Scotch Plains is a lovely, primarily residential suburban town in the county of Union with a population of about 21,000 people. It covers an area of approximately 9.8 square miles. Scotch Plains is located in the southern tip of Union County with Edison to the south and Plainfield to the East. Berkeley Heights is to the north and Fanwood and Westfield are to the west. Owning Scotch Plains Real Estate puts you only about 25 miles west of New York City. The town is close to Exit 135 on the Garden State Parkway and Route 22 runs through the township.

Scotch Plains was settled in 1684 by Scottish Dissenters from Perth Amboy who were soon followed by the Quakers. An agricultural community, Scotch Plains grew slowly (by refusing to let the railroad come through the town, it stayed rural longer). However, after World War II, it doubled its size and became a commuter town.

The towns offer a lovely suburban setting, a variety of housing styles and options and large open park lands. There are some historic homes from the Colonial era. The south side of town has mainly single-family homes on acre lots. There are also the newer planned communities of Sterling and Berwyck Chase with private tennis courts and swimming pools for residents. There are some town home communities on the northern side of town located north of Route 22. East of Raritan Road are the Ash Brook Reservation and the Ash Brook Golf Course. Part of the Watchung Reservation also falls within Scotch Plains.

Fire Tech Engineering strives to deliver exceptional services for our clients by continuing our education and certification in the field of fire protection. Fire Tech is dedicated to saving lives and protecting property through quality Augusta fire protection. We are committed to a quality management system that makes quality a basic business principle, achieved through a documented and established quality assurance system in compliance to the ISO 9001 Quality Standard.

Our services include installation, inspection, testing, and maintenance of Automatic Sprinkler Systems and Fire Pumps, Fire Alarm Systems, and Security Systems.

In addition to routine system service and inspection, Fire Technology provides 24/7 emergency service response that is unequaled in the industry.

We specialize in Augusta Fire Sprinklers and Augusta Fire Alarms. Whether you are in need of a new sprinkler system, need service for an existing system, or are interested in an inspection that ensures adherence to national, state and local code requirements, visit www.firetecheng.com and Fire Tech will provide the expert assistance you deserve.

Our fire protection experience with the Federal Government has engrained in our staff the importance of good sound installation design and testing. As a result, our commercial clients receive the same quality of service and attention to detail that we provide to a specialized federal facility.

Fire Technology offers unmatched value-added capabilities for all of our clients fire protection needs: consultation and design; turnkey project management, installation, certification and operator training; and after-installation services that include inspection, preventive maintenance and repair.

I am happy to report that the 2009 Chapel Hill real estate market ended on a high note. Overall all, while sales were still down, they were down much less than the 25% decline we saw in 2008 and thankfully prices held their own.

As the year ended, Chapel Hill Houses For Sale saw:

• Closed sales decline 8.1% (rather than 12% at the end of November),
• Median prices were up 2.7%,
• Average prices declined 1.6%, and
• Days on market increased from 83 to 97.

While it took longer to get homes sold, most houses did sell and prices did not erode significantly.  I take this as success in a difficult time. I am looking forward to a robust 2010 as our economy begins to improve.

Don’t forget to make Durham Homes For Sale a favorite so that you can see monthly updates on the Chapel Hill Real Estate market.

If you’re in the Pensacola area and need to find a church home then you need to check out a new website. The website is going to be all about Pensacola Churches and will provide information about various churches in the Pensacola Florida area. One of the reasons for the site is help the residents of Pensacola, Fl. find a church home.

As many of you know there are way too many churches in our towns to visit, so this website is geared to helping you visit the churches without actually visiting the churches. Each church will provide their own information about their story, events, service times, ministries, videos, and other pertinent information that may help the searcher make a decision. So if you want information on Churches in Pensacola then this site will help you out. They even provide resources to enhance your visitor experience. Happy church hunting in the Pensacola Florida area.

Edison Township was named by Money Magazine as Number 28 of the ’100 Best Places to Live’ in 2006. Edison is the 6th largest township in New Jersey. It offers safe, family neighborhoods in suburban settings. Styles of homes range from condos and town homes to large, new homes that sell for over $1 million. And then, there’s everything in between! Check out Edison Homes For Sale to find a selection of homes in most price ranges in Edison. The school systems offer an excellent education and many Edison students go on to attend the top universities in the country. Many of Edison’s schools have been ranked among the top 100 schools in New Jersey. J.P. Stevens High School ranks among the top 50 high schools in New Jersey, with Edison High School not far behind. Edison has 11 elementary schools, 4 middle schools and 2 High Schools. Edison does not have a true town center and many residents go into Metuchen to enjoy the main street. View Metuchen Homes For Sale at Jackie Safran’s website

Edison is made up of many different neighborhoods with both single-family homes and townhome complexes. The north side of town is very suburban with homes and shopping. The south side of town is a mixture of family neighborhoods and commercial areas. Add to that a direct train line to Manhattan, major highways, shopping malls, restaurants and parks and you’ll find Edison a great place to live. Visit www.jackiesafran.com if you are looking to buy a home in Edison or you would like to find out further information.

The extension of the credit should inject some sales into the winter market.  Remember – October-March are the slowest sales months of the year for real estate – people like to move while school’s out and the weather’s good and this is the case for Augusta Real Estate as well.

The bottom line is that nationally, 1st Time Homebuyers accounted for only 36% of sales in 2006, see more at Augusta Real Estate and by some accounts they now account for almost 50% of all sales.  It has provided a good “bump” for sales, but it is far from the cure.

The housing crisis has its roots in the mortgage industry and predatory lending.  One required nothing more than a pulse to obtain a mortgage, and astounding products where rolled out to enable people to afford five times the home they should actually purchase.  Adjustable Rate Mortgages, Alt-A products, and sub-prime loans all caused what we’re now going through – not the lack of a “credit” for buying a home.  There is a natural order to things – we over-built, over-bought, over-spent, and over-borrowed.  Now we’re spending less, borrowing less, and only buying essentials.  Deplete the existing inventory through qualified buyers, and the market adjusts – back to another “Sellers Market.” Visit www.augustalistingexpert.com for more information about the market.

Artificially inflating the market with a gallon of tax credit may help in the short run, but it is not the natural order of things.  My milk has an expiration date, I’m glad the tax credit does too.