Spring is officially over, and summer is blasting our way. It’s been very hot and humid in the Mt. Washington Valley already for the past month or so, but today is rainy and humid. I am grateful for that as the lawn and plantings around my home need it greatly.

Looking to the back patio and the view of Conway Lake and the surrounding mountains, I am struck again by how mesmerizing and awe-inspiring it is living here at Royal View. The mountains are shrouded in wisps of clouds (some resembling my dog Toby) and slowly lifting their gossamer fingers over Conway Lake. The mountains have all but disappeared! As the sun starts to peek out the mountains re-appear as if by magic.

Love the happy face of a sunflower!

Summertime, long, hot and lazy days, you want to throw open your windows and enjoy summer breezes. Bring the fresh look of summer into your home with some quick an easy changes.

It’s not necessary to change every room or throw out all the old furniture, but there are lots of ways to lighten up and freshen up your home for a wonderful summer seasonal change.

Why not try some of these simple, easy changes to “summerize” your home?

Choose a summer theme such as fruits, flowers, insects, or nautical, and decorate around it. It makes the transformation easier if you have a focal point.

Take out any dark accessories like velvet pillows, wool throws, and even your favorite-reading leather chair. Don’t worry! You can bring them back in when the weather changes. Replace them with crisp, white linen pillows, feather-light summer blankets, even a white wicker chair in your fave reading corner.

It won’t take long to put a fresh coat of summery paint on a hallway or on a wall of a drab room. Choose a fresh color scheme of lemon yellow, apple green, or sky blue. We recently painted one wall in our office an interesting shade “Cherokee rose” which invigorated the room; definitely uplifted our level of energy too!

Toss out brown plants that you’re been trying to revive. Bring in fresh, flowering new ones and welcome summer! No green thumb? No problem. Add fresh flowers in vases throughout the home. Enjoy colorful, cheery, summery new flowered bed linens or toss pillows.

Try sewing a simple slipcover for the back or seat of your kitchen or dining room side chairs. The look will soften an all-wood chair and freshen the look of an upholstered seat.

Nothing brightens up a room like white. Add it wherever you can. How about frothy, light curtains, fresh white trims, or a painted chair or table?

Lighten up drab bookshelves. Paint the back wall (and even the side walls) with a bright, summery color. The books will really “pop out” against the contrasting color. How about lime green in dark wood shelves or sky blue on yellow. Choose a color that complements your rooms decorating scheme.

Frame some simple botanical prints or landscapes and set them up on a bookshelf, bureau, or table top. Or hang a series of summery flower pictures down a dark hallway. Use simple plate holders to hold pretty floral plates. Set them on a table or buffet.

Nothng says summer like “casual.” Use wicker, rush, iron, or painted white garden furniture in place of heavy upholstered pieces. Add colorful pillows.

Remove the logs from your fireplace and replace them with a green plant or an impressive artificial fern or a gurggling fountain. Candles on a beautiful iron or wooden candle holder work well also; likewise with a whimsical garden ornament.

Layer sheer, frothy fabrics on tables, over a shower curtain, as a second layer on a bed skirts, and even make a sheer pillow cover for a dark pillow Add a touch of wimsey with embroidered sheer fabric.

Outside, stage a cozy corner under a shade tree with a small round cafe table and two chairs for a quick break when you are gardening. Add a (chipmunk-resistant) bird feeder to one of the branches. If you have an outside patio, add water features such as a fountain and colorful outdoor chairs to entice family members outdoors. Summer is here!

When you think of luxury and speed, one of the first names that comes up is: Lamborghini… recently Lamborghini opened a new boutique in Canada. Read the following from their website: www.lambocars.com

Lamborghini opens Canadian fashion boutique in Vancouver

Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., welcomed customers, VIPs and Lamborghini executives to the exclusive grand opening celebration of the newest Automobili Lamborghini Boutique, located in Aberdeen Centre in Vancouver, last Saturday May 8.

The boutique is the first Automobili Lamborghini boutique to open in Canada, and follows the openings in Los Angeles and Beijing in late 2009. These cities were strategically chosen for their locations as centers of luxury commerce.

“The philosophy behind the Collezione Automobili Lamborghini fashion line is synonymous with the traits of each Lamborghini vehicle: Extreme, Uncompromising and unmistakably Italian,” stated Winkelmann. “Vancouver’s strong luxury market makes it a proper fit for expanding our line of fashion boutiques while remaining authentic to our brand DNA.”

The water is perfect!

The Mt. Washington Valley is comprised of many distinct towns surrounded by magnificent mountains which include the 780,000-acre White Mountain National Forest. This area was originally a 19th century summer destination for wealthy Bostonians who sought out the superb vistas, the picturesque Saco River and the ponds and lakes such as Conway Lake. Habitat to fish species such as salmon, smallmouth and brook trout, the lake also attracts swimming, boating and fishing enthusiasts. Here are more fun facts about Conway Lake courtesy of Wikipedia.

Conway Lake is a 1,299-acre water body located in Carroll County in eastern New Hampshire, in the United States. The lake is located in the towns of Conway and Eaton, just to the east of the White Mountains and is part of the Saco River watershed.

Conway Lake was formerly known as Walker’s Pond. At the northern edge of the lake on Mill Street there is a park by that name that comprises the Conway Lake Dam and original mill site. The lake itself was once much smaller in size; the creation of a dam to build a grist mill enlarged the lake to its present size. In 1817 the Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire said of Conway: “It contains 4 corn mills, 5 saw mills, 1 mill for dressing cloth, 2 carding machines, 3 distilleries, and 3 retail stores.”
It was not until the coming of the train tracks in 1865 that the mills started to prosper. At that time logs were floated over Conway Lake for processing before being hauled off by freight car to Portsmouth and other places. Together with the nearby granite from Redstone, the mills on Mill Street were responsible for producing wood for several train stations in New England.

Through the years, Conway Lake has been a source for recreation, where fishermen and canoeists can go for a quiet paddle. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department manages the lake for landlocked salmon; fishing licenses are required, and the lake waters are patrolled regularly. Lakeside residents and day visitors can swim on private and public beaches. Sailing and water skiing are prevalent in the summer months.

The legend of Ol’ Pork Chop:
The lake is home to herons, loons, eagles, deer, snakes, stinkpot turtles, painted turtles and snapping turtles. According to older residents, there exists a very old and very large snapping turtle named Pork Chop, who is so-called because a summer resident claims to have fed the turtle pork chops each year. Stories of Ol’ Pork Chop have been used successfully to coax children out of the water, but there have been no known snapping turtle attacks reported.

I did not know there was such a thing as a “Echo Boomer”…I myself am from the Baby Boomer generation.
The following article set me straight (thank you J. Lennox Scott!).

From LennoxScottBlog.com
BY J. LENNOX SCOTT, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010.

There are many names for the Echo Boom generation: Gen Y, Generation Next, Net Generation, Millennials, Boomerang Generation and Trophy Generation, to name a few (OK, several).
Regardless of what you call them, the members of this generation are quickly coming of age; some are even starting to enter the housing market and there are many, many more to follow.
Echo boomers were born roughly between 1982-95 — they are largely the offspring of baby boomers.
Fast forward to 2010. There are approximately 76 million echo boomers between 15 and 28 years old, making them second in size only to the baby boomers (age and population figures cited here represent an approximation based upon information found in studies done by the National Association of Realtors, current U.S. Census data, Wikipedia, and various media sources).
According to current U.S. Census figures, 67.2 percent of this generation can be expected to become homeowners by their mid 30s, which equates to just over 35.5 million households (U.S. Census homeownership rates are calculated based on households, not people).
The National Association of Realtors’ 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers predicts that of this 35.5 million, 21 percent will be single female buyers, 12 percent will be single males, and 61 percent will be married couples or partners (couples/partners are counted as a single household).
It’s worth pointing out here that the aforementioned U.S. Census figures also state that since 1982, homeownership rates have fluctuated very little; anywhere between 64 percent and 69 percent during this 28-year span.
As you wrap your head around those figures, think about the impact that this generation is going to have on housing in the coming years. According to a recent economic report by Moody’s, builders are currently developing about 500,000 housing units a year.
Add into this equation that the echo boomers will be buying homes alongside repeat purchasers from other generations and you can quickly surmise that in the foreseeable future we are going to have a shortage of housing in the “more affordable” markets (where homes are priced at or below the area’s median price).
The onset of the echo boomers in the housing market is a stark reminder of how important our community’s growth-management plans are. The sheer size of the Echo Boom generation will have a powerful effect on housing demand over the next decade, but will there be enough homes to meet that demand?
Current studies say no, reinforcing the importance of implementing smart growth management NOW. The first wave of change will likely occur in the more affordable price ranges — especially in those areas that are close to job centers. Over time, the effect will fan out and be felt by the outer suburbs, causing a chain reaction of sales up the price points.
The Echo Boom generation has been defined as high-tech, high-touch, social-networking, iPod-listening natives of the digital realm who trust their peers’ advice over most forms of advertising. This is the generation that will likely find the home of their dreams on a 4G wi-max third-generation iPad and will contact their real estate agent via Twitter or text message.
But as foreign as some of this may sound to some of you, they are (and will be) homebuyers nonetheless, and real estate professionals and companies need to continue to adapt to this generation’s expectations and habits.
So, the moral of this story is that I believe that the echo boomers represent the silver lining for the real estate market and U.S. economy. That might be a lot of responsibility for a single generation, but they’re unarguably emerging as the next heavyweights in housing, and I might add: not a moment too soon.

I woke up this spring morning to find an incongruent sight outside my window: baby birds feeding at the bird feeder in the middle of a snow storm! That’s right; a surprise snow storm and the oblivious (or brave) birds eating their breakfast in the middle of the falling white snowflakes.

It reminds me of the current real estate market! One minute, signs of spring are apparent- more buyer activity, phone inquiry numbers are better, under-agreement contracts seem to be on the up-swing. When “Bam!” a quick little freeze comes in, and brings the unexpected storm.

In fact, a bit of news on the foreclosure storm: Properties receiving foreclosure filings jumped 16 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to a quarterly report by foreclosure data site RealtyTrac.

Filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — went to 932,234 properties, a 7% surge from the fourth quarter. That means 1 in every 138 housing units in the country received a foreclosure filing, the report said.

That is not good news. Sellers who have been waiting for the “right” time to put their properties on the market, will find that this latest tsunami of foreclosures (REO’s) will flatten them–they simply will not be able to compete with REO listings on a price point basis.

Luxury home sales are in the same quandary; price shopping is now the “thing-de-jour”. Everyone is looking for bargains! And luxury home listings are providing them. Where a $200,000 home seller may lower their price by 10% to $180,000, conversely a luxury listing of $1,000,000 will be dropping it’s price at least $100,000 for the same percentage drop, but more likely will have to drop the listing price even further in order to get buyer traffic.

What’s a seller to do? My advice is to: choose your team carefully!
More about that in the next blog entitled “How to create your sale team when selling a luxury home”.