Castle of the Month: Bayers
November 21, 2009
Chateau de Bayers
Our castle for November-December is Chateau de Bayers, a jewel of a castle near the town of Aunac in the farm country of south-west France. Built on a hilltop near the River Charente in the 15th century on an 11th century foundation and recently restored as a labor of love, it is open to summer visitors. Its most notable feature is a massive crenellated tower, above. Below, we are treated to a personal tour of the castle and grounds by the chatelaine herself, the wife of the retired village doctor, who was delighted to show her castle to a visiting American.
This farmland area has lost many of its working farms as the children have grown and moved to Paris, while the farmhouses have been sold to budget-minded English retirees. We are reminded of the 1919 song in which the farmer’s wife waits for her soldier boy to return from the War, but her husband knows better. Do you know the song? Click here for a rendition that will pick you up faster than a cup of Kenya AA.
Castle photos by Jerry White of The Staging Prince.
Sell Your Castle in Weeks not Months
Popolopen Paddle
November 15, 2009
The Hudson Valley provides many benefits to its residents, not the least of which is proximity to recreational hiking in Harriman Park , the Hudson Highlands and the Catskills, and sea kayaking on the Hudson River, seen in the banner image above at the Bear Mountain Bridge.
Recently I launched my kayak into an inlet of the river at Annsville Creek, just north of Peekskill. The kayak launch site, off Route 6, was built by New York State and sports a well-equipped kayak shop run by Atlantic Kayak Tours.
Paddle under the MetroNorth railroad bridge and you’re in Peekskill Bay, with Indian Point to the south, and Jones Point and Dunderburg Mountain across the river to the west. Paddling upriver that day was easy, riding the incoming tidal current and benefitting from a light breeze from the south. This is an attractive section of the river, where it runs through the Highlands.
Passing Iona Island National Estuarine Sanctuary, I remembered the first time I saw this part of the river – decades ago from a New York Central train. In fact it was the highlight of the train ride because this section was used to anchor a huge fleet of mothballed World War II naval and merchant ships, many of which had once carried troops from the Piermont Pier to Europe. Now, the overlooks on Route 6 are often filled with hawk and eagle watchers.
Coming up to the soaring structure of the Bear Mountain Bridge over the narrows between Bear Mountain and Anthony’s Nose, I peered around the bend to see if I could see West Point upriver (too far). There was a lot of boat traffic: sightseeing boats, motorboats, a few sailboats, and an occasional barge heading downriver. I crossed the channel to the west shore and paddled under the low railroad trestle into the quiet water of Popolopen Creek, leaving the churning river behind.
The Popolopen splits the promontory sites of Fort Clinton on its south bank and Fort Montgomery on its north, built in 1776-77. The Americans stretched a chain across the river from Fort Montgomery to Anthony’s Nose to block British ships from sailing upriver from Manhattan. In October 1777 the British landed 2100 troops at Stony Point to the south, marched them over 1000-foot Dunderberg Mountain on what is now the “1777 Trail”, and attacked the two forts’ 700 defenders from the rear, capturing the forts in one of the fiercest battles of the Revolution and dismantling the chain. Among the attackers of the forts were a company of “Loyal Americans” from the Hudson Valley. Thus, New Yorkers fought New Yorkers, and hundreds – mostly the outnumbered defenders — were killed or captured.
The Popolopen flows out to the river after cascading for 2 miles through a steep rocky gorge. Discovered a few years ago as a Class V whitewater kayaking run, the Popolopen is particularly unpredictable and dangerous.
After enjoying lunch in my boat at the base of the cascade (to avoid poison ivy lining the banks), I paddled back into the Hudson. Heading south, I did my best to overcome both the current and what was now a very stiff wind blowing upriver. Adding excitement was a significant chop resulting from the wind blowing across Haverstraw Bay to the south. While on this day it took twice as long as usual for the 4-mile return to Annsville Creek, it is always an interesting paddle. For those with a second car, the 11-mile paddle from Annsville to Cold Spring, past West Point and the Constitution Marsh, is also recommended.
Prepare your House (or Cut its Price)
November 11, 2009
When you want to sell your house, you have two rational choices: Prepare it properly for sale to maximize what you sell it for, or cut the price below comparable houses to entice a buyer who isn’t looking for perfection.
If you neither prepare it for sale nor cut the price, it will be overpriced for the market, and you should expect that it will be waiting for offers for a long time. Many buyers won’t make offers on overpriced houses – even lowball ones. If you want to get the most for your house, you will choose to prepare it properly for sale, which will preserve your equity.
What does “prepare your house” mean in today’s market?
6 Essential Steps to Prepare a House for Sale
1. Repair: To get top dollar, your house must be in tip-top condition – outside and inside. Important components that should be in good repair include the roof, gutters, exterior siding/paint, foundation, deck, front door, windows, weatherstripping and insulation, floors, woodwork, ceilings, and the heating, plumbing and electrical systems. If defects are known, you will have to disclose them; and if they are not known, they will likely be discovered in a home inspection.
Why bother to do the repairs? Because relatively few buyers today are looking for a fixer-upper, and because repairs will generally cost you less to fix than the buyer will demand in compensation. Most of today’s buyers are looking for a house in move-in condition. They neither want to do a lot of work, nor finance the cost of repairs. So, to appeal to the broadest market, your house must be in good repair when you show it.
2. Update: To get top dollar, your home must be appealing to younger buyers, typically in their 30’s. Most want a modern home with an open plan that they can show off to their friends. Homes with dated wallpaper, dark wood kitchen cabinets, colored bathroom fixtures, poor lighting or dark and claustraphobic rooms, heavy draperies, worn carpeting or paneled family room should be updated. Updates don’t need to be expensive. There are many cost-effective solutions that will pay off in a higher price and faster sale.
3. Declutter: “Clutter eats equity.” Buyers want spacious rooms, spacious closets and lots of storage space. Clutter makes rooms look small and also distracts a buyer from seeing the attractive features of a house. So pick up and pack up.
What is clutter?
- Too much furniture, making moving through a room difficult – in fact, more than a minimal amount of furniture in any room constitutes clutter when you sell because the excess will make the room feel smaller.
- Collections of all types are clutter, even though they may be valuable and unique. They are distractions that should be packed up for your new place.
- Anything that makes a room look crowded or messy is clutter, including things on the floor rather than being put away in their places: toys, clothes, pet bowls, boxes, and so on; stickies and magnets on the fridge; and fake greenery over windows, to name a few.
A buyer wants to know the purpose for each room and also wants to be able to visualize his own belongings in the room. It is essential to pack up, throw out or sell off all the excess things that interfere with the buyer’s ability to think of himself or herself living in your house.
4. Clean: When you have sold your house and are ready to find a new house or apartment, will you be happy with a place that’s dirty and looks like it hasn’t been well cared for? Nor will your buyer. Every room of your house must be thoroughly cleaned. The kitchen must be spotless, and baths must look like they’ve never been used. Clean your driveway; sweep your walkway; pick up laundry; vacuum pet hairs from furniture – every day while your home is on the market. Eliminate smells by cleaning, washing, airing – and sometimes by repainting. Selling a house is without a doubt inconvenient for you, but a dirty house is a real turnoff for a buyer.
5. Stage: Staging is an art that highlights the best features of your house, minimizes its problems, and helps a buyer see your house as his own. It typically involves rearranging furniture to highlight a focal point or making a room seem more spacious, and adding accessories to make a room harmonious. In addition to staging, a professional stager will also review all the elements in a house to identify barriers to a sale, including items visibly in need of repair, updating, decluttering and cleaning (yes, steps 1-4). Stagers identify other issues, too, like lack of curb appeal, walls that should be repainted, poorly lit rooms, crowded closets, even dirty switchplates; and they make recommendations to improve the likelihood of a sale. Stagers act as advisors to sellers, telling them tactfully but straightforwardly just what they need to do to sell their house. They also can accomplish any of the tasks in steps 1-6.
6. Take photos: When the staging is done, when every room looks great, when the house is ready to show and entice buyers to make offers, it should be photographed and the photos posted on the web so potential buyers will want to visit. A house that hasn’t been updated, decluttered and staged will turn buyers off when they search, and they will never visit and never make an offer. See our article on photographing a house for sale: “On-Line Photos Sell Your House”.
You can sell you house quickly, even in a buyers’ market, if you prepare it properly, price it right and market it well. A house that hasn’t been well prepared will get less traffic and will wait much longer for an offer.