Buyers are ready for spring and after a long, snowy winter nothing says, “welcome to your backyard” like a beautiful deck.  If you are getting ready to sell, remember that a well-maintained deck is something most buyers are very attracted to. A deck offers more living space to the home, space for entertaining and relaxing, and a place to barbeque. While a deck adds value to the home, realize that not just any deck will do.

All Hands on Deck

Like anything else of beauty and value, decks require maintenance to retain their value and condition.  If your deck is made of wood, it requires a regular cycle of maintenance in order to avoid discoloration and a rough surface prone to splinters. If your deck is not protected with regular staining and sealing it can start to hold in moisture, which leads to rot.  Buyers will take notice of any signs of rot or lack of care, so it is important to understand what you must avoid and to repair any damages before you try to sell the property.

What are Your Deck’s Enemies?

Three things lead the way to deck decay:

• Rain or moisture – Rain water seeps into the wood and causes it to expand and crack when it dries.

• Sunlight – The ultraviolet rays of the sun break down the bonds between wood cells, particularly on the surface.

• Insects that destroy wood – Some bugs eat wood so when building a deck you should choose a wood that is naturally resistant or ensure you use pressure treated wood with an appropriate sealant.

Clean and Reseal for Buyer Appeal

Your first impression only happens once so before buyers come to see your house, get your deck in shape.

1. Clean sweep: Sweep the deck of all large visible debris. Look for loose boards and nails that stick up. If the deck boards are in poor condition, you might need to sand the timber before resealing it.  Make any other necessary repairs.

2. Swab the deck: Clean the deck by hosing it down with an appropriate cleaning solution that removes grime and debris.  The deck should then be scrubbed and rinsed. Let it dry totally before you move to the next step.

3. Seal in the beauty: A sealant can be brushed, rolled, or sprayed on.  Good quality sealants contain ultraviolet sunlight protection to reduce the damaging effects of the sun.  Remember, oil sealants penetrate the wood, while film coatings form a layer on top of the wood.  Oils need to be reapplied every six to twelve months, depending on environmental conditions. If you use a sealant that provides a film coating, they usually last twelve to eighteen months.  Allow the sealant to dry.  Products vary, but up to three coats of sealant may be needed to fully protect your deck.

4. Add décor: Once you have cleaned and sealed the deck it is time to add color and special touches that make it say, “welcome home”.  Consider buying a large potted plant arraignment with colorful blooms and greens.  Always add a fresh new doormat at the entry point to the home. Hanging baskets of flowers or a small bird feeder can be used to add visual interest.  If the deck is large enough, make it into an additional dining space by adding an outdoor table and some chairs, but make certain your deck furniture is in good condition.

This can all be done over the course of a weekend and buyers will be drawn to the additional space and they will start picturing themselves enjoying the deck’s beauty as well as all the possibilities for entertaining in their new home.

Are you thinking about moving home now or in a few years? Now is the time to start taking the photos which will help sell your home. Marketing is about getting the best possible price in the shortest time for a home.  Many homes first appear on the market in the fall or winter. We all remember this past winter was a long and snowy one. A winter like this may make marketing a home for the best price more difficult.

If due to a new job or your dream home finally going on the market, you suddenly wanted to sell your home, do you have the photos you need to market your home? If you have a great spring flower bed can the buyer see it through the snow? If your pool is a show place on Fourth of July what will buyers see in February? Be sure to take photos when you have decorated for the Christmas holiday as well, both inside and out. In New England many homes are decorated for Halloween. If this is your favorite time, you guessed it,  include photos of this as well.

If your lawn is the best in the neighborhood take photos when it is at its best. These seasonal photos displayed in a photo album or on a digital photo frame will set your home apart from the others on the market. They will also help the Realtor® display your home on the internet at its best.

According to the National Association of Realtors® survey 90% of all potential home buyers start their search on the internet. Having current seasonal photos which show you home at its best in all four seasons is an easy and fun way to help protect your investment.  The photos you take could be with a thousand dollars on the sale of your home.

If you are a renter looking to buy your own home, you may be wondering if a condo, a townhouse or a duplex might be the way to go.  But which one do you choose and what is the difference between the three options? Generally, each choice offers you home ownership with varying levels of maintenance, responsibility, as well as personal privacy. What is right for you may depend on how much of a “house” feeling you want from your new home and perhaps how much you wish to mow your own lawn or plant a garden.

What is a Condo?

Typically, a condominium is where several owners share ownership of a building or buildings in a development. Basically each own their own respective unit, but they also own an interest in the land that the building(s) is on, the common areas of the complex such as pools, recreation areas, game rooms, community rooms, elevators, stairwells, corridors, streets, surrounding land, etc.

Depending on the size of the complex, your condo may offer space and some privacy from neighbors, or there may be only a small number of units on property, either way you will probably have neighbors nearby. If you’re concerned about noise or unpleasant neighbors, ask around about the general atmosphere of the grounds and if there are any noise or other problems that arise from a particular unit or building. When you view the unit for sale, listen for sounds from the other units. If you can hear a toilet flush in the condo above you, realize you will be hearing these sounds daily if you buy the condo.

Most times, condos have association rules you must follow and fees you will have to pay monthly. The rules can be just basic, like don’t paint your front door with polka dots and no loud noise after midnight. Or they can be more restrictive, like what types of flowers are allowed to be planted, if you may plant anything, and even where you may place your BBQ grill. Make sure you read the restrictions and can live by them.

A “condo fee” or “association fee” is usually paid each month by all the unit owners and it typically covers the cost of the exterior maintenance such as repairs, painting, lawn care, and snow removal. Typically, the association sets aside a portion of these fees collected as a contingency fund, which covers any special costs incurred as part of building upkeep, such as a new roof or repairs, to heating or plumbing equipment. Factor the condo fee into your mortgage costs and property taxes when considering this option.

Types of Condos

There are condos in buildings in the city and there are “garden style” condos, which are two to four in separate buildings. To add some confusion, there is a style of condo called a “Townhouse Condominium” is a building style that describe a condominium unit on multi-levels. This is not to be confused with an actual “townhouse”.

What is a Townhouse?

A townhouse is one of a row of attached dwellings that share common walls. Each townhouse owner owns the land beneath their townhouse and there may or may not be common areas set up by the developer. There are lot lines that separate the ground under the buildings even though the buildings are attached. Often, more maintenance is required because you own the exterior of your townhouse. You may have more privacy and more of a feel of a “separate” home, since there are no neighbors living above you, but you may also have regulations that dictate what you can do to the exterior.  For example: what paint colors are allowed and if you can add a large deck to your back door.

If there is an association that maintains the grounds, maintenance fees for townhouses within a complex are usually slightly lower than condos.

What is a Duplex?

A duplex is a single house which with two units that share one common wall. It can be owner occupied with two separate owners dwelling in the two units, one unit rented to tenants or both units can be rented. Typically you own your half, including the land on your side and are responsible for your half in terms of maintenance.  The two owners may share a driveway and therefore might share some of the costs of maintaining the property.

Your REALTOR® can help you define and understand which option is right for you.  Ask questions and consider all the factors before you limit what you go and see.

Perhaps you’ve done it before.  A big move where you take all of your current home’s contents and transport them to your new home. Sadly, the more stuff you acquire, the more backbreaking a move can be.  You can save some impact to your wallet and do it yourself or you can spend some money and hand over the task to professionals, but you should base this important decision on whether you can do the task at hand or whether it is more than you can manage.

If you think you can handle the move yourself, look at all the details and be certain of it.  The last thing you want is to rent a truck that is too small, count on friends to help with the lifting and find yourself solo or get halfway through and realize you can’t finish the job at hand.

How do you analyze if you can self-move?

1. Look at the volume of your possessions.  If you own very few pieces of large, heavy furniture or appliances your odds of success are pretty good.  Often the truck rental business can give you an idea of the size truck you might need, based upon the number of rooms you have furnished and large items they can tick off the list. But ultimately it will be up to you to determine to go with a little wiggle room in the truck size, try to squeeze it in and hope for the best or make multiple trips-if possible.  This can backfire, cost more (sometimes extra miles can add to the rental costs) or lead to items that don’t fit. Discovering you miscalculated on moving day is not good.  Always allow for extra space and things you might be forgetting about that will be going with you.
2. Can you get assistance from friends or family you trust, who will not back out on you at the last minute? If you are not certain you will have the muscle power to do the move, it might be best to hand the reins over to the professionals. There are some items that you just cannot move by yourself.
3. Packing takes some skill and organization. Do you have these skills and patience or will some of your most precious possessions probably get broken before they get to your new home?  Be honest with yourself about your skills and dedication to making a move go off without major issues. Arm yourself with packing knowledge like: How to wrap up breakable items, placing the heavy items in the bottom of the box and lighter things on top. Place heaviest and bulkiest furniture in the truck first and make sure you even out the weight on both sides of the truck.

If handling the move yourself seems like a poor choice or just an overwhelming option, it might be time to find a moving company to do the heavy task.

How do I Get Help?

1. Get estimates before you choose a company. Compare services offered and overall costs. Check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if any major complaints have been filed.  Ask friends or co-workers for referrals.
2. Be prepared for the movers. Gather the basic info they will need, though most companies will come over to your current home to see how many rooms and the amount of furniture and belongings that will be packed. They will follow that with an estimate of how much the moving costs will be.
3. Be aware that there could be extras added on to the estimate. Extra bulky items like a piano require extra care and often require specialists. Stairs or long walkways that lengthen the distance they must carry your items can increase the final cost as well.  Be sure the costs include packing materials and all the actual labor of packing. Get the entire agreement in writing including the date of your move and arrival of your belongings.

Moving can be stressful and depending on how hands-on you feel you must be and how easily you could fund hiring a professional mover, the decision may be easy to make.  But do you homework and know the pros and cons and costs of both choices before you decide.

People with a “For Sale” sign in their front yard has a reason why they decided it was time to sell. With the market on a continual upward trend and interest rates still at record lows, maybe it has occurred to you that if you are going to sell and upgrade into a larger or a home that better fits your needs, now might be the best time. But how do you really know you are ready to place your house on the market?

Find Your Motivation

Explore your reasons for selling. Typically this should not be just a sudden passing thought that you choose to act upon.  If selling is something you have considered, and you were waiting for the market to be right, this could be your time to act.  If you have thought it through and have a plan of what you hope to buy and maybe even where it will be located, then this is a move you are probably ready for. Basically, have you thought this out and do you know what you hope to gain by selling?

Know What You Want

Explore the location/neighborhoods where you will look for a new home. Go to open houses. Look at Verani Realty’s town websites to explore the towns and communities on your list of potential places to move to. Look into new construction versus established homes. Weigh your options and identify what all the pros, as well as any challenges, involved in this move.  In other words, educate yourself and make a plan of action.

Find your REALTOR®

If you do not have a REALTOR® already, now is the perfect time to find one that has the experience and marketing plan that fits your needs. Ask your REALTOR® to prepare a Comparative Market Analysis for you. This gives you a clear picture of what you can expect to get for your house when it sells and how that will affect what you can afford to buy in a new home.

Prepare Your Home for Sale

Are you ready to prepare your house for sale? Take suggestions from your REALTOR® and do as much of it as you can. Typically, you will want to remove clutter and take out any bulky or excess furniture. Repair any issues the home has and make any upgrades (like replacing old appliances with new stainless steel or resurfacing that stained old tub) that you can afford, which will help the house show better to buyers and get it sold.

Profits Explained

You can ask your REALTOR® to show you a best and worst case scenario of the net profits you could expect from selling. This way, your can be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. If the lowest net price will still allow you buy the home you want, it’s time to place your house on the market and secure financing for your next home purchase.

Now is the perfect time to get ready to sell.  Spring is around the corner and buyers will be flocking out to settle into a new home before summer. If your motivations are right, call your REALTOR® today and set the wheels in motion to be ready for spring buyers.

It has been a long rough winter and the Granite State’s storms have left behind litter in yards, fallen branches, and stray leaves blown everywhere. But probably the most disturbing is lawn damage caused by voles and moles that perhaps have made several tunnels and left behind piles of dirt around what was once your nice lawn.

These little critters are known to have tunneled and chewed their way across lawns without detection under the snow. Snow also provides ideal conditions for mold to develop, and it shows up as grey or white blotches across the lawn. None of this makes for a pretty yard.

The good news is that restoring your lawn is not necessarily expensive or a lot of work. Damage is usually is cosmetic and temporary and a rake may be all you need. Try raking matted turf to remove dead top growth and allow new grass shoots to develop. This allows air and light to reach plant crowns, which helps the lawn recover from any mold.

If you see little or not so little piles of unearthed dirt and squiggly tunnel lines around your yard, you probably were the victim of vole and mole damage. The good news is this should fix itself with time, since the damage is typically limited to dormant grass, not crowns and roots. To speed up repair, rake out loose grass so sunlight can reach the soil and promote new growth.

While the growth of grass in the spring will fill in the damage, eliminating moles can be the bigger challenge. There are many suggested methods you can find online like using chewing gum, human hair, moth balls, broken glass, bleach, red peppers, and even rodent poison. Castor oil is also listed as a repellant, but the results do not seem to last if other moles decide to move in. None of these are reportedly very effective.

The mole family in New England is mainly two species; the Eastern mole and the Star-nose mole. If you see five to six mounds of soil spaced in a row like little volcanoes it is likely the work of star-nose moles. Eastern moles create volcano-like excavations, but not as many or in straight rows.

These moles make two types of tunnels in your lawn.  Primary tunnels are feeding tunnels and can be anywhere from 3 inches to 3 feet below the surface.  They provide access to the mole’s feeding areas. Feeding tunnels near the surface are where moles search for worms, usually in areas that are irrigated. If you flatten a tunnel and they reappear within a day or two, you have likely found a primary tunnel. This is where to set the only thing that lawn experts say is likely to work at eliminating moles; a mole-killing trap.

Early spring is the best time to set traps, before the birth of new litters, which range from two to six baby moles. Underground traps are the most effective and can be found in the lawn care department of any home improvement store. If this sounds like too much for you to deal with, consider calling in a lawn care company to handle the infestation.

A beautiful lawn speaks to potential homebuyers and it can either say welcome home or this house is not well maintained.  Remember that part of curb appeal for your home is an appealing front yard…with no sign of little critters.

Image courtesy of Moyan Brenn

Coming to Portsmouth on April 13, 2013: Two Realtors® from Verani Realty in Portsmouth are “thinking outside the box” selling homes in the Seacoast area. Diane Silva and Suzanne Butcofski are the Realtors® and “conductors” of the newest happening in downtown Portsmouth: weekly Home Trolley Tours for the Seacoast.

Silva came up with the idea while sitting outside “Breaking New Grounds” with friends and listening to many passersby ask about area real estate.  Since she sells real estate, the idea came to her to help folks that are “hanging around” Market Square, hop on a Portsmouth trolley and see a handful of homes on a Saturday.

Regal Limousine is providing the trolley. Mortgage companies are sponsoring the weekly event.  Both Silva and Butcofski will be on the trolley with a lender and an affiliate each week. The trolley will leave from Market Square at 11a.m. every Saturday starting April 13th and bring folks to various homes listed for sale around the Seacoast.  Each home will host a “mini-open house” along the tour.  “It’s certainly a new idea on the Seacoast and so far, we are having tremendous positive feedback,” says Silva.

The point is to help Buyers and Sellers connect. Buyers will join the Tour and see a home they may not have otherwise had a chance to see if searching on their own.  Silva and Butcofski have many years of real estate experience, with Silva starting her career in New Hampshire in 1994. They say their clients are excited about this idea and look forward to the first tour on Saturday, April 13th from 11am – 1pm.  The red and green Verani trolley will pick up buyers at the Verani parking lot, 111 Maplewood Ave., at 10:45am and in Market Square at 11am.  Registration is suggested.

Homes on the tour will be decided by the two Realtors® each week. The tour will be advertised in the ”Portsmouth Herald” weekly. Contact Diane Silva & Suzanne Butcofski at 603-957-1210  for more information on the Verani Home Trolley Tours.

image courtesy of Captain-tucker

If you are you are prepping your home for sale, you may be considering giving the walls a new coat of paint. Nothing can breathe new life into your home’s look like a fresh coat of paint that catches the eye. But should you change the color?  Can the color of a home make it sell faster than others? The color of your home can make or break the sale, especially if covered with unusual shades. Buyers look for a home that has good curb appeal, which means it looks attractive from the street and makes them want to see more.

But, buyers also look for a house that stands out when compared to the others they’ve looked at. Typically, the best colors to paint your house to sell are

Many buyers won’t complain about a home being too spacious.  In fact, buyers are drawn to a large main living space or master bedroom  But if you are selling a home that is “spaciously challenged,” there are still things you can do to accent positives and make rooms and closets appear larger.

A dirty mailbox is the 1st thing potential buyers see

As most Realtors® will tell you, spring is an optimum time to sell a home.  A large volume of buyers head out in the warming months of April, May, and June making it an ideal time to put your home on the market. Once the snow has melted however, your property may be left looking a bit weathered and in need of a good spring clean-up before you start showing it.

• Clean your home inside and out: Muddy or snow covered boots have left their mark, so clean tile (bleach dull grout), clean linoleum and hardwood floors (refinish if needed) and have the carpets steam cleaned. Look for stains and get them removed. Polish wood floors to a shine. Sparkle is free, and sparkle sells homes.
• Clean bathrooms and kitchen: Paying extra attention to any dust or grime left behind. Clean any glassware you have on display and remove all clutter.  Clean your oven and refrigerator and polish any stainless steel.
• Clean the windows:  This means inside and outside. A potential buyer will see the difference if windows are spotless and your mirrors reflect sunlight. Cleaning is the first step to preparing your home for sale.
• Get your yard in order: Rake the yard and trim back bushes. Clean out dead leaves and debris.  Once the grass begins to grow, mow diagonally and edge lawn along your driveway and walkways. Diagonally mowed lawns make your yard appear larger. Transplant tulips and daffodils or buy flowers in containers as soon as the weather will allow.  This pop of beauty and color really says, “welcome”.
• Pay attention to the details: After the windows are spotless look at your drapes, curtains or blinds and clean anything that may be dusty or dingy.  Open windows and let fresh air in.
• Get fresh new decor: For a splash of spring color around your house, light colors like yellows, pale blues, lavenders, and sage greens say spring. Layer towels on bathroom towel racks and place rolled washcloths on the counters in a fashionable pyramid. Be your own home “stager”.
• Place a new doormat outside: Each door needs a mat for cleaning shoes.  It will make each entrance appear well cared for and say “welcome” to potential buyers without the winter-worn doormats.
• Repair any damage to your mailbox: Consider placing a large pot of spring flowers near it. It is often the first thing a buyer sees when looking for your property. Curb appeal (as we’ve mentioned in the past) is a key to selling!