About Us

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates is a full service Residential, Commercial and Relocation Real Estate Company. All offices handle home listings, home sales and long term rentals of primary, vacation and investment properties, farms, vacant land, acreage and commercial properties, all for lease or sale. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates also handles incoming and outgoing referrals through their staffed full-service Relocation Department. Over 100 full time Pocono Realtors are employed and all real estate offices offer Buyer Broker Services. In addition to handling the sales, rentals and leasing of Residential and Commercial Properties and Relocation Services, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates we also has five other affiliations or subsidiaries:

1)   NEPA Management Associates, Inc. is a fully integrated subsidiary of WARE, Inc. that handles professional property management including residential, multi family, property owners associations, condominium complexes, townhome communities, retirement villages, and asset control (REO) real estate and businesses all throughout Northeast PA. Thomas R. Wilkins, CEO of NEPA specialize in detailed real estate consultation, tax appeals (both residential and commercial), Act 319 submissions and expert witness testimony. Additional community management services include handyman type maintenance, repairs, housekeeping, snowplowing, landscaping, lawn maintenance, and bookkeeping services. "Free" quotes and references are always available by request.

2)   Independent Family of Home Buying Services is a service unique to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates, and offer "one stop shopping" as well as numerous discounts at Pocono local businesses for first time buyers who purchase their first home or vacation home through Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates. Buyer services include mortgage financing through on site mortgage coordinators, title, closing or Attorney services through Pennsylvania First Settlement Services, homeowners insurance through the areas most reputable insurance companies and "Get Connected" an affordable utility hook-up service. Together these services are collectively referred to as the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates "Independent Family of Home Buying Services"

3)   Relocation Department - In early 2005, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates opened a full time Relocation Department to handle the growing needs of their customers and clients. Through the company's nationwide network of cooperating brokers, families, when selling through Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates, earn commission rebate dollars to help them buy their new home whether it's across town or across the country. From Milford to Lake Wallenpaupack or Shawnee to Mount Pocono. Because of the expanded market that Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates covers, they have been chosen by a number of well-known relocation companies to assist their buyers in relocating to Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA). In mid 2005 the Relocation Department was expanded to five (5) full-time employees and includes the Central Processing Department. Collectively, the Relocation Department and Central Processing are supervised by a Director of Support Services. The Relocation Department is expected to grow over 200 percent in the next three years.

4)   "Get Connected" is an affordable service that handles the hook up of your utility services and schedules purveyors when a buyer moves into their new home. Buyers receive at closing coupons from local Pocono businesses worth hundreds of dollars, including discounts at Sears and magazines from Meredith Publishing, all unique to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates. In addition, home buyers can register to vote, have access to school registration forms and get personalized help in whatever they need when they purchase their home thorough Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates. "Want to get turned on?"…use "Get Connected".

5)   Pennsylvania First Settlement Services II, L.P. (PA 1st), "Where service comes First," a title and settlement services company is a member of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates Independent Family of Home Buying Services and offers title insurance and settlement services throughout Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA). Pennsylvania First Corporate office is located at 553 Main Street, 3rd floor in Stroudsburg, PA 18360. Pennsylvania First Settlement Services, II, L.P. is a proud appointed agent of First American Corporation (FAF), its underwriter for title insurance. PA 1st was primarily developed to handle the residential and commercial sales throughout the Pocono Mountains but today handles numerous accounts from a variety of brokers, investors and mortgage companies accross Pennsylvania and all of the Northeast including Lake Wallenpaupack, Skytop, Buck Hill, Lake Naomi, Delaware Water Gap, THe Hideout and everywhere in between.

Combined, all these homebuyer services make up the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates Independent Family of Home Buying Services.

History:

Wilkins & Associates Real Estate, Inc. was incorporated June 15, 1988 with a sales force of 3 people in Mt. Pocono. Operating in a receding Pocono economy, the sales department has grown to 120 Realtors in eight offices (2009). In 2000 & 2001, Wilkins & Associates was named the Number 1 Real Estate agency in Northeast Pennsylvania by the Northeast Business Journal. Today Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates continues to be ranked a #1 Pocono Broker. The major factor that helped the firm grow was an aggressive and unique marketing plan under the direction of Thomas R. Wilkins, CEO, geared to the general real estate field. Wilkins & Associates, as well as their other divisions' marketing plan, has been established and implemented under the supervision of the Broker and Management team members.

In 1989, NEPA Appraisal Services was added, along with NEPA Management Associates, Inc., to accent and complement the Real Estate Sales Department. NEPA Appraisals Services grew to become one of the most respected Appraisal Companies in Northeast Pennsylvania. In the Spring of 1997, Wilkins sold NEPA Appraisal Services to two (2) key personnel in that Department.

NEPA Management Associates, Inc. remains a growing subsidiary and today is one of the largest Management Companies in the Poconos and all of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The department is preparing to expand services in the Lehigh Valley area. NEPA currently handles over twenty accounts in Pike County and Monroe County and provides professional consultation services and operations to a variety of clients. In addition to property management, the staff is under the direction of Thomas R. Wilkins.

In 1995 a Short Term Vacation Rental Department was established. During that time they had over 125 second homes, condos and townhouses available for rent, including check-in sites at their Bushkill, Tannersville and the Mt. Pocono office. The growth in this department exceeded 600% in three (3) years. The Vacation department was closed due to a very active real estate market in which Wilkins & Associates sold the majority of the short-term homes. The vacation market was replaced by primary home buyers and in 2005 the department was closed. A brand new high tech short term vacation department opened in late 2008 under the supervision of NEPA Management to handle Corporate Accounts in furnished units and high end communities such as Lake Naomi, Buck Hill, Skytop and Lake Wallenpaupack areas. At the beginning of the 2009 Summer season, the Department had expanded to offer online booking, booking through the latest in software by Realtime Rentals and handles homes in Eagle Village, Shawnee, Camelback, Northridge and dozens more vacation communities. Their Summer business is family get-a-ways and Winter business is skiing weekends. Off season, the will offer affordable get-a-ways, honeymoons and their own Stimulus weeks.

In July of 2008, Wilkins & Associates Real Estate, Inc. became a local company with a national name by becoming the first affiliate holder of the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate franchise. Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate is a brand name owned by Realogy. Combined, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates with its other affiliates have grown over 950% in the past twenty years to become one of the largest privately owned real estate companies in NEPA. Expansion plans over the next three (3) years include more purchases and mergers. Management predicts a total of fourteen (14) offices throughout the Northeast Pennsylvania region over the next 36 months.

In March 2009, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates merged with Coldwell Banker Phyllis Rubin Real Estate into their company. The merger was deemed to be the largest real estate merger in Northeast PA.