Posts from February 2018

There is truly nothing more exciting (in the world of real estate) than buying your first home. My experience was a bit askew since my first "home" was a duplex. But when I built my first home and spent that first night in it, it was an experience I'll never forget. The feelings of independence, ownership, pride and self-reliance all swirled around my head that night. Other first time buyers have expressed feelings of being grounded, stable and secure. All in all, it is a big step in your "adulting" life and one that could change your perspective for good.

The process of getting to the closing table, especially for first-timers can be wrought with obstacles and hurdles that can start to feel dau...

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300 square feet is not the most expansive amount of living space one could possibly have. That said, it worked well for me for a couple years and I saved a ton of money while living there. When I finally built my home up the road (over the hill in Lincoln) my brother joked that I'd be found in the fetal position, on the bathroom floor, unable to cope with all the extra space. Turns out he was wrong. It has been my experience that we tend to "expand" into the space we have. As I write this, I'm sitting in my basement office (that doubles as our workout room) that is larger than that first cabin I lived in. There is literally no reason for me to have this much space for an office, but the room was empty so I claimed it.

While there is likely a high percentage of folks reading this that are living...

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I have now lived in NY, NH, ME, MA, WV, CO and MN. I think the average for Americans is 8 states in a lifetime so I'm almost there! While New Hampshire is a fairly small state, it has a surprising amount of great features that make living here just amazing. Today I'd like to look at a few of my favorite things about NH. There are all kinds of recreation, beautiful landscapes, charming small towns, and bustling big cities. There are likely countless more reasons beyond these as well.

One of the best parts about living in this area is the variety. I have lived in Portsmouth, Lincoln and the Mount Washington Valley and all have their different aspects to love. I'm not a city guy at all so I've avoided Manch-Vegas and Concord like the plague. But if that is your cup of tea, we've got it! I've shown an...

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Some things are better-appreciated first-hand. For the past couple weeks, I've been "trekking" my way up to 17,598 feet above sea level. At one point, we ventured up a nearby peak that topped us out at 18,514 feet. The lung-busting lack of oxygen is simply (and literally) breathtaking. We moved at a snail's pace and even that was exhausting. All that said, the hundred or so miles hiked to and from Everest base camp were filled with trials, challenges, illness, excitement and relief.

I say all that simply to say (in a not-so-subtle segue) that those things that challenge us and push us to our limits are very often worth the extra effort. We have talked before about the challenges of selling a home in winter. We have...

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I've previously mentioned my adorable 300 square foot cabin that I called home for a couple of years over in Lincoln. The one thing that always really bugged me was the poor insulation. It didn't bother me (necessarily) because of the increased heating costs; it was mostly the lack of light. In an effort to help sure the place up a bit (and stop the curtains from blowing in the wind…with the windows closed!) I added plastic to the inside and outside of the windows. This made a huge difference in the overall comfort of my home but sacrificed any sort of natural light coming in. It wasn't "dark" but it was not all that bright on even the sunniest of days.

I say all that simply to say that lighting, especially natural light if you ca...

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