Condo sold in Winooski!

I just sold this lovely condo today. This is an old converted school building - it has retained a lot of the school feel to it, including original classroom doors, and one of the highlights is the great gym!

The sale price was $150,500. A quick calculation with an interest rate of 4.3% over 30 years with a conventional loan (20% at closing), monthly payments would be approximately $600.
If an FHA loan was used instead, with as little as 3% down, payments could be as low as 750$.

Can you afford not to buy?

Contact me, and we can discuss home ownership options for you and your family. It might be time for you to own your own home and build equity instead of rent!

Beautiful 3 Bedroom Colonial in the New North End

Looking for a great 3 bedroom colonial in Burlington? This home in the New North End might be just perfect for you! Priced at 359,900$ and move-in ready, you could be spending your next Holiday season in your new home!

An exceptionally maintained one owner home in a wonderful New North End neighborhood. New roof installed in 2012 (30 year architectural shingles) and all exterior trim freshly painted. Bright and functional kitchen opens up onto dining area, overlooking the private backyard and large deck perfect for your summer cookouts. Enjoy the heat from the Jotul woodstove in the living room, which easily heats the entire 4-star energy rated house. The winter’s 4+ cords is already stacked in the wood shed out back! A downstairs office is the perfect spot for a home office. The upstairs has 3 bedrooms, including a remodeled master bed and bath as well as a laundry room, saving trips with a full laundry basket! There is also central vacuum and a large heated 2-car garage. The basement has been partially finished and provides a great space for a family room or home gym.  Situated on a quiet street and just a short distance to the bikepath and parks, this house is ready to become your next home!

Here are a couple views of the living room, with the Jotul woodstove. The entryway is to the right of the first photo - you can see the tiled floor. The staircase to go upstairs is highlighted by a beautiful stained glass window.

The kitchen and dining area are at the heart of the house, making it a great entertaining area, as well as conveniently situated right off the back deck.

There is an updated half bath off of the kitchen.

And a great home office right off the entryway

The upstairs master bedroom and bathroom were completely renovated. A fantastic new hardwood floor highlights the bedroom as well as the cork bathroom floor.

There are 2 other bedrooms upstairs, one which includes a great walk-in closet.

A second full bathroom and a laundry room complete the upstairs space.

The basement is partially finished. The finished area is a great spot for a family/TV room or a home gym. There is ample DRY storage space, with a convenient access to the garage. The perfect spot for storing decorations or using it as a food pantry.

The backyard is large (the deepest on the block) and private. There is a woodshed, which holds 4 cords of wood. 

For any additional information, please contact me at 802-777-7194 and it will be my pleasure to assist you.

Remodel VS Value

Should I replace my windows before putting my house on the market? Should I update the bathroom? These are just a couple of the questions I hear almost everyday. Contrary to what people think, the rule of thumb is that you don't get back what you put into your home. There are of course some exemption - aren't there always? I found a most useful guide that crunched all the numbers are put some very pertinent stats together for today's sellers. I love numbers, so you can imagine how excited I was to find this and cannot wait to share it with my clients!

This guide provides a pretty good rundown on what you can expect to get back from some house projects. Please keep in mind that this is the average and doesn't guarantee return when you sell you home! But it does give you a great guideline on where to spend your money!

Top 3 best bang for your buck:
1) minor kitchen remodel which includes new appliances and fixtures, new cabinet doors, replacing laminate surfaces with higher end surfaces, and painting and redoing the moldings. 112% return.
2) new garage door. 80% return.
3) major kitchen remodel. 78%.

What isn't worth your time and money if you are thinking of selling?
1) Home office remodel. 30% return.
2) Backup power generator. 30 % return.
3) And the most surprising: bathroom remodel. 43% return.

If you would like to discuss any projects that you are doing and how they will enhance your home's appeal in today's market, please call me. It will be my pleasure to share my knowledge and learn from your experience as a homeowner, a seller or a buyer.

House Sold in Milton!

One of the greatest satisfactions with being a real estate agent is seeing the excitement of buyers when they find the perfect home and get the keys to their place! You really do meet some incredible people along the way, and although the buying process can be stressful at times, I do make sure to have a little fun along the way!

This lovely house in Milton now has a new owner. I am sure that he will enjoy this wonderful neighborhood!

We found this house and put in an offer after only 5 days of searching! How is that for efficiency?
It could be you next time!

The 5 biggest mistakes made by first-time buyers

I know. I've been there. That feeling of invincibility when you find the house of your dreams. It can make you overlook so many faults. I definitely do not regret our purchase. However, I might have gone into "it's an old home but it's new to us"  home ownership with eyes wide open instead of jumping in quasi-blindly!

You see lists everywhere about what you should and shouldn't do when shopping for a house. Some are common sense. Some, not so much. Here is my personal top 5. . .

1) Be honest with yourself about projects. Figure out how much time you really want to spend on the house. If you find out that you are unwilling to give up every weekend to do house projects, could you afford to pay someone to do it for you? If not, are you willing to spread the work over more years? If not, WALK AWAY. There will be another house out there for you. You don't want to look back at the last 10 years of your life and regret having spent it with a drill and paint brush in your hand.

2) Find an agent who understands your needs. You need someone who will sit down with you and help you figure out what you are looking for. Let us do the work! We spend our lives immersed in real estate so you don't have to!

3) Don't be afraid of change. It's normal. You thought you'd love living in a cape, but after walking through a few of them, realize that it doesn't work for you. Tell your agent! It's perfectly ok to adjust what you're looking for during the process.

4) Do your homework. Learn as much as you can about the neighbourhood you're looking at moving into. Talk to the neighbours. Check out traffic during different times of the day. Is it near an airport? What about train tracks? You're investing a lot of money - don't be afraid to invest a little time too!

5) Don't overspend. Sit down with a financial adviser if you are not comfortable putting together a budget yourself. Regardless of how much your lending institution is willing to lend you, let that not stop you from making sure that you can support not only the new mortgage payment, but also able to maintain the level of lifestyle you want.

What are some other traps to avoid? What is your personal experience? I would love to hear about them!