and elsewhere, always ask questions about what to do during the holidays with regards to their decorations.  That’s a great question and one that should be taken seriously, by both the agent and the sellers, whether you’re selling a condo or a home.

Less is best, as the saying goes.  Not all potential buyers will appreciate a heavily decorated home, nor will all potential home buyers have the same taste you have in decorations.

The goal is to get your Portsmouth home or condo sold…

….and you want all buyers to be able to see your home and not be caught up in looking at your decorations.  Some fresh greens in a few areas, and maybe some holiday-colored candles would be something festive and simple to use.  Some nice white lights add a nice touch, and also serve to light the outside of your house as a welcoming gesture.

A recent article in the Portsmouth Herald has some great tips for holiday decorating – “Selling Your Home? Go Easy On Holiday Decor”.  Use this as a professional guide to help you with your holiday decorating.

Would you like information on the New Hampshire or Maine real estate market?  Do you have questions about the buying or selling process? Give me a call at 1-888-349-5678 x 3839 or send me an email and let’s talk Portsmouth NH real estate!

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

If you are, then you know competing for today’s buyers is quite challenging, to say the least.

Want to increase the chances of those buyers wanting to make your Portsmouth home theirs!

You need to go the extra step or two to make your house as welcoming and inviting as you can, and that means from the curb to the inside.

In a recent article in the Portsmouth Herald, an article “Staging Helps Home Sale Speed and Price”, the author talked about the benefits of making sure your home is properly presented to potential buyers, and ways to go about doing that.  Be sure to check out that article for more detailed information on the staging process and how it can help in the home-selling process.

Getting your Portsmouth NH home sold in today’s real estate market….

….means working with your experienced professional NH REALTOR – setting the proper price and setting the right presentation of your home.

For buyers in today’s market, it’s the EXPERIENCE they feel when they view your home, and you want that to be the very best it can be, from the first moment they lay eyes on your home from the street.  That exterior curb appeal has to be such that it makes them want to come see the inside of the home.  Once they’re inside, you want your entryway to speak to them and beckon them in further.

Getting things right from the start – price and presentation – will help your home sell quicker than the competition and typically for the most money the market will bear.  It’s all about attention to detail and the experience!

Would you like information on the New Hampshire or Maine real estate market?  Do you have questions about the buying or selling process? Give me a call at 1-888-349-5678 x 3839 or send me an email and let’s talk Portsmouth NH real estate!

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

Yes, you read that correctly!

The first time you sell it is to other agents working with buyers.  When you have your home on the market, you want the agents who are showing it to really try to sell YOUR home and not your competition.

The second time you sell it is to the buyer.  Typically most homeowners think the buyer is the only one they have to sell to, but if the agents aren’t sold it, the buyer may never get a chance to see it.

The third time you have to sell your house is to the bank or mortgage company’s appraiser.  Appraisers today are pretty conservative and their appraisals are being scrutinized like never before.  They really have to make sure they can justify and support the value they come up with.

Recently, we’ve found ourselves having to deal with second appraisals.  Some banks and mortgage companies have been ordering a second appraisal to be done, oftentimes after the mortgage commitment date has passed.  So, that means homeowners could be subjected to having to sell their homes four times.

There’s so much competition on the market in many areas and in most price ranges that it’s imperative you price your home to sell right from the start.  You might reach an agreement with a buyer on a price you’re both happy with, but that price must also pass muster with the appraiser, and then perhaps a second appraiser.

Get your Portsmouth NH home or condo SOLD!!

Your local Portsmouth NH REALTOR who has the knowledge and experience to give you the best advice on pricing and getting your home show-ready is doing just what you’ve hired them to do – help you to reach your goal of getting your home or condo sold.  Your best sold price is likely to happen in the shortest amount of time if you’ve priced your home correctly in the beginning and if you’ve taken extra effort to make sure your home creates a great first impression on the buyers and their agents who are interested in seeing it.

If you’re thinking about selling your Portsmouth NH area home, I’d welcome an opportunity to show you how I can put my proven track record of success to work for you!

Would you like information on the Portsmouth New Hampshire real estate market?  Do you have questions about the selling process?  Give me a call at 1-888-349-5678 x 3839 or send me an email and let’s talk real estate!

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

Those of us who call Portsmouth NH home know that we have all kinds of great things that go on all year long.  One very special event that has been taking place for the last 10 summers is our Tall Ships Festival, put on by the Piscataqua Maritime Commission.  The folks on that commission do a fabulous job bringing in Tall Ships for us to enjoy each year.

This year, the first of the four ships visiting for our Tall Ships Festival began arriving a week ago.  The Tall Ships Boat Parade was Friday morning, starting out at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor.  I watched them come into the harbor in Newcastle, and then I followed them through Newcastle and then down into the downtown area where they tied up at the State Piers downtown.

These ships are so majestic to see – just beautiful!

If you want to see more beautiful pictures of these Tall Ships, please check out Philip Case Cohen’s Photo Blog – The Daily Portsmouth.  His photographs are just beautiful!

Related Posts:
Tall Ships Are Coming to Portsmouth NH
The Scenes of Home in Portsmouth NH
The Sounds of Home in Portsmouth NH
Portsmouth NH Homes – Buying a Home and a Community

Images © 2009 Ann Cummings Portsmouth NH REALTOR
NH Coastal Living – Portsmouth NH Photo Blog

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.</P

It can mean the closeness of family and friends.  It can mean the closeness of all the water in and around Portsmouth.  It can mean the beautiful historic homes and rich history we’re surrounded with here.  It can mean the beautiful parks scattered all about town. 

It can mean the wonderful brick buildings that make up our downtown area.  It can mean sitting outside downtown at any number of outdoor cafes and restaurants.

To me, Portsmouth NH as my home means so many things, some of which are the iconic scenes that so many associate with this fabulous town……

….. the beautiful soaring steeple of the North Church, the Moran tugboats that navigate the river and harbor with grace and dignity, the bridges that connect Portsmouth NH with Kittery Maine, our beautiful parks ………. 

…..these and some much more are home to me, home here in Portsmouth New Hampshire.

Related Posts:
     The Sounds of Home in Portsmouth NH
     Buying A Home and A Community – Portsmouth NH Homes
     NH and Maine Coastal Living Pictures – Photo Blog
     Portsmouth NH Coastal Area – A Little Show and Tell

Would you like information on the Portsmouth New Hampshire real estate market?  Do you have questions about the buying or selling process?  Give me a call at 1-888-349-5678 x 3839 or send me an email and let’s talk real estate!

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

Below are examples of pictures you’ll find on my new photo blog:

So, with that in mind, I started my own photo blog – www.NHCoastalLiving.com.  And I invite you to check it out!

If you love Portsmouth NH homes, the City of Portsmouth, and just everything about living in and around Portsmouth, then you just might become a fan of New Hampshire Coastal Living Photo Blog!

I hope you enjoy the pictures there, and if you have pictures you’d like to share, I’d welcome your submissions, and will give you proper attribution.

Enjoy!
Ann

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

I had a client say to me the other day that they’re not just buying a home in Portsmouth, they’re buying into the Portsmouth community as well.  And that part of what they’re buying is very important to them.

If you’re thinking about buying a home in Portsmouth NH, or any other community, you’re buying into whatever that community has to offer.  That’s part of what you’re paying for.  You could take the basic 4 walls of any house, and plop them down in a variety of communities, and that 4-walled box will have a different value in each community.  Part of what goes into the value of each community is what that community has to offer.

And here’s what Portsmouth New Hampshire has to offer those who call Portsmouth home:

• we have a fabulous downtown area, loads of shops, galleries, restaurants, museums, and more
• we have a beautiful waterfront park, Prescott Park, where we can watch plays, hear concerts, take part in a variety of festivals, art shows, and more
• we have Saturday morning Farmer’s Markets from May through November where you get all kinds of locally grown produce and locally made products, and meet old and new friends
• we have a gorgeous huge new library with all kinds of programs open to all residents
• we have great schools, 3 elementary schools, a middle school and a newly renovated and expanded high school
• we have beautiful churches throughout the town, many with historic roots
• we have lovely parks scattered all around town and have been awarded a “Tree City USA Award”
• we have a wide variety of homes in Portsmouth, choices in styles, ages and price ranges to suit everyone
• we’re right here on the Atlantic Ocean and the Piscataqua River – awesome waterfront and a working port
• we have a fascinating outdoor living history museum – Strawbery Banke.
• we have loads of history all around us here, so if you love history, you’ll feel right at home
• we have THE best seafood ever
• we have loads of things to do in and around the Portsmouth NH area
• we have great city festivals and fairs
• we have super friendly residents who love living here and will help you learn all about Portsmouth NH living
• we are in a super location for commuters – easy access to highways going north, south and west
• we’re only an hour or so from great winter ski areas
• we have lots of fun antique stores in the area
• we have a great walking town to call home – sidewalks in most places with friendly neighbors calling out greetings as you pass by
• we have glorious springs, spectacular falls, fun-filled summers, and winters that can bring snowy winter scenes

Can you tell how awesome living in Portsmouth New Hampshire really is??  Come check us out – you’ll want to make your home in Portsmouth, too!

Would you like information on the Portsmouth New Hampshire real estate market?  Do you have questions about the buying or selling process?  Give me a call at 1-888-349-5678 x 3839 or send me an email and let’s talk real estate!

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

It was a warm sunny summer Friday afternoon.  I had just come home from work, and in what seemed like less than 10 minutes later, an ambulance was in my driveway.  Every time I see an ambulance, I relive those moments and tears fill my eyes….

The man I love, DeWitt “Bear” Perkins, – my best friend, my love, my business partner, my soul mate, my world – had collapsed in the yard.  It turned out he had suffered a brain aneurysm, which we didn’t know at the time.  It was causing him terrible pain and was making him nauseous.  When I saw him on the ground, I knew something bad was going on.  I asked him, several times, if he was okay.  And he kept telling me, “I have a bad headache and I’m nauseous but I love you”.

The “but I love you” was a running little inside thing between the two of us.  I heard him tell me that 3 times – “but I love you”.  And to me, that showed he knew I was right there with him, right beside him, loving him as much as he loved me.

To be in that kind of pain and to say those words to me…… my heart aches every time I think about that.

Oh how I’ve hung on to those special words every single day since June 13, 2008.

The ambulance took him to the hospital, and he lapsed into a coma en route, and never came out of it.  The doctors declared him brain-dead early afternoon on June 14, 2008, which we didn’t know until hours later.  Because we donated his organs and his body, he was still alive and with us until about noon time on Sunday June 15th.  To me, despite what the paperwork says, June 15th is the day etched in my brain.  I could still hold his hand, touch him, feel his warmth, talk to him, caress his face and hair, and watch him breathe……until they made us leave that day.  He was only 57 years old, way too young….

Bear was my world, he brought so much to my life over the many years we were together.  Seventeen years of a lot of living and sharing and laughing and crying and so much more…..  We met because of real estate.  He and I were both REALTORS at the time we met.  He worked with friends of mine, however we never really met until he showed a listing of mine in Exeter, which he sold to his buyers.  And we got to know each during that sale, and the rest is history, all 17 years of it.

Bear was a really special man, a gentle giant of a guy.  He was a man of presence, and he was a magnet for little kids.  He loved them, and they loved him.  No matter where we went, some little one would always catch his eye, and vice versa.  And the next thing I’d know, he’d be exchanging smiles and giggles with whatever little child was drawn to him.  And that happened frequently.

His deep blues eye, his ever-ready deep laugh, his shiny silvery hair with sunglasses on frequently top of his head – I could spot him a mile away.  Everywhere we went, whether it was here in town or somewhere across the country, we ran into people he knew.  He was quite involved in the REALTOR organization, and in the MLS as well, so he got to know a lot of people that way.

We could be in an airport in the middle of the country, and invariably, someone would call out his name to say hi.  Sitting in Fenway Park, we’d run into people who knew him.  His daughter and son used to tease him about not being able to go anywhere with him where no one knew him.

I miss him so much, my heart literally hurts at times.

It seems impossible to me that a year, a FULL year, has gone by without him here.  I find myself still expecting to see him in the yard, where he loved being.  I sometimes get mad that he’s not here – we had so much yet to do and see and explore together.  Sometimes, when we’d have those deep in-the-gut kind of talks, he’d always tell me that he’d never leave me, ever.  But he did……. and I know he didn’t leave on purpose.

This has been the most difficult year of my life.  I’ve had to learn to go minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, week-by-week.  The time has passed, I can tell that by the calendar.  I don’t know how I made it to this point, and I surely would not have without the wonderful family I’m blessed to have and the really special friends I have.

When I lost my mom several years ago, Bear was the only person who could reach me and keep me from sinking deeper than I did.  This time, he wasn’t here to do that – I had to do it on my own without him, and I knew from the very start I had to fight with every fiber in my being to not let that happen because I’m not sure I could have recovered if that had happened this time around.  My family and my friends have been my salvation, along with the grief counseling I took part in.

And I am here today……..

I’ve learned a lot during this year, much of it against my will, but learn many things I did.  I’ve learned I’m a bit stronger than I ever had any inkling I was.  I’ve learned how to let others help me – that one took awhile because I thought I was doing ok, and I clearly was not.  I’ve learned to reach out to others, I’ve learned what to do and what not to do when I know someone else going through a loss like this.

I’ve learned there are so many people in this world who care, so many who are really good people.  I’ve learned that Bear and I touched more lives than we could ever have realized.  I’ve learned the power of social networks, and what the friends who live in my computer have come to mean to me.

And I am here today – to celebrate and honor forever the life of the man who meant so much to me, DeWitt ‘Bear’ Perkins, and to give thanks to and for so many who meant and mean so much to us and to me……….

I miss you my Honey Bear far more than words can say………
“Sweet Dreams, Sleep Tight, I Love You, Good Night….”

I have, and I realized that all the sounds of being home in Portsmouth NH can tug hard at your heart……

              if you just listen….. 

…. the crack of a baseball hitting a bat
…. the cheering of friends and family from the stands
…. the ringing of bicycle bells
…. the barking of dogs playing outside
…. the friendly hellos from porches
…. the click-click-click of lawn sprinklers
…. the clip-clop of horse-and-buggy tours 
…. the sound of lawns being cut
…. the symphony of birds singing
…. the sounds of fishing boats heading out to sea
…. the sounds of drawbridges being raised for boats to pass down the river
…. the toots and horns of tugboats
…. the hum of chatter at outdoor cafes
…. the soft clanging of bell buoys in the harbor
…. the water flowing into the North Mill Pond at high tide
…. the honk of a car signaling hello to neighbors
…. the calls for kids to come in for dinner
…. the friendly exchanges at the Farmer’s Market

These are the sounds of the neighborhoods of Portsmouth New Hampshire, the wonderful town I call home.  And what glorious sounds they are……

Does this sound like the kind of place you’d like to call home?  It can be!  And I can help you do just that – call Portsmouth NH home…..

 Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.

If you follow my blog and read my posts, you know I LOVE to show off this gorgeous Portsmouth New Hampshire area that I’m fortunate enough to call HOME!

And show it off, I do!

I thought I’d use this post to show off some of our beautiful New Hampshire coastline – rocky and sandy, and just as most would picture a New England coastline to be.

We have the smallest coastline in America – so small that most people not from this area and/or New England don’t even realize New Hampshire has a coastline.  We do, and it’s all of 17-18 miles long, from the Massachusetts border to the Maine border.  In almost 2 blinks of an eye, you can travel 3 states right here, and if you make that drive along the Atlantic Ocean route, you’ll see some spectacular scenery.  I like to call this area “God’s Country” – it really is.  And yes, I know I’m a teeny tiny bit partial, but if you could see what I see, I think you’d agree with me and the rest of us who get to live right here in the NH Seacoast.

I hope you enjoy the coastal scenery I’ve posted here!

And if you’re interested in making this beautiful area your home, I would just love to show you how easy it is to fall in love with the Portsmouth NH area and find a new home or condo here in the Seacoast NH areas.

Servicing the New Hampshire towns of Portsmouth, Newcastle,
Rye, North Hampton, Hampton, Stratham, Exeter, Greenland, Newington,
Dover, Durham and surrounding areas, and the Maine towns of Kittery,
Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, York, and surrounding areas.