Burlington Vermont Real Estate

Yesterday, while showing property in Charlotte, squall after squall swept across Lake Champlain and through the meadows of West Charlotte. It was such drama and beauty. Mother Nature in a mood wrapped it up with a double rainbow over Holmes Road and Popple Dungeon!

A joyous sight!

If you are considering buying a home or condominium in or near Burlington Vermont Real Estate, please give me a call on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you.

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.

I read an article this evening that touched me deeply. The article focussed primarily upon a suburban family living in Colorado. Up until recently, husband and wife had been earning $100,000 per year. They wanted for nothing. They lacked nothing. Now, they are living in poverty as defined by earning less than $25,000/year for a family of five. Their actual income is now $1,500/month or $18,000/year! As I read about their story, I began thinking about the millions, like them, who are slipping.

A decade ago, the Jefferson County School District in Golden, Colorado reported 58 students that were known to be homeless. A year ago, that number spiraled to 2,800. That dramatic increase in such a vulnerable group hit my Bullseye. It made me think about dramatic loss and the true value of HOME. Is the value of home determined by assessors and appraisers or something much, much deeper and more profound? Something hard to quantify. What do you think?

I looked up the dictionary definitions for the word “home” and I found the definitions woefully inadequate.

As a Realtor, I have dedicated the last twelve years of my life to helping families find just the right place to call HOME. The place where dreams and memories of all kinds accumulate. The place we feel safe. That haven where children grow up. Tears are shed into our pillows. Relationships are nurtured and mature. The place where we grow older and wiser.

When I witness the process parents undergo when they struggle to select the perfect place to call HOME, it is indeed a process. It is truly an undertaking.

And when I witness first hand the emotions wrung out upon so many of our fellow Vermonters who lost everything in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, I am once again brought to my knees in complete humility and gratitude for all that I have. A roof over the heads of those I love most – My children, my family and pets. Warm. Cozy. Creating memories and spawning dreams with the passing of time. Our shelter from life’s storms cloaked in LOVE.

And what of love? Love is at the essential core of our sense of HOME. 

As we head towards winter, let’s remember the beauty of HOME. Let’s humble ourselves again to having such a special place. This sanctuary. This place of the heart. Of the soul. And let’s share it with those we love. Our Family. Friends. Neighbors. Those in distress. Bring them in…

Nobody said it better than Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, “Ohhhhh Auntie Emm… There’s No Place Like Home”.

Please. I invite you to add your thoughts. Tell me and those who come to this website what HOME means to you…

If you are considering buying a home or condominium in or near Burlington Vermont Real Estate, please give me a call on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you.

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.

Today was the final day of the Vermont Real Estate Conference at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center here in South Burlington Vermont. It was a day I was looking forward to as I had enrolled in a course entitled, “Volcanic Video Ideas to Make Your Messages Go Viral”. The course instructor, Doug Devitre, taught us one of the most powerful tools for connecting with prospects can be the use of video on social media! He taught us how to use the web to build our authority in our niche and craft an online community of fans on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. He also taught us how to move our content on other blogs and websites using RSS, status updates and widgets. 

I have long recognized that my next major commitment was to begin to learn how to implement a solid video strategy on this website. As was said by Doug, “if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million…”.

If you are considering buying a home or condominium in or near Burlington Vermont, please visit my website, give me a call on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you.

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.

During this morning’s session of the Vermont Real Estate Conference being held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center here in South Burlington VT, I am taking a course entitled, “What’s It Worth – Pricing Real Estate?” My course instructor who is a certified appraiser with over 34 years of experience in the real estate field imparted the Seven Deadly Sins Sellers Make These Days. Here they are for you sellers out there:

1. Pricing higher than the competition,

2. Refusing reasonable offers early on,

3. Not putting the property in the best possible condition for sale,

4. Making showing the property difficult,

5. Not recognizing that your home is a house, e.g. a commodity to a buyer,

6. Blaming the Realtor for the market. The market is what it is. The Realtor did not make the market,

7. Not reducing the price in a timely manner, causing the property to become stale.

If you are considering buying a home or condominium in or near Burlington Vermont, please visit my website, give me a call on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you.

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.

Once each year, our professional association convenes affording Realtors time to gather in a setting that is full of speakers, classes, exhibits on new standards, technology and best practices. I’m excited this year to be taking several Continuing Education classes. They are as follows:

1. Volcanic Video Ideas to Make Your Message Go Viral: In this session Doug Devitre will deliver the “how-to” in addition to the “why” video is the simplest form of online communication.  Record, edit, and publish your way to proven success by creating videos your clients will welcome, watch, and want to share with their friends.

2. What’s It Worth? This class will cover the basics of real estate valuation, including several quick ways to develop an opinion of value. The three approaches will be discussed and summaries provided when each one would be appropriate to use. 

3. Vermont Real Estate Forms: Local Real Estate Attorney Fred Peet who practices in South Burlington VT will teach this course reviewing and updating practitioners in the areas of Purchase and Sale Contracts, the new Conditional Termination of the Purchase and Sale Contract, the Seller’s Property Information Report (SPIR), and the Exclusive Right to Market property Agreement.

4. State of Vermont Mandatory Course for License Renewal 

5. Integrated Marketing Specialist

If you are considering buying a home or condominium in or near Burlington Vermont, please visit my website, give me a call on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you.

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.