Around Burlington County

The 35th Annual ACS Bike-a-thon will be rolling through the Philly area on July 15th, 2007.  The event starts on the Philadelphia side of the Ben Franklin Bridge and ends in Buena, NJ.  It's about a 70 mile ride from the bridge!  They are expecting over 5,000 cyclists in what is the largest single day biking event in the Philly area.  Last year the event raised about $1.7M and they are aiming for $2.0M this year!

Last year my wife rode for the first time...this year, I'll be joining her.  I signed up on Friday, and my first thought afterwards was that I need to go buy a new bike!  I have an old mountain bike that I've had since college which I don't think will survive the ride!  So I have to go out soon, find a new bike and get my endurance up!  I've got about 3 weeks - let's keep our fingers crossed that I'll still have feeling in my legs when it's all said and done! 

If you live in the area - I highly encourage you to get involved!  You can still register to ride, serve as a volunteer or if you wish to donate - you can do so here.

Welcome to The Lakes, a very popular condo & townhome community located in Mount Laurel, NJ.  The Lakes is located at the intersection of Larchmont Blvd. and Hainesport-Mt. Laurel Rd.  The development has easy accessibility to Routes 38, 295 and 130, it is 30 minutes from Philadelphia, 2 hours from NYC and only 50 minutes from Atlantic City.  It is also walking distance to the WAWA shopping center. 

1. View Map (Satellite Hybrid)

When you enter The Lakes development through Forrest Lake Dr. or Kettlebrook Dr. you are greeted with a scenic drive along the lake surrounded by trees.  There are also some walking paths along the lake.

Thinking of buying in The Lakes?  Here is what you can expect to find:

Condominiums - 2 Bedroom condo's run between $170k to $200k on average over the past year.  Condo's with a loft tend to run between $200k to $210k.  Now remember these are averages, depending on the condition - some condo's have sold outside these ranges.

Townhomes- 2 Bedroom townhomes with garages have sold between $225k to $235k.  3 bedroom townhomes are also available with garages, and these have ranged between $240k to $300k.

If you have any questions about Mt. Laurel, please fee to contact me - a REALTOR® who works in town! You can also Search Mt. Laurel Homes for Sale at my website.

Update January 2008: Video Tour Now Available

For Fathers Day this year, I had the pleasure of a round of golf at Willow Brook Country Club with my neighbors.  Our wives teamed up this year and surprised us with a round of golf on them and our little ones.  It was a pleasant surprise as it seems I only get to go out once or twice a year.  For one of my neighbors, this was his first time ever going golfing so it provided some laughs for us throughout the day! 

The weather was great - it was warm and sunny as we got started around 9:30 in the morning.  It was pretty crowded since it was fathers day so things moved along pretty slowly so we were there most of the day! 

I started off fairly strong with some good drives.  Unfortunately, I'm horrible on the green and usually double my score while putting!  I ended the day with a 130 but had a great time racking up such a high score!  One of the highlights of the day was playing through the sprinkler on one of the holes!

For those not familiar with Willow Brook - the clubhouse is located on Bridgeboro Rd. in Moorestown NJ and the course runs through Moorestown & Delran.  It was opened in 1968 and designed by golf architect William Gordon.  The course has been owned by the Klumpp family since it's inception. 

View Satellite Image

It's a public course that welcomes beginners as well as the experienced player.  18 holes with a cart on the weekend will run you about $60 however discounted options are available during the week and for seniors.  The course if very well kept with beautiful tree lined fairways.  If you're in town, be sure to visit!

This upcoming weekend marks the kickoff of the new farmers market that will be running weekly here in Moorestown, NJ.  Opening day will have live music, cooking demonstrations and face-painting.  So far there are about 17 vendors signed up to participate.  They will be offering typical farm products like eggs, produce, poultry as well as soaps, lotions, candles and more. 

The market is being hosted at the new Burlington County Community Agriculture Center.  This is located at the old dairy farm along Centerton Road near Hartford Road. (View Map) 

The market will be open rain or shine from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through Oct. 27. Admission and parking is free.

Local Moorestown Information

If you have any questions about Moorestown, please feel free to contact me - a REALTOR® who has lived in town!

Attempts at identity theft seem to be happening more and more each day.  It also seems that people are getting more creative in attempts to get your private information.  Many of us have gotten those nigerian emails where they claim to have money but really just want your bank account information.  I've also gotten a phone call from someone claiming to be my bank, but they needed me to provide them my account information so they can pull up my information.  Uh, no!  You should already have it!   Anyway, be careful when anyone tries to get personal information from you.  If you don't know who they are, don't provide the information! 

The following was sent to me by the Prudential Fox & Roach Information Systems Department...    

Avoid Getting Hooked by "Phishers"

You've probably heard about identity theft - people stealing other people's personal information to use for illegal purposes. In a new scheme called "phishing," ID thieves trick people into providing their Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, PIN numbers, mothers' maiden names, and other personal information by pretending to be someone they're not.

How Phishing Works

By Email
The most common form of phishing is by email. Pretending to be from your financial institution, or a legitimate retailer or government agency, the sender asks you to "confirm" your personal information for some made-up reason. Typically, the email contains a link to a phony Web site that looks just like the real thing - with sophisticated graphics and images. In fact, the fake Web sites are near-replicas of the real one, making it hard even for experts to distinguish between the real and fake Web sites. You enter your personal information onto the Web site - and into the hands of identity thieves.

By Phone
Phishers also use the phone to hunt for personal information. Some, posing as employers, call or send emails to people who have listed themselves on job search Web sites.

Something's Phishy If...
While phishing scams can be sophisticated, the following features are often indicators that something is "phishy." Be aware of a potential scam if:

... someone contacts you unexpectedly and asks for your personal information such as your financial institution account number, an account password or PIN, credit card number or Social Security number. Legitimate companies and agencies don't operate that way.

... the sender, who is a supposed representative of a company you do business with, asks you to confirm that you have a relationship with the company. This information is on record with the real company.

... you are warned that your account will be shut down unless you "reconfirm" your financial information.

... links in an email you receive ask you to provide personal information. To check whether an email or call is really from the company or agency, call it directly or go to the company's Web site (use a search engine to find it).

... you're a job seeker who is contacted by someone claiming to be a prospective employer who wants your personal information.

Sample Phone Calls

Sample #1:
"Is this Mr. Smith? I'm calling from XYC Bank. Do you have a Visa® card? I need to verify your account number because it appears that someone may be fraudulently charging purchases to your account. Can you read me the account number and expiration date on the front? OK, now the last four digits on the back..."

Sample #2:
"Hello, Mildred Brown? I represent the ABC Company and our records show that you have an overdue bill of $500 plus interest and penalties. You don't know anything about this bill? Well, there could be a mix-up. Is your address 123 Main Street ? What is your Social Security number...?"

Sample #3:
"This is Detective Thompson calling from the Federal Consumer Agency. Are you Mr. White? We have received several reports of telemarketing fraud involving attempted withdrawals from bank accounts in your area. In order to safeguard your account, we need to confirm your account number..." 

Here is the May 2007 Moorestown Real Estate Update.  This past month, 16 homes sold with an average price of $604k.  These homes sold after an average days on market of 138.  The days on market average this month is much higher because a couple of homes that sold were on the market a long time which is affecting the average.  If you're thinking of buying, your choices continue to grow as an additional 61 homes went on the market.  It appears that twice as many homes are being listed for sale then those that are selling.   

Here is a snapshot of activity over the past 3 months:

Here are some details of the homes that sold this past month:

Based on information from Trend for the month of May 2007 on June 13 2007

Hello again!  Here is the May 2007 Delran Real Estate update.  This month, 14 homes sold with an average price of $297k.  These homes were on the market for an average of 78 days, however as you see in the data below, many sold within a month.  If you were thinking of buying in Delran, the choices continue to grow as 27 homes were listed this past month. 

Here is a snapshot of activity over the past 3 months.  As you can see, the average days on market continues to stay close to 80 days. 

Here are some of the details of homes sold in May:

Based on information from Trend for the month of May 2007 on June 1st 2007