If you’re one of my regular readers, you know that I like to do Seacoast Sunday Scenes - showing off pictures from around my area.  Today, in honor of Mother’s Day, Im sharing pictures of my mom and my family.

This is the 4th Mother’s Day without my mom, she’s been gone barely 3 years at this point, 3 years last month, and I sure miss her every day. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers out there, and to all the Fathers who also play the role of mothers¦.

Here are 8 remodelling tips to help your remodeling plans be a success:

1)  Plan your remodeling job in advance - plan right down to the last detail ahead of time and you’ll avoid last minute glitches and you’ll also avoid unplanned-for overages, too.

2)  Find the right contractor for you and your job - get referrals for contractors and never be afraid to ask for references.  And make sure to check those references, too.  Make sure they’re licensed, if they need to be for your state and locality, make sure they carry insurance, and make sure they pull the necessary permits to the remodeling job you’re hiring them for.

3)  Don’t go overboard on improvements - the last thing you want to do is over-improve your home for your neighborhood.  Kitchens and bathrooms will bring you back the most money, but plenty of other improvements won’t.

4)  Plan the time and timing of your remodeling - be realistic in regards to how much time your improvements will realistically take to complete, and if you can schedule your job during the off-season for your contractor, you may well be able to save some money as well.            

Bank-owned properties do usually come with some issues that a home owned by a home-owner might not necessarily have, but if you are working with an experienced REALTOR who knows the area you’re looking to buy in, you can find some great buys on bank-owned properties.

I just recently closed on a bank-owned home here in the New Hampshire Seacoast, and the new owner got himself a great buy.  The property had been listed for $249,900, and then was reduced a couple more times until it got down to $199,900.  And of course, all kinds of buyers wanted to see it at that point.

If you were to walk in the front door of this home, you’d have no clue this was a bank-owned home.  It sits on a gorgeous lot, the home had been nicely maintained inside and out - not at all the image conjured up by most of us when it comes to bank-owned homes.  At the peak of the market here in the Portsmouth New Hampshire area, this lot couldn’t have been bought for that asking price, never mind a lot that beautiful with a house on it!

I put it under agreement, we made it through the home inspections just fine, and then the first buyers I was working with just got cold feet - first time buyers and they just got scared.  It was such an incredible buy that I got right on the phone and began calling other potential buyers I had that this home would be great for, including some investors I had talked to about investment property.  Yep, this home would have been an incredible buy for investors, too!    

Portsmouth New Hampshire Real Estate Market Report -

Portsmouth Homes Market Activity Jan - April 2008 vs. Jan - April 2007

We currently have 81 homes for sale in Portsmouth, with an average asking price of $531,228.  There were 30 homes that went sale pending, and those homes had an average asking price of $406,017.  During this time period, we had 33 homes that were sold.  The average selling price was $362,112, and the average days on the market was 122 days.

For the Jan - April 2007 time period, we had 82 homes for sale in Portsmouth, with an averaga asking price of $434,329.  Fifty-seven homes went sale pending during that time period, with the average asking price of $341,429.  There were 43 homes that sold, with the average selling price being $297,723, and the average days on the market 124 days.