Archives for August 2011

Hurricane Irene – How Much Rain Fell On Wallingford – Do The Math

August 30, 2011 by admin

Wallingford Real Estate - Crum Creek Flood Waters

Crum Creek Swells With Some Of The Millions Of Gallons Of Water That Fell On Wallingford During Hurricane Irene

A lot of rain fell on the Wallingford area as the result of Hurricane Irene. Official records indicate that 5.7 inches of rain came down Saturday 8/27 and Sunday 8/28.

I was wondering, what does 5.7 inches of rain represent, how many gallons of water does that translate into? So what follows is a breakdown of just what all that rainfall means in some different terms.

Using the known size of Nether Providence Township, which for illustrative purposes also will represent the area of Wallingford, at 4.7 square miles or 3,008 acres.

1 inch of rain on 1 acre produces 27,154 gallons of water, in weight that is 113 tons of rain!

The 3,008 acres of the township multiplied by 27,154 gallons per acre is:

81,679,232 – over 81 million gallons of water per inch of rain

With a total of 5.7 inches that the storm dumped on the township the rainfall represented in gallons is:

465,571,622 Gallons Of Water

Over 465 million gallons of rainwater fell on the township during the storm!

Enough water to fill 705 Olympic sized swimming pools at 660,000 gallons each!

1,937,452 Tons Of Water

That translates into 3,874,905,600 pounds of water – almost 3.9 billion pounds!

I think you will agree this is an awesome amount of rainfall, in many different terms, that we witnessed during Hurricane Irene.

A Wild Night In Wallingford As Hurricane Irene Passes Through

August 28, 2011 by admin

The Wallingford area faced wind gusts over 50 MPH and rainfall amounts that exceeded 5 inches as Hurricane Irene made it’s presence known on Saturday and Sunday. There were numerous power outages, fallen trees and limbs throughout the area. The rain began around 11:30 AM on Saturday and started in earnest around 4:00, and fell steadily throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Official weather records for Wallingford record a combined total of 5.70 inches of rain for Saturday August 27 and Sunday August 28 during Irene’s visit. Maximum sustained winds were recorded at 40 MPH on Saturday, and 39 MPH on Sunday, with wind gusts of 52 MPH on both days of the storm.

Take a look at some scenes of the storm’s effects on the Wallingford area:

Video Of Crum Creek Along Avondale Road

Wallingford Real Estate - Crum Creek Condo PArking Lot Flooded Out

Crum Creek Spills It's Banks And Floods The Crum Creek Condo Parking Lot Forcing Residents To Park On Avondale Road

Wallingford Real Estate - Avondale Road Under Water

Avondale Road Flooded Out By Crum Creek

Wallingford Real Estate - Construction Material Carried Away By Crum Creek

Large Pipe From Sewer Reconstruction Project Swept Downstream

Uprooted Tree At Putters Lane And Providence Road

Wallingford Real Estate - Fallen Tree Along Providence Road

Large Oak Tree On Providence Road That Owners Heard Fall At 1:38 AM Sunday Morning

Wallingford Real Estate - Damaged Playground Equipmetn At Trinity Lutheran Church

Fallen Tree Crushes Playground Castle At Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

: Water Rushing Over Crum Creek Falls Along Yale Avenue In Swarthmore

Storm Water Swells The Dam Along Swarthmore Ave In Swarthmore!

As The Hurricane Approaches Wallingford

August 26, 2011 by admin

As you all know by now our area and a large part of the East Coast is under hurricane watches and warnings. While hurricanes are fairly common in the southern part of the country, it is a far rarer occurrence to have one hit the densely populated areas of the Northeast. My family and I are veterans of Hurricane Bob which struck Cape Cod 20 years ago last week. We were without power, refrigeration, and gasoline for 6 days, and there are many things we wished we had done ahead of time in preparation. Here are some things you can do to help protect yourself and your home from the storm.

– Assemble a disaster supply kit that includes bottled water, non-perishable food items, medical supplies, batteries and flashlights. Have a battery operated radio on hand to listen to news updates when the power goes out.

– Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the highest level, and fill several plastic containers with water and place them in the freezer. During this storm it is anticipated that there will be extensive power outages. The containers of frozen water will help keep the refrigerator colder during an electrical outage.

– Bring in outside furniture and other objects that could cause property damage in the event of high winds. This includes bird feeders and hanging baskets as well. I saw some pretty weird objects become airborne as hurricane force winds cranked up.

– Trash cans and recycling containers should be stored in a sheltered area.

– Fill the bathtub with water. This is not for drinking purposes, but with the prediction of 5 to 10 inches of rain water treatment plants could become inundated, and tap water may not be available. The stored water can be used to fill and flush toilets until water service is restored.

– Make sure there is gas in the car and you are ready to evacuate immediately if you are told to do so. If you do evacuate, do not go back home until local officials say it is safe.

– Be sure to stay indoors during a hurricane. Don’t be fooled if there is a pause in the wind. It could be the eye of the storm, and the winds will come again.

– Listen to a radio or television for weather updates and stay in touch with your neighbors about evacuation orders.

– Avoid using the phone except for an emergency so the phone lines can stay open for others. Fully charge your cell phone, and send text messages instead of making a phone call during the storm – text messages use less system resources, both on your phone and on the network.

Weston Village HUD Condo Approval Expires

August 26, 2011 by admin

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) maintains a list of approved condominiums across the country. A condominium must be on the approved list in order to qualify for federally insured FHA or VA loan products.

As of today 08/26/2011, the list maintained by HUD is reporting that the approval of Weston Village has expired as of 07/31/2011.

FHA loan products have become increasingly popular with buyers who have credit scores that do not meet conventional loan requirements, and who do not the have the ability to come up with a large down payment – with a FHA loan the down payment can be as little as 3.5%. First time home buyers frequently use FHA mortgages in order to obtain financing for their first home.

The inability for a community to provide the option for FHA financing could negatively impact the ability of many buyers who maybe interested in the community to obtain financing. Hopefully Weston Village will be back on the HUD approved list again in the near future.

Pictures – The Way To Lure Potential Buyers To Your Home

August 25, 2011 by admin

Country estate nestled on 8,000 nicely landscaped acres. Cozy interior with 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, and 135,000 sq feet of living space

Which picture, left or right, evokes the visual grandeur of the country’s largest home, Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, NC ? Which picture would you want to have representing your home? Without a picture the grandest home loses it’s appeal despite the narrative describing the home. Pictures serve as the bait to lure potential visitors to your home. Ensure they represent your home at it’s best.

Over 90% of potential home buyers begin their search for homes on the Internet, and one of the most critical components to a listing as it is presented on the Internet is pictures. Good pictures act as a enticement to potential buyers, and the lack of pictures, or poor quality pictures act as a definite turn off. The opportunity to grab the attention of a buyer is brief, and the initial online presence of your home is very important. If an image does not grab their attention, it is highly unlikely that they will return.

Some common bad practices regarding pictures:

No Pictures At All: It maybe hard to believe but I have seen many listings that have been on the market for a substantial time without any images. I saw one the other day that was on the market over 200 days with no without any pictures. This is the ultimate disservice to a client. A new listing has an Web “shelf life” of less than 3 weeks, after which it has lost it’s freshness and becomes just another listing. The first few weeks must be capitalized upon, and pictures are the driving force behind generating interest. Potential homes of interest are winnowed out on a buyer’s laptop, PC or other connected device based primarily upon the images associated with the home. Pictures for listings should be entered quickly after the listing in entered into the MLS, preferably accompany the listing’s entry. Data feeds from the MLS to syndicated Web sites are generally done once daily. It is important that new listings have images from the start.

Out Of Season Pictures: Believe it or not there some listings in August still show pictures of homes with snow on the ground. Others still show interior pictures with Christmas decorations. I think this is an inexcusable practice for an agent. It shows a gross lack of attention to detail, and ultimately says ” I am lazy”.

Too Many Pictures: The MLS currently allows up to 25 pictures for each listing to be uploaded. When an agent sends listing information to a client from the MLS up to 25 images can been seen. Most other syndicated Web sites only display a subset of the pictures, many for instance only show six. Ten or 12 quality images on the MLS can adequately capture the most important visual elements of a home. When seeing listings with 25 pictures I think most agents really “stretching” to get that many quality pictures. Pictures should act as an visual enticement to stimulate a desire to see the home, too many images may cause a potential buyer to eliminate a home from their “want to see” list. There is no need to show an entire home in pictures.

Out Of Focus Pictures: Some pictures look like the photographer is intentionally shaking the camera in order to create some kind of special effect. Out of focus pictures serve as a distraction, and the focus becomes the bad quality of the picture, instead of a concentration on the image of the home being represented.

Dark Pictures: Many pictures with a bright light source in the background, such as a window, typically turn out too dark in the foreground. The built in light meter of point and shoot cameras is overwhelmed with the bright light source, and the foreground tends to be too dark. Prefocusing on the darker area of the intended subject allows the camera to properly adjust for the more important subject areas of the picture.

Clutter In Pictures: Time should be taken to clear out the subject area of clutter and present the best image of the subject. Kitchen counters should be free of almost all items, refrigerators should be cleared of magnets, notepads, calendars, etc. It is common to see piles of laundry, toys, or just “stuff” in images.

Toilet Pictures: This is an especially common practice which I think is a detraction. Most of the time the seat lid is also up, which must violate some basic Feng Shui principle. Most homes I have seem have toilets, so it is pretty much a given that a home will have one, and they are are really not too different from each other.

Exercise your right to have input regarding the pictures of your home that will be shown to the public. It is a critical part of the marketing of your home in today’s visually centric search process.