CELEBRATE FAMILY FUN MONTH IN BUCKS COUNTY

August is Family Fun Month and Bucks County has tons of activities that guarantee a great time for the whole family, year-round! Check out any of these attractions for hours of nonstop fun and make some new memories with your loved ones.

Sesame Place®, the nation's only theme park based entirely on the beloved children's show Sesame

Street®, is right here in Bucks County! Join the party and celebrate the amusement park's 35th birthday all-season-long with exhilarating rides, cool water slides and all-new toe-tapping shows starring everyone's favorite furry friends. The fun never stops at Sesame where everyone can be a kid again! 

Mini golf is the perfect family-friendly activity and the course at Golf Adventure is one of the area's best! With 18 holes, four ponds and two streams as well as a 15-foot waterfall, the scenic course is the

ideal setting for a family outing. After you make your way through the 18 holes, snack on soft-serve ice cream, milkshakes, soft drinks, pizza, hot dogs and more at the course-side food court.

Peddler's Village is home to Giggleberry Fair, a spectacular indoor play center that's fun for kids and adults alike! Its centerpiece is Giggleberry Mountain, the area's largest indoor obstacle course at three-stories tall. Make sure to check out the game room, equipped with more than 40 of the newest games on the market and then take a ride on the vintage 1922 Grand Carousel. If you've worked up an appetite, The Painted Pony awaits with delicious fresh pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders and many more kid-friendly foods and snacks.

When it's hot, there's no better way to spend time outdoors with your family than at Bucks County River Country. Located in the beautiful village of Point Pleasant, they offer kayaks, canoes, river rafts and the popular river tube available to take for two- to four-hour trips along the scenic Delaware River. Come see the "World's River Tubing Capital" for an adventure the whole family will love!

Grab your family and a hammer and head to Ringing Rocks Park, an eight-acre boulder field and

geologic wonder. When struck with a hammer, the rocks give off a loud, high-pitched ringing noise so you can make your own music all day long. After you and your family take turns taking your swings, hit the trail to explore the rest of the park, home to Bucks County's tallest waterfall. 

All aboard the historic New Hope & Ivyland Railroad! Travel into a scene from the past as this 1925 steam locomotive pulls passengers from New Hope to Lahaska on a 45-minute ride through the beautiful Bucks County countryside. Journey back in time, learning what rail travel was like for your ancestors as you make new memories of your own! 

Family fun is always in season at Shady Brook Farm! One of the last working farms in historic Bucks County, Shady Brook offers tons of exciting festivals year-round as well as "Pick-Your-Own" Days where guests can head out into the fields to pick fresh fruits and vegetables. While you're there, make sure to get a scoop from Uncle Dave's Homemade Ice Cream. Since setting up shop at the farm in 2007, Uncle Dave's has been serving up super premium, hand-dipped ice cream to hungry customers of all ages!

My Appraisal Came in Low, Now What?

Whether you are buying or selling a home, the appraisal matters. Even when the buyer and seller have agreed on a price, the deal could fall apart if the appraisal comes in low.

In a sellers’ market when there are plenty of qualified buyers, multiple offer situations can drive up the purchase price higher than the sale price of the comparable properties.
In a buyers’ market, there are more properties on the market and there are fewer buyers purchasing, so values will be soft or falling.

Either way, the appraisal can be cause for concern.

There are several other reasons that an appraisal can come in low.  There could be an abundance of foreclosure or short sales that would drive values down. The appraiser could be from outside the area and not have local market knowledge, or they could be inexperienced.  Or the seller could have overpriced the property in the first place.

So your appraisal came in low, well here is what you can do. First, don’t panic because there are options so that the deal will not fall through. The buyer can make up the difference in cash by adding to the down payment to reach the agreed upon purchase price. If you are the seller, you could have a pre-sale appraisal completed when you list the property for sale.

The seller could lower the sales price to meet the appraised value. The buyer or the seller could order and pay for a second appraisal. You could ask the listing agent or buyers agent to provide a list of comparable properties that do support the value, and ask the underwriter to re-evaluate the appraisal. There is always the chance that they will consider new or overlooked information.

The deal doesn’t have to fall apart, but some do. If you remember that most problems are correctable
and address the problems one at a time, you should be able to work through them and get the deal to closing. If you have any questions on appraisals, feel free to call me directly at 215-519-1399.

Defend your Title – 4 Common Title Problems

You have just closed on your new home. You have signed your name for what seems like hours.  With deed and keys in hand, you’re off to move in and get settled knowing that you are protected and safe in your new home. You may think that everything is just fine, but what if the sellers long lost Uncle John comes knocking on the door. He says he has a deed to the property or an unrecorded will granting him ownership rights.

This is why you purchased title insurance. There are many common title issues that could arise after the closing. These are 4 of the most common issues and how your title insurance will protect you.

·      Undiscovered encumbrances occur when a third party holds a claim to part of all of your property.  This could be an unrecorded lien because the seller has not paid a contractor for work done, a deed restriction or covenant that limits the type of shed you can build, or a license granted to a neighbor to store his fishing boat.

·      There could be an error in the public records. While we think we are perfect, we are human and we make mistakes. There could be a clerical or filing error that affects the deed. There could be a mistake made in the survey, or an easement that is missed or forgotten. 

·      You may own your home and the land around it, but there could be an unknown easement that would restrict or prohibit you from using the property any way you would like to. The utility company or another property owner might have the ability to enter or use the property, right where you would like to build that shed.

·      The property may be new to you, and if it is not brand new, then it could have had several owners. No everyone is a diligent accountant or bill payer. A lien for the debts of a previous seller could be placed on the property after you own it.  The debt may not be yours, but it will be your problem. This is a common problem with distressed properties.

Title issues can cause great financial hardship, and limit the way you can use your new property. Title claims can be very expensive and can even affect the value of your new home. With title insurance you can rest assured that you would not have to deal with these concerns on your own.

The good news is that in the large stack of papers you received at closing, there is an Owner’s title policy, which will cover any title issues that arise after closing. The title company will help defend and pay claims on your title, so you wont have to go it alone.  If you have any questions about title insurance, feel free to contact me directly at 215-519-1399.

Bring a new friend home

You’ve bought your dream home. In some cases, it might feel a little empty – like something is missing. Maybe your new home could stand some new wall art, or extra furniture to fill in the gaps. Or, in some cases, maybe it needs an extra family member!

October is “Adopt A Shelter Dog month”, and thankfully Bucks County SPCA in Lahaska is ready to help you bring a new friend into your life! Located on Street Road, the SPCA currently has an abundance of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, and even a ball python. All of these little critters are just waiting for a new parent to bring them into their lives.

Dogs and puppies may be adopted for a fee of $150, while cats and kittens may be adopted for $50 to $75. There is a small animal adoption charge of $5 and up, which depends on the small animal and type.

If you are looking for a new home for yourself and your newly adopted furry friend, or are considering selling your home, call me today at 215-519-1399 or visit my website for more information.