While watching the national news last night, I saw a segment on foreclosures in California and how one company's business is up because of them. Greener Grass Company from Stockton, CA spray paints dead, brown lawns with a water soluble green paint that lasts for 3-4 months.  The company is typically hired by real estate agents who list properties that have been repossessed by banks, but is sometimes hired by the city when foreclosures become a code enforcement issue.  I found this story very interesting because it certainly is a quick, affordable and very creative idea to give an unsightly property a little bit more "curb appeal".  Not quite sure if The Reilly Team would ever hire anyone to paint the dead lawn of any of our listings, but then again Vermont doesn't face the drought and foreclosure problems that California does. Besides there isn't much green on Vermont's lawns today - it finally started snowing!!!

For the complete story: "That's Fake Green on Foreclosure Lawns"

Burlington, Vermont, the place we call home, is truly a beautiful and unique place to live...and it has gotten some really great national press this Fall! Besides being in both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times within the past month, Burlington has most recently been dubbed the nation's healthiest city by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention according to an article on CNN.com. Per the article, 92% of Burlington residents say they are in good health and are also among the lowest in obesity and diabetes. It also notes that we are highly active, enjoying lots of exercise including hiking, bicycling and of course skiing. And it mentions that we tend to eat healthier and have access to better health benefits and corporate wellness programs, giving special attention to one of our state's largest employers IBM. It's short but sweet article that can be read in full here:

CNN.com - "Vermont City is Healthiest in U.S., CDC says" - click here for story

And here are links to the other great articles as well:

WSJ - "SmallCity, Big Charms" click here for story

NYT - "36 Hours in Burlington" - click here for story

Any out-of-staters thinking about moving to Burlington or another part of Vermont?? Let us know. We'd be happy to send you our complimentary relocation package highlighting what our beautiful state and city has to offer. The Hickok & Boardman Realty relo package has lots of great materials including info on The Flynn Center, Shelburne Farms, ECHO Lake Aquarium and ScienceCenter, Stowe Mountain Resort, Seven Days Restaurant Guide, and more! Contact us today and we'll put one in the mail for you!

The Geri Reilly Team - #1 Coldwell Banker Team in Vermont!

802.862.6677 or Email Geri

On the front page of today's Burlington Free Press was an article about the Obamas first visit as a family to their soon-to-be new home, the White House. While President George Bush and the President-elect talked politics, specifically the economy and foreign policy,  Laura Bush gave Michelle Obama a grand tour of the historic residence and talked about raising children in the White House. The Obamas got a sneek peek at the Lincoln Bedroom, the president's office in the residence and of course, the Oval Office. This article got us thinking about the property value of the White House...so for fun, we attempted to figure out the value. Of course not having access to the MLS system in Washington, D.C., calculating a full market analysis would be impossible! So instead, we used a handy tool on Realtor.com's home page called "What's Your Home Worth?" After typing in the infamous address, results were less than helpful as there was no market data available for that or any home on Pennsylvania Avenue! So then it got us thinking about the Obamas home in Chicago, it's value, and of course who might they hire as a Realtor! We Googled (this should be a legit verb now) for the Obamas address and plugged it into the home value tool. The data that came up, included neighboring homes on the market as well as recent sales. Homes on the Obama's Greenwood Avenue were selling in the $800,000 range. Do you think they'll need a  referral to a Coldwell Banker agent in Chicago? Fun and interesting stuff! :)