Beautiful Landscape Improves Home Values

Charlottesville Garden Undergoes a Massive Transformation That Results in a Geometric Layout of Clipped Hedges 

 and a Terrace for Entertaining

WRITTEN BY CATRIONA TUDOR ERLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CATRIONA TUDOR ERLER

Green is the color of the garden created by Frank Byers and Jerry Northcutt. It’s a peaceful place where they can entertain graciously and where the geometry of shape and form creates a restful, visually pleasing composition. What looks so “right” today began eleven years ago as a blank slate. Dotted on the property around the newly built house were a few mature cedars, but otherwise the land was bare. “We started from the base,” says Byers. “We knew we wanted a large terrace for entertaining, but we had to wait several years for the fill dirt to settle.” 

 While they waited, they planted cherry trees around the perimeter of the planned terrace. The only suitable place for this patio was on the west side of the house. With that exposure, it would be particularly hot on summer afternoons and evenings when it was most likely to be used. The cherry trees were to provide much-needed shade for the patio-to-be. Planning ahead paid off: the young trees got a good start on their growth during the years before the brick terrace was laid, so they were ready for service when everything was in place.

 The terrace became the central hub of the design from which all else radiates. Gravel paths lead off opposite sides of the patio, one wrapping around the side of the house to the front driveway and parking court. The other forms a straight axis parallel to the house, drawing the eye down the length to a beautiful armillary raised on a plinth. Clipped boxwoods line both paths, which are backed by evenly spaced cherry trees.

Read the rest of the this wonderful transformation via the attached link!!!  Ideas are always great to have!

http://http://www.homebydesign.com/pages/article/HBD_APR_11_08/43859/index.html

Thoughts????

Prepared for the Millennials(Generation Y) Assault on Real Estate??

Perhaps you have heard of the Millennials(individuals born between '80 & '95).  Maybe you raised two or three of them!

Yet 74 million strong, they rival their Baby Boomer parents/grandparents as the largest home-buying consumer "class" of all time.  

If one of these 74 million Millennials is the buyer, how will they find your home?  I assure you it won't be in the paper!   But they are an inquistive bunch as they have found that they can "Google" anything and can "Facebook" to learn about anyone, so they will love to come to your open house.

Many of the Millennials will be your 1st Time Home Buyer or look to move up to their second home(Very Mobile!).

So be sure you have a Realtor who will reply to a text question or email(if they bother with it) quickly...or they will move on to the next house...instant answers and high service are required by these buyers!  But beware "assuming" one buyer of this age group is like another!!   You'll suffer for it if you do!

Ensure there are lots of photos and/or tour and/or video of the home. Seeing is believing...if I can't see it, I don't believe.

So be smart, list your house with a Realtor that is tech savvy...if he or she says they are it will be very apparent...just "Google" them today!
If he/she isn't there with their website or their listed homes don't come up immediately, you will know!

And yes, that is how this group of home buyers/sellers could find their Realtor to sell a home they now own..but they are onto Facebook, LinkedIn and beyond to get "comfortable" with who this Realtor is!!

They are a savvy group!!   A wonder and a pleasure to work with!!!!