If you're thinking of selling your home, keep in mind that buyers appreciate a clean look in the homes they view. You can increase the value of your home and decrease the time it takes to sell by making a few simple improvements.

Aroma is the first thing prospective buyers notice when they step inside a home. To eliminate odors, steam clean your carpet and wash walls and floors with household cleaners and disinfectants. Keep your home smelling fresh by burning candles or potpourri, boiling a pot of cinnamon sticks or putting a dab of vanilla on cold light bulbs before turning them on.

Nothing makes a home look newer faster than painting. Painting your walls and removing outdated wallpaper may be the best interior improvements you can make. For broader appeal, paint in neutral colors such as beige, white, off-white, or gray. These colors suggest newness and cleanliness and can brighten a dull or outdated room. If your carpet is badly worn, outdated or stained, consider replacing it. If your carpet is heavily soiled, you may want to have it professionally cleaned. Brighten the interior of your home by cleaning your windows and opening your curtains to let light in. Clean hanging light fixtures and add the highest-wattage bulbs allowed. Below are 20 suggestions to help you sell your home.

Make the Most of that First Impression:

A well-manicured lawn, neatly trimmed shrubs and a clutter-free porch welcome prospects. So does a freshly painted - or at least freshly scrubbed - front door. If it's autumn, rake the leaves. If it's winter, shovel the walkways. The fewer obstacles between prospects and the true appeal of your home, the better.

Invest a Few Hours for Future Dividends:

Here's your chance to clean up in real estate. Clean up in the living room, the bathroom, the kitchen. If your woodwork is scuffed or the paint is fading, consider some minor redecoration. Fresh wallpaper adds charm and value to your property. Prospects would rather see how great your home really looks than hear how great it could look, "with a little work."

Check Faucets and Bulbs:

Dripping water rattles the nerves, discolors sinks and suggests faulty or worn-out plumbing. Burned out bulbs leave prospects in the dark. Don't let little problems detract from what's right with your home.

Don't Shut Out a Sale:

If cabinets or closet doors stick in your home, you can be sure they will also stick in a prospect's mind. Don't try to explain away sticky situations when you can easily plane them away. A little effort on your part can smooth the way toward a closing.

Think Safety:

Homeowners learn to live with all kinds of self-set booby traps: roller skates on the stairs, festooned extension cords, slippery throw rugs and low hanging overhead lights. Make your residence as non-perilous as possible for uninitiated visitors.

Make Room for Space:

Remember, potential buyers are looking for more than just comfortable living space. They're looking for storage space, too. Make sure your attic and basement are clean and free of unnecessary items.

Consider Your Closets:

The better organized a closet, the larger it appears. Now's the time to box up those unwanted clothes and donate them to charity.

Make Your Bathrooms Sparkle:

Bathrooms sell homes, so let them shine. Check and repair damaged or unsightly caulking in the tubs and showers. For added allure, display your best towels, mats and shower curtains.

Create Dream Bedrooms:

Wake up prospects to the cozy comforts of your bedrooms. For a spacious look, get rid of excess furniture. Colorful bedspreads and fresh curtains are a must.

Open up in the Daytime:

Let the sun shine in! Pull back your curtains and drapes so prospects can see how bright and cheery your home is.

Lighten up at Night:

Turn on the excitement by turning on all your lights - both inside and outside - when showing your home in the evening. Lights add color and warmth, and make prospects feel welcome.

Avoid Crowd Scenes:

Potential buyers often feel like intruders when they enter a home filled with people. Rather than giving your house the attention it deserves, they're likely to hurry through. Keep the company present to a minimum.

Watch Your Pets:

Dogs and cats are great companions, but not when you're showing your home. Pets have a talent for getting underfoot. So do everybody a favor: Keep Kitty and Spot outside, or at least out of the way.

Think Volume:

Rock-and-roll will never die. But it might kill a real estate transaction. When it's time to show your home, it's time to turn down the stereo or TV.

Relax:

Be friendly, but don't try to force conversation. Prospects want to view your home with a minimum of distraction.

Don't Apologize:

No matter how humble your abode, never apologize for its shortcomings. If a prospect volunteers a derogatory comment about your home's appearance, let an experienced Real Estate Agent handle the situation.

Keep a Low Profile:

Nobody knows your home as well as you do. But a Real Estate Agent know buyers - what they need and what they want. Your Real Estate Agent will have an easier time articulating the virtues of your home if you stay in the background.

Don't Turn Your Home into a Second-Hand Store:

When prospects come to view your home, don't distract them with offers to sell those furnishings you no longer need. You may lose the biggest sale of all.

Defer to Experience:
When prospects want to talk price, terms, or other real estate matters, let them speak to an expert - your Real Estate Agent.

Help Your Agent:

Your Real Estate Agent will have an easier time selling your home if showings are scheduled through his or her office. Offer to keep an eye on the brochure box attached to your sign and make sure it is always filled with flyers. Try to accommodate prospective buyers when they want to see your home.

for more tips & ideas in selling your home please contact Matt Martel from RE/MAX Northern Edge Realty 603-752-0003 or via email matthewmartel@remax.net For more information on property in northern NH please visit www.teamner.com

Berlin NH Youth Hockey 11/29/2008 scores & highlights from the Mite Division. My son plays youth hockey for the Berlin Sabre's of the mite division. Ages 7-9. After devastating losses to the hands of level one teams in the state of NH. We were finally moved to level three today and we played our first game in level three against Concord, NH. The Sabre's won 4-3! The Sabre's finallygot to play teams that played at their level, making the game competitive and exciting for the team and their fans. I'm an assistant coach with two other dads. To watch those kids play today was as exciting as can be! After the game the childrens parents & grandparents were besides themselves. It as fantastic! If you ever get a chance to catch a youth hockey game you should check it out!

Brought to you be the Berlin Daily Sun

Berlin Mites fall to Nashua, 3-2

NASHUA - Berlin Mites traveled to Nashua on Sunday November 9th. Nashua started off the scoring in the first period. There was a lot of back and forth play, from Berlin players Andrew Martel, John Boucher, Rickey Lambert, and Cameron Delisle. Berlin Goaltender Trent Labrecque held Nashua at 1-0 stopping eight of the nine shots he faced.
In the second period, the home team scored first making it a 2-0 lead for the southerners. However, Berlin's Noah Schoenbeck got Berlin on the board with help from team mate Hunter Fauteux to cut the Berlin deficit to one at 2-1.
Nashua got their lead back to two goals by netting one more to end the period 3-1. Labrecque had nine more saves in the Berlin cage.
During third period action, Berlin got their second goal of the game. Fauteux took off on a break away and scored making it 3-2.
Berlin had other scoring opportunities from Austin Scarinza and Kurtis Grover. Unfortunately neither one found the back of the net.
Great defensive play by Ryan Bisson, Hayden Piet, Cameron Boucher and Tyler Rousseau helped goal keeper Labrecque to shut down the opposition in the third period. Labrecque stopped another eight shots, reaching a total of 25 saves for the game.

This article is brought to you by The Berlin Daily Sun which published this article in todays newspaper:

Visit the 'Gifts from the Heart Tree' at Woodlands

BERLIN- AV Home Care and Woodlands Credit Union's ‘Gifts from the Heart' Christmas Tree will be in the Berlin Woodlands Credit Union lobby by December 1, for the upcoming holiday season. This year, more people may be facing a strained and difficult holiday season. The Gifts from the Heart tree allows those of us who can, the chance to give a gift to someone locally that may not otherwise receive a gift.
The decorated Christmas tree will be adorned with many special ornaments. Each ‘stocking' ornament contains some vital information about an AV Home Care client. Each 'stocking' holds a client's wish for a gift, the age, and gender of the client. To provide this gift, and bring joy to others, remove the stocking from the tree, purchase and wrap the gift. Place the gift, with the stocking attached, under the tree. Because we want to assure deliveries before Christmas Day, gifts should be placed under the tree by December 22.
Our community has been most generous, time and time again. Please visit Woodlands Credit Union in Berlin, take a stocking from the Gifts from the Heart Tree to benefit someone within our community.

I wanted to give thanks to the men & women of our armed forces. Many of whom will not be able to spend Thanksgiving Day with their family and friends. They will however be in our hearts and prayers today and everyday.

My seven year old son Andrew, who is helping me write this post wants to thank all the veterans who have fought in wars and made our freedom possible!

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis