Thank You!

I closed a wonderful chapter in my life, this month.  Pursuing new career opportunities in the timber frame industry, I have recently left my role as Sales Director at StreamLine Communities, and I am no longer the Sales Director for Academy Hill Groton.  Academy Hill remains in good hands with my colleagues at StreamLine Communities in Littleton, MA www.streamlinecommunities.com

Visit www.AcademyHillHomes.com, or contact StreamLine Communities for all of your questions regarding this great neighborhood, Academy Hill in Groton, MA.

Thank you to all of my Academy Hill colleagues, customers, vendors, developer, builders, and above all, thank you to my great Academy Hill neighbors for making this a memorable chapter in my family's lives in Groton.


Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins

New Homes Sales Favorable Through 2016

New homes sales are expected to rise 38 percent from 2014 year end base.  The number has been flat for too long and with rising home starts, increasing price projections, and favorable lending rates and underwriting, new homes sales are expected to be favorable for the next few years. With low interest rates, low housing supply, and rising prices, now is a good time to buy and take advantage of the expected appreciation.

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director

Academy Hill Homes

176 Cherry Tree Lane

Groton, MA 01450

main: (877) 448-0055

fax: (978) 448-4020

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

main: (978) 952-6495

fax: (978) 952-6497

To all of the Brokers and Agents out there!

I am hearing a common theme as I meet with real estate agents and their clients lately, that there are very few homes to choose from on the market right now.  When it comes to selecting a home for the long-term, finding one that suits all of your client's needs is not always easy to do.

Select a lot, home plan, and add to our standard specifications

If your client has some flexibility to wait for a home to be constructed, not only will they get a floor plan of their desire, but the finishes and specifications will be tailored to their vision of home.
Call or visit me at the Academy Hill sales center to discuss your client's needs.  I am always happy to co-broke with agents and brokers!

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director

Academy Hill Homes

Groton, MA

(877) 448-0055

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

The St. Patrick's Day-Themed Open House

The St. Patrick's Day themed open house was another success with one new reservation in the detached condos, and formal interest being discussed in our model home.  "Thank You" to everyone who stopped in on Sunday.  I look forward to having new neighbors, soon!

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director

Academy Hill Homes

Groton, MA

(877) 448-0055

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

Springtime Landscaping Preparations

Remember these things? Yes, they are on the way!

So this long winter is finally showing some signs of Spring.  A few more days approaching 60 degrees will quickly help to melt away all of this snow.  As a home owner, one thought that crosses my mind is springtime landscaping cleanup and preparation.  Before the first Crocus buds from the ground, plan ahead and consider taking the following steps to ensure that your yard is at it's best this year:

Make a Landscape Plan
Plan ahead and consider what you would like to achieve, add, or change with your landscaping.  Are you looking to add any annuals?  Re-seed an area of grass? Create a mulched island?  Taking the time to plan ahead will help you achieve your goal and save you time.

Clean up of Branches, Leaves, and Debris
Even with the best Fall clean-up, leaves are likely to have been carried to your lawn and planting areas last year.  Take care to remove this from your grass with a good raking, as soon as possible, to encourage new grass growth and also to help keep the PH of the lawn consistent.

Add New Mulch
Mulch beds are a good place to start with Springtime lawn care.  A few inches of fresh mulch turned into your existing mulch helps the soil maintain a manageable moisture level.  Also, old mulch oxidizes, deteriorates, and fades with age, so new mulch and cleaned up mulch-bed edges are a great way to see some progress right away.

Prune branches and Remove Dead Material
Prune any dead branches and remove any plants that may have not made it through the winter.  This is another good opportunity to take an inventory of your plantings and consider adding to or revising the layout of areas with plantings, trees and shrubs.  Use quality, sharp, pruning shears and cutters to ensure that they are not detrimental to the health of the plants, shrubs, and trees.  Here is a link to an article on How and When to Prune trees and shrubs: http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/prime-time-pruning

Aerate the Soil
This is where I usually call my landscaping company with the big rollers that leave all of those plugs of soil and sod behind.  This can be done by hand, but is very tedious and should be part of a regular maintenance routine from a landscaping company.  Here are a few companies that have serviced our Academy Hill Homes:

P. C. Mayette in Groton
http://www.pcmyette.com/
(978) 448-3838

Cataldo in Littleton
http://www.cataldolandscape.com/
(978) 486-4331

Babin Landscaping, Pepperell
http://www.babinlandscaping.com/
(978) 433-5169

De-Winterize and Check Irrigation Heads and Lines
The sprinkler irrigation heads that are closest to the roads and driveways often encounter damage from snow removal.  Have a qualified irrigation specialist evaluate irrigation system needs and plan to test the irrigation system to ensure that it is working properly and providing suitable coverage of all areas during the drier months.  If equipped, test your rain sensor to ensure that it is functioning properly, and set and test any timing devices to lessen waste and improve efficiency.

image courtesy of John Deere Landscapes, Chelmsford, MA

Check and Maintain any Landscaping Equipment
Riding mowers, motor-tilling tools, leaf blowers, motorized saws, weed-eaters, and spreaders all require regular attention to ensure that they are working at their best.  A local equipment sales and service company, familiar and qualified with your specific equipment, should be consulted at the beginning of the season.  A few great options for equipment sales and service companies are found near Academy Hill, but I personally have great experience with Shepherd's Sales and Service in Townsend, MA:

Shepherd's Sales and Service
http://www.goshepshop.com/
(978) 597-8907

If you take the time to address all of these things early in the season, you can be assured that your lawn and gardens will look better than ever as the warm weather progresses. Perhaps you will find yourself wanting to spend more time outdoors... a paver-stone patio, perhaps? Screen porch or 3 season room?  Enjoy the Spring and good luck with your landscaping endeavors.

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director

Academy Hill Homes

Groton, MA

(877) 448-0055

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

8 Paint Colors That Will Make You Rethink White

From HouseBeautiful.com's Lindsey Campbell this week, is an article that will help you choose just the right neutral color for your home.  At Academy Hill Groton, as a standard feature of your new home selections, we provide you with one selection of Sherwin Williams brand white for the entire home as a base color, and additional colors are priced as upgrades, depending on the selection and coverage areas.  The task of choosing a white or base color is more challenging than it would initially seem.

Have a look at the article for a good place to start for inspiration:  http://www.housebeautiful.com/home-remodeling/interior-designers/a3474/best-white-paint/

Have fun!

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director 

Academy Hill Homes

Groton, MA 

(877) 448-0055

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

Let's hear from some of our neighbors!

I have been the Sales Director at Academy Hill since February of 2009.  I have also lived here with my beautiful wife and daughter since July of 2011.  Naturally, being so personally invested in this residential development, anything that I might say or represent about our three great neighborhoods
may seem biased toward the positive and idyllic.  However, my appreciation and love for this neighborhood, especially since joining as a fellow Academy Hill resident, is as genuine and authentic as could be.

We live in a busy and time consuming world, but I hope that some of our current Academy Hill Condominium and Single Family home owners might be compelled to take a moment and reply below with a few words about their experiences, living at Academy Hill.

Let me know how you like it here!

Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins

Sales Director 

Academy Hill Homes

Groton, MA 

(877) 448-0055

www.AcademyHillHomes.com

@AcademyArthur

Marketed by StreamLine Communities

Some Ideas for your Next Home...

I think that we are doing something right with our standard home specifications.  I say this because most people purchasing homes and condos here at Academy Hill request very few upgrades, feeling most everything that they could want is already included.  However, everything is virtually upgradeable!  Trends come and go, but some common themes seem to be upgrades from carpet to hardwood flooring in areas where carpet is standard, extra areas of electric light wiring is also popular, finished basements and/or finished third-floor walk-ups, too.  Another upgrade that is always popular is a site-built, tile shower such as the one pictured, here:

Site-Built, tile shower and jetted tub at Academy Hill Groton

Here are some other ideas for your next home:
- Smart thermostat i. e. the NEST thermostat (among many "smart" features, it programs itself!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8TkhHgkBsg
- GE Profile, Monogram, or Cafe product-line appliance upgrades (Stainless GE appliances are provided, standard)
- Screen porch decks (upgrades also include Trex and Azek composite deck materials, as well as 4 season room additions to standard plans)
- French-style opening doors in areas where there is the desire to close-off a room for privacy
- Central vacuum system
- Additional electrical upgrades like outlets, USB-integrated outlets, dimmers, recessed, canister lights, or motion-sensing lighting for the exterior
- Media upgrades include integrated speakers for surround-sound, provisions for HDMI and other formats, built into the walls
- Paver stone walk ways and patios
- Tankless Rinnai-style hot water heaters
- Geothermal heat systems

This list could go on and on, but you can see that there are many fun things that you can add to a new home to make it more personal to your tastes!  Here is a list of our standard specifications: http://www.academyhillhomes.com/Features/default.aspx

Sincerely,
Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
176 Cherry Tree Lane
Groton, MA 01450
www.AcademyHillHomes.com
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448 0055

Academy Hill Selection Room Table

Get Ready for the Taste of Nashoba, March 24th, 5:30 PM - 8 PM

The Groton Line is reporting that chefs are preparing for the 14th Taste of the Nashoba Valley:

http://www.thegrotonline.com/2015/03/03/chefs-are-prepping-for-the-14th-taste-of-nashoba-valley/

"Chefs from one end of the Nashoba River Valley to the other are prepping for the 14th Annual “Taste of Nashoba Valley,” on Tuesday, March 24, 2015. Produced by the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce, it will serve up the area’s finest food from 5:30-8:00 p.m. at the Lawrence Academy Stone Athletic Center in Groton. The Groton Fire Department and the Groton-Dunstable Athletic Boosters are selling advance tickets; each group earns $5 from each ticket sold and returns the money to its community projects..."

I certainly plan to be there on the 24th.  I hope to see you, there!

Nashoba Valley Chamber website link:
http://nashoba.preview.gochambermaster.com/events/details/taste-of-nashoba-18884

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
176 Cherry Tree Lane
Groton, MA 01450
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448 0055
www.AcademyHillHomes.com

Spring is Just 2 1/2 Weeks Away!

I know what you are thinking.  Another snow fall...will this snow ever melt away?

Springtime is just 2 1/2 weeks away, so take a moment to think ahead to what you will be doing once the snow melts and the green returns.  Here are some links to help you think of Springtime!

Riverdale Farm and Garden  "...a family owned garden center located in beautiful Groton, Massachusetts. Come see for yourself the large selection of our very own grown plants from our greenhouses. The care we take in growing plants shows in the quality and healthiness of all of our robust flowers and shrubs."  

http://www.riverdalefarmandgarden.com/

The Nashua River Rail Trail " ...a former railroad right of way that travels 11 miles through the towns of Ayer, Groton, Pepperell and Dunstable. The trail offers a 10-foot wide paved surface for the entire length, and a five-foot wide gravel equestrian path for seven miles of the trail from Groton Center to the New Hampshire border in Dunstable. The entire trail is open to pedestrians, bicyclists, inline skaters, wheelchairs, and cross-country skiers."

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-central/nashua-river-rail-trail.html

Nashoba Paddler "...rent quality Old Town canoes and kayaks and BIC stand up paddleboards on the beautiful, friendly Nashua River in West Groton, Massachusetts. Launch from our rental site and paddle for hours in either direction!"

http://www.nashobapaddler.com/


Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
176 Cherry Tree Lane
Groton, MA 01450
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448 0055
www.AcademyHillHomes.com

Remaining Reachable to You 7 Days a Week, Even With my Slightly Unusual Schedule!

Today is a Tuesday, and as some may have noticed, my on-site office is not open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  My open house hours are typically every other day, however, Thursdays through Mondays, from 11 AM to 4 PM.

Most people are busy with work on Monday through Friday, and most people will typically have the weekend days off.  As the only representative who is physically here on-site, I felt it best to make myself available at Academy Hill Groton on these weekend days, both Saturdays and Sundays, choosing Tuesdays and Wednesdays as my down time, to catch up with personal business and pleasure with my family.

Sometimes, I may have an interested person trying to contact me on a Tuesday or Wednesday.  While I will try my absolute best to connect with incoming calls and emails on any day, another dedicated colleague is also typically helping me to answer any questions on the days I am usually relieved of on-site duty.

If she, too, is not there to answer your phone calls or emails, please just leave a message or an email, and I am happy to respond and answer any questions as soon as my schedule permits, typically responding right away, or within less than 24 hours on those two days I am off.  It is always a pleasure to try to accommodate any request for a model home showing, but our regular Thursday through Monday office hour days are a guaranteed best time to ensure availability, even at last-minute.

I look forward to hearing about your interest in Academy Hill, anytime.  We are here to discuss your interest so please call, visit, or email, with questions!


Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
176 Cherry Tree Lane
Groton, MA 01450
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448 0055

Like us on Facebook and Follow me on Twitter

I have been posting more regularly on Twitter and Facebook.  If you have not yet done so, please like us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Academy-Hill/113587045362636?fref=photo

and follow me on Twitter @AcademyArthur

 https://twitter.com/academyarthur

Look forward to more photos of our site, construction, upcoming event announcements, and daily goings-on via social media.  I encourage you to post your own comments and experiences with us at Academy Hill Groton.

Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
Sales@AcademyHillHomes
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448-0055
www.AcademyHillHomes.com

Selling Condos With the Help of my Neighbors!

I may not have emphasized this enough before, but I really love living on-site at Academy Hill Groton!

Today was a Sunday like any other for me at Academy Hill.  A few of the neighborhood ladies had planned to surprise an expecting mom with a stealthily-planned baby shower, and a few of us who are dads were home taking care of kid-duty during the baby shower.  I started my day in a very happy mood, knowing that a beloved neighbor and friend would be surprised in such a memorable way.

While my wife was away and attending the festivities for the expectant mother to be, I continued with my sales-center/model home open house today and my daughter Anna, a first-grader at Florence Roche Elementary, was playing with neighborhood kids over a friend's house a few doors down from my current model home.

While showing a detached condominium home to a group of prospective buyers today, one of my more recent sales from last year stopped in to say hello and to offer some words of encouragement to our party.  Another walking her dog had a few positive exchanges with us as we parked our vehicles.  This may seem like a small and insignificant thing to do, but the sincere and honest feedback of our neighbors goes a long way in portraying how great it really is here.

Representing the ongoing sales here at the Academy Hill development, I sometimes forget that everything and anything that a sales professional like me would have to say, would always sound positive and wonderful since I am trying to sell these homes!  It is really a pleasure to have such genuinely happy people stop in and interact, who have actually gone through the purchase process with us before, available and willing to say such nice things about their experience here, too!  Thanks, neighbors!


Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
Sales@AcademyHillHomes
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448-0055
www.AcademyHillHomes.com

Quality Control, and A Visit From a Friend and Future Neighbor...

If you have been following our blogs and social media posts at Academy Hill, you will know that I often move my office about the site, moving to the completed model homes as one sells and another beautiful home becomes complete.  A big challenge that I can have with this practice is that, sometimes, we have sold out of finished homes, and my office and I have no place to go until another home is built!

Of recent, I have moved to our very last single-family home in the third phase.  Whenever we move, there is a process involved behind the scenes that ensures the homes are ready to present to the public and sell.  Once the model home furniture is moved in, staging is made as aesthetically pleasing as possible via our professional interior designer, and then, finally, the Construction Supervisor, Quality Control Administrator, and/or I myself, will go through the home with an extra 'fine-toothed comb' and look for and mark any flaws, nicks, drips, scuffs, cracks, stains, or anything else that might not be up to the builder's standards.  A new "punch-list" is then made, and then communicated to production to assign the appropriate contractors for the final finish and polish.

There are four development phases of single family neighborhood construction at Academy Hill, (Detached condos are different, and available to build at any time).  Today, I am in my last and final single-family home of Phase 3.

Link to this very-last phase 3 home's specific info:
http://vow.mlspin.com/idx/Details.aspx?mls=71674528&aid=M9502375

Phase 4 is currently being worked and planned for release in the not-too-distant future, but in the meantime, my growing list of potential buyers will need to wait, or else buy my last available phase 3 home.

Of those potential buyers, I have had many enjoyable interactions and visits with a few, and today was one such day where a familiar face (let's call him "Alex" for the purpose of this blog post!) visited my open house while I was in the midst of my quality-control duties to the developer.

I will take this opportunity to say that Alex has become a friend, as I have enjoyed speaking with him over the last many months about his achievements, successes, and personal life events that are all very positive as he waits for a couple of very specific opportunities within our fourth phase to be released.  Alex has been very understanding of the time needed to prepare our phase 4 lot release, and in the meantime, he has had many great things happen in his life that make the wait worthwhile.

Alex and his lovely fiancee, (let's call her "Linda" in the interest of privacy) have been discussing some custom features that they are looking forward to enhancing our Baldwin style plan with, and once we have the last Academy Hill phase released, I look forward to seeing their dream home constructed in due form.

Alex is a bit of a perfectionist, (another reason I we are friends!) and once we went through our typical routine talk, catching up on events since our last time together, Alex offered some fresh, unbiased eyes to help me with my quality control task, and I soon found that I had an impromptu assistant helping me compile a list to make our current model home complete and as perfect (hopefully as perfect as Linda's brand-new sport SUV that he was showing off to me, today!)

Glad to say that the list was not too long, and our new owners will appreciate the level of quality and care that they are receiving once these few cosmetic touch-ups are addressed.

Thanks for the visit, Alex!, and I look forward to having you join us at Academy Hill.  Here's to more future neighbors and friends!

Sincerely,

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur
(877) 448-0055
www.AcademyHillHomes.com

Save the date! March 15th is our Spring Event at Academy Hill

Plan to take a ride to Academy Hill Groton on Sunday, March 15th to enjoy an afternoon of information and refreshment as we further unveil our most exciting new offerings and take in the newest available model home on our third phase of development.  176 Cherry Tree Lane, 11 - 4.   More details will become available, soon!  Call today to learn more.

Arthur Haskins
Sales Director
Academy Hill Groton
(877) 448-0055
Sales@AcademyHillHomes.com
@AcademyArthur

Hello 2015! and an Academy Hill Testimonial I Would Like to Share

I have not posted anything here at blogger in a while, now that we have facebook and other ways of interacting with you, but I wanted to resurrect this and add something new as we prepare to move forward with a few more homes and condominiums for 2015 at our many available lots.

Here is a great email I received that reflects a buyer's happiness with choosing Academy Hill, but please know that letters like this also make my experience of selling our beautiful homes to new neighbors and friends so worthwhile.  - Arthur Haskins Sales Director

“Hello Arthur,
I hope this note finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our experience working with you during our home building process at Academy Hill. Looking back to our initial discovery of Academy Hill over 3 years ago, we had come across an open house for a home built by a different contractor (green/blue home on the hill…Cherry Tree Lane). At the time Groton and for that matter Academy Hill was just an option along with Westford and other target communities.
I remember going to the open house and noticing this gentleman in an old school Mercedes showing another home a couple lots down. We were curious of the real estate situation there, in terms of who represents Academy Hill and the numbered wooded lots we had seen during our visit. We didn’t want to interrupt this gentleman’s conversation with the prospective buyers but certainly noticed true passion and attentiveness in his approach with his visitors. This gentleman turned out to be you, Arthur Haskins, the Sales Director for Academy Hill. It was several months later when we revisited Academy Hill as we were formulating our future plans and met you firsthand during an open house for a model home.
It was that day we learned more about the community and Academy Hill went from being an option to the place we wanted to raise our children and make a home. We were so impressed with the setting and vibe that Academy Hill had to offer and thoroughly impressed with your attentiveness, dedication, commitment and passionate representation of all the community had to offer. At the end of the day it’s a business transaction for all parties involved and there have been some hurdles to get past but throughout the process and years you have been a sincere guide and confidant for us. Both A**** and I couldn’t help but reflect on our timeline and experience working with you at Academy Hill when we were onsite today to see the progress with the framing and discuss final selections/logistics ahead of our upcoming walk-through on Wednesday.
Arthur, I want to extend a sincere thank you for all that you’ve done for us and looking forward to the upcoming months as the completion of our home comes to fruition. You’re a true professional and we look forward to being your neighbor this coming summer.
All the Best,D****& A****”