Heather's Bucks County Real Estate Blog: November 2007

I just got a client for life.  I told a mother at pre-school that there was a convicted child molester living in the neighborhood that she was looking at.  Not only did she appreciate the information, but I've earned her trust as the person who is willing to be straight with her and give her all the information on a home: the good, bad, ugly, and deal killing.

In the state of PA, Sellers are not required by the Seller's Disclosure to disclose a known sex offender living in their neighborhood.  I always tell my clients to run a potential address through this site:

http://www.familywatchdog.us/Default.asp

It's a great site with a handy map feature that really gives you a feel for the proximity of registered sex offenders.

Here's a good discussion: let's talk about the fact that although Seller's are alerted when a registered sex offender moves into the neighborhood, they are not required to disclose that to a potential Buyer.  Now, I understand that a sex offender can be a kiss of death to a sale, but shouldn't public safety take precedence? You have to tell a Buyer that the township is requiring new sidewalks, but not that a child molester lives nearby? 

How about in your state?

I de-lurked to join an idea sharing group for newsletter content.  I'll share my submission with you all:

Teacher's Gifts for the Overwhelmed and Holiday Crazed

One year, I literally had 7 teacher's gifts to prepare for my one son!  SEVEN.  We had the pre-school teacher, the assistant, the speech therapist, the speech enrichment teacher, her assistant, the bus driver to speech class, and the bus driver home from speech class.  This year, I lucked out, I only have five teachers, over three kids.  Easy, peasy! Right?

 Wrong.  It's always overwhelming, but, from a former teacher, here are some great ideas:

1.  "Coffee and a Book" gift baskets.  A small gift card to a book store and some samples from a local coffee company.  I always package them in a $1 basket from the dollar store or A.C. Moore, and give them a card that says, "Relax and unwind from my unruly child!"

2.  Homemade food items.  I always do the whole Christmas cookie thing - I cook one batch of cookies each night for around a week to ten days and have plenty for gifts and entertaining.  How about a quick bread?  A batch of fudge?  You don't have to do anything elaborate.  I'd just as soon sit down and work my way through a pan of plain fudge as I would an elaborate tray of cookies. 

3.  Body wash and lotion.  Everyone can use it (they even have dude wash and lotion at some stores).  It's an old standby for any rouge gift I have out there.  It's easy, affordable, and every likes to smell good. Add in here any of the anti-bacterial soaps.

Here is my number one suggestion on what NOT to give: "World's Best Teacher" anything.  They have one already.  Probably 50 of them.  Trust me.

Once you decide on something, roll with it!  Make the same thing for all the teachers, and by buying in bulk, you can lower the cost.  Enjoy your holidays, and avoid the crazy!