When we moved to the Mt. Washington Valley, in the northern moutainous region of New Hampshire, we immediately felt right at home.  A popular tourist destination with a multitude of retail outlets, it was the unparalleled beauty of the area that sealed our decision to relocate here.  Surrounded by the 750,000 acre White Mountain National Forest, and set at the base of Mount Washington - the highest peak in the Northeast - the Valley is just 2-1/2 hours from Boston.  

Primarily a four-season resort community with a foliage season that attracts many folks (locally called "leaf peepers") as well as a winter haven featuring Alpine and downhill skiing as well as some of the best cross country and snowshoeing opportunities in the East.  Summer brings a gamut of outdoor activities: hiking, biking, swimming, and camping.  Visitors to the Mt. Washington Valley enjoy all of this as well as over 80 restaurants, 2400 lodging rooms, and excellent outlet shopping (no sales tax!).

Photo of Silver Lake, Madison, NH

Tourism is the Valley's largest industry.  Being a year-round vacation destination, it attracts visitors from all over the world.  For those of us who are lucky enough to live here, the Valley is a great place to live, work and raise a family!

Conway Lake- Conway, New Hampshire

May 18th, 2010

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.

The Coldwell Banker Previews International has been a world leader in the marketing of luxury homes since 1933.

Property specialists for the group participated in more than 11,971 transaction sides of homes priced at one million  or more in 2009 with a total sales volume of $22 billion.

The average sales price for a luxury home transaction listed and/or sold by the Coldwell Banker system in 2009 was $1,84 million, with the highest priced home sold in 2009 being $28 million!

I've been in real estate for over 23 years; I've lost my excitement---I've lost my way. 

That was my mindset with the real estate slowdown of 2008.  This year, i tried to get over that malaise that had set in, and truthfully got ahead a bit, but not enough to say I have regained my enthusiasm for this business.  I am looking for something that will lift me out of that "ho-hum" feeling.  Any suggestions?

Blogging wasn't even on my mind; reading some of these new blogs, I see I got lost in the shuffle.  Every blog seems to be about "short sales",  HUD houses, foreclosures, etc.  Aren't there some normal, owner-owned real estate being sold out there?  Maybe I'm being naive, but I swear there are homes being sold that aren't in distress!

Please, someone must be selling good-honest-realpeople-housing!  Share with me, my mind needs it.

You have to obey and follow.  Being a type-A businesswoman, sometimes that is very hard for me to do.  I hem and haw and many times outright just refuse to obey.  After all, i know what's best for me (what does God know?)  In a deep pit is where I usually end up.  After a period of "doing it my way" I was up against a wall, and shared with a client who has also become my dear friend, Donna.  She listened to my ramblings, then told me this story (it's her story, so sorry Donna, if I don't paraphrase it exactly the way it was told to me).

Donna is a waitress, and an excellent one! One day driving into work, she was musing on her lot in life, getting a bit discouraged that at age 50+ she felt she had not accomplished perhaps as much as she thought.  She was still a waitress, living with her fiancee, and collecting stray animals whenever she could.  She did not feel that she was successful, nor accomplishing anything of any importance.  She said a little prayer to God to help her see what her purpose was in life, to help ease her unease at her lack of accomplishment...after all what major impact does a waitress have in anyone's life.  She realized that her thoughts were focused on the things she had NOT done in her life; serving others as a waitress hardly seemed to count for anything.  So she changed her prayer to add, "thank you God for blessing me as a waitress and thank you for giving me a job in this economy!  Help me to see you in everyone I meet today."

She got into work, and immediately got very busy, serving her clientele.  Her first table had an older woman, quietly sitting by herself.  Donna felt sadness at seeing someone eating alone and set about trying to make the lady comfortable with her service.  She solicitiously asked if she wanted extra water, if the food was to her liking, and if she wanted the daily paper to read.  When the meal was over, Donna brought the bill and asked the woman if she could do anything that would help make her stay in the Valley more pleasant.  The woman replied that Donna was very kind and she appreciated her question.

Donna collected the bill and the credit card off the table and started to walk away to the register; she noticed that the tip was for $100.  Alarmed that the lady had made an error writing the tip, she turned around to walk back to the table. She was almost there when the lady said to her," It's not a mistake; you earned it dear!"  Donna was flabbergasted...how could this be? The lady's bill was only $23- and she was giving her $100- as a tip? The look on her face must have been funny because the woman stated, "Don't look so shocked - you are by far the best waitress that I've had in a long while...I hope you stay doing what you do, because you are very good."

Donna said to herself, "Thank you God for answering my prayer."

It's amazing how we as human beings can become so anesthesized to our everyday world that we start to take for granted many of the wonderful things that are given to us. 

Let me share a story. In 1990, my hubby and i decided to give up all that was familiar and dear to us, and move north to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  It wasn't easy to do.  Our families were not in favor of this move.  For years, we felt like pariahs to our own families, as we were "the black sheep".  We weathered the criticism, the disdain for moving "so far away" and eventually (finally) were forgiven.  So here we are.  In the best, most beautiful area in the world.  Looking out our back deck we see glorious views, awe-inspiring sunsets, and occasionally a deer or a turkey.  Recently though, I noticed we were taking all this natural beauty for granted; so I started to take daily photos and post them.  Here are today's photos taken after yesterday's 16-inch snowfall.  Enjoy!

COFFEE ANYONE?

Living in the White Mountains...what more can anyone ask for.  If you would like to MOVE, please contact me.  My neighborhood is a new community (there are 3 houses and 4 owners so far) and we would LOVE new neighbors!  Go to www.royalview.net for more info.  Thanks for looking!

Yesterday, we took a scenic drive past Pinkham Notch (which is lovely itself!) and went to Bretton Woods.  For those of you who have never been to Bretton Woods, I think it snows every day in the winter months.  The views are beautiful! Talk about eye candy. The people are friendly. And if you ski, you have found heaven on earth.

Here are some of the photos that we took:

Snow over historic Mt. Washington Hotel (one of the Grand Dames of the last century!)

Views from the top of the mountain - just above the chair lift.  Some of these properties are listed at over 1 million! 

This is why we're here at Bretton Woods; to take pictures of a condo listing slopeside at Rosebrook!  For only $299,900 (very well-priced almost $50K less than competitor) you can call this 4-bedroom, 2 bath, fully furnished unit "home". 

Here are some interior pictures:

For more information on this wonderful tri-level condo go to  www.roserobinson.com or go directly to the local MLS with this link: http://www.nnerenmls.com/nne/maildoc/sd_AAAa000Cj20090110144504.html

 This is a great value for a ski condo, and the owners are really motivated!

These days anyone can be a great video master.  All you need is a digital video camera to record, transfer and share! After experimenting the last few months, I have come up with a list of "video tips" that work:

1.  TELL A STORY.  Don't just start shooting.  Plan out your "story" - what do you want to capitalize on this short clip?  Have a beginning, middle and end in mind before you start to record.  This can be as simple as panning the outside landscaping on a home, then ringing the door bell before you proceed inside a home!

2.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Include only images the audience needs to keep them informed and interested in your subject.  That means editing the video for a final version that is clean and focused.  There are lots of free editing software out there.  For snazzy tutorials on many of them go to www.video-tutes.com.

3.  KEEP IT BRIEF.  Most folks can only assimilate information in short bursts, so try to keep your video brief.  Once again, that means editing to eliminate excess material.  For real estate videos highlighting property my suggested length is around two minutes.  It sounds short but your audience won't stay with you much longer than that.  Also www.you-tube.com is now confining the length of their videos to 10 minutes.

4.  KEEP  IT STEADY.  There's nothing more aggravating (or nauseating) than shakiness on a video.  Avoid this by purchasing a tripod (there are many available for as little as $30) or keeping as steady as possible.  Be careful of zooming in and out too fast---it makes the video uncomfortable to watch.

5.  PROPER LIGHTING.  Proper lighting is essential for capturing details.  Practice experimenting with room lamps and window shades to see what comes across on video.  Sometimes too much light can also ruin the video...so try out different scenarios to see which one works best for your video camera.  Do a couple of quick videos in varying lights to compare.  For those of you that want much more information than I can give you, read this blog on lighting.

6.  LABEL IT.  How many times have you taken videos and later can't remember where it was?  I always name the video and label it with the location and date for future filing.

7.  FINAL PRODUCT.  Polishing up your video with simple editing can be the difference between a mediocre video and an outstanding one.  You can add voiceovers, music, sound effects and some editing software allow you to put dialogue balloons with text in them. 

When I first began using Twitter, I was incredulous that this type of medium would be of any value to either me personally or to my real estate career.  My thought was "why would anyone care to know what the heck I am doing every minute of the day?"  I was talked into creating a profile by my office manager because as he proclaimed, "It's social networking Rose, just like going to the Chamber After Hours!"  So I went for it.  Incredibly, I have found that i like using Twitter for a variety of reasons.

1.  I have made many new friends! At last count, I was following over 1,000 people and had over 800 following me.  Exponentially, i had grown my sphere of people in just a couple of months.  Some of these people have become really good and close friends with shared experiences and social benefits.

2.  I have learned so much during my time on Twitter.  I've learned about twitter tools such as www.twitpic.com (which allows you to post pictures), www.tweetlater.com (to continue your twitter presence if you know you can't get to your computer for length of time) and www.tweetdeck.com (helps you organize your "tweets" or posts).  In a round-about way, I've learned about marketing myself in an entirely different way.

3.  My Activerain Blog traffic (and coincidentially my website also) has increased significantly.  When I added Activerain to my Twitter account, any blog entries that i write get automatically updated on Twitter; so my audience enlarges with Twitter.

4.  It has helped me to stay up-to-date on current events.  Even by checking into Twitter updates once a day, I am able to parse through the information and gather what is important to me.  Last week, I found important and valuable information about listing short sales!  But it could be information considered mundane to others, but to me was significant such as recipes, books to read, and pets.

5.  My writing has improved by using Twitter.  I have learned that being clear, concise, and correct all contribute to my effectiveness as a writer.  Since i only have 140 characters, it has forced me to write short, bite-sized informative chunks of information.

6.  It has shown me reality like I've never seen it before. While I have always considered myself a straight-forward and authentic person, (not subtle at all), I never gave much thought to how others might react to that.  Being on Twitter, I have come to realize that all people have quirks, that they experience the same wide range of emotions that I do, and that everyone has both good and bad sides to their personalities.  By sharing all this on the Twitter forum, people (or tweeple) are able to share themselves in a unique way. 

7.  I have loved the way Twitter has enabled me to stay in touch with people that I enjoy and that matter to me.  While other mediums are also capable of doing much the same, Twitter is so fast that it creates a quick and easy bond.  My relationships with others have improved, my level of communication has increased, and my feeling of well-being is enhanced!

8.  It is addictive (I admit it). Twitter is seductive.  My husband asked me recently, what is so fun about writing "what I am doing" umpteenth times a day?  I realized that isn't what Twitter is about; it's about sharing yourself to others, and allowing them to share themselves with you.  It can be funny, emotional, sad, or just plain entertaining.

9. It is relatively quick, easy, and free way to invest your time.  I limit my Twitter Time to once in the morning (for about 5 minutes) and later in the evening while dinner is cooking (another 5 minutes).

10. I haven't realized a sale as a direct consequence of being on Twitter, or if by "marketing" myself as a realtor on Twitter will lead to any business, but I suspect that it will.  Just the fact that 1000 people are now aware of me as a professional, should translate into tangible business in the future.  As one of my "twitnicks" said to me, "Twitter gives you another way to build your brand".  I think it just might do that.

Late last night I was reading in the Bible about the power of light. There was a particular passage that really stuck in my mind: "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Acts 26:18

What does this Bible verse have to do with virtues and vices in 2008? Simply this: if the CEO's of companies had believed in God versus Satan, had curbed their greed, had served their clients and their stockholders instead of themselves, the word "bailout" would not have become the most-used term in the English language.  If these leaders had become bearers of "light" to their people, instead of bringing darkness, we would not have had the "year of the bailout" in 2008! 

The height of vice was very apparent in the saga of Bernard Madoff.  Despite several warnings about disgraced Wall Street money manager  Madoff's investment methods, he successfully dodged regulators for years. Today, the House Financial Services Committee plans a hearing to find out how the SEC failed to detect Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme.  How could a man of his standing within the financial community carry out such an elaborate plan to defraud so many people?

"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!" The answer for us in 2009 is quite simply- WAKE UP!  Let us not be deluded into thinking that vice is a thing of the past.  There are many pitfalls just waiting to be tripped into.  Our main defense is to remain vigilant and to expose the perpretrators.  Even if the infraction seems minor, look these people in the eye and say "don't do that".  Only when we remind ourselves that we are the light will we be able to change anything.  God is totally separate from darkness. The darker the darkness, the brighter Jesus' light shines!