Musings From Westmoreland County PA

So you have gotten past the first hurdles and you believe know you have the financial strength to buy the property, make the renovations and carry it while it is on the market. So what do you do next?  You rush right out and buy that home or building because you know you can make it work.  Wrong!...

Investing in a home to renovate and resell is not for the faint of heart, especially in a time of difficult market conditions.  You can certainly make some money.  You can also lose your shirt.  So ask yourself some key questions first.  Most importantly, give yourself some honest answers!  Here ...

New year's Eve is perhaps not the excuse for an alchoholic celebration that it used to be - thank goodness.  Nevertheless some do still find it a convenient excuse to test the limits. It is all too easy to see that many folks come out on this one night a year to celebrate and perhaps let it all h...

Confess I have been so busy I need to catch up 7 days!  That's a good thing I guess - especially if it leads to more and better business in 2011! Days 24 & 25.  Like most of you I hope, I took the days off to recharge my batteries, catch up on some sleep, do a lot of cooking and spending some ser...

266 Pine NEW ALEXANDRIA, PA Lovingly restored 100+ year-old farmhouse on 1.8 acres in midst of PA Preservation Farmland. A peacefully quiet retreat. 4BR/2+1BA Single Family House $340,000 Year Built 1900 Sq Footage Unspecified Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking 4+ Car garage...

So you've determined that the land you are buying for that dream estate does indeed include the rights to subsurface gas, existing wells, future wells, and of course those helpful royalties. But wait - someone has now said the rights & royalties are part of a "pooled" or "unitized" arrangement th...

As the folks cram the malls and strip shopping plazas, tussling over the latest and greatest technogeek goodies, the most human-like dolls and figures, the currently cool video games and the finest of clothing, sports gear, cooking appliances and Lord knows what else, there is a quieter, simpler ...

Winter is throwing its early blanket of grim gray skies, sheets of snow squalls, and tricky driving conditions at us.  Holiday shopping traffic, already nuts, is all the more threatening as a result.  BUT we are doing Open Houses in the midst of it! Why you may say.  I know there is an ongoing de...

Natural gas wells, both conventional and unconventional (e.g.Marcellus Shale) are a matter of interest and concern to both sellers and buyers of property in many areas of the US.  Here in Western PA the public interest in such things has been peaking as more and more Marcellus well sites are leas...

I confess one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is revisiting the "Turkeys Away" episode of WKRP In Cincinnati!  To my mind it remains one of the all-time comedy classics.  If you are too young to remember it, or haven't seen it in a long time it is well-worth a look and will surely start yo...