07/24/2020

Wouldn't you want to live here? More information at 437.oldforgecrossing.com    Located in a preferred location in Old Forge Crossing , this single bedroom Main Line second floor, end unit condo overlooks the community reflecting pond, with views of trees and water. One of the largest condos in the Old Forge Crossing development it has recently been updated with newer heater, a/c and newer energy efficient windows all saving you money on utilities. It also has hardwood parquet floors, new carpet in the bedroom, newer kitchen cabinets, recently updated bathroom and a large bedroom with two walk in closets. Condo has a washer and dryer in your condo, so no having to carry laundry to get it clean. There is plenty of storage throughout this condo, with a nice open floor plan. Gas cooking, g... 07/20/2020

Clients who I just helped sell and buy just left this great review about me."We have bought 2 and sold 1 house with Nick and it was a pleasure to work with him. We can only recommend to engage with him and let him guide you thru the process(es). He is very responsive and literally always available :-)"khanke2010  As I said earier this week, repeat clients say a lot about you, your level of service and how well you do your job. 07/10/2020

I have been thinking or pondering about this recently on my walks. What am I looking at? Is it the whole picture or just a part? I had seen some photos of a listing recently, selling a life style they were wonderful, selling the house, not so much as they were all close ups of a wonderful bed with beautiful sheets and pillows, but that was all you could see, not the room at all. Sometimes we need to focus on the details, and other times we need to step back and see the whole picture. A small detail can derail a whole transaction if it is allowed to become the focus, but when you zoom out it shows for what it is a samll detail not worth worrying about. Negotiations for a house can get bogged down in the small minutae of detail, you are buying a $500,000 home and are willing to walk away ... 07/07/2020

We all know things are going to be different. But how different they will be, is just starting to reveal itself as we are allowed to show homes in PA. Remember those days, when you would preview a home on a Thursday with showings beginning at the weekend with an open house on Saturday and Sunday with maybe 30-70 groups coming through each day.  FORGET IT!  But imagine, as we have in PA, a regulation to leave time between showings, in other words limited showings per day. Now, what do you do with that "hot property"?   You need to have special forms completed and keep records. Do you let everyone in before accepting offers? You need a schedule to be completed making sure there are spaces between showings. What if the agent has to be present? Where does the seller go for the day?  It is o... 05/29/2020

Mixed news out of Harrisburg yesterday. A bill to re-open real estate was vetoed by the Governor, but at the same time, he announced that real estate, regardless of the colour phase your county is in can resume under specific guidelines. Red, Yellow or Green is no longer relevant for real estate related activities.This means we can get back to work helping you, our customers and clients. What are those guidelines: Only three people maximum can be in a house at a time, and all must wear masks and stay 6 feet apart. Do not linger in the house to discuss the house, that must be done outside. As much that can be done remotely must be. Showings are spread out with 30 minutes between showings at least and anything a buyer has touched should be wiped down before the next showing, hence buyers ... 05/20/2020

As we all sit at home, many may be wondering what is real estate going to look like when things improve and we can begin to get back to normal. What is that new normal going to look like? Well, like the image to the right, there are a lot of different routes that can be taken.  Most will not lead to the destination you want to arrive at, but if you are careful making your way through the junction you won't get lost and you will arrive at your destination. During this enforced stay at home period I have managed to bring homes to settlement.  Getting one to appraise for substantially more than a previous sale where the appraisal caused it to fall through and obtaining my sellers an increased return. In fact both homes which settled, suffered from bad initial appraisals and we got both to ... 05/12/2020

I shared recently how one of my clients asked me to step in when they had made the mistake to use another broker and the home although it sold failed to appraise. On reviewing everything it didn't make sense as the comps were defintiely there for the home.Anyway, we re-listed the home for a higher price, quickly obtained an offer, navigated our way through inspections, negotiations and the second appraisal for a higher price and settled last week.  Today, my clients posted the following review of me. "Our experience with Nick has been great! He is very accessible, knowledgeable and very communicative and always maintains a positive demeanor. The house we last sold did not appraise when using another brokerage and not only did Nick get it to appraise he also got us more money and the sal... 04/28/2020

Often how you look at a problem will lead you to the answer. After Roger Bannister ran a mile in under 4 minutes many others now felt it could be done and achieved similar results. If we believe someone like ourselves can achieve something we want to attain, we will be able in our minds to overcome all the objections. How many of you who are brokers know people who outsell others simply because they believe it can be done and you are surprised by those who you think will be wonderful but never acheive the results you expect. It is all mental. My middle son, as some of you know went into the Marines. He said all the training was mental. He knew the drill sergeants were all noise, they weren't going to kill you and even when he went into Special Operations training he knew it was all ment... 04/27/2020

As many of you know, I used to be in the antiques business, it was family run and I was third generation. A photo of my dad is below at an antiques show in London. My brother is still dealing and I am still attached, running antiques shows for local charities.This post was inspired by Ron and Alexandra Seigel post this morning Marketing Savvy - The Importance of details well worht a read. As I was leaving a comment it reminded me of an event from when I was actively dealing in antiques.I was on a trip to Hong Kong and walking past a shop with a friend we saw some figures that were quite late, very dirty but attractive. We went in, inquired about the price negotiated and purchased them together. Once they arrived in the UK and we cleaned them, we had to decide what to do with them. My fr... 04/24/2020

These are different times. And every day we are adapting as rules change. I decided to host a Virtual Open House at a listing as my clients really want the house promoted. Initially I was going to go to the house and do it with the husband. But, then we got a stay in place order and our State Association told us we must not be having any one on one meetings with clients as part of that stay in place order.What to do? Well I made my client an admin on my Facebook Business Page, you can find it by searching Facebook for either Nick Vandekar, Long & Foster Real Estate. or @BuyingAMainLineHome, in Facebook it is all lower case, not sure if that matters. My clients asked me to advertise it as much as possible and enter it in the MLS so that an alert would go out via sites like Zillow etc. So... 03/28/2020

Old Forge Crossing Condominiums in Tredyffrin Township, Devon PA saw 23 sales last year, same as 2018. These Devon condos remain popular being in the Tredyffrin Easttown School district selling on average in 9 days.Full data is below, but a quick recap those 23 homes sold for a total of $4,026,405 after concessions to buyers, homes sold for an average of 99% of list price, and the average square foot price was $201. Four of the listings were 2 bed 2 bath apartments, two were town houses with 2 beds and 2.5 baths and the remaining 17 were 1 bed 1 bath apartments. Generally those in better shape got higher prices, even more than some in lesser shape which had a den.Condition matters to buyers today, as does updated mechanicals, windows and kitchens and baths. Those which are updated will ... 01/31/2020