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Douglassville, PA Real Estate News

By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and spending my first 60 years there, it was a bit difficult to make the move about 6 years ago to Douglassville, Berks County...!   Now, it's not like Douglassville and Berks County are on opposite sides of the state from Montgomery County...in fact, Berks County is contiguous to Montgomery County (contiguous: a title company term meaning sharing a boundary line)...just slightly west and a bit north of Montgomery County...and in fact, Douglassville is only a 20 minutes drive to my office in Limerick, Pennsylvania...near the center of Montgomery County...   So much for the geography lesson...!   Surrounded by graceful hills in almost every direction, Douglassville provides a picturesque setting each time you look out the window, sit o...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Active Rain is a real estate social network...I am a career Title Person...most people reading this are career agents, loan officers, appraisers, etc...all of whom are members of families...large or small or somewhere in between...   I believe in a holistic approach to life...that is, I don't like dividing life into convenient little categories like the stores at the mall...compartmentalizing and categorizing and isolating are foreign to me when it comes to family...FAMILY FIRST...   I try to learn how to be a better father and person by watching sports, and I try to learn something about playing sports by being a good father...the synergy of the two is the important dynamic which promotes growth and disallows regression...it's a win win situation win or lose...!   So today, Joshua, my ...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Does government operate to benefit people and serve the needs of taxpayers, or do they get strangled by power and bureaucracy and fail the people miserably...   That may be perhaps what the upcoming election is all about...!   On July 1, 2008, my sister and her husband purchased a property from a bank who had foreclosed on the prior owner...the taxes on this property, which sold effectively for $204,000.00, were in excess of $11,000 dollars, and settlement was scheduled for early September...well after the August 15th deadline for appealing taxes for the next fiscal tax year!   Under the Berks County provisions for tax appeal, exists a right, that the 'equitable owner' may begin this appeal process as long as the appeal is filed by August 15th...   We filed such an appeal in a timely m...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
This is the time of year that makes Pennsylvanians glad they live here! Beautiful clear fresh air with just a touch of a cool autumn breeze...   And this is also the time of year you notice those hot air balloons...no, this is not a ReMax ad post...It's just that those of us in the Amity Township area of Berks County are afforded the additional pleasure of 'Hot Air Balloon' watching...a great fall pastime for NCAA football halftimes...that's right...what better way to get some fresh air than to get outdoors and breathe in some of that rejuvenating autumn fresh air and watch the flight of those colorfully decorated hot air balloons...   You see, we're smack in the flight path of those balloons which are launched west of here and travel between the beautiful rolling hills that surround u...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
So Saturday evening we headed to the Texas baseball field in neighbor Birdsboro, PA for a 6:00PM baseball game...we got there about 5:15PM...   Guess what...we saw no familiar faces, no other team members or coaches, and moreover there was already a game going that was only in the third inning...!   Oops! We messed up! The game was actually scheduled to start at 7:00PM, not 6:00PM as we thought...now what do we do?   We didn't want to pack up and drive back home, it was too humid to stick around and wait (all of us had a rough day on Saturday), so we decided to grab a quick pizza at someplace close so we wouldn't have to eat our dinner after the game, then drive back to the field to arrive at just the perfect time. Great game plan, don't you think...yeah, except for two things...we had ...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
We're hunkered in as a family riding out the remnants of Hurricane Hanna...Not our usual Saturday afternoon activity...!   You sit in your favorite chair, watch the weather channel, peek outside occasionally to see if it's still raining, listen to the kids getting on each others nerves, try to write your next post, and think of all the things you could be doing...and THEN...   You begin to think of all the wonderful things you enjoyed this past week...delicious sweet seedless chilled watermelon...locally grown Pennsylvania sweet corn on the cob (the best in the world)...so sweet you eat it plain, with no sugar in the boiling water, no salt, no butter...all those tastes are built right into that PA sweet corn...why ruin it...the first middle school scrimmage, fall ball, blogging on Activ...
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By Glen Russell, Real Estate Professional, Limerick, PA
(eXp Realty)
For Showings or More information please call Glen Russell 610.792.3000 Come right in! Walk in through the front door to see the beautiful hardwood floors in the spacious living room. From the living room, take a stroll into the gorgeous lightfilled dining room, also with hardwood floors and a large bay window showing the great fenced in yard. Next take a look at your striking new kitchen, full of new appliances and completely remodeled. And don't forget about the charming enclosed porch. Let's head upstairs, where you'll be astonished by the 3 dazzling bedrooms, 2 with hardwood floors and 1 with wall to wall carpeting. The basement has been professionally waterproofed with a transferable warranty, & a new well pump and heater have been installed within the last 2 years! Throw in the 1 a...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Every year for the last 6 years I have had at least one son playing what we call 'Midget Football'...   The season starts with rigorous 4 days a week practices lasting 2 hours...the kids whose ages range from 7 through 13 are sorted out by age and assigned to appropriate teams...   The practices are from 6PM to 8PM so as to avoid the usual intense heat of the day and take advantage of an early evening breeze which occurs most everyday in our area!   The practices consist of a series of calesthenics, stretching, and warming up activities and then break up into smaller groups to run through play drills and special skills exercises!   There are about 8 or 9 teams covering three age groups...not counting 'flag football' for the really young and football eager kids!   At the same time all th...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Tomorrow is My wife Benita's fiftieth birthday...fifty...a special number...one signifying 'Jubilee'...among other milestones!   Now we are supposed to go to dinner at the famous Yellow House Inn located just a few miles north of our home in Douglassville, Pennsylvania...in fact, just a few weeks ago, she and her mother who was visiting from Dallas, Texas, dined there and had an excellent meal and time together.   Now Benita and I lost our Father and Mother within 5 months of each other last August and January...the memories of those losses still fresh in our minds and thoughts to this day...   It is easy to celebrate one of the kids birthdays or a friends or other relative...but our own...with each passing year there becomes less and less enthusiasm as we need less and less attention ...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Many of you who read my post yesterday know that my family and I had our power irresponsibly turned off by MET ED, our local power company that sells 'power' but not 'service'!!! Briefly stated, we were never contacted by phone to inform us of the shutoff, even after we electronically paid our bill in full plus extras!!! MET ED has demonstrated clearly that they could care less about their customers...their bottom line is all that is important...I wouldn't wan't to give them any more notoriety than they deserve...none!!! What's it like to spend an evening with 5 kids under 14 and an irate wife??? Let me show you the ways!!! I'll try to give them to you chronologically... Left work a little early to 'calm the storm'... Garage door opener doesn't work...and a 9 year old is not strong enou...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
April 19, 2008...opening day ceremonies at Douglassville Youth Baseball Association...each child is honored, each coach, each sponsor, each volunteer, each family...beginning with a locally sung version of the National Anthem, and closing with a locally sung version of America The Beautiful!Seeing the various teams positioned through the out field...the various splendid team colors against a background of lush dark green freshly mown grass...fields all freshly lined and manicured...ready for the first pitch to be thrown!With the weather cooperating to give us a warm but breezy Spring day, and the aromas emanating from the snack bar, it was nice to hear that age old admonition...PLAY BALL!!!With team photos being taken at various locations, mascots walking around the area, and the last o...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
How's this for a 'mission statement':"We care for the earth by promoting organic & bio-dynamic farming methods. We conduct our business in a respectful & ethical manner while building strong cooperative ties within our larger community.In a more personal way, we support each individuals quest to learn more about healthy choices in diet & lifestyle. Finally, we are committed to honoring each customer with outstanding service."No, this is not a new Active Rainer...it is not a new real estate professional...it is the mission statement for a wonderful new store which has become a hallmark of our Douglassville community! The Kimberton Whole Foods Store!Actually, they aren't new...they opened up over a year ago in the Douglassville facility. I had become familiar with the Kimberton Whole Food...
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By Fran Gaspari, "The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ
(Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)
Earlier this month I detailed in a post the area in which I work---Limerick, PA!Today, I present to all this brief pictorial of the beautiful area where my family and I reside---Amity Township in rural Berks County Pennsylvania.The pristine green covered rolling hills of the surrounding countryside defy the proliferation of building development that has taken place in the last 10 years. Mostly residential in nature, our area lacks a significant commercial and light industrial tax base. We eagerly await that day!I present to you:                                        OUR SEAL                   Sports Team              Daniel Boone Homestead          Welcome Road Sign                          Old Covered Bridge-extant              New Church               17th Century Landmark      An Or...
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Douglassville, PA Real Estate Professionals