Today's Featured Town Is
Merrimack, NH 03054
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Visit
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
FRIDAY'S FEATURED LISTING!!
69 Martin Road
Weare, NH
03281
$289,000
Charming country home on 4.94 private acres. Fantastic living room with cathedral ceiling, skylights and wood fireplace with insert. Well equipped kitchen with adjacent dining area. First floor master bedroom w full bath & jetted tub, plus sliders that lead to wrap around deck, Screened porch and large back yard. Tinker in 3 story, heated garage. Quick close available.
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Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday Tips For Homeowners!
7 Smart Strategies for Bathroom Remodeling
- Dream about a bathroom that’s high on comfort and personal style, but you also want materials, fixtures, and amenities with lasting value. Wake up! You can have both. A bathroom remodel is a solid investment, according to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report. A $16,600 bath remodel will recoup about 64% of those costs when it’s time to sell your home, and a more extensive $53,800 job returns about 57%. In addition, you can maximize the value of your investment by using these smart strategies, which will create a stylish yet budget-friendly bathroom.
1. Stick to a plan
bathroom remodel is no place for improvisation. Before ripping out the first tile, think hard about how you will use the space, what materials and fixtures you want, and how much you’re willing to spend.
The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) recommends spending up to six months evaluating and planning before beginning work. That way, you have a roadmap that will guide decisions, even the ones made under remodeling stress. Once work has begun—a process that averages 2 to 3 months—resist changing your mind. Work stoppages and alterations add costs. Some contractors include clauses in their contracts that specify premium prices for changing original plans.If planning isn’t your strong suit, hire a designer. In addition to adding style and efficiency, a professional designer makes sure contractors and installers are scheduled in an orderly fashion. A pro charges $100 to $200 per hour, and spends 10 to 30 hours on a bathroom project.
2. Keep the same footprint
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Work Together Wednesday!
Improve the Infrastructure of Your Community
It takes time and effort, but lobbying local government for sidewalks, crosswalks, street lighting, and other community infrastructure:
- Creates a sense of community.
- Makes an area more desirable to home buyers. Indeed, appraisers keep score of community infrastructure and amenities when valuing homes.
- Sets your ‘hood apart from others with similar homes—especially in a competitive real estate market.
1. Who controls community infrastructure?
Call your mayor or councilperson’s office to find out which office of your local government handles infrastructure upgrades and additions. Does your city or town have any short- or long-term plans to develop a grid of sidewalks or street lighting?“Developing a system of sidewalks leading to a downtown, shopping district, or local school adds more value to the neighborhood than disjointed sections of sidewalk,” says Cheryl E. Kuck, public information officer for the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation.
The pitch: Saying that the infrastructure project is something your community needs is better than something it wants.Example: If you want sidewalks, argue that kids need them to walk safely home from school rather than saying you need them because they’ll improve your home value.
2. What is the community infrastructure approval process?
- You might have to get a certain number or percentage of people who live near the project to sign a petition saying they approve.
- You might need to hop aboard a lengthy process involving a zoning or planning board.
3. Who picks up the tab for community infrastructure projects?
It’s not cheap. Concrete curbs and sidewalks cost about $15 per linear foot for curbing and $11 per square foot for walkways. Streetlight and crosswalk costs differ depending on their design.Funding sources may include:
- Local, state, and federal tax dollars
- Assessments charged to home owners (Local officials may be able to offer relief or deferrals to seniors.)
- Bonds issued by local government and paid back over many years
- Money set aside by government for capital improvements
4. How do I deflate the naysayers?
One strategy: Emphasize health.- As Americans become more conscious of the environment and their health, crosswalks and sidewalks are a good way to get your neighbors out of their cars.
- A walking-friendly neighborhood will hold its value better than a similar neighborhood that’s not walkable.
Support for community infrastructure projects can quickly snowball. “Building community support helps to sway local council people to your side,” says Charlie Zegeer, director of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.
Myra A. Thomas is an award-winning Fanwood, N.J.-based journalist. She was drawn to Fanwood because of the quaint walking downtown with well-marked crosswalks and Victorian street lamps. Myra is slowly rehabbing her 50-year-old split-level home, but she is lamenting the lack of a sidewalk on her block.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday Market Update!
Keeping you updated on the market! For the week of
April 4, 2011
April 4, 2011
MARKET RECAP
The monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index always attracts a good deal of media attention. This month's edition was no different. In fact, because of a strong pessimistic bias, it probably drew more attention than it should have.
Once again, falling home prices elevated fears of a double-dip recession in the home-buying market and a longer slog toward recovery than once anticipated. According to Case-Shiller, the average sale price of single-family homes in 20 major metropolitan areas fell 1 percent from December and 3.1 percent from a year ago. Only two areas – San Diego and Washington – recorded price increases year-over-year.
We offer our usual caveats with the Case-Shiller index: For one, it's two months in arrears. Recent data on home prices have been less dour. In addition, 20 metropolitan areas is hardly a complete picture. Real estate is much more localized than it was during the recession. Even within major metropolitan areas, we see differences in pricing trends. So, yes, on a national level prices have fallen, and have fallen 31 percent since the 2006 highs. However, prices, like mortgage rates, can go only so low, and there isn't much room on the downside, as many local markets have already shown.
It's also worth noting that the pending home sales index rose 2.1 percent in February, which is encouraging when considering how miserable the weather was in February. What's more, the pending home sales index has trended higher since bottoming in June, with contract activity 20 percent above the low point. More activity isn't a price panacea, but it helps.
Shadow inventory has been the counterclaim, because it continues to apply downward pricing pressure. The good news is that shadow inventory is improving. CoreLogic reports that 1.8 million properties make up the shadow inventory of foreclosures, but that's down 11 percent from a year ago. We expect this inventory to dissipate further, thanks to robust economic growth and a pickup in job creation and wage growth.
Low financing rates will also help the liquidation process. A quote below 5 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remains the norm. To be honest, the norm has held longer than we had expected. That's a good thing, to be sure, but it does tend to induce complacency and procrastination at times.
Buyers these days have to balance high inventory levels against the likelihood of higher mortgage rates. Excess supply is a persuasive argument to house shop at a leisurely pace. However, just because rising prices aren't an immediate concern doesn't mean rising mortgage rates aren't. We noted in last week's commentary that buyers have the best of both worlds – low mortgage rates and low home prices. We doubt we will be saying that this time next year.
Is It Really Only A Matter of Time?
Faithful readers of these missives know that we've been saying that it's a matter of time before mortgage rates head higher (which puts us in the majority opinion). Indeed, since November, rates have headed higher, but not as high as many, including us, would have thought. Granted, we were right in saying that rates holding under 4 percent were unlikely, but that was an easy call. Four percent simply isn't sustainable when inflation is the norm.
Inflation is the reason we still think rates are headed higher. Many market watchers have been lulled into a false sense of security because consumer and producer prices – though rising in the past two months – haven't spiked out of control.
There are many variables that go into prices – productivity gains, technology, consumer demand – all of which can offset the increase in money supply that has occurred over the past two years. It can't last forever. If we peruse any long-term chart of consumer and producer prices, we see that prices rise persistently higher. As a corollary, when we peruse a chart of the US dollar, we see a persistent drop in value.
Eventually, all the new money in circulation will begin chasing consumer goods, and then we will see an increase in price inflation. We expect the bond market to anticipate this event, which is why we think mortgage rates will head higher before price inflation becomes more of a front-burner issue.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday Funday!
Design a Dress-Up Area in your Kid's Room!
Childhood is a time of unlimited possibilities. Little boys can be cowboys one minute and superheroes the next. Little girls can be trapeze artists, soccer stars or princesses--all within an hour.
As is frequently the case in bedrooms, corner areas are often underutilized. After completing the functional area of the room, you may realize you have a fairly large area in the corner that needs attention. .
Unfortunately, we all know that little princesses tend to grow up way too fast, so you'll want to create the dress-up area in a way that will cause no permanent damage to the room.
Use a closet rod to create this special place. When your prince or princess grows up, only a few small holes will have to be filled to restore the room to normal.
The first step was to determine the placement of the closet rod. Measure four feet from the corner on both adjacent walls and mark a spot three inches from the ceiling.
In order to mount the closet rod hardware, it will be necessary to cut a four-inch piece off a two-by-four board. Then cut this block diagonally from corner to corner, creating two triangular blocks.
Predrill the blocks and mounted them with the uncut side to the wall using self-anchoring mollies. These blocks created the mounting surface for the closet rod hardware. After mounting the hardware, place the rod in the supports.
To make it easier for little hands, use a lightweight fabric to drape the dress-up area. Rather than make these drapes, you can purchase two shower curtains in the same color as the walls. Mount the shower curtain to the closet rod with shower rings.
Although the drapery system functions very well, it may not seem very festive. To make it more colorful and fitting for a fairytale, you can cut varying lengths of a complementary ribbon and create streamers that are tied to the shower rings.
Next comes the fun part: accessorizing. Since momn will want to keep the area neat, add two shelves to the area. One shelf to hold pretty dress-up dresses and boas, the other used to store hats, purses and all the other fashion accessories a young dreamer requires.
Just in case your little one has a change of heart and decides to become an astronaut, add a toy chest, which serves as both a seat and storage for other costumes and accessories. With the addition of a mirror, your dress-up area is complete.
I bet the little prince or princess in your life will be delighted!
As is frequently the case in bedrooms, corner areas are often underutilized. After completing the functional area of the room, you may realize you have a fairly large area in the corner that needs attention. .
Unfortunately, we all know that little princesses tend to grow up way too fast, so you'll want to create the dress-up area in a way that will cause no permanent damage to the room.
Use a closet rod to create this special place. When your prince or princess grows up, only a few small holes will have to be filled to restore the room to normal.
The first step was to determine the placement of the closet rod. Measure four feet from the corner on both adjacent walls and mark a spot three inches from the ceiling.
In order to mount the closet rod hardware, it will be necessary to cut a four-inch piece off a two-by-four board. Then cut this block diagonally from corner to corner, creating two triangular blocks.
Predrill the blocks and mounted them with the uncut side to the wall using self-anchoring mollies. These blocks created the mounting surface for the closet rod hardware. After mounting the hardware, place the rod in the supports.
To make it easier for little hands, use a lightweight fabric to drape the dress-up area. Rather than make these drapes, you can purchase two shower curtains in the same color as the walls. Mount the shower curtain to the closet rod with shower rings.
Although the drapery system functions very well, it may not seem very festive. To make it more colorful and fitting for a fairytale, you can cut varying lengths of a complementary ribbon and create streamers that are tied to the shower rings.
Next comes the fun part: accessorizing. Since momn will want to keep the area neat, add two shelves to the area. One shelf to hold pretty dress-up dresses and boas, the other used to store hats, purses and all the other fashion accessories a young dreamer requires.
Just in case your little one has a change of heart and decides to become an astronaut, add a toy chest, which serves as both a seat and storage for other costumes and accessories. With the addition of a mirror, your dress-up area is complete.
I bet the little prince or princess in your life will be delighted!
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