Nick Pakulla - Mortgage Lender Loan Officer in MD, DC, VA

This just in....On Saturday April 16, Bikes for the World will be collecting bikes at EIGHT Whole Foods Market locations in Montgomery County MD and Washington DC.  That's eight locations in one day! 

Come out to, be a part of, and make this an amazing event.  There are many ways to get involved.  First, the obvious one, bring your old bike and bike parts for donation.  Drop them by any participating Whole Foods Market store (listed below) on April 16th from 11am - 3pm.

And because we're hoping that means tons of bikes, we need your help to do it. 

For one thing, help get the word out beforehand.  Please share with your neighborhood listserveor corporate intra-net. 

 For another, come volunteer and help us make this event a huge success.  We need people with and without mechanic experience--to  hand out flyers on this collection and future ones,issue receipts, talk to people, accept bikes, process them for shipping, and transport and off-load them at our three storage facilities in Rockville, Springfield, and Lorton. 

If you can roll a bike, you're HIRED!  Just shoot us an email and we'll get you assigned to the best location.  office(at)bikesfortheworld.org or 703.740.7856

Participating Store Locations:

       P Street - 1440 P Street NW DC
       Georgetown - 2323 Wisconsin Ave NW DC
       Tenleytown - 4530 Wisconsin Ave NW DC
       Friendship Heights - 4420 Willard Ave Chevy Chase MD
       Bethesda - 5269 River Road Bethesda MD
       Rockville - 11355 Woodglen Drive Rockville MD *NEW LOCATION*
       Kentlands - 316 Kentlands Blvd Gaithersburg MD
       Silver Spring - 833 Wayne Ave Silver Spring MD

     When:  April 16th 11am - 3pm
     Contact:  Nick:  nickolombo(at)gmail.com or 301.461.5349

Why Whole Foods Market?  Well, why Bikes for the World?!!  Whole Foods Market supports the environment through its products, through efforts such as the Whole Planet Foundation, and through support to community groups promoting environmnental values and action. Bikes for the World is one such organization and is gratified to earn the confidence of a major grocery retailer to host this multi-site event. 

In turn, Bikes for the World respects Whole Foods Market's approach and scale.  In celebration of Earth Month, the two organizations have come together to raise the profile of Bikes for the World's program among Whole Foods Market's clientele and the public at large, joining forces to give our community a close, convenient location to recycle a bicycle.  

Happy Earth Day and Earth Month to you!

It has been almost 2 years since First Place Bank has been open here in Rockville, Maryland.  Currently in Rockville we operate a mortgage lending branch where there are Loan Officers and staff (no tellers).  We offer mortgage loans in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, including areas such as Bethesda, Potomac, Silver Spring, and the Kentlands in Gaithersburg.  

First Place Bank is a $3.2 billion financial services company based in Ohio.  In total there are 41 retail and ATM locations, 2 business financial service centers and 23 lending centers.  Here in Rockville we operate one of the mortgage lending centers.  If you are in the Maryland, Virginia, DC area and are looking to obtain mortgage services First Place Bank is a great place for you.  

Here is why: First Place Bank is not like other banks.  We are a small Community Bank focused on assisting both homebuyers and the Realtor community get to closings with the least amount of stress.  We accomplish this with our local appraisal system and in-office processing, underwriting and closing.  Our local appraisal system doesn't utilize 3rd party management companies, this allows use to ensure a quality appraiser will be out to your property and they will deliver it in the required time frame.  Our complete in-office operations allow us to close files in as little as 2 weeks and have 100% accountability from a loan officer level with the ability to know the status of the file throughout the entire underwriting to closing process.    

If you are interested in what the inside of a First Place Bank branch looks like, I have posted some pictures below from a retail branch in Ohio (our office in Rockville looks a little more like a business office as compared to a bank branch):

If you are near the Gaithersburg / North Potomac / Kentlands area and are looking for outdoor live music concerts then the Kentlands is a great place to go.  There are two main venue locations for outdoor music this summer. 

The first venue is Main St. Pavillion Green (Main St. and Midtown)
Sponsored Kentlands Downtown Partnership and Pritchard Music Academy
Wednesdays in June and July 6:30 - 9:00 pm (click for location and directions)

Main St. Pavillion Green (Main St. and Midtown), Kentlands
Wednesdays in June and July 6:30 - 9:00 pm, Montgomery County MD

• July 7th - Ruthie & The Wranglers - Rockin American Roots Music w/ JB Dunn
• July 14th - Blue Funk - Smooth R&B and Funk
• July 21st - Vicki Genfan -  Acoustic Guitar Virtuoso and Guitar Player Magazine's Guitar Superstar 2008
• July 28th -  Rue Boogaloo - Horn driven party band w/Flatline Aura
• August 4th - Bad Influence - Swingin Blues
• August 18th - Tim Finch and The Eastman String Band - Alternative and Traditional Bluegrass

The second location is outside the Star Diner on Friday and Saturday nights offering live outdoor music 6PM to 9PM.  Patio seating and tiki bar.  Fun for both families and singles. (click here for location and directions)

 Star Diner patio seating and tiki bar, Kentlands
Friday and Saturday nights 6PM to 9PM, Montgomery County MD

Fri, July 9th - Sandra Dean Band
Sat, July 10th - So Far Gone
Fri, July 16th - On The Bus
Sat, July 17th - Live Action Hero
Fri, July 23rd - Solomons  Gold
Sat, July 24th - Redline
Fri, July 30th - Sandra Dean band
Sat, July 31st - platform Soul
Fri, August 6th - Cops and Robbers
Sat, August 7th - Redline
Fri, August 13th - Jonny and the Stingrays
Sat, August 14th - Live Action Hero
Fri, August 20th - Redline
Sat, August 21st - So Far Gone
Fri, August 27th - Sandra Dean
Sat, August 28th - Stevie D

This means that basically every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evening for the rest of the summer you can listen to live free concerts in the Kentlands!

The Kentlands is located in the city of Gaithersburg, Maryland in the United States, Kentlands was one of the first attempts to develop a community using Traditional Neighborhood Design planning techniques that are now generally referred to under the rubric of the New Urbanism.  The New Urbanism is the concept of building from scratch a walkable, mixed-use city... more

**Disclaimer: If you are searching for homes for sale anywhere in Maryland, DC, or Northern Virginia - the very best way to find listings is to contact a local real estate agent.  If you do not have any you know, contact me and I can recommend one to you. 

In Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia there is an awesome MLS website that allows some of the best and most up-to-date home search options.  I like it due to its ease of use, integration with a map, functional search criteria, sorting options, and email updates. 

Enough with the suspense!  The site is called FranklyMLS.com.  It is awesome!  I am by no means a power user but it sure suits my needs.  For example, if you are looking for a 4+ bedroom home in the 20878 zip code, which covers a majority of North Potomac and the Kentlands / Lakelands area, you would type "20878 active -1bdr -2bdr -3bdr" in the search window.

Wala! - A beautiful map shows up of your area, and you can now hover over each icon, or you can sort the list by number of home price, number of bedrooms, year built, etc - and WOW!  

Once you spend time coming up with a search that meets your exact criteria (specify certain zip codes, etc) you can setup email alerts, so every time a listing changes within your search parameters or a new listing is added you will get notified via email.  I have to say I am addicted to the home search site due to its ease of use and simplicity and advanced searching / sorting features along with an integrated map.

You may be surprised to learn that most Loan Officers do not have access to MLS.  As a lender, it is nice to actually put a property "face" along with the paperwork!  Happy home searching!