We recently took our girls to Lancaster Counties newest playground, Daniels Den. This playground is the wave of the future as far as I'm concerned. We were really impressed with the attention to detail that over 2,000 volunteers put together. The playground is underlined by a soft rubber so that when children fall they leave minus the scrapes and bruises.
Daniels Den was desigend to make it possible for handicap children to have access to the park. For directions to Daniels Den visit the official Lancaster County Daniels Den Website.
I had the great honor to be one of 11 people selected in the state of Pennsylvania to participate in The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors Leadership Class 2007.
"Recognizing that leadership development is an essential element in the process of improving our Association and profession, the Pennsylvania Association ofREALTORS® offers its LeadershipPAR Program. Through this program, the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® identifies emerging REALTOR® leaders throughout the state, encourages them with timely, meaningful instruction and activities, and assists in developing their leadership skills in the hope they will exert a strong,positive influence on the future of the Association and profession. The participants work together in a training course that combines individual study, groupsessions, and actual project experience in using leadership skills. Training sessionsinclude identification of leadership skills, team-building exercises, procedures for goalsetting,personal profile analysis, network building, and improving communication skills."
OBJECTIVES
Objectives of the LeadershipPAR Program are:
To identify leaders and potential leaders;
To empower those individuals to maximize their leadership potential in personal and professional life;
To encourage those individuals to participate in REALTOR® Association leadership roles (e.g., committees, boards of directors, and association offices).
Selection Process
"Participation in LeadershipPAR is open to all REALTOR® members in good standing of PAR with no outstanding ethics complaints at either the state or local level. LeadershipPAR will not discriminate, nor tolerate discrimination, against any applicant because of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status. A maximum of twelve (12) participants will be selected to participate in the program to encourage maximum personal participation and in such a way to represent the membership of the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®. Participants will be chosen by a PAR Committee based upon the information completed on the application. The Committee will be seeking representation from a cross-section of the profession. These leaders and potential leaders may be active in business, education, or other community-based organizations. Class members are selected on their own merits and based on this application. Candidates selected for participation must possess a commitment to and interest in serving as a volunteer leader. LeadershipPAR seeks emerging leaders as well as individuals who may already have some leadership skills but wish to enhance those skills. Since the number of appointments to LeadershipPAR is limited to twelve individuals each year, applicants who are not selected for a given year are encouraged to reapply in subsequent years. The Committee considers sustained interest in making their recommendations."
Criteria for Selection
In reviewing applications to the LeadershipPAR program, the Committee looks for
participants who demonstrate the following criteria:
• Interest in serving in a volunteer leadership role
• Availability of time to participate in the program
• Potential for leadership demonstrated through involvement in community
groups and REALTOR® associations
* This information has been adopted from the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors Website. For more information about the opportunity you may contact me or www.PaRealtor.org
I'm always thankful for the generous letters of recommendation that I recieve from past clients. I truly believe that service is the lifeblood of my business. Thank you Joe & Robin for your kind words!
Thanks again for being there for Robyn and I and thanks for being a friend as well! Here it is....
When you're about to make the biggest purchase of your life, it is imperative that you seek the help of a professional. That's what my wife and I did as we began our journey in search of our dream house. We lived in our "starter" home for almost 20 years and realized the real estate market was vastly different in current times. We were faced with a scary transition and needed someone we could trust to guide us through the maze of real estate protocol. We needed a professional, but what exactly is a professional? I looked it up and this is what I found... pro*fes*sion*al : adj; (1)characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2)exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner (3)of, engaged in, or worthy of the high standards of a profession (4)displaying a high level of competence or skill (5)Brandon Clark We had no idea where to begin our search but we did know what we wanted our dream house to be. We started our search by driving around on our own looking at open houses. In no time at all we found a house we fell in love with, we needed to see it, we had to meet the listing agent as soon as possible and that's exactly how it all began. The listing agent was Brandon Clark. I remember our first meeting like it was yesterday. We explained to Brandon our situation of wanting to sell our first house to buy the dream house we had just found. We had no idea what to do next so we simply asked Brandon "where do we go from here?". From that day forward we not only found our professional but we found a neighbor and a good friend! Brandon put himself at our disposal 24/7. Anytime of day or night he insisted if we had questions to get in touch with him. He did some amazing work researching the market and presenting us with a realistic asking price for our previous house. The information he presented us was simply far above any expectation we had. We used that in setting our asking price and soon after we had a buyer for our house. We introduced them to Brandon and expressed our great satisfaction with Brandon's knowledge and professionalism. They too were quite impressed and decided to use the services Brandon had to offer. We were well on our way to what we have waited for all these years...the house we've long dreamed about! Normally the process of buying and selling a house is a very stressful one but with Brandon leading the way it was quite the opposite. Along the way we had encountered some obstacles in our situation and at one point we thought the house we fell in love with was about to slip away. Had we been with any other real estate agent it very well might have. With Brandon Clark that was never an option. He relentlessly pursued any and all options to make our dream come true and, as I'm writing this sitting in our dream house, Brandon did make our dream come true and for that we are forever grateful! Brandon's extensive knowledge of real estate, his friendly and courteous personality, his true professionalism that has helped so many people realize their dream has now turned our dream into reality! There aren't enough words or maybe I can't find the right words to truly and completely express our gratitude for all that Brandon has given us. For all you have done for us, we greatly thank you Brandon! Your neighbor and friend, Joe and Robyn Kelly
All the best to you and your family, Joe and Robyn
One of the many dire predictions done these past few months by many Lancaster County‘bubbleologists’ out there
-
that is all those who indulge in the contemplation of
bubbles in the Lancaster County real estate market of all sizes and colors, whether real or imaginary, coming our
way - was that by now real estate markets everywhere would be inundated
and swept away by a tsunami of foreclosures of apocalyptic proportions.
The
general rationale among those specializing in the fine art of staring
at crystal balls (or perhaps at several empty bottles of rum) was that
the steady increase in interest rates, the consequence of a tightening
monetary policy implemented by the Fed since mid-2004, would have led
by now to a collapse of the adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) market,
since consumers could not possibly cope with the increased monthly
payments. This, in turn, would dramatically increase mortgage defaults
and foreclosures, with the end result that real estate markets
everywhere would be flooded with excess inventory at deflated prices,
thus causing markets to crash - the tsunami I was talking about.
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