Blog – Page 2

Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors is Pleased to Welcome Penelope Arms to our Experienced Team of Agents

October 25, 2016 Leave a Comment

Presently, I reside in Westminster, Vermont high on a hill with my grand-kitty Chuck, who loves to roam the fields and woods surrounding our home. I have always loved Vermont from every perspective and in every season – the soft hues of spring, the crisp fall with its vivid array of spectacular colors and the fresh white blanket of snow in the winter.

Real estate is my passion. Throughout the years, it has brought me from the experience of a first home buyer to a person or group of people desiring an investment property or business. It is that diversity of buyers which continues to hold me captive and also the professionalism and equal passion of my colleagues.

Since 1970, I have held broker licenses in both Vermont and New Hampshire. During that time, I have been awarded the Emeritus status with the National Association of Realtors. In addition to receiving the GRI designation, I was a State Director for the Vermont Association of Realtors and Chairperson of the Grievance Committee.

Personally, I have served on several area boards: Co-Chair of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Regional Board, President of the Saxtons River Art Guild for two terms, and a board member of Youth Services. Their community missions are important to the fabric of Vermont and I embrace them all. Another passion of mine is painting where I love to capture the surrounding beauty and place it on canvas.

I am committed to my clients and their satisfaction. Because real estate reflects personality, inner needs and happiness, I am here to find the place for the individual who wishes to create a home in the mountains, hills, valleys or on the rivers of Vermont.

Let me help you make your dreams come true

Penelope Arms
802-254-6400 ext. 112
802-376-7075 cell
penelope.arms@berkleyveller.com

Thinking about a Kitchen Remodel?

October 21, 2016 Leave a Comment

5 Timeless Features that Will Never Go Out of Style

The Beatles, Denim, Men in Suits… some things are here to stay. A kitchen remodel can be expensive, and with the average of homeowner spending a little over $20,000 (homeadvisor.com) it’s best to chose features that will retain their value and marketability as other trends go out of style. Following are five timeless features that will look great in any kitchen.

Paint it White – While it isn’t the most exciting color, white is both budget friendly and timeless. It frequently appears atop lists as the most desirable color for kitchens, a big bonus for future marketability. Often commended by color therapists for its effects on mood and happiness, it will make your kitchen feel both larger and brighter. Plus nowhere for dirt to hide!

Carrara Marble for the Counters – Quartz and Granite have both been in vogue for some time now, and there’s no denying that they are both great options. That being said, Carrara marble is a great choice for the budget conscious homeowner looking for a more original countertop style. The biggest knock on marble in the past has been its vulnerability to staining, however, if you reseal once or twice a year that concern is easily banished. If taken care of properly, marble will last forever and only increase in visual character as it ages.

Hardwood Floors – Hardwood is a big one, it looks great and is considered one of the most desirable features by homeowners. It’s durable, timeless, and versatile. Hardwood will add warmth and a more “homey” inviting feel to your kitchen. It’s also a great investment. According to a 2013 survey conducted by National Association of Realtors buyers, on average, said they would be willing to pay just over $2000 more for a home with hardwood flooring. Furthermore, buyers surveyed in the northeast assigned more value to hardwood flooring than buyers in any other region in the country.

Shaker Style Cabinets – Few home design features are as ubiquitous as shaker style cabinets. The simple panel and frame design lends an unobtrusive elegance allowing for your personal design feature eccentricities to take center stage. The most popular kitchen style currently is a transitional one. These cabinets make it easy to blend the traditional with a more unique and modern look.

LED Ambient Lighting – This one may be a bit of a reach as “timeless”. However, given their affordability, popularity, and efficiency LED lighting seems to have what it takes to become a kitchen design staple for years to come. LEDs are cooler than incandescents so they serve well as under-cabinet or recessed lighting. The best fixtures are dimmable so lighting can be adjusted to fit any mood or occasion.

This Weekend – SEON’s Green Home Tour

October 14, 2016 Leave a Comment

Thinking of building or improving your home?
Come see what high performance looks like.

Sustainable Energy Outreach Network’s Sustainable Home Tour – Saturday, October 15 from 10am-4pm. Enjoy a self-guided tour of seven local homes that exemplify high performance building by giving consideration to energy efficiency, durability, indoor air quality and renewable energy. Buy tickets here or at the door at any of the homes.

www.seon.info/hometour

Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors is pleased to welcome Paula Sagerman to our experienced team of agents!

August 26, 2016 Leave a Comment

Sagerman, a licensed agent in Vermont, looks forward to assisting customers and clients with their real estate needs. She has lived in Windham County for most of her life and has a fondness and knowledge of the area, as well experience in the fields of architecture, historic preservation and planning. Her background includes a B.A. from Lehigh University with a major in Architecture and a minor in Sociology, an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, working for 17 years as an independent historic preservation consultant, and serving as the town of Brattleboro’s Assistant Planner. Sagerman lives in Brattleboro.

Paula Sagerman
802-254-6400 ext. 125
802-345-1092 cell
paula.sagerman@berkleyveller.com

Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors is pleased to welcome Karen Hoppe to our experienced team of agents!

August 25, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hoppe, after 20-plus years in the insurance industry, felt it was time for a change. Dealing with real estate from an insurance perspective has only served to deepen her knowledge and pique her interest in learning all she can as she moves into real estate. Karen and her husband, Rich, currently live in West Chesterfield, N.H., with their daughter, Meghan.

Karen Hoppe
802-254-6400 ext. 124
802-258-1902 cell
karen.hoppe@berkleyveller.com

Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors is pleased to welcome David Brown to our experienced team of agents!

August 24, 2016 Leave a Comment

Brown, after nearly 30 years on Main Street owning and managing his own real estate company, looks forward to continuing serving repeat generations of clients and introducing new ones to the community. His community involvements have included serving on the Southern Vermont Board of Realtors, Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing, being past Realtor of the Year, Court Diversion Panel Member and the Board of Youth Services.

David Brown
802-254-6400 ext.150
802-579-9966 cell
david.brown@berkleyveller.com

Berkley & Veller’s Annual Awards Breakfast

March 28, 2016 Leave a Comment

Tami Purcell, owner and General Manager of Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors, hosted the company’s annual awards breakfast on March 2nd at Peter Haven’s restaurant. Tami told the attendees that Berkley & Veller was once again the largest independent real estate agency in Windham County for sales volume and number of closed transactions, as it has been for over 20 years. She handed out awards to the agents for their 2015 sales performances: John McPherson, Jessie Heller and Thom Dahlin were in the $3+ million bracket; John Hatton, Bill Murray, and Dan Normandeau all achieved over $4 million in sales, Heidi Bernier achieved $5.4 million, and Robert Doyle was the agency’s top salesperson with sales of $7.6 million. Purcell told the group that she is looking forward to another great year for 2016!

Get to know our Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Agents – Dan Normandeau

March 28, 2016 Leave a Comment

How long have you been with Berkley & Veller?
Coming up on three years.

Do you have any Real Estate specialties?
It’s a bit early in the game for me to have a specialty, but I very much enjoy commercial sales as well as nice country properties. That being said, good agents need to be adept in all market segments of a region such as ours and I work hard to be that.

What’s your favorite part of being a Realtor?
I like helping people achieve their dreams and goals and being a Realtor allows me to do some of that while living in a wonderful place and raising my family.

What unique skills, ideas, experience, or background do you bring to the table?
Real estate has been a common thread throughout my life. I have purchased, renovated, managed and sold residential, multi-family rental property, and mixed-use commercial property. I also have experience in timberland and agricultural land management. At one point, I was responsible for managing over 250,000 square feet of commercial and residential property, as well as 2,000 acres of agricultural and timber lands. Over the years, I have acquired first-hand experience with construction and restoration projects. More recently, I have developed experience with residential and commercial energy efficiency audits and improvement projects, and net metered solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. I also have specific experience and knowledge in the areas of construction and restoration work, financing, legal matters, insurance, 1031 like-kind exchanges, Use Value Appraisal (Current Use), property tax abatement, engineering principles, building systems (septic, water, heating, electrical, plumbing) and environmental issues such as underground storage tanks, abatement of radon, asbestos, and lead paint.

Eco-Friendly “Green Clean” Solutions that Won’t Break the Bank

March 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Unclogging Drains: Instead of using harmful acids or toxic store bought cleaners for drains, use baking soda and vinegar. Pour a half cup of baking soda and a half cup of vinegar down the drain, cover for roughly ten minutes (for stubborn drains 30 minutes), and finish with a pot of boiling water.

Cleaning Mirrors and Other Glass Surfaces: Cleaning mirrors or windows can be a frustrating experience. Newspaper and paper towels can leave residue and its difficult to remove all watermarks and streaks. For a cheap and easy solution add a quarter cup of vinegar to a 32 ounce spray bottle filled with distilled water (distilled water is preferable to tap water because it does not contain minerals). Apply spray to surface and remove with a microfiber cloth.

Polish Wood with Lemon Juice: Try this recipe if you would rather not take up space with a bottle of wood polish you’ll rarely ever use.

What You Will Need

One Lemon
Olive Oil
Water
Container with Lid (a mason jar works well)
Cloth

To start, juice the lemon and and pour the lemon juice into the jar. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of water. Cover the container and shake thoroughly. Apply to wood surface.

Disinfect Naturally: Most of the time bleach is not necessary. It smells bad as well. For your own DIY disinfectant combine 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap, and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil for an effective natural formula. However, be careful and spot check if you’ll be using this mixture on painted or more sensitive surfaces. Tea tree oil is strong stuff and if not diluted properly it can be damaging.

Getting your Home Ready for the Holidays

December 21, 2015 Leave a Comment

4 Quick and Easy ways to prepare for Holiday Visitors

Freshen Up

As we all know first impressions are important. Smell will likely be one the of the first things your guests will notice about your home so it’s important that you’re conscious of this.

Candles are an easy way to banish the concern. Buy a couple of high quality ones and burn them a few days prior to the arrival of any guests. Be wary of cheap or overly perfumed candles, they can have the opposite effect.

If you would prefer not to use candles essential oils are another great option. Those of you with wood stoves can use a wood stove steamer or kettle. Just place the kettle on the stove in the appropriate manner, put in a few drops of your favorite essential oil, and immediately transform the way your house smells. If you don’t have a woodstove an essential oil diffuser works just as well.

For bonus points make some cookie dough a couple hours before your guests arrive and pop them in the oven a couple minutes before they get there. Not only will your house smell amazing but you’ll have a tasty snack to enjoy as your visitors settle in.

Safety

Nothing will ruin the holiday mood faster than a trip to the emergency room or a 911 call. Take these safety measures to reduce the chance of an accident.

You might want to show off that new washer and dryer set but make sure you still give your guests a comprehensive tour of the house. This means fire extinguishers, exits, hard to find light switches etc. If you have a wood stove make sure your guests know what to do in the event of a chimney fire.

All us have experienced a stubbed toe or two while trying make it to the bathroom at night. Your guests are not going to be able to navigate your home as well as you can so do everyone a favor and pick up a couple of motion activated night lights.

If there are young children visiting there are countless things to watch out for. Instead of trying to guess at all of them on your own ask your guests to bring some of their own safety supplies. However, there are still a few things you need to watch out for. Make sure any toxic cleaning supplies or medicine are well out of the reach of children and hide your matches and lighters. It might also be a good idea to pick up a couple of outlet covers for the areas in your house where children will be playing.

Stock up on the Essentials

Travel can be exhausting and stressful especially if daily necessities aren’t provided so make sure you have some extra toilet paper, paper towels, hand towels etc. in easy to find places. There’s nothing worse than having to search for that second roll of toilet paper in someone else’s home.

If you don’t have enough extra shelf space feel free to get creative with baskets and other containers.

Prepare the Kitchen

Your kitchen is going to see a lot of action this holiday season. Use these tips to avoid stress and a mess.

If there are a lot of coffee or tea drinkers it might be a good idea to move the coffee station to another part of the house, or at the very least away from the space you’ll be using to cook. This will help prevent the kitchen from becoming overly crowded in the mornings.

Clear out anything you won’t need in your refrigerator. Leftovers will be abundant and your guests may bring or buy some food of their own. Extra space will be necessary to avoid clutter.

If you like company while you cook place a couple chairs around the perimeter of the kitchen and grab a couple of stools for the younger helpers.

« Previous Page