Poconos Blog

The Poconos wild blueberries are here.  It seems as if they came a little early this year. Last year we didn’t start getting them until about mid July.  This year we were getting some great tasty berries towards the end of June.

Picked Pocono Blueberries

Poconos wild blueberries are some of the best tasting blueberries you could find. I eat them right from the bush as there are no pesticides to worry about. They are very flavorful and these bushes are literally all over the place in the Poconos. If you have a house or are renting, take a look around the property for bushes. If you are visiting one of the many state parks, they are probably all over the place. The only downside to picking these berries is it is very time consuming.

Pocono blueberry bush

As you can see from the picture, there are still many green ones.  I guess the next time I go, the berries will be plentiful again.  In my previous experience, the berries are available almost into the first week in August.  Since it seems like they came a little earlier this year (maybe because of a warm spring), maybe they will disappear sooner.

Hopefully you and your family will find some time while on vacation in the Poconos to get some of the best blueberries ever fresh from the bush.

If there was ever a perfect time to purchase a Pocono Vacation home, that time is now.  It seems like we are hitting a perfect storm for buyers.

Here is why I think it’s a great time to buy:

• Interest rates are very low
• There are a lot of properties for sale meaning a great selection
• Properties are sitting on the market for a long period of time
• The Poconos offers one of the best values (where else can you get 1000 sq ft in a resort community for under 100K?)

I really can’t see it getting much better than this since interest rates really can’t get much lower.  And how much lower can property values really get?  If you were to add up the raw materials to build a house and add a premium for the labor, it would most likely total about what houses are selling for today.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that the cost of the raw materials is almost as much as the price of a lot of properties. If it was feasible to buy a vacant lot, go to Home Depot buy some lumber and nails, and build the house yourself, it may still be cheaper to purchase a home in today’s market.

My family purchased our Pocono Vacation house in May.  My wife and I weren’t even that serious at first and did not expect to buy something.  We saw a house we liked and I said to my wife: “Let’s throw in an offer that they will never accept.”  We were shocked when they accepted it.  We now have a great house in the Arrowhead Lake community.  Although we don’t rent it out, we have loved making many trips there since our purchase.

You can also treat your vacation property purchase as an investment.  If you don’t use it as often as you like, you could always put it up for rent on this site earning extra income.  Also keep in mind that the Poconos is a four season resort area that is a short drive from several major cities including New York and Philadelphia.