Driving Lessons

Have any of you had to teach your children how to drive yet? My son turned 15 in January and got his permit two days after his birthday. Needless to say, we have to try to sneak out the door if we want to go anywhere like the store or we get the “can I drive from him”.  It’s not that he is a terrible driver, it’s just that he’s still learning how to do it. A few days ago we had our closest miss that certainly got the heart pumping and the adrenaline rushing. The good news is he is now taking a drivers ed class  with three of his buddies. Hopefully the instructor has the patience of an angel and the nerves of  a Kamikahzee pilot.

Summer is Here

Have you had a chance yet to spend some time in your back yard with the grill going and your family by your side? If not, now is the time to do it. Recently it has been incredibly warm, although we could do with a few less showers that’s for sure. Summer is here and it is almost July. Incredible how fast the time flies by. Here in Vermont, we have to try to make the most of the warm weather. We can not take the summer for granted because of the harsh winters and I don’t believe any of us do. There is nothing like being active and outside in the warm summer breeze. Whether it is out on the lake, at the beach, on the ball field or in the mountains for a hike. Vermont is a wonderful place to be in the summer. If you don’t live here, you are missing out.

Attitudes

Have you ever wondered how some people always seem to have great luck? Everything they do just seems to turn out right. They are the people you want to be around. Most often what is overlooked about these people is that they have great attitudes. Realistically, they are not smarter and don’t work harder than yourself. They just have programmed their minds to  be optimistic and to have a positive attitude to life and its challenges. I love to be around these types of people. They can inspire and challenge your thought processes to have you think outside the box. Life is certainly full of so many different challenges and because of that, we all need to adjust our outlooks and develop the I can attitude verses the why me type of attitude. The power of the mind is truly incredible and if you can learn how to harness your thoughts, great things can happen for you. I would suggest that having good luck is proper preparation combined with opportunity. And those opportunities only exist for those individuals that have great attitudes.

Negotiating a skill in itself

Do you ever wonder how your best friend is always getting such great deals on things that he or she purchases? It also applies to real estate as well. Often times buyers think that they don’t need any help in negotiating a great deal for themselves when it comes to the real estate purchase because they have done it before. I could tell you story after horror story about people who have gone it alone in the real estate transaction and it has cost them literally thousands of dollars. An experienced negotiator can be one of your biggest assets in the transaction. It can be the difference from winning to losing. It can be the difference of having a great experience or one that you would not wish on your worst enemy. Negotiating is an art and it is one that is developed over time with experience. So when it comes time to make your move, make sure you have someone who knows the ins and outs of how to make the deal work for you.

Rental Excitement

June 1st is that time of year in our area where many apartments turn over. Lots of the college kids graduate and move on. For those kids who have lived on campus, some decide to spread their wings and move off campus. It is an exciting time for those students with their first real taste of independent living. No resident director to keep track of their activities, and more privacy to use at their discretion. As a landlord, it is a time that can sometimes be stressful. Lots of things left behind, apartments that are left  less clean than when they were originally rented. Of course that is not always the case, but depending on your perspective, things can be quite different.

Time to Buy

There is an article in today’s newspaper quoting  one of the State’s Economist that Vermont is in a recession. That’s the bad news. The good news is that he is predicting that we will slowly start moving out of it in the last quarter of this year. Not too bad considering the fact that  we may have already experienced the worst.  With that said, the bottom is probably real close to this market so if you are thinking about buying, do it now. Interest rates are still good, and they may push upwards if things start to pick up more.  Like the old saying, If you snooze you lose. Be a winner and call us today.

Marathon Fever

I ran in the local marathon this past weekend and I must say it was extremely exhilarating. I ran the last leg 5.6 miles on a relay team with some friends. What an incredible event the city of Burlington puts on. There were over 7200 runners and 30,000 spectators experiencing the event. The weather was great, a balmy 70 plus degrees sunny, and not to hot to run with a slight breeze. I have run the last leg a number of times before helping friends complete the full marathon but this was my first time to actually participate in the event. It was hard not to get caught up in the emotion of it all. My first mile was pretty quick for me at 7.33 minutes so I knew I had to try to slow it down a bit in order to not over due it before I got to the finish line. Our final time for the event was 4 hours exactly. Not bad for a few old farts. Our team name was the Phat 40’s so you can figure it out from there. We finished a little bit better than 50% for our age group with a mixed relay team. It was truly gratifying as I approached the finish line and they were counting down to the four hour mark I had to sprint to the finish to try to get there at fours or less and I just made it. Lots of fun for a great group of friends.

More on the ball field

During Memorial Day, me and two other volunteers took advantage of our time off to put the roof on the new storage shed that we will have for our new baseball field for the kids when it is complete. We started this project almost a year ago to construct a new baseball field and we are getting in the home stretch for completion. We hopefully will be done in a month or so. The grass is starting to grow really well in the infield and we have most all of the work done on the two dugouts. It certainly is a labor of love for us and we can’t wait to be able to get the kids out there to play ball. We spent 6 hours yesterday before the rain came and got the weather shield on before we got wet. Next will be the metal roof and that part of the project will be complete.

Happy Post Memorial Day

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone well after such a wonderful weekend we had here. The weather could not have been better for the Memorial Day Weeend festivities. I hope all of you were able to spend the time the way that you wanted to. Ialso want to acknowledge the huge sacrifices that all our Veterans have made so that we do have the freedoms that we enjoy today. My son had two baseball games on Saturday which were successful and Sunday my wife, son and myself took part in the Key Bank Marathon right here in Burlington. It was an absolutely magnificent day to run and spend time with friends and family. Afterwards we got time to get out on the Lake followed by a big time barbecue. Couldn’t have had a better time and I hope all of you did as well.

Selling tips 101

If you are thinking of selling your home today, here are a few pointers that you may want to take advantage of to help sell your home. First of all, make sure that you are completely realistic about your price. If you are at the top of the competition, plan on staying put for quite some time. Secondly, hire an experienced agent. Someone who has experienced a slow down in the market before. If your realtor hasn’t gone through at least one recession, he probably will not have the werewithall to market your home. Thirdly, take a look at your home with a home stager. Not just the inside, but maybe the outside as well. We all look at our homes through a biased eye, so having a professional making adjustments may do the trick. Next offer some type of buyer monetary incentive. Why not? Money talks and you know the rest of the story. And lastly, if your home is sinking you, consider a short sale. Negotiatiate with the bank and see if that is a possibility.