17 Pearl St.
Enfield, CT 06082
2 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom with laundry
$1200 per month 
Heat & water included in rent! ​

What a great apartment!  My client had to move from PA to CT for a job transfer.  I emailed him some rentals available in the area, he sent me back his top four picks and we went and looked at them all.  His favorite of the day was also my favorite, at 17 Pearl St in Enfield.  This awesome apartment is a hidden gem, located above Coronna's Package Store.  Beautiful hardwood floors throughout, lots of light and laundry on the living level!  With Coronna's Market downstairs (home of the dollar grinder!) and some great restaurants within walking distance, my client will never go hungry at his new place!   Plus the Enfield Farmer's market is right outside all summer!  A great location and a great apartment for a great client!  Welcome to the neighborhood, Kevin!    

Today was the official start of the beekeeping season in our backyard.  I'm going to start the season off right by being honest and outing myself as a bad beekeeper!  For the record, overall, we're very good beekeepers in general.  We're going into our 8th season with bees in our backyard and over the years we've had great success.  (In beekeeping success is judged by how much honey you harvest and whether or not your bees survive the winter).  We've always done well.  We have good hive management practices, we've had great honey hauls and we've always had a least one of our hives live through until spring (we only keep two or three hives at a time so 1 out of 3 ain't bad).  Until the fall of 2017 that is.  

We had two strong hives going into the fall, we had taken off the last of the honey supers in early October and we were getting into our fall management groove.  The first week of November we started giving them some food to help get their stores up for winter and everything still looked good in both hives.  The following week, the bees were gone.  Just gone.  I was devastated.  Instead of mixing sugar syrup and delivering pollen patties I would be spending my "bee time" cleaning up our empty hives and storing them for winter.  

As a beekeeper whose been in the game a little while I can tell you that we are always stressing proper equipment storage methods to new-bees.  Because if you don't store your equipment properly it's almost 100% guaranteed to get ruined.  Wax moths and mice are the top culprits.  I know this.  So why didn't I store my equipment properly?  At first I was so disheartened by the loss of our hives, I put them in the garage and thought "I'll deal with that later.".  Then I got lazy and "later" never came.  Until today.  
   
I knew what I was going to find and I knew it was going to be painful.  But with new bees due to arrive on April 8th, I couldn't put it off any longer.  I had to know how bad it was.  I had to know what I could salvage and what I would need to replace.  It was a mess.  Thankfully, the damage was more mice than wax moth, and I was able to save a few frames.  But I feel like such a jerk!  The bees work so hard to draw out that comb and I just abandoned it in my garage when the bees abandoned me.  (That last part may be a little over the top.)     

Long story short:  Don't BEE lazy!  Take care of your equipment! 

​Last Tuesday evening, I was honored to be a "special guest speaker" for another Personal Finance class. This time at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, MA.  Nothing like addressing a room full of college students to get your nerves going!  The topic for the evening's lecture was "renting vs buying".  I teamed up with loan officer, Anne Johnson again for this event and she handled the financing portion of the lecture.  I discussed my point of view as a realtor.  The class was great!  Full of bright students with excellent questions.  

The campus at STCC was bigger than I expected and is full of cool old buildings, so I looked it up and learned...

Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) is the only polytechnic community college in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, located in the city of Springfield. Built on the site of the Springfield Armory National Park, which was founded by Henry Knox and George Washington during the Revolutionary War, Springfield Technical Community College now occupies many of the buildings used by the U.S. Armory at Springfield prior to its closure in 1969.
While 20 acres of the 55-acre site remain in the hands of the U.S. National Park Service for historic preservation, 35 acres are used by the college. Numerous historic buildings have been repurposed as classrooms in addition to newer facilities built on site.

After class Anne and I explored a little, found a cool mural and made this silly video... 

​​A big thank you to Professor Rick Sprinthall for having us and to the students for engaging us with great questions!  Go forward informed future home buyers! 

My husband's tattoo station is also the Waterbury, CT "branch" of my real estate office.  Find me with the rest of the best at Brass City Tattoo!  

If you're there for a tattoo, it means you're not afraid to make a commitment and are therefore not afraid of other big commitments, like... buying a house!  Don't forget to grab my card!  

Even though a burglary occurs every 20 seconds in the U.S., you can still protect yourself without installing top-dollar security features.

Home burglary generally has a pattern; criminals are looking for an easy target they can rob fast. Learn from the pros. Here are six tips from career burglars you can use to defend your home and prevent break-ins.

​1. Nighttime Burglaries Aren’t the Best Time
Burglars like to break in to homes during daytime hours—the last thing criminals want is to encounter someone at home. Weekdays are ideal for thieves, since weekend schedules are too unpredictable. Between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. are the most popular times because there’s a high chance people will be away at work or school.

2. They Know When You’re Not Home—Thanks to Social Media
While it’s tempting to post about your vacation to your social media feed, wait to share those trip photos and exotic location check-ins until you’re back home. Criminals scout public social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Foursquare to find victims.

Locating someone’s home address using basic information from their social media profile is surprisingly easy. In one survey of convicted burglars, more than 10 percent say they used social media to determine who was out of town. The same survey found one burglar stole over $250,000 in electronics and jewelry from 33 women he saw in public—he used GPS data embedded in photos they posted online to find their homes.

Even if all your accounts are private, that old friend from high school or new neighbor down the street could be a potential criminal. Never post what times you’re not home or how long you’ll be out.
​

3. They Don’t Like Your Security Practices
Burglars want nothing to do with alarm systems (whether they’re from the best home security companies or not). Homes without a security system are almost 300 percent more likely to be targeted for a break-in.  If you do install an alarm system, make sure you guard it with a strong code. Don’t use your house number or birthday, and clean any dirt or grease off your keypad so a burglar won’t guess your code based off the numbers you’ve hit the most. Unlocked windows, unused deadbolts, poorly lit homes, and residences without security systems are prime targets for burglars, so make sure you are using the security features you already have.

Also, tricks that make it look like you’re home really work, professional burglars reveal. Burglars run from properties that look like people are inside. Motion sensor lights, bright flood lights, and timed lights are inexpensive security features for a home’s exterior that scare criminals away. TVs or radios left on, as well as cars parked in the driveway, make burglars nervous that someone is home.

4. Great Targets Advertise Their Weapon Supply
If you’re a proud gun owner, that won’t scare away burglars—it entices them. A gun is stolen roughly every two minutes in the U.S., so homeowners should be sure to always lock up their guns. NRA bumper stickers on a car or Smith & Wesson signs on a house advertises that there are lots of guns to steal.

5. Shrubs and Architecture Make Great Hiding Spots
Tall bushes are favorites of burglars since they offer an obstructed view from the street and an easy way to hide from neighbors. Keep shrubs and large landscaping features trimmed. If you want big plants by your windows, choose something thorny that will detract a burglar, like roses or cacti.
​
Think twice about large architecture features, too, like fences, half walls, and big fountains. Thieves are searching for crimes of opportunity, and such decor elements give a burglar more time to hide and plot their method of entry. The best defense is a clear view of your front porch.

6. Valuables in the Open Help Them Decide on a Target 
Keep your expensive items out of sight. You’re making it too easy for a burglar by advertising the type of valuables they can steal. Don’t leave a new MacBook in front of your first-floor kitchen window, iPads on your living room ottoman, or even a nice car in a garage window with a clear sight line to the street. Key hooks—especially with labels for each key—need to be concealed out of view from windows, too.
​
“A burglar appreciates such kindness, but you will find it expensive when you have to replace all the locks after a break-in,” says Mike Fraser, former professional burglar and host of the BBC show Beat the Burglar.
Fraser also advises to leave large family calendars out of view. You’re inviting a break-in by detailing when you’ll be away, Fraser says. This advice goes for any ID documents, too. Mail or other personal information left in plain view is a gold mine for a criminal looking to easily steal your details for identity theft.

Original article by Krystal Rogers-Nelson

I don't usually brag about properties "under contract" because we all know anything can happen and nothing is official until closing day BUT...  I'm very excited to have my first official contract in place at my new brokerage and I'm super excited for my first time buyer client as her home buying journey begins with this great property!  

Have you been thinking about purchasing a home but don't know where to start?

Are you tired of paying rent to pay someone else's mortgage?

it's time to make a change! Learn how!

Please join us at T Maria's restaurant on Wednesday, April 4th for a FREE homebuyer seminar starting at 6:30pm. Come by, have a snack and learn about the home buying process so you can start to make your home owning dreams come true!

​You can RSVP on FACEBOOK and I hope to see you there! 

Sean likes IPAs and was able to make a flight with 5 of them.  I'm not a fan of all that hoppy flavor so my flight was more porters, stouts and ales.  They've got a lot of good beers at Tin Bridge, definitely stop in and discover your new favorite!  

In addition to the beer they more often than not have a food truck on site to satisfy your snack cravings.  On METAL MONDAY they had Murphy's Mobile with a special metal-themed menu for the night.  

We had a nice appetizer of popcorn and then made a meal of the Brakeman Fries and the Cowboy from Hell grilled cheese (pictured below).  Really, really good! 

We plan to visit Tin Bridge Brewing Company again as soon as possible and you should too!  
​Sean Martin says... 
"It's wonderful."