You can’t beat the value at this course – it’s one of the best 9-hole courses in the area and it is NOT an easy nor short course though you might assume. It has many challenges and plays well for any level of golfer.

The tournament is only $35.00 for 27 holes (discount for members). You can still register by visiting the Green Hills Golf Course website.

As the end of the October approaches and everyone is running around finalizing their Halloween costumes, we thought it would be good time to get the October statistics posted. It’s really not so scary in this area.

As you can see in the above slide there are currently 3861 residential listings active. Our days on market have increased by 10 from this time last year, and the number of sold listings is down about that many too. The current absorption rate is running around 10 months of inventory. List to sale price, while not shown on this chart, has been hovering around 92%, on average from the same time last year.

Overall, we’ve been fairly consistent throughout the year from an inventory, sales, and the number of pending homes. These numbers fluctuate in this same manner, every year, similarly, for at least the past 5 years. Are prices down? Yes. Are the number of solds down? Maybe. However, homes that have been priced correctly, for today’s market, are selling. It may not happen as quickly as sellers, and agents, would like, but they are selling. The days on market, in the chart, definitely reflects that.

So as we close October, already(?), things are not so gloomy. We wish you a happy Halloween and if your buying or selling, or thinking about buying or selling, feel free to contact us to discuss your current situation.

We’re here to help!

Chart clip art courtesy of openclipart.org

It never ceases to amaze me that there is so much history to be found in Chester County (this is walking distance into Berks County) right at nearly every turn! I took the kids towards the end of the Apple Picking at the National State Park: Hopewell Furnace a few weeks ago.

It was a rainy day, but we were able to get some apples and quickly tour the village in between the rain. Hopewell Furnace is a historical site of the ironworks in operation in 1771. I was surprised that the display kept the girls’ (ages 8 and 6) attention span (and mine!) for almost two hours with videos and “touch and feel” exhibits.

Take a look and venture out to Elverson for some history and fun! Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site; 2 Mark Bird Lane; Elverson, Pennsylvania 19520. For Visitor Information you can call (610) 582-8773.

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I recently moved to the Northern part of Chester County and further away from my usual stops for my twice-a-year project needs, but boy was I in for a surprise when I found Hayloft Fabrics ! I wish I had more time to sew so I could visit more often with a better excuse than a just-in-case or for-later fabric shopping trip to add to the stash. (Those of you who sew know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you

They are located above Martin’s Country Market, a local grocery store, and even the way the store is laid out is fun. It overlooks the inside of the grocery store as it borders the outside walls upstairs.

They have all sorts of offerings, not just thousands of fabrics organized into categories like: Vintage, Antique, Batik, Animals, Foods, Seasons, Contemporary, Sports; but also quilting notions, felts, embroidery supplies, yarns, patterns, and just about anything else you might need.

I’m always on the look out to support a small business versus a huge chain and I’ll be caught at this one again for sure ! Oh! They also offer a discount if you belong to any sort of a Crafting/Quilting Guild too.

Hayloft Fabrics is located at 150 Moreview Road; Morgantown, PA 19543. They can be reached at 610-286-5045 or via email. If you can’t visit in person, they have a nice website for shopping from your comfy chair. http://HayloftFabrics.com

This could be one of the largest markets in the area. It certainly has a great mix of vendors from other markets, and even the Stadium Grille from West Chester is cooking dinners there. I hope this one sticks around for a while, as I’m sure to be there on Thursdays now.

Have you seen them yet ? I first noticed the hanging purple box on Rt. 322 near Downingtown a few months ago and it’s been bugging me since to know what they are being used for. I figured a bug trap of some sort and I was hopeful it was for the Stink Bugs that have infiltrated Chester County the last couple of years.

They are actually being used by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to survey the area for the destructive Emerald Ash Borer.  They are placing about 2,000 of the purple hanging boxes in the Eastern part of the state hoping to determine if the Emerald Ash Borer is present in the area. So far, they have been found in 20 counties including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Centre, Clarion, Cumberland, Fulton, Indiana, Juniata, Lawrence, Lycoming, Mercer, Mifflin, Somerset, Union, Washington and Westmoreland.

What can we do to help ? The Department of Agriculture is urging people not to transport firewood more than 50 miles from where it is cut. You can download a document with pictures from the Ag Department of the Emerald Ash Borer and its damage here. If you have any suspicions of the bug, you are asked to contact Sven Spichiger, Entomology Program Manager at (717) 772-5229.

Thanks for the use of your photo, David Hecker.