Beautifully renovated end condo unit at The Seasons at Lake Sunapee Country Club in New London. Largest attached unit floor plan available. By far, one of the best at The Seasons. Ready to move into! Visit www.54TheSeasons.com for more photos and details.
Privacy, gardens, a spacious, light-filled post and beam home, 2 car garage, carport, and heated workshop, Lake Sunapee water frontage, and low taxes. . . all for under a million dollars! Click here and view this beautiful property. Offered at $995,000.
You can still add your finishing touches to this 3 bedroom cape in Newport, NH. The second floor is unfinished, but doesn't need much to complete. The first floor is handicap accessible with wide doors, lowered counters and roll-in shower. Priced to sell at $189,000. For more photos and details, visit www.5GolfClubRd.com.
New listing and a great in-town home. Walk to the New London Barn Playhouse for summer shows and pick up your flowers and vegetables at Spring Ledge Farm. Completely renovated and updated. Beautiful, insulated sun room was added in 2008. Home is where the heart is! Visit www.RenovatedCape.com for more photos and details. Offered at $249,900.
p style="text-align: center;">Great year-round or vacation property. Close to Mt. Sunapee for skiing or Mt. Sunapee State Park for fun in the sun and sand. Post and beam 3 bedroom home, nice level yard, feel the warmth of the wood stove on those quiet, snowy days. For more photos and details, visit www.74BradfordRd.com.
The warm weather is finally here, school is almost out and the town commons and bandstands are coming alive with their summer concert series. This Friday, June 10, bring your blankets and chairs and meet at the Mary D. Haddad Bandstand, Sargent Common in New London, NH for entertainment by The Kearsarge Community Band beginning at 6:30 p.m. Every Friday through August 19th, area bands will be there for your listening pleasure. You can find live, free music Wednesday through Sunday in other area towns as well - Wednesday at the Ben Mere Bandstand in Sunapee Harbor; Thursday at the Newbury Harbor Bandstand; Saturday at Flander's outdoor stage in Sunapee Harbor, the Wilmot Town Bandstand, and Elkins Bandstand; Sunday at the Newport Town Common Bandstand. Visit our Community Calender at www.cbmilestone.com for times and performances. You'll be sure to have a rockin' summer!
Sip a cold summer drink while relaxing on the porch, taking in the expansive lake and mountain views. This lakefront home has been exquisitely renovated with all high-end products. Boathouse and large lakeside patio. A wonderful home to begin your memories at the lake. For more photos and details, visit www.Shorenough.com.
Landscaping is one of the surest ways to pump up the value of your property. According to research by Virginia Cooperative Extension, going from a plain lawn and a concrete driveway to a well-landscaped lot raises a home's perceived value by 12.7%. The opposite is also true: A "minimal" landscaping job-a thoughtless smattering of scraggly plants-actually detracts from home value. How much should you invest in upgrading your landscape? Professionals recommend budgeting 10% of your home's value. But the important thing to remember is that success doesn't depend on how much you spend. "Landscaping doesn't have to be expensive, just well planned," says Carl Heldmann, author of "Be Your Own House Contractor." Here's how to get started on a landscape plan of your own.
First, consult a pro
To figure out how to allocate your landscape dollars, start by picking the brain of a pro. Even if you have a naturally green thumb, a trained professional can save you from wasting money on wrongheaded ideas and open your eyes to possibilities you haven't considered. There are various types of landscape pros (http://www.asla.org/nonmembers/publicrelations/guidejobs.htm), and their expertise is priced accordingly. If your yard has major issues or you have grand ambitions, consider hiring a certified landscape architect to design a comprehensive plan that includes such things as irrigation, lighting, architectural features, soil conditioning, and, of course, the growing stuff. A verbal consultation costs about $100-$150; a detailed plan can run from $300 to $2,500. The American Society of Landscape Architects (http://www.ASLA.ORG) offers a state-by-state "firm finder" on its website. Landscape designers typically charge less than degreed landscape architects and are a good choice for simpler projects that don't require construction. Horticulturists specialize in plants, not necessarily design. Then there are landscape contractors, the design-build firms of yard work. Start by asking friends whose gardens you admire for recommendations. Your local home and garden center is another good source for contacts.
Set your priorities
Before you get any dirt under your nails-or hire someone to get dirty-you need to make two lists: a) what you want and b) what your property needs. These aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but the exercise is important for setting priorities. It would be folly to spend big bucks on an outdoor kitchen before resolving potentially disastrous issues such as a diseased tree or drainage problems (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/7-signs-you-may-have-a-drainage-problem/). The first question that a professional will likely ask is: What do you see yourself doing in your yard? Hosting Sunday barbecues? Doing the crossword puzzle in a hammock? Swimming laps? Growing vegetables? Clip pictures of outdoor spaces you like and don't like to clarify the feeling you're trying to achieve. Remember that part of your landscape budget will go toward the "b" list. Those are things that may not lend themselves to sexy magazine spreads but can protect your property value-not to mention enhance your quality of life-by lowering water bills, reducing the need to mow or rake, or blocking the view of your neighbor who hot-tubs in the buff. We're talking about practical considerations such as irrigation, fencing, lighting, equipment storage, privacy, and security.
Create a "floor plan" to target costs
To ballpark costs for materials and labor, think in terms of square footage, which is how landscapers charge. According to Costhelper.com, (http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/landscape-design.html) hiring someone to create a "naturalistic garden" averages $11 a square foot; the cost can double for a formal garden with walls and water features. And don't forget to factor in long-term maintenance such as mowing, mulching, and pruning. (Sweat equity, anyone?) If you're designing your own plan, start by measuring your property or getting a plat survey from the county. You might even be able to find a topographical map indicating features like slopes and swales. You can sketch the basic layout to scale using old-fashioned graph paper or landscape design software. Prices have come down considerably on the latter, but quality varies widely, so check online reviews before purchasing. A free option: Google's Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com), with cool apps for trees, pavers, shrubs, outbuildings, and the like. Once you have the parameters, create a floor plan, marking off different sections just as you would rooms of a house. The front path is the foyer, there might be a "dining room" with a picnic table, a shady "bedroom" for a hammock, a "rec room" with play equipment. Consider the costs for each area of your plan, including materials, equipment, furnishings, greenery, and any specialized labor like irrigation or electricity.
Think long term
If your ambitions exceed your wallet (and whose do not?), go back to your priority list and pick a section or projects to tackle as your budget permits, advises Angela Dye, principal designer/president of A Dye Design, a landscaping firm in Phoenix, Ariz. "What is the absolute most important thing you need to have done?" she asks. "What is bugging you most?" A carefully conceived plan will keep you on track during this gradual transformation, both in terms of vision and budget. And remember that patience pays off. "Additions or renovations can start losing value once completed," says Jim Lapides, spokesman for the American Society of Landscape Architects. "A landscape literally grows in value over time." Laura Fisher Kaiser is a contributing editor to Interior Design magazine and a former editor at This Old House magazine. The secret to her Washington, D.C., garden is blood, sweat, tears, and mosquito repellent. Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Copyright 2011. All rights reserved
Home sales activity and median price in New Hampshire dipped in March, compared to March 2010, leaving first quarter unit sales practically even with the first quarter of last year, while median price for the first quarter dropped nearly 5 percent from the same period 2010.
Realtors in the Granite State sold 1,892 homes in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 1,891 in 2010, according to data released this week by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR). Median price, meanwhile, dropped from $207,000 in the first quarter 2010 to $197,000 in the first quarter 2011, NHAR reported.
“We still have yet to find any clear trend line,” said NHAR President Tom Riley, a 35‐year veteran of the real estate industry and president of Riley Enterprises in Bedford. “Overall, it still appears to be a market that is stabilizing, but we’re certainly in no position to make any bold predictions about a timetable for the recovery.”
Riley noted that the March sales decrease followed two consecutive months of increases, and he said the data is still reflective of a particularly difficult winter selling season in New Hampshire.
“Eventually, we expect to find a clear pattern to the market,” Riley said, “but we haven’t found it yet.” In terms of local markets, six of the state’s 10 counties saw unit sales increases in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, including upticks in New Hampshire’s three largest – Hillsborough, Rockingham and Merrimack.
Meanwhile, only Sullivan County and Carroll County showed median price increases.
Click here for March 2011 data residential.
Click here for March 2011 data condo.
Riley continued to assert that the unprecedented buyers’ market – low interest rates, low prices and high inventory – remains ripe for increased activity in the coming months. “The bright spot in this challenging economic picture is the chance for those who in the past have been priced out of the market to now get in,” he said. “I don’t remember a better opportunity for buyers.”
Press Release: NH Association of REALTORS®, Dave Cummings, NHAR Director of Communications
A great hideaway on 4.43 acres tucked up in the woods and surrounded by stately pines! Quiet location bordering a stream with direct access to Gillingham Pond. Open floor plan, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, back deck. Come take a look! Offered at $278,900. Visit www.64ForestBrook.com for more photos and details.
