Leave the city behind, get to the mountains and get healthy. Click here for full story of how five agents lost a total of 65 lbs (of the stuff below) from their waist lines. Get outside and be vital today!
Contributing author — Ryan the Realtor: svelte, lean and mean, all around good guy.
Ryan@JtRealty.com
Have you been sitting on your property and perhaps thought to pull it off the market and wait it out? Try staging first! Here are some tips that will put a slow moving sale into a bidding war. I used a few of these tips to stage a home and it sold in 3 weeks for more than the asking price due to a bidding battle!
#1 Create Balance: Staging should make your home look bigger, brighter, cleaner, and warmer. Most of all it should create a move in friendly environment. Vignette furnishings in small groupings to arrange an open and appealing room. Rooms appear bigger when painted the same color as the adjoining room. A small kitchen and dining space will flow better when painted the same color. This will create a bigger and better flow that is appealing to the eye.
#2 Say No To Over Crowding: Don’t over power a room with large furniture. This will make the space look smaller. You also don’t want the room too seem vacant. So, if a space is narrow add shelves with their backs matching the walls creating depth. Highlight a large window with a bold artistic window treatment that frames and show cases the window and light. A small pattern will get lost in a large room. Keep in mind to keep it simple and serene while inviting the buyer in!
# 3 Be Eco Friendly: Often buyers will pay more for a “Green” home. Cork flooring is cost-effective and eco-friendly, as are plastered walls. Plastered walls are not only a modern and appealing upgrade, they also are fingerprint and dust resistant, as well as natural dehumidifiers.
# 4 Re-Use Resources: The twin beds you had growing up and Grandmas rocker may be priceless to you, however they are a reminder that this space is not the buyers. Give them an upgrade with a coat of paint or take a trip to the barn, or an antique store and find ways to make old new. Always keeping simplicity in mind. Old doors can make beautiful headboards as can old shutters. Laminate counters can also make great shelving for decorating or storage.
#5 Bedrooms should Be Serene: A relaxing setting is simple and clutter free. Use soft and simple linens, in soft hues, plush comforters, in light colors invite the buyer to come home and relax.
#6 Odd Space Equals Functional Hideaway: Give a slanted ceiling shelves and a purpose. Add a desk or comfortable chair and create a reading or meditation hide away.
#7 Paint: Set the stage while letting buyers see what they are getting. Fresh paint and light will open a space and showcase its full potential while giving it a clean and crisp feel. A relaxed furniture layout will give buyers an opportunity to “vision” themselves in the space.
#8 Lasting First Impression: Open stairways and entry ways to invite and draw the buyer in. Clear clutter and add color. Get rid of out dated window treatments and blinds. Paint windows with fresh white or light paint and allow light in. Accent the area around the window with a modern window treatment. Make use of shelves and decorate with 1, 2 or sets of 3. Maintain balance, light, and peace while being attractive and inviting.
#9 Contemporary Kitchen & Appliances: Important not only in the kitchen but the whole property is it should be immaculate, and smell clean and fresh. New appliances are a great investment if current ones are outdated. Stainless steel is wonderful however make sure it is spotless and fingerprint free. If new cupboards or cupboard fronts are not in the budget, a clean open kitchen with lushly painted shelves can be spectacular! They are an inexpensive & great modern look and feel in a kitchen. Place your best bowls dishes and pottery in an artistic and appealing balanced fashion. Add flowers or bowls of fruit for added touches.
#10 Bathrooms & Closets: Update an old bathroom with fresh paint. You also can re-glaze old tiles for a brand new look. Have baskets of plush white towels and create a spa feeling. Never have personal items on display when your home is being shown. Buyers WILL open the closets so always have them arranged functionally and not overflowing. This goes for all closets. Create a move in ready space with functional storage areas and closets.
Personal Questions and Answers from Ryan the Realtor
I am not talking about your bootie, but rather examining the quality of one’s life by the junk in the back of your vehicle that allows you to get outside and do your groove thing. While Ryan the Realtor at 35 years of age still asks big questions of himself, “What is the meaning of life grasshopper? Am I living to my full potential? Am I the type of man my children can admire?”
When dark days of contemplation fall I am reminded of the junk in my trunk, literally. Let me paint a scenario from Thursday of this week about the Man-Van and amazing life in Mt. Washington Valley:
The dog and I stretched our legs at early sun-up, my wife and beautiful babes slumber in the midst of morning dreams. I survey the skies of questionable weather after rain drummed the tin roof all night and filled the rusty wheelbarrow in the yard. My animal responses awake.
“If the rain cometh in dark skies after my day in the office, and my son’s Little League game is postponed relieving me of coaching duties, I will have a window of time to dance upon the rising and angry waters in my kayak, king of the waves who will surf to freedom until the sun shall bow for the evening. I must act now, for he who hesitates is lost. To the Man-Van I say!”
(My Trunk: Maya’s kite, football aka pigskin, Eli’s baseball bat, bag of gloves and batting practice balls, paddling bag with cold water gear, helmet, PFD, bag of running gear to get in my Dean Karnazes two miles per day).
While the rain did not cancel my son’s baseball game, I was prepared and will remain forever vigilant to leap at waves, climb tall mountains, drop a line for the Lake Trout of the season — breathe deeply and selfishly at my treasured surroundings. In Mt. Washington Valley adventure awaits and can provide the penitent with all the riches one can dream.
Call Ryan today for real estate or outdoor guidance (207) 462-3874.
Specializing in lakeside and mountainside homes for sale not only as a career but also a lifestyle. A former raft guide and mountain climber, Mt. Washington Valley has provided a brilliant setting to work, play, and raise a family since 2000. This New Hampshire land provides quiet pockets of wilderness while Conway, North Conway, Bartlett, and Jackson real estate provide comfort as well as convenience. Healthy retirement in New Hampshire is too important for casual approaches — contact Ryan@JtRealty.com
For the second weekend in a row, I’ve been outside in my yard trying to spruce up the house and get rid of any traces of the winter. After a trip to the grocery store yesterday, I pulled in to the driveway and was pleasantly surprised about how great the house looked. The cost? FREE. Here’s a list of things I did, that you can do this weekend to quickly improve the curb appeal of your home. This could attract drive by buyers!
- Rake. This was probably the biggest bang for my buck. While it took a few hours, my lawn is now free of several hundred pinecones, leaves and small branches that fell off this winter. It looks kept up and tidy. All of that debris kind of made the house look like no one lived there!
- Give it a rinse. I changed the nozzle setting on the hose and went around the house spraying down any spiderwebs, pine needles and excess dirt that had collected.
- Add in a little elbow grease. I took an old sponge and scrubbed the porch railings and the doors of the house, since it was looking a little dingy. The result was a bright and clean entrance to the house. You could also do this to your garage doors.
- Stir it up. Rather than buy MORE mulch this year, I decided to get my hands dirty! I cleaned out any debris that had accumulated, and then used a metal rake to stir up the existing mulch, making it look fresh and new, instead of flattened and unkempt.
- Sweep. This one wasn’t entirely done by me. (Okay, fine, I didn’t do it at all, thanks Dad!) My father came down with a leaf blower and blew all of the sand off the driveway from the winter. This could have been done with an outdoor broom as well. If your driveway isn’t paved, you can spend some time sweeping any dirt that found its way into your grass back where it belongs.
If your house is on the market, be sure to call your Realtor when you are finished to get some new and improved exterior photos! If it isn’t the market, but you’ve been thinking that you might be ready to make a change, we have tons more tips that can help you get prepared to put your house on the market, just ask! Happy Spring!
-Emily
P.S. Are you thinking, wait Emily don’t you have two kids? How did you get all of that work done? Simple. A project with Daddy for one, and a highchair and Cheerios for the other!
You’ve heard it a thousand times. It is a buyer’s market. But what exactly does that mean for sellers right now? Well it means that your house may no longer speak for itself. The market is flooded with inventory, which means that buyers can be pickier than ever when it comes to spending their hard earned money on a home. Gone are the days when buyers overlook small negatives they see in a house because they like it overall. Chances are there are three more houses on the same street on the market, and maybe one of those will be more appealing. Something about your house has to be special, and special enough to stand out to not just you, but to prospective buyers looking at it.
Take a look at an example of a recently sold condo at Nordic Village. One of our agents was taking a buyer to Nordic Village to look at several options. At the time, there were 7 Nordic Village condos on the market, 6 of which were the exact same “spiral up” two bedroom floor plan. By the end of the day, the buyer went with a condo that we had listed, B16. It was one of the 6 spiral up condos at Nordic Village. So what made the buyer choose B16? What made it stand out? Price wise, it was in line with the other condos on the market, not much higher or lower than any of them. What we think truly sold this condo was the updating. Although the condo wasn’t boasting stainless steel appliances or granite countertops, it did have trendy paint throughout, and contemporary furniture. Because of these updates, the condo had consistent rental income and was one of the few “Excellent” rated condos in Nordic Village. A little bit can go a long way. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to stand out in this buyer’s market. It can be as simple and inexpensive as a can of paint, or a new couch.
A great exercise for sellers to do is to “play the buyer” for an hour. Go online and search for the neighborhood and price range that your property is listed. Then just click around and look at these homes, because these are your competition. You have to somehow stand out to all of these other properties in order to snag the buyer. Will it be the price? The paint colors? The awesome bay window with views to Mount Washington? Then be honest with yourself. Does your house compete with the other homes in that price range, or is it time to make a change?
The exercise might be a tough wake up call, but it might be what you need to see to make a small change that could make a big difference, and bring in the offer you have been waiting for. And as always, we are always available to help you every step of the way, be it a price suggestion, or a tip on what paint color is hot this season. Happy Selling!
Have you ever had to call a service company to come to your home to repair something only to find out that it really wasn’t “broken”? Although you were probably happy that it wasn’t something serious (and expensive to fix!) you were probably also frustrated that you had to pay someone for something so simple.
Before you call the repairman next time, keep these things in mind to see if it is something simple:
Whether it’s preparing a home to market or arranging repairs required by the sale, we here at JtRealty Lakefront to Mountainside know reputable, reasonable and reliable service contractors. We’re here to share our contacts with you to help make home ownership better. Please check out our preferred vendors page for a list of service providers that we have used with great success in the past. Take the guesswork out of choosing a service contractor!
I’d like to take a second to discuss what everyone else has been discussing, this amazing weather! While quite unexpected, these beautiful days and mild nights have been so welcome for this non-skier (shh!). I spent all weekend outside with my kids, and got a taste of what this summer will bring. We decided to take a trip to Schouler Park on Sunday, and maybe it was the weather or maybe it was the Blue Moon I had at Horsefeathers, but my body was tingling with excitement and appreciation for this great town. After about an hour playing at the park, we were all pretty hot and hungry, so we decided to grab a bite to eat and cool off inside for a few minutes. We walked the short walk from the park up the street to Horsefeathers, and I took the opportunity to glance around. I saw a group of college aged kids tossing around a football in the park, a young couple playing with their dog, a small band shaking tambourines and beating on hand drums without a care in the world outside of The Met, families in and out of Zeb’s opening their favorite childhood candy…there was this buzz in the air that only comes with those first few glorious spring days. The days when everyone is happy and high on Vitamin D, and when it isn’t hot enough yet to be uncomfortable. It can be so easy to just ignore all of this as I pass by in my car every day on the way to work, so to have this opportunity to slow down and remember North Conway as I saw it when I was a kid was good for my soul! Sound amazing? Are you ready to take a look for yourself? I urge you to spend a spring day walking around North Conway Village and just take it all in.
With ski season finishing up this weekend, it is easy to start thinking about summer and your summer plans. I know this year I plan on spending a lot of time at my family’s private beach on the Saco! Have you always wanted a waterfront property to call your own? Could this be the summer that you finally take the leap? Check out what Joy has to say about Conway Lake and contact us today to take a look. It is only March, you still have a couple of months to find your dream waterfront home and still be able to move in and enjoy it this summer! Or do you find yourself already aching for next ski season? We still have slopeside inventory, and the time to buy is now!
Cheers!
I read this article today on one of my favorite real estate blogs, The Zebra Blog and it really hit home for me. Sometimes in the world of real estate it is easy to get caught up in numbers and emails and negotiations and forget about what this business really is. This is people, human beings, selling their homes. The place where they watched their children grow up, or brought their spouse on vacation, or waved to their kids from as they skied down the trail. These properties that we swoop in and determine a value for are of course important to us, but not nearly as important as they are to you. While every piece of the puzzle is important, from taking photos of a new listing to coordinating a closing, every once in awhile it is necessary to take a step back evaluate how the most important part of the puzzle is doing, YOU. Because without these people, without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today. You are the most important part of what we do, and if you aren’t happy, then we probably won’t be hearing from you again. We are always open to feedback from our clients, or potential clients, about what we could be doing that would make this sometimes daunting process easier on you, the one that for whatever reason, is selling their home. Our door, and our ears, are always open.
Last week I discussed why one should choose Bearfoot Creek in the Mount Washington Valley over another trailside home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was brought to my attention that while the comparison is great for people that do not know what area of the country they’d like to be in, it doesn’t hold true for people who already know they want to come to the Northeast.
I attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence (And, NO, I’m not a chef!) and spent some of my years there living right downtown. I loved every second of it. Walking to class, walking to dinner and shopping, the hustle and bustle, the proximity to Boston and NYC, all of it. There was always something to do, an art gallery opening, a concert, street fairs, I never got bored. Coming from Maine, even a small city like Providence was a huge difference for me. But this strange thing began to happen every time I went home to visit. I realized how relaxed life is here. I noticed that my shoulders would loosen up as soon as I saw the Welcome to Maine sign. Living in the city, whether you realize it or not, brings a tension and stress that in my opinion can only be cured with some time spent in the mountains.
Making the decision to buy a vacation home is only the first piece of the puzzle. If you are a skier from Massachusetts, or RI, or even New York, chances are you have spent your life visiting different ski areas in the Northeast. The easy choice would be to choose to buy a vacation home on your favorite ski mountain. But aren’t all of them pretty great? The Mount Washington Valley offers that certain something that you aren’t going to find anywhere else. Our town is the perfect mix of tourist friendly and hometown comfortable. For every one big box store you will find dozens of mom and pops. For every chain restaurant with a dozen teenagers microwaving your food, you can bet on either side of it there will be a place where you will get a meal made by the owner, who got his recipes from his Sicilian grandmother. We are the perfect mix.
Most importantly, we are far less expensive than other big mountains in the Northeast. An unlimited season pass at Attitash will cost you $799. Killington’s price? $1,349 for the season. Okemo? $1,619. More than double the cost of Attitash! Between the drive up and then paying for meals and entertainment besides skiing the entire time you are here, vacations can be expensive enough. Make the right choice!
Bearfoot Creek offers vacation home buyers a very unique experience. With only 22 homes ever being built on site, you can rest assured that it will never become a busy neighborhood. Your privacy will always be protected, and you will be able to sit back and enjoy your vacation without worrying about where you will be staying, or if the noisy neighbor will be up all night playing beer pong again. You work hard enough all week long, Bearfoot Creek will make it easy to relax and play. 17 Bearfoot Creek is all finished, and just waiting for you to move in and enjoy the rest of the season. Like the option of being able to choose everything about your vacation home? Bearfoot Creek homes start at just $795,000 including the home site. We would love to answer any questions you may have about Bearfoot Creek, or take you on a private tour of the neighborhood. Contact the Bearfoot Creek expert, Joy, today.
North Conway has done it again, it was just named one of National Geographic’s World’s 25 Best Ski Towns! First Trip Advisor, now National Geographic! Check out what they had to say about our awesome town here.
With all of this press, ski homes are sure to be in high demand in the coming weeks! Contact us today for help in finding yours while you still can!
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