Main Line Homes Blog

As mentioned before the new PA Contractor Law implemented this year requires all contractors to register with the state before July 1st, over 40,000 contractors have done that , however 20,000 have still to register.

The second phase of the law requires all contractors to prepare new contract forms. This is because the law requires 17 different provisions be included (and 11 excluded!) in every contract. Contractors have never been too focused on long written contracts, this will be a big change for the industry as it becomes more formal in its paperwork. New provisions include start/completion dates, insurance coverage, lists of sub-contractors, three day rescission period for the homeowner, in other words no more contracts on paper napkins.

Another part of the law is the requirement for contractors to advertise their official registration number with the PA Attorney Generals registration program. This is the HIC# you will see on trucks, paperwork and advertisements.

So make sure your contractor has registered and is following the new rules.

Part of an interior design series by Deborah Bettcher a friend who has a local interior design business contact details at the end.

Have you ever walked into a room that seemed to tilt to one side even though the floor was perfectly level?  Having had the opportunity to work with many, many clients through the years, I've seen this situation often.  The problem is simply one of visual weight.  Did you know that your eyes assign greater weight to objects that are large and have a high degree of tone or color contrast?  And conversely, our eyes seem to give small objects or objects with little tone contrast less weight or impact.

 And have you ever noticed that some parts of an empty room appear heavier than others because of the architectural features in those parts of the room"  For example, a fireplace, doorway, window, built-in bookshelf or a dark-paneled wall will look heavier than an unbroken expanse of wall in a pale color.  And in the same way, a dramatic window treatment will look heavier than a softly subdued window treatment.

 When planning the placement of furniture in your rooms, keep in mind the visual weight of the pieces you own.  Groups with larger pieces and individual large pieces should be placed first.  Smaller furniture pieces can then be easily used to fill in the room, each one selected and placed to create visual balance with all others.

 And as you begin arranging your furniture pieces, you will also need to be looking for a place to establish a focal point or center of interest.  A focal point could be a structural element such as a fireplace - a tall piece of furniture or even a window treatment.  Once you decide on your focal point, try your best to call attention to it as your place your furniture.

 Above all, it's important to arrange your furnishings in such a way that you achieve visual balance in each room.  Of course, being a professional decorator, I have been trained in how to help my clients achieve attractive visual balance in each room in their home.  So why not think about doing it right the first time by calling in a professional?!

Deborah Bettcher, INTERIORS by Decorating Den, Studio:610.964.8403

The Walker Cup is coming to the Merion Golf Club September 11-13, 2009.  This event, in suburban Philadelphia, matches the ten best amateur golfers in American against the best from the Great Britain and Ireland team.  George Herbert Walker, the grandfather of Bush 41 and great grandfather of Bush 43, President of the United States Golf Association in 1920, was interested in starting a competition between teams from around the world.  By 1922 the call went out from the USGA to host an international Match at The National Golf Links of America.  Only a team from Great Britain and Ireland could afford to come.  The press dubbed the Matches the Walker Cup and it stuck. 

This year's very emotional national flag raising ceremony takes place Friday afternoon at 5pm.  The two rounds a day Matches start Saturday morning at 8am. 

Tickets for The Matches can be purchased at www.meriongolfclub.com.  There will be no parking at the Club.  There are two primary ways to get to The Matches.  The first is a P&W (Philadelphia& Western) trolley line stop at the Club.  In addition, remote parking in the Radnor Financial Center, east of central Wayne, will be running a shuttle to the course.  Allow at least twenty minutes once on the bus.

One of the greatest things about the Walker Cup Matches is your proximity to the players.  The total gallery will be small enough for you to walk with the players on the fairways and closely surround the greens.  A number of these twenty young men from both sides will shortly be relinquishing their amateur status and you'll see their names on the world's professional circuits.  You can hear their discussions with their caddies.  Learn how they think and see if you agree with them. 

 The Merion Golf Club has hosted at least one United States Golf Association event for eleven consecutive decades, eighteen events in all.  The twelfth decade and nineteenth event will be in 2013 when it hosts the US Open.  Only Baltusrol and Oakmont with fifteen events each at close to Merion's total.

Many buyers today don't have enough savings for a downpayment. But the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) is helping buyers by monetizing the First Time Buyers Tax Credit allowing them to use it as a downpayment helping those who are short of money. This money can be used towards the downpayment requirement or towards closing costs.

Of course there are some restrictions and the plan varies depending on what you are buying. For New construction PHFA will lend you $6000, if it is a resale then that figure reduces by $1000 to $5000. If you repay this loan before June 30 2010 then it is interest free.

Of course to obtain this loan you must be a first time homebuyer; must fall within the federal tax credit income guidelines, must be obtaining a PHFA first mortgage; and the program cannot be combined with any PHFA down-payment and closing cost assistance programs.

As this is financed by $5 miilion of PHFA's own funding their is limited availability. To help PHFA has posted a chart on their website that shows a list of local lenders who participate in PHFA loans by county.

This can help you take advantage of the tax credit now before the program comes to an end by selecting a home and makeing an offer with a settlement date on or before November 30th. As many loans are taking longer to close this deadline is approaching fast to use this program. It can take 60-90 days from making an offer to settlement using these types of loans, so you need to act now. Call if you need help.

I have written before about keeping your home covered by insurance until settlement with graphic photos of a home that burnt down the night before settlement on my street. However, in today's market with people moving trying to fins jobs many homes are sitting vacant and insurance companies will not cover them if they are unaware in the case of a claim. Some insurance companies will cover you if you notify them, many won't, so you may need to change insurance carrier to keep your home insured.

 It is not enough that Uncle Ernie stops by once a week to check on the place. Even if you stay overnight once a week it may not be sufficient if there is a claim. Many homeowners don't tell their insurance brokers what is really going on, hoping to save a few dollars, but it just is not worth it. There are options, so don't risk your largest investment by trying to save a few dollars.

   Time is flying fast to obtain the First Time Buyer Credit. Whilst there is plenty of inventory many buyers are being demanding making low offers and asking for seller assists or not making any choice, overwhelmed at the selection of homes on the market.

But, if you think it through you have to act soon. Most settlements take 45 days to settle from offers being made. Yes they canbe done more quickly but with the recent problems with appraisers, and mortgage underwriters taking their time to give mortgage commitments you need to act soon.

The credit disappears unless renewed by congress November 30th. So don't lose that $8,000 that the government is willing to give you, don't let the door close on this opportunity.

We have a couple of good properties in Old forge Crossing that will qualify for First Time Buyer Credit and Old Forge Crossing is an FHA approved development.

So to continue with this series, last week on a glorious summer day we visited Chanticleer in Wayne, PA on the Main Line outside of Philadelphia, one of our favourite places. This is a wonderful garden that in our opinion rivals Longwood Gardens and feels more real. What I mean by that is Chanticleer in Wayne, PA does not groom the plants for just a one week show, what you see is how it really is. There may be some weeds in the borders, the plants show there age sometimes and whilst there is this reality it is still impressive.

Only open during the summer it is located on Church Road in Wayne. It was the hope of Christine and Adolphe Rosengarten and has been open since 1993 to the public. We love wandering the paths as you can get inspiration for your own yard or garden. The layout of the beds and the water features are magnificent and well worth the visit. You can sit and enjoy the gardens as there are seats scattered around to enjoy the vistas laid out before you. Friday evvenings the gardens stay open till eight and you are welcome to bring a picnic and abottle of wine to enjoy. It does get rather busy on Friday evenings and the limited parking does fill up but it is well worth it to wind down a long week enjoying these magnificent gardens at Chanticleer, Wayne, PA.

Enjoy this short video of our visit.

When searching for a home, remember to smell the flowers along the way - or is it the golf courses.   Philadelphia has many private and public golf courses.  Four links are very useful for locating a course near your new neighborhood: 
www.golfphilly.com, www.golfphilly.org,
www.golflink.com/golf-courses/city.aspx?dest+philadelphia,
www.philadelphia.com/golf/,
www.golfholes.com/pa/philadelphia-golf.htm.   

Each site lists many of the same locations, but with a little different twist.  Aside from the courses, there is information about the facilities where you can take the family for a meal.  No matter what the weather, it is always a calming rest from the rigors of house hunting to enjoy a relaxing meal and get to know the golf possibilities in your new surroundings.

 One of American's top ten courses (as designated by Golf Digest Magazine), Merion Golf Club, will be hosting the Walker Cup Matches this coming September  12^th and 13^th.  The Matches face America's best amateurs against those of Great Britain and Ireland.  Tickets are available at www.2009Walkercup.org.   George Herbert Walker was the grandfather to Bush 41 and great grandfather of Bush 43.  As the 1920 United States Golf Association President he was interested in starting a competition between teams from around the world.  His inspiration came from two matches William C. Fownes, of Oakmont fame, had staged against a Canadian team. In 1921 Walker  lead a team to Hoylake and defeated the British.  The following year a call went out from the USGA for teams from around the world to meet at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, NY.  Only a team from Great Britain and Ireland could afford to come.  The press called the Matches the Walker Cup, and it stuck.

 The Merion Golf Club's layout was designed by Philadelphian, and Club member, Hugh Wilson.  He also designed the public course in the Philadelphia Park District, Cobbs Creek Golf Club, The Olde Course.   The course is well worth the investment in time, probably under five hours, and money, a lot less than you expect.

 First, find the house with our TEAM.  Then take the family for a meal at a course of your choice.  Maybe golf will follow!

Ever since I moved here 20 years ago I have loved Valley Forge. 3700 acres of National Park right on your door step to enjoy, trails to jog, bike or hike hills or along creeks or the Schuykill River. This 10 minute video gives a short tour of the park with some interesting clips from around the park. Hope you enjoy and make a trip, it is well worth it. For more information you can read some of the history on our website.

This is the beginning of a new series I decided on today as I was driving around that there are masses of places I like, that you may not have tried.  Some are restaurants and cafes, some are stores, some are just cool places like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, always worth a visit.

Today I discovered a really cool little place to eat. Gateway Shops just off the 202 and 252 supposedly Wayne but more like Devon and really close to Chesterbrook is a place I like to hang out. it has cool shops and cafes aplenty. It is one of those places that is a raging success, always busy with some anchor stores like Staples, TJMaxx and of course Trader Joe's. I was walking along and discovered this nice little place for a bite to eat.

It does not look much, how many of the best places to eat look like that but it is clean and interesting. There are times when I want a burger, but I often fancy something a little different and I love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. The food here is Persian with lots of different kababs of chicken, beef, lamb and vegetarian, so there is something for everyone. You can have a simple kabab with bread, a flat style Persian bread, or there are platters with rice etc. Lunch specials run till 2 PM and include a free lemonade or iced tea with your meal.

I had a chicken kabab and it was succulent and tasty, it hit the spot and although I was tempted I resisted the delicious looking pastries that were available for a dessert. Give it a try and suprise yourself. Decor is pretty basic with bright colors.