Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates

Servicing the entire Pocono Mts., Monroe & Pike Counties, historic Milford, North Pocono, Scranton and the Lehigh Valley Area

Description:

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates is a full service Residential, Commercial and Relocation Real Estate Company. All offices handle listings, sales and 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 Realtors are employed and all offices offer Buyer Broker Services. In addition to handling the sales, rentals and leasing of Residential and Commercial Properties and Relocation Services, WARE, Inc. 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. Certain principals of NEPA specialize in detailed real estate consultation, tax appeals (both residential and commercial), Act 319 submissions and expert witness testimony. Additional 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 local businesses for buyers who purchase their 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 their own title and settlement companies, 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. 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. 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 utility services and schedules purveyors when a buyer moves into their new home. Buyers receive at closing coupons from local 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, 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 Independent Family of Home Buying Services and offers title insurance and settlement services throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. The 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 only the residential and commercial sales of Wilkins & Associates Real Estate, Inc., an independent real estate company with 8 offices throughout the Pocono Mountains but today handles numerous accounts from a variety of brokers, investors and mortgage companies

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

Principals:

Number of Assoc.:

110 Sales Associates & Associate Brokers in seven (8) offices, (1) President, (1) Vice President/General Manager, (1) VP/Controller, (1) Accounting Manager, (1) Vice President/Sales Manager, (1) Assistant Vice President/Sales Manager; (1) V.P./Associate Broker, (1) Director of Support Services (1) Career Development Director.

In addition, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates employs a full service Accounting Department, Administrative Assistants, secretaries and a full-time Administrative Support Staff including Bookkeepers, Maintenance and Housekeeping Personnel and Relocation Coordinators. In certain cases, outside third-party vendors are used.

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 grew to over 110 Sales Agents in eight offices (2006). In 2000 & 2001, Wilkins & Associates was named the Number 1 Real Estate agency in Northeast Pennsylvania by the Northeast Business Journal. Today continues to be ranked a #1 Broker. The major factor that helped the firm grow was an aggressive and unique marketing plan, 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. The department is preparing to expand services in the Lehigh Valley area. NEPA currently handles over twenty accounts in three (3) Counties and provides professional consultation services and operations to a variety of clients.

In 1995 a Short Term Rental Department was established. During that time they had over 125 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 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 revised short term department is scheduled to reopen 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 and Lake Wallenpaupack areas.

In mid 2005 the company opened their 7th office in Milford and in late 2005, their 8th office in Mountainhome opened to service the Skytop and Buck Hill areas which included buying Premier Realty, a local company in the Mountainhome area. In 2006 the Tannersville office was merged with the Stroudsburg and Mt. Pocono offices; recently, Milford merged with Dingmans Ferry and a new North Pocono office located between Moscow and Gouldsboro was opened in early 2008

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 the Region. 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.

Services:

Service Area:

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates covers the Greater Pocono Mountains Region, Monroe and Pike Counties, historic Milford, North Pocono, Scranton and the upper Lehigh Valley Regions.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates (as of 2/2001) is licensed to do business in New Jersey by the New Jersey Real Estate Commission and in New York (as of 3/21/06). Plans are to open in New Jersey over the next two (2) years and in New York over the next three (3).

NEPA Management Associates, Inc. covers four county areas including Monroe, Carbon, Pike and Wayne Counties.

Affiliations:

Hours:

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 7 days a week
24-Hour Voice Mail Message System

Principal Contacts:

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