* STUDIO & ART BAR EXTENDED HOLIDAY HOURS
Just in time to make your holiday shopping easier, The Studio & Art Bar is extending their hours. Until Christmas, they will be open every Friday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. and every Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Both days they’ll have hot drinks and snacks, including hot chocolate with or without peppermint schnapps, hot cider, or hot spiced wine. Beverages and snacks will be different every week. Come in to make holiday gifts for family and friends, shop like you mean it, grab a last minute gift, or purchase gift certificates. Don’t forget there is a free gift with every purchase, free gift wrapping, and you can enter a monthly drawing to win a $50 gift certificate. See you downtown! The Studio & Art Bar is located at 29 North Beaver Street. Call (717) 718-0907 or visit www.thestudioandartbar.com for more information.

Benefits of home staging - The purpose of Staging with accessories and props is to guide prospective buyers’ eyes around a room, highlight architectural features and greet house hunters into each Staged room with a welcoming scene.

The goal is NOT to make it appear as though someone lives in the house. The goal of Staging is to inspire prospective buyers to imagine how they would live in the house with their family and belongings.

We install curtains, lamps, small furniture (tables, chairs, bedforms - as shown below) art, decorative accessories (dishes, books, vases, artificial greenery), and soft goods (pillows, towels, shower curtains, bedspread, area rug, table cloth.)

WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?

When you decide to buy a home, you may feel resistance to doing some of the things that are necessary to turn your dream into a reality.  An important part of a professional Realtor’s job is to help you overcome such resistance.

            When you locate the property you want to buy, you will have to handle many details within a very short period of time.  There is a lot of paperwork, such as the financial statement and purchase agreement, in addition to the negotiations with the sellers.  You may also experience a wide range of emotions at each step of the way, everything from mild jitters to profound buyers’ remorse.  Just take a deep breath and trust your Realtor.

        It also helps to remember that everyone who has purchased a home has experienced these same feelings–”it’s too much money ” or ” the local market will collapse completely the day after we settle”.  Fortunately, almost none of these fears ever come true.  A professional Realtor is trained to take you through the home-buying jitters.

            For solid advice on selling or buying real estate, consult Jim Powers at Prudential Bob Yost. 

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Paradise Township, Under $125,000! Why rent when you can buy this 2 bedroom home with 1 car oversized garage. Features newer laminate floors on the first floor, open floor plan, replacement windows, newer oak kitchen is open to dining area, first floor laundry and bath. Front and rear covered porches, fish pond, and nice views! All appliances included! A great place to start home ownership!

 Many sellers want to pull out the stops and decorate according to family traditions, but houses that are on the market shouldn’t be overly personalized or cluttered at any time. Buyers usually don’t mind listings to reflect the season’s spirit. Yet certain symbols—nativity scenes, menorahs, and the like—may send the wrong message. 

 “Your goal is to help sellers show off their houses, but not their holiday decorations,” says Julie Dana, a home staging professional and co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell (Alpha, 2007). If you succeed, you’ll get them to convince buyers, “I wish this were my home for the holidays,” says Bruce Johnson, president of Lee Kimball, a design/build firm in Winchester, Mass.

 Amid all of the challenges of listing a home during the holidays, there is one big plus: Most buyers who are actively looking at this time of year are serious. The following tips will help sellers achieve the right decorating balance:

 Add tasteful, generic decorations. “Tasteful decorations can be an asset to a sale,” says David Iannuccilli, CRS, GRI, and co-broker/owner of RE/MAX Professionals in East Greenwich, R.I. But since taste is subjective, we asked Iannuccilli and other pros to define what good holiday taste looks like—and doesn’t. Most define it as “elegant,” “simple,” and “quiet.” Iannuccilli specifies a minimalist approach–one wreath, one tree, one dining table centerpiece. Dana recommends a tall narrow tree to emphasize a room’s height and conserve floor space. In the don’t-do list, Dana cites no “cute” wreaths with gingerbread men or oversized inflatable snowmen on front yards. She also suggests steering clear of personalized objects such as monogrammed stockings. “When decorations get too personal, people have a hard time picturing themselves in the home,” she says. Pat Heydlauff, a feng shui expert in Palm Beach County, Fla., recommends no or few religious symbols, whether crèches or menorahs.

 Trade nonseasonal for seasonal decorations. To avoid clutter, remove a nonholiday accessory for each seasonal accessory added, says Dana.  

 Don’t imitate Scrooge. Even if decorating seems a Herculean task, tell sellers not to avoid all decorations. “People expect some, and they add warmth,” says Dana.

 Think green…and metallic, and white. Too much red and green can backfire. Practitioners suggest a neutral palette of fresh greens, elegant silvers and golds, and classic whites. Karen Fornash, a real estate guru in New York, favors vases of white roses, lilies, and freesia, complemented by evergreens. Christi Page, owner of Top Drawer Hardware in Santa Monica, Ca., suggests replacing a few knobs in a bathroom or kitchen with ones that add a touch of seasonal color.

 Remember the joy of entertaining. Because home entertaining connotes happy homeownership, builder David Cohen of Hampden Design & Construction in Newton, Mass., suggests staging a kitchen as if the owners were going to throw a cozy holiday party. “People don’t want things to look stark at the holidays,” he says.   

 Be mindful of valuable gifts. Keep most holiday presents and family heirlooms out of sight to avoid distracting buyers, says Gregg Goldsholl, a practitioner with Weichert Realtors in Larchmont, N.Y. Doing so also is a smart precaution for open houses. “Not all people who tour a home are trustworthy,” Dana says. 

 Keep up decorations for a limited time. While most homeowners love prolonging the holiday spirit, experts suggest curtailing it when the house is on the market. Dave Sears, co-founder of OptHome, a homeownership resource Web site in Winchester, Mass., advises a maximum of two weeks before and two after Christmas.

 Add warmth and energy. Nothing says holidays more than twinkling lights and crackling fires, but make smart choices. Lights, which also help illuminate a home’s exterior in the dark—particularly important in winter when many showings take place—shouldn’t be left on all the time. Advise sellers to select efficient LED bulbs and use them with motion detectors or timers, says Rozanne Weissman, senior director of consumer campaigns with the nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, D.C. To get a fire going quickly and make clean-up easier, consider manufactured logs, says Mendy Aul, with Pine Mountain in Daleville, Ind.

 Minimize smells. Holiday aromas—baked goods and live greens—enhance seasonal decor, but overly strong odors from air fresheners and candles may send buyers running, says Deanne Kory, senior vice president with The Corcoran Group in New York. Heydlauff tells sellers to leave out a plate of cookies, which buyers will associate with the spirit of giving.

 Play soothing music. Most people get their fill of jingles and carols, so suggest nonseasonal favorites that appeal year-round, says Sears.

 Use timely marketing materials. Everyone wants to lower expenses, but it’s critical not to cut corners when you’re taking photos for listing materials. The wrong images—a living room with a tree in summer—signal that a house has been on the market too long, says Dana.  

 Remember winter’s threat. If sellers live in a cold climate, remind them to shovel walks rather than have snow and ice become part of the décor.   

 And when sellers seem in doubt, remind them that less is always best. Happy Holidays!

REALTORS Give Thanks and Give Back

With the holiday season right around the corner, members of the REALTORS Association of York & Adams Counties take time to give thanks by giving back to the communities in which we live and work.  2008 will not go down as a record-breaking year for the real estate community.  “Sales didn’t come close to previous years, but REALTORS, appraisers, lenders, title companies and other real estate related businesses still donated great amounts of time and money to support local non-profits through the RAYAC Foundation,” said Steve Snell, executive officer for the REALTORS Association of York & Adams Counties, Inc.

RAYAC has an ongoing partnership with Habitat for Humanity and 2008 was an exciting year for the association.  RAYAC sponsored its third Habitat home which was built in Dover during the summer.  Members appreciated the opportunity to financially help Habitat and spent three weeks building the home.  What a reward to see a deserving family finally have their own home.

The association also awarded contributions to five area housing-related organizations to help them fulfill their missions to help people here in York and Adams Counties.

Additionally, the foundation supported relief efforts from floods in Iowa through its Robert Murphy Disaster Relief Fund.

Most recently, members of RAYAC’s staff and Board of Directors participated in REALTORS Reach Out by volunteering at Rocky Ridge Park to help the York County Parks Department get ready for its biggest fundraiser of the year – Christmas Magic: A Festival of Lights.  Volunteers painted the interior of a barn to transform it to a concession area, added lights to new displays and replaced regular light bulbs with new energy-efficient ones on existing displays.

The Foundation raised and contributed over $46,000 this year alone through its annual bowlathon and golf outing fund raisers to give back to the community.  Individual real estate offices, REALTORS and employees in related businesses do so many other worthwhile volunteer activities throughout the year – hold food drives for area food banks, collect backpacks and back to school supplies for needy children, collect donations for animal shelters and  Toys for Tots, host charitable fundraisers, and so much more.

The RAYAC staff continually supports the United Way campaign with 100% participation and encourages others to do the same.  As economic times become more difficult on families and senior citizens, more services will be needed throughout our community.  “If you have the means, please share it with others who can use it to make a difference.  The United Way is a shining example of broad-reaching support to provide funding to a wide variety of agencies that provide vital services in York and Adams Counties,” explained Snell.

“While there is so much negative news on TV, the radio or in newspapers, the REALTORS Association is fortunate to have dedicated members who truly care about and get involved in our community,” said Snell.  

122 S MAIN STREET, RED LION, PA - CAR LOVERS DELIGHT IN RED LION BORO! 2 STORY DETACHED GARAGE W/ROOM FOR 5-6 CARS & BASEMENT OFFICE W/BATH & HEAT AND SEPARATE ELECTRIC. WALK TO EVERYTHING! FRESHLY PAINTED. FEATURING A SPACIOUS LIVING ROOM W/WOOD CORNER FP, NEW FURNACE, ROOF, WINDOWS, AND FRONT DOOR W/SIDELITES, FORMAL DINING ROOM W/NEW FLOOR & CHINA CABINET, 1ST FLR BR/DEN W/FULL BATH, GALLEY KITCHEN W/NEW FLOOR, UPDATED MAIN BATH W/CERAMIC TILE FLOORS & WALLS + 2 WIC W/BUILT INS. ALL APPLIANCES STAY. WALK UP ATTIC FOR STORAGE. THIRD BEDROOM HAS DOOR TO BALCONY

122 S Main Street, Red Lion, PA

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