Spruce up the Hood. Earn Dollars

This is a particularly crucial year for this neighbourhood. Since 1986 property values have seen a 900% increase! Every year values have hit new highs. That is...until last year. We were hit by a perfect storm. In general it was a wishy washy year for real estate at large. On top of that, a few sellers made very critical errors. They priced their homes unrealistically high; probably betting on the slipstream from The Club Lofts. (bad timing) As a result, their homes did not move for almost a full year. The second mistake they made was leaving the houses on the market for that full period. (They should have pulled them off for at least a couple of months). This put control sqarely into prospect buyers hands. The consequence: All homes involved were negotiated down and sold below value. The last two homes which sold on the block were private sales. One sold for a mere $150,000 (way below value) and the most recent sold where it should at $175,000. Hopefully the latter and better negotiated sale is the end of last years bad business cycle.
To restore the old trend we all have to do our bit to market the hood. In the beginning (back in 1985) those of us who initiated the popularity of the street made an informal pact. It was decided that in order to protect and grow our investments in what was a very iffy neighbourhood we would have to market our efforts. Before restoring the interiors of newly purchased homes we concentrated on the exteriors. New gardens, shutters, lights, lawns, porches, street lamps street cleaning and the like. Curb appeal. This collabrative effort payed out in spades. Interest in the block was high and people were lining up to buy into the action. Soon enough the interiors caught up and everything spiralled from there.
We have to be cognizant of this again. We have to put the hood back on the tracks. A good time to start is now. Clean, plant, paint for the ultimate show. This is why we always do our street sweep one week before Art in the Park. There is no better vehicle to show off a neighbourhood.
Just something to keep in mind folks. If you have a planter on a street lamp in front of your house please try to plant it before Art in the Park. Once again, that is why we put them there. Thats also why we put the new street lamps there for that matter. When you are ready to move on from Monmouth remember to negotiate the due worth of your home. Never make a decision from an emotional stance. Lets rise to the occasion. See you out in the street.