Thinking it’s “gotta be granite ?” Not anymore ! Granite has actually been falling out of favor for the past three years.  What has replaced it is engineered quartz . Other key features in 2018 kitchens are ample work stations , clean , clutter free countertops , appliance stations and maximal storage and organization.  Now more than ever consumers are seeking kitchen spaces that not only serve to feed and entertain but operate as functional work and play spaces .  That’s a heavy check list for kitchens of today but the options and price points to enable it to happen are varied and wide . Kitchen remodels are offered by a variety of design teams and contractors nationwide at all price points and with the amount of people seeking to remodel as opposed to move , this trend isn’t going away anytime soon .  Enjoy the read especially those of you seeking to sell  and who are planning  to do some house tweaking before you list ! As always I’d love to come to your property to talk about renovation ideas or pre sale “to dos” that will prove to be most lucrative when you choose to sell !

https://www.inman.com/2018/01/10/whats-hot-and-whats-not-in-2018-kitchen-trends/?utm_source=inbrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inbrief&utm_content=20180110%2B%2BREADMORE%2B1

Winter Morning in Providence, RI

The quiet, the cold and the pretty down by the shipping district this morning in Providence, RI   There are many benefits to starting the work day early. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. It’s productive.  For many of my clients the early morning is also their best time to connect and it’s amazing how many clients will text or email before the 6 am hour. The early morning time for me is used to set the day’s goals, to check the MLS, to check in with my clients AND to take stock of all the beauty around me. The quiet, the cold and the pretty…….

Reach out to me at any time at sarah.huard@mottandchace.com with any of your real estate needs and as always, take the time to take in the beauty that abounds here in the Ocean State!

Barrington real estate while frigid, exuding plenty of light and beauty…With a median estimated listing price of $409k, 3 new listings,10 pending and 10 recently sold the market continues to hum along steadily into the new year with what looks to be a very active market come early spring! With interest rates remaining low, consumer confidence high, prices escalating at a moderate rate and inventory opening up, the spring market looks to be one very robust one indeed! Please reach out to me if you’d like to look at real estate anywhere in RI or MA! I’d love to be of help. If you are looking to sell I’d love to come meet with you to talk about real estate opportunities for you in regard to your current home. I truly love what I do! Enjoy the beauty all around us, as depicted in these two shots taken tonight, and here’s to the warmer weather to come!

A beautiful sunset tonight at Prospect Park on Providence’s East Side . With 22 properties currently for sale and 3 newly listed within the last month, now is a great time to look at East Side living! With an average sale price of $592 k and a 3 month average ” Days on Market”, buyers with competitive offers can confidently enter the offer negotation process! Rhode Island in general finished 2017 in a place of strength in the real estate world with the number of solds increasing 1.65% for single family homes and a 7% price increase as compared to 2016! The sun may be setting here at scenic Prospect Park tonight but the “tomorrows” look very bright in the lens of RI real estate and this RI born Realtor is loving every minute of it!

What a joy it is to spend the day after the “day of giving” with a client looking at properties within my hometown of Barrington, RI. Despite the frigid December temperatures outside, days spent doing what I love most, helping people in real estate, serves to make that sun feel warmer AND that gorgeous Rhode Island sky appear even bluer. The gift of real estate for me is that people part..the part where I am able to help people engage in what for many is the biggest purchase or sale of their lifetime. A process which is filled with challenges and thoughtful negotiating and strategizing and forethought and one that I engage in fully and whole heartedly. To be able to guide clients through this process is something I find so rewarding and so invigorating! It brings out the athlete and competitor in me as well as the former teacher and psychology major in me! It also is a career that calls upon my year of service with City Year, where each day was devoted to making the lives of others around me better. That in a nutshell is why i “do ” and love real estate…so that I can make the lives of other people better.

These  pictures above,  taken today at Barrington Beach before showing a home adjacent to the beach, are indicative in many ways of our current real estate market. Clear and crisp when priced competitively and swift and rewarding when the sale is viewed as a win on both sides of the transaction. We are seeing more and more of that within the current RI market with competitively priced homes being looked at by a larger buying pool and being sold in a lucrative and timely fashion. Today’s market insight for Barrington, RI reveals a strong end of December climate with 10 new listings ,10 pending sales and 10 recently sold. A median sales price for December of 398k, an average “DOM” or days on market of 79 and 172 properties for currently for sale , reveal a slowly emerging inventory and a competitive market for those looking to sell and buy.

Whether you are thinking of selling or purchasing now or later in the spring it’s never ” too early” to start the process. Getting some winter maintenance tips done now on a home to be listed in the spring is a first step, as is meeting with a mortgage broker to get finances in order or to plan a budget for that spring home you are thinking of buying. Meeting early with a Realtor is also key for those looking to sell or buy in the spring in order to get a sense of price setting , strategizing when to enter the market and how to showcase your home most advantageously  and/or how much you’d like to spend on that next place you will be calling home as well as your “must haves” and location preferences.  As a native Rhode Islander I would love nothing more that to meet with you to start the process. Afterall, it all comes back to the “Why” I am involved in real estate…it’s that helping people part..Happiest of holidays to you and here’s to a wonderful 2018!!!.

The November Market Report just released by Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty indicating a strong finish to the fall! With an increased demand in competitively price homes to a 13.5% median increase in prices of new listings it has been a consistently robust time in RI real estate as of late! With conditions looking to continue for the foreseeable future now is a great time to buy or sell in RI!

https://indd.adobe.com/view/57630df3-ec28-45b4-ae9e-e0753f02cfd4?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

Warren, Rhode Island. A small community nestled between Barrington and Bristol with easy access to Providence and the West Bay. These pictures taken this morning reflect the inherent beauty within this small town. With a median sale price of $329,900 and a moderate 1.1% change in median listing price, now is a great time to look at homes within Warren, RI! Let me know if you’d like to explore Warren, RI!

Barrington, Rhode Island. A suburban , residential town in Bristol County a mere 7 miles southeast of Providence with easy access to Boston and the Cape. These pictures taken this morning reflect the coastal vibe existing within Barrington where median sales prices are at $432,500. With 12 new listings at all different price points, there is opportunity within Barrington real estate! Let me know if you’d like to explore my hometown of Barrington , RI!

Season’s Greetings to all! As we prepare to wrap up 2017 I cannot help but take in the beauty that surrounds us in RI. Not a day goes by when I do not stop to take in our natural glory. Working in my hometown of Barrington and throughout Providence allows me to savor all the unique elements that make RI such an eclectic and beautiful spot to live in. Recently I’ve become more involved in City Year, a non profit group under AmeriCorps which places teams of students in RI’s neediest of schools. My immersion back into City Year has me engaging with and helping folks in real estate throughout an expansive area of Providence including Smith Hill, Elmhurst and Elmwood; all areas near and dear to my heart.  A few weeks ago I was able to orchestrate a service project at the Carl G. Lauro school and led a team of Realtors in the painting of inspriational quotes throughout the hallways. My family was there to help me and it truly was such a gratifying experience.  Giving back and helping others is truly why I love being a Realtor and this project brought me right back to the year I spent as a corps member after graduating from Brown. While it was the hardest year, it truly was my most memorable year to date. I was recently asked to talk about my real estate career with a group in Providence and I referred frequently to the grit, determination, passion, drive and desire to achieve inherent in my nature and honed during my City Year experience.

Those skills are the same skills I use now as a Realtor with Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty. They are the same skills I developed early on as a competitive tennis player and then as an athlete at Brown. “Seeing no limits and only possibilities” has always been an essential part of my core and was tested after my freshman year at Brown when I decided that after ten years of competitive tennis I was going to end my time on the Brown tennis team and pick up squash. I had one summer to learn the game of squash and I was determined. It became my daily goal that freshman summer to not only learn the rules of the game but to be skilled enough to make the varsity team at Brown. Knowing that all the other women on the team had not only been playing squash for years but playing at elite prep schools was daunting yet not insurmountable. I had my goal, I laid out my objectives and each day I attacked it like I do now in real estate,  with a confidence, a passion and a true love for what I do and for whom I do it! (I did make the team and spent my final three years of Brown competing on the varsity women’s squash team and loving every minute of it!)

Along with that innate, relentless drive is also a love of learning all that I can about what I am doing and where I am doing it and helping out those that I can along the way. Being a native Rhode Islander I feel very proud of our small state and get great satisfaction in not only keeping abreast of all that is happening citywide and statewide but in promoting and celebrating our accomplishments. Whether it’s a local business emerging with lofty, community based goals, or an example of a group or individual giving back to a community or RI at large, I love to applaud those efforts and to share them on social media and /or within my inner circles.

Being as immersed in the RI economy as I am as a Realtor, I make it my goal to be as informed about the local market and national market as possible. Luckily, as a native Rhode Islander, like many, I was raised by parents who read The Providence Journal  daily. It was a habit I picked up early on and have yet to give up. I love waking up and reading my “Pro Jo” and sharing with my clients, with my spheres of influence and with those I connect with on social media all the good that is happening around us on a local and national level. It truly is the former teacher in me the “always wanting to learn more and to share that with others; to help others” shining through. This morning, like many others recently, I was thrilled to read another article reinforcing the notion of our ever strengthening economy and I wanted to share some of it with you . The resounding message of economic fortitude within the article reinforces my “glass half full” lifelong lens in which I view the state of RI!

Some key pieces from my accumulation of RI market info as of late:

~ Interest rates are rising with three more hikes likely in 2018 which is a clear “vote of confidence” by the Fed that the US economy remains on solid footing.

~The Central bank expects the job market and the economy to strengthen even further so will most likely keep raising rates.

~ The Fed boosted its forecast for growth to 2.5% next year up from the previous forecast of 2.1%.

All the above leaves us in 2017 feeling optimistic; full of hope here in RI. It’s a great time to buy and sell in RI or MA and the bottom line is that the market will continue to be a fruitful and strong one for the foreseeable future! The spring of 2018 for this Realtor is going to be one very busy one and I’d love to discuss real estate options with any of you should you be contemplating diving in to this robust Rhody market in 2018!

Enjoy this wonderful holiday season and be sure to take time to find the beauty so abundant all around us here in this great little ocean state!

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2017