October 11th, 2011 by tpmco
How to create a home theater at any budget
A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it. ~Alfred Hitchcock
A night at the movies (with popcorn and soda) for a family of four costs about $80.
Home theater systems and components are more advanced and cost-effective than ever. Whether you want to upgrade your current TV system or transform a room into your own cinema, there are a variety of ways to enhance your at-home movie experience.
1. The Screen— the larger the screen, the more it will feel like you are watching a movie. Three years ago a 46-inch plasma screen TV cost around $1,500, today you can get a 50-inch plasma TV for less than $1,000. Samsung, Sony and Panasonic plasma TVs consistently get high marks from sources including CNET.com, PC Magazine, Retrevo.com. For more information, Consumer Reports offers a summary of the pros and cons of both plasma and LCD technologies, CNET.com offers a step-by-step HDTV buying guide, and MSNBC comes at from another angle with Top 10 mistakes made when buying an HDTV.
2. The Sound— if you want a step up from the built-in speakers on your TV, there are many options available.
- Soundbar — New technology allows a single speaker (“soundbar”) to mimic surround sound without requiring multiple speakers placed (and wired) around the room. Polk Audio’s soundbars are well-reviewed by CNET.com. Crutchfield offers more information on choosing the right soundbar for you.
- Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) — offering all the components required for home theater (except the screen), HTIBs run from high-end systems with full featured receivers and powerful speakers (such as this one from Denon) to more affordable solutions with stripped down receivers and speakers meant to be better than a TV’s built-in system (such as this well reviewed system from Onkyo).
3. The Seating —theater style seating takes your home entertainment experience to a new level. La-Z-Boy offers special theater seating in addition to its standard recliners and furniture. To find an online store, search “home theater seating” online. Wayfair.com receives high ratings from customers and offers white glove delivery. You can even find home theater seating on amazon.com, such as Coaster’s 600001 Black Theater Recliner for $330.
For more tips on creating a home theater in your home, try these resources:
Posted in Bennington VT
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September 16th, 2011 by Karen Perrott
Home > Blogs > 4 Strategies to Customize and Personalize Your New Home
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4 Strategies to Customize and Personalize Your New Home
Buying a home on today’s market takes a lot of work! After the stress of financing and the rush of closing, the move-in can be a let-down. But one of the true joys of homeownership is your ability to truly make your home yours – customizing and personalizing it to suit your tastes, your family and your lifestyle to a t.
Here are four smart strategies for customizing your new home (even if new just means new to you!):
1. Paint to create the feel you want, inside and out. Painting your home with the colors and effects of your choice is one of the most cost-effective ways to create a completely personalized living space. And studies show that color choices, in particular, can have a massive impact on the mood and even the happiness of a home’s residents!
There are several ways – across a wide spectrum of cost and time required – you can use paint to personalize your property:
- Exterior. The single fastest way to change your home’s look to match your personal preferences is to paint its exeterior. What did your lifelong dream home look like? What color was it? Repainting your home can make a massive change to its look and curb appeal, and can turn the home you can afford into the home you’ve always dreamed of.
- Front door, shutters and fences. If you bought a home that has a relatively fresh paint job or an overall color you like, consider painting just the front door to inject some color and your personal touch. Aquas and greens, rusty or brick reds and even chic greys and blacks all make for a polished entrance – and the addition of a kick plate or engraved knocker can create a 100 percent personalized look. Painting shutters, fences, eaves and other exterior accents a contrasting color of your choice are additional quick and inexpensive – but powerful – tweaks that can also make your home look buttoned up and, well, yours.
- Interior. The individual inhabitants of different rooms can pick their colors and custom effects, like harlequin diamonds or fun, personalized murals for kids’ rooms. Aim to match colors to a room’s purpose, so that bedrooms have a sense of restful sanctuary, bathroom walls read “clean,” and common living areas are warm or energizing, as you wish! Glidden has a fabulous interactive inspiration tool with amazing suggested palettes that coordinate with the various uses of individual rooms, like Growing Up Colors, for kids’ rooms, Fresh Baked Kitchen palettes and my personal favorite: the palette dedicated to Man Cave Colors.
If you have a limited time or budget, or you’re afraid you’ll regret bold color choices, try accent walls – a single wall of color in every otherwise neutral room can go a long way toward customizing your home.
2. Inventory your space and your stuff before you unpack. Many people are buying smaller homes in an effort to manage costs of ownership and live closer to where their jobs are (gas prices certainly don’t look to be getting cheaper any time soon!). Even if you’re not moving into a small place, moving in – period – presents an opportunity to truly customize your living spaces for the activities you want to do and things you want to “live” in them.
There’s no rule that says the table and chairs have to go in the dining room just because it’s called that; it’s your house – take control! Maybe it’d be better as an office for you and homework space for the kids, and you can ‘dine’ in the kitchen or part of the living room. The windowless “extra” room might make for the perfect yoga room, craft room or space to plot your fantasy football world domination schemes.
Make a chart that divides all your home’s spaces – all of them, including any seemingly wasted spaces or nook-ey areas under the stairs or in the garage, before you move in. Then, decide what you want to (a) do, and (b) store in each area. This approach empowers you to make sure every person, activity and thing in your home has the right amount and type of space.
3. Build organization in. Built-ins make a world of difference, and I’m not just talking about the ones your home’s builder installed. It’s relatively low-cost and low-effort to build in items like:
a. closet organizers,
b. window seats,
c. desktops and bookshelves,
d. pantry-optimizing shelves, spinners and drawers, and
e. medicine and linen cabinets.
If you’re looking for some inspiration as to what sorts of custom organization systems are even possible, and/or you’re intimidated at the mere prospect of doing-anything-yourself, master carpenter and home improvement show host Karl Champley just released a great book on the subject, Same Place, More Space (Chronicle Books, 2011).
4. Match your furniture to your space, your activities and your stuff. Remember the space issues you couldn’t stand in your last place? Anticipate them, and as you plan to buy your furniture, look for things that offer extra organizational or storage features. I have a little “issue” with shoes at my house – they’re always everywhere! So, we put a cubby in the entryway for shoes, and each bedroom has a specific place to store them (an ottoman in mine, shoe shelves for my son.)
Also, if your space inventory (see #1 on this list) showed up lots of stuff with no place to go, make an effort to buy armoires, storage closets and sheds. To give your home a polished look that reflects your (perhaps newly!) organized personal style, a good rule of thumb is to make an effort to have a closed storage space for every item that has a label or would otherwise have to sit on top of a table or counter.
All: what tips and tricks did you do to make your home “yours?”
P.S. – You should follow Trulia and Tara on Facebook!
Posted in Bennington VT
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September 13th, 2011 by Donna Poulen
Well here it comes the changing of the leafs. Fall is such a beautiful time of year in our area. There are many places to enjoy where you can get your apples, pumkins, fresh apple pies, ect.. Come to Bennington Vermont most places are still open and have alot to offer. See you soon!
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 30th, 2011 by Donna Poulen
The Kitchen Cupboard expects especially high demand this week due to flooding. On Tuesday, August 30, you can drop off non-perishable food donations and other household necessities at Crazy Russian Girls Bakery, 443 Main Street (7 AM to 6 PM) or the First Baptist Church office, 601 Main Street (9 AM to 3 PM). Questions? Contact the Bakery’s Natasha Garder at 802/681-3983 or Rev. Jerrod Hugenot at 802/442-2105, ext. 1.
The Kitchen Cupboard is a food distribution program of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services, Inc. Located at 800 Gage Street, the Kitchen Cupboard serves all in need. Food distributions take place weekly on Tuesdays, 5:30-8:30 PM and Saturdays, 2-5 PM. Questions? Contact 802/379-0149.
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 24th, 2011 by Lilli West
Existing-home sales declined in July from an upwardly revised June pace but are notably higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million in July from 4.84 million in June, but are 21 percent above the 3.86 million unit pace in July 2010, which was a cyclical low immediately following the expiration of the home buyer tax credit.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is a tug and pull on the market.
“Affordability conditions this year have been the most favorable on record dating back to 1970, but many buyers are being held back because banks are offering financing to only the most highly qualified borrowers, ignoring a large share of otherwise creditworthy buyers,” he said. “Those potential buyers represent the difference between an uneven recovery and a much more robust housing market that could stimulate additional economic activity and create jobs.”
All Housing Types:
1. July Inventory: 3.65M = 1.7% from June
2. Months Supply: 9.4 months, up from 9.2 months in June
June Practitioner Survey:
1. Distressed properties made up 29% of all sales (down from 30% in June)
2. First-time buyers purchased 32% of homes (up from 31% in June)
3. Investors accounted for 18% of all sales (down from 19% in June)
4. All-cash deals comprised 29% of all sales (unchanged from June)
Mortgage Rates
1. July 2011 = 4.55%
2. June 2011 = 4.51%
3. May 2011 = 4.64%
3. July 2010 = 4.56%
(National average commitment rate from Freddie Mac)
2011 RE/MAX, LLC. RE/MAX Affiliates may share this article, provided they do not charge for it and this notice is included. All other rights reserved.
This is based on the national reporting, the Bennington, VT real estate market is close to those statistics.
Contact our office for expert real easte advice on our local Bennington, VT real estate market.
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 22nd, 2011 by Kathy Sollien
 The RE/MAX hot air balloon event August 20th was a hugh success. This event benefitted the Bennington Fire Department so many of them came out to lend a hand. We could not have done it with out them as over 100 people showed up. They even called in the big guns and had one of their fire trucks and the ladder truck there. So - anyone looking for real estate in Bennington, VT should check out our awesome fire department.
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 17th, 2011 by Lilli West
 Live right on the Vermont border! This Cape Cassandra style home was built in 2006. The septic, well, Buderus funace, 200 Amp electrical and underground phone service were all installed in 2006. There is radiant heat in the basement, energy effecient windows, and overhead fans in all living areas. Come down the nice gravel driveway to a beautifully landscaped property. Two 12×24 outbuildings are there and one with an enclosed porch to enjoy the mountain views and peaceful country living in this 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home on over 16 level and cleared acres!
If you want Bennington, VT real estate or Hoosick Falls, NY real estate we are your full service Realtors!
Call us today for a viewing! 802-447-3210.
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 17th, 2011 by Bob
This is great article that was sent to me by Trulia to share. It deals with correctly pricing your home for sale. It is titled “7 Deadly Sins of Overpricing” check it out at this link: http://go.trulia.com/rs/trulia/images/Trulia-Handout-7-Deadly-Sins-Overpricing.pdf
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 15th, 2011 by Karen Perrott
Home > Blogs > 5 Insider Secrets for Coming Up With Cash for Down Payment
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make smart decisions w/Tara’s real estate + mortgage need-to-knows
5 Insider Secrets for Coming Up With Cash for Down Payment
 Most home buyers’ biggest hurdle is coming up with the cash for a sensible down payment. Gone are the days of zero-down loans, so if that was your plan, you’re going to need a new one! Coming up with a down payment for a home is a challenge because it’s not chump change we’re talking about, here. The down payment on a $200,000 house, for example, will run you anywhere from $7,000 (on an FHA loan) to $40,000!
That might seem like an insurmountable amount of coin to come up with, but it’s actually more doable than you might think. Some buyers will simply save up their own cash, even if it takes many, many moons. The good news is that if you still need some help to boost your down-payment savings, there are resources you can harness to power your home-buying pursuit:
- 1. The FHA Bridal Registry. Yes – you read that right! The FHA Bridal Registry Program enables wanna-be home buyers to apply their families’ wedding gifts toward their down payments. And although it’s named a “bridal registry” program, you don’t have to be a prenuptial couple to use it. You could also use this program to collect gifts for graduation, the arrival of a baby or some other major life event in which people want to give you gifts.
The FHA Bridal Registry works like a traditional registry, but is more flexible. The registrants visit their choice of FHA mortgage lenders and set up what essentially is a custodial savings account for the sole purpose of funding their down payment. The couple’s (or individual’s) family and friends can either deposit funds directly into the account or give the cash or check to the couple or individual, who then deposits it into the account. The account’s flexibility also goes beyond that of traditional down payment gift rules that are applicable to FHA loans, which are detailed below in insider secret #2. With the FHA Bridal Registry Program, the only gift documentation required is “lender and borrower certification of the funds.”
2. Family gifts. Most lenders will allow home buyers to apply gift money from family members toward their down payment – within guidelines, that is. First, the lender will require a letter from the giver verifying that it in fact is a gift and not a loan. (They generally frown upon it being a loan because it would add to the buyer’s debt and change their debt-to-income ratio.) And second, the person giving you the money must be a relative. The reasoning here is that a friend will most likely expect you to repay the money, whereas a relative won’t.
FHA loans will allow the gift to make up any portion or all of the buyer’s down payment, many conventional (non-FHA) loan programs will restrict the proportion of a buyer’s down payment that can come from gift money. The lender may also have specific ways they want to see the money go into and out of your accounts. Before you accept a gift toward your down payment, be sure to check with your mortgage broker or loan rep to be sure that you’re dotting all the right i’s and crossing all the right t’s.
3. Your Employer. Some companies offer assistance programs to employees. Most are government, university, large company and financial industry employers. One example is safety workers: n some areas, safety workers like firefighters and police can have access to down payment grants from their employers if they buy properties in the city where they are on-call as first responders. Also, many large colleges and universities, very large companies and banks and lending institutions offer down payment help and have below-market-rate mortgages set up for faculty members and staffers. Check with your Human Resources department to see if any such program is available to you.
4. City/County/State Programs. Some states, counties and cities still offer programs that lend or give home buyers some assistance for down payments. These programs vary widely in scope – for instance, many target buyers with low and moderate incomes, while some seek to help the buyers of foreclosed or fixer-upper type homes. Some don’t have to repaid – meaning they are given as grants and are forgiven entirely if the buyer lives in the property for 30 years, but must be repaid if the buyer sells or rents the home out before the 30 years elapses. The programs pretty much all have some sort of homeowner education component that requires applicants to take personal finance and homeownership preparedness classes before they can receive funds. To learn more, visit your city, county and state websites to learn about programs that might be able to help you.
5. Your Retirement Funds. Many financial advisors would advise against this, but if you have a 401K or Roth IRA account and some years to go before retirement, you might be able to tap into it or even borrow against your own funds for your down payment. Currently, you can take up to $10,000 out of your Traditional IRA with no penalty to put toward the purchase of your first home, but you will be taxed. You can take as much as you want out of your Roth IRA contributions with no penalty or taxes, though, and as much as $10,000 from your earnings penalty-free for your down payment. The rules get a little tricky, here, so definitely check in with your tax and financial advisors.
And while you can’t similarly draw from your 401K, many retirement and pension plans will allow you to borrow the money against your funds, then repay it to yourself – at interest. So the choice there comes down to paying your lender back with interest or paying yourself with interest. That choice should be you! But first, get some advice from your CPA or financial planner. This option might not make financial sense for your particular situation.
P.S. – You should follow Trulia and Tara on Facebook!
Posted in Bennington VT
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August 15th, 2011 by Bob
On Saturday 8/13 the Re/Max balloon crew was on hand for rides to benifit the Bennington Fire Department during Battle Day weekend. A large crowd of 100 or more was on hand for a beautiful evening of flights. Overall it was a great success and lots of fun for all.
 just part of the crowd  another group takes off
Posted in Bennington VT
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