Mud Season Snapshot of Local Real Estate Market

March 24, 2010

Not much is new in my world . . . it’s mud season, a time when business is traditionally slow and tourists and vacation-home buyers are wisely off visiting sunnier, greener and southern climates. I’ll be joining them myself in a few weeks!

In the general area we service, there are 31 new residential listings since March 1^st ranging from a large European-style post and beam beauty with a pristine pond and extraordinary mountain views on 25 acres in Dorset listed for $2.35 million to a cute and affordable “starter home” in a nice neighborhood of Chester listed for $145,000. The quality and depth of our inventory is excellent and there’s a little bit of everything on the market now. There aren’t many “bargains” to be had, but there are lots of good values and houses in every price range seem to be selling. Slowly. But, the good news is that things are moving again!

In that same time period (since March 1^st), 11 properties have transferred.

Five of the 11 had been reduced in price at least once since the original listing and, on average they sold for 85% of the original asking price and 93% of the revised asking price. The average Days on Market was 286, which is typical for this area but, still, a long long time and longer than most sellers (or their agents!) want a property to be on the market.

I’m not sure this snapshot tells a story, but it will be interesting to check in now and again to see how this month’s activity compares to future months. Stop back and see . . .

Another US Open Snowboarding Weekend Has Come and Gone

Another US Open Snowboarding weekend has come and gone and . . . from what I can tell . . . everyone is alive & well and rested & relaxed after a fabulous week of sun and fun. It was the proverbial perfect storm for a successful event - ideal sunny warm weather, lots of snow, school vacation week (for colleges on the trimester system and private schools) . . . and, best of all, there were appearances by most of the US's snowboarding team's 2010 Olympians and medal winners including Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, and Louie Vito!

Saturday's events capped a week of almost perfect March spring weather. Temps hoovered in the high 50's and even hit the mid-60's a couple of times throughout the week. Stratton hosted tens of thousands of skiers and boarders and, from all reports, everything seems to have been a success.

As a volunteer with the local rescue service and ambulance, I see things slightly differently than the average attendee! Having tens of thousands of visitors partying their way around southern Vermont is often a recipe for disaster. Past years have been mostly tame with a few exceptions. Indeed, I think most folks were exceptionally well-behaved this year. I did "enjoy" my first all-nighter in years as a result of a busy rescue week/weekend, and I'm still recovering from lack of sleep. Recovery takes longer and longer as we get older!

In addition to being on duty two other nights during the week, and having to stand-by at a structure fire on the mountain earlier in the week (everyone was fine and I'm pretty sure the condo was "saved" with the exception of smoke and water damage), my crew and I had the dubious honor of pulling the Friday night shift for the US Open weekend. While I can't share any details, I can tell you that our shift started with a two-fer call (two patients) to Stratton at 5:15 PM Friday afternoon and ended with a call that brought us back to the squad building a little after 7:00 AM Saturday morning. In all, we transported five times to three different hospitals in the 14 hours we were out.

So, another US Open has successfully come to an end. Fans of all ages were happily entertained, and we all wrapped up the weekend with a little sun on our faces and a love for Vermont in our hearts!

Mud Season Has Arrived!

We’ve had a string of perfect spring days and I for one have a touch of spring fever! The sun is shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky and I think we might hit the mid- to high 50s this afternoon. On top of all this, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m feeling green and cheerful – like a little leprechaun has taken over my brain and body.

This is the time of year when there is a confluence of events and seasonal signs that make this one of the most enjoyable and the most miserable mini-seasons for us local folks.

• Cold nights and warm days mean the sap is running and that means maple syrup isn’t far behind. Steam rising from the sugar shacks in the woods and along the road always put a smile on my face!
• Spring skiing! Need I say more? Spring skiing means we get to work on our tans – at least from the neck up and, if we’re lucky, our forearms! Spring skiing means some of us spend more time on the deck t the base lodge visiting with friends and enjoying a cold one than we do on the slopes. Spring skiing really means that spring is around the corner and within sight.
• Cold nights and warm days also mean the roads are one step away from an official mud bog course and savvy drivers purposely drive miles out of their way to avoid certain roads rather than risk ending up in knee-deep mud up to the under-carriage of their cars requiring a tow from a friendly neighbor and a chastising from the automobile mechanic who stated that my car was among the worst he’d seen that year (that’s another story)!

As we travel south out of the mountain towns to Manchester and beyond or north toward Rutland, we notice there is little if any snow. Here in the mountains we still have feet upon feet of the white stuff. We watch miserably as folks in thse towns get to start raking lawns, putting their driveway’s gravel back in their driveways, and clearing broken tree branches. We, however, still have snow up to our eyeballs. The snow banks are gray and ugly and we still have months before yard care is on our to-do lists.

A friend posted on her facebook page last night that the warm days are making her think of sitting on the porch and watching the world go by with a G&T in hand and a smile on the face. Porch-sitting, cocktail in hand, is one of my favorite pastimes. My porch is a little far from the road, but I can still watch the comings and goings of our rural “neighborhood. I have noticed a decided change in traffic patterns as people go the “long way ‘round” from Peru and Manchester to Weston rather than cut through Landgrove. Must be the mud roads they’re hoping to avoid.

Time Off to Recharge is Critical for True Success

Those who know me at all know that I positively NEED to take vacations and they know that I have absolutely fallen in love with Mexico. Last year I managed to find the time and finances to enjoy two trips to Mexico - one with the kids, one just for us lucky adults! Two whole weeks away . . . can I do it again? Pretty please?

Being a small business owner has its challenges and finding the time and the confidence to leave the office and leave for a vacation is one of the hardest things I've tackled. I love my work and I have found great satisfaction in being a successful and professional REALTOR. Part of my success and my continued passion stems from the fact that my work is NOT my life. It's a big part of who I am and what makes me tick, but it's not what makes me "me."

I am convinced that taking time off makes me a better professional. It gives me perspective and it allows me to focus on challenges when I need to because I've had opportunities to rest, relax, enjoy and recharge my batteries. The years that I've been too busy, too poor or too stubborn to get away have been long and miserable. Life is too short to be such a grind.

All this talk of vacations comes because I'm planning to take off again at the end of April for a week of sun, sand and fun and I'm deep in the midst of making plans and arrangements so that I can leave the office knowing that I'm still accessible and still available to keep the business up and running in my absence. I may be out of the country but that doesn't mean that I can't still be "there" for my clients and customers. I always bring a laptop, I have a cellphone (rented from Mexitel- awesome solution) and, thus using technology, I'm able to stay available. All this takes time to organize and now that I've done this a half-dozen or so times, it's becoming routine. It's worth the time to get all set so that I can actually kick back and enjoy myself rather than obsess about what I'm missing back in the office.

As a sole proprietor and practitioner I'm never able to completely get away from it all. I do my best, though, and knowing that I can leave and still be available and accessible makes it work for me. All I need to remember is that a good seller-client will understand my need for personal time and time off, and a loyal and committed buyer will wait for me to return. I'll do my best to work with them and for them while I'm gone . . . but . . . if either a buyer or a seller doesn't understand my need to recharge the proverbial batteries, then I'm not sure I want to work with them!

It's March, The Sap is Running . . . All is Good in the World

It's March, the sap is finally running and all is good in the world!

March means winter is nearing an end and, while there is still tons of snow and we're still enjoying some of the best skiing of the winter, we locals start to think about an end to the long winter and the beginning of our all-too-short "green" season. This is especially true when - on a day like today - the sun is bright, the sky is crystal clear and beautifully blue and we've had a string of cold nights followed by warm days. All this means that Vermont's quintessential sugar maples have or will soon begin to produce the world's best sap. And, after hours of hard work, lots of laughter, good times with family and friends, and a few near catastrophes later, you will have altered gallons of sap into quarts and pints of liquid gold: Maple Syrup.

My day today began with that all too coveted call from our neighbor Ann with the news that the sap is running and they're going to begin collecting this afternoon and the sugar house (AKA The Cabana) will officially open for business tonight! Hip hip hooray. In locals' words, "They're BOILING."

Today is the beginning of about 4-6 weeks of good fun for us neighbors. Somehow I thankfully manage to stay away from the mucky job of collecting the sap and have assigned myself the role of cheerleader and sustenance provider. I'll bring drinks and snacks while the guys (and gals) do the hard work!

Years ago, when I was working for then Senator Jim Jeffords, I played softball for his Senate team. The name of the team was the Vermont Saps and our t-shirts featured a graphic of the State of Vermont with the words "40:1." We wanted people who were stupid enough NOT to ask what that meant to assume that it was our win:loss record, but in truth 40:1 is the ratio of sap to syrup. It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup! As I said, lots of hard work.

Part of the reason I think so many of my friends have chosen to live in this neck of the woods is that we get to experience the true joy and camaraderie that comes from events like this. Neighbors come out to play and talk, folks of every age group work together, we share tales of our long winter and we open our fridges and coolers to share food and grog. There's a place for everyone and everyone is welcome.

Off to the boil . . . see you soon.