Spring is a great time to sell a house. And here in Northeast Ohio, spring comes early — at least in the real estate market.

Families who want to move before the start of the school year start searching for houses in February. That seems early, but keep in mind that many homes are on the market for an average of 45 days. Add another 60 to 120 days for closing, and before you know it, summer’s here.

Picture It

If you’re thinking about selling your house next year, right now is a good time to get professional, high-quality photographs of your home and property. Buyers increasingly are doing their preliminary shopping online through real estate websites such as Zillow. First impressions count, and those photographs both inside and outside of homes can either draw buyers in or chase them away.

Most homes look their best when landscaping is in full bloom and trees have leaves on them. At the very least, snow should not mask details of the property.

Get professional photographs now of the outside of the house. Showcase the landscaping and mature trees. Photos free of snow and ice allow prospective buyers to check out the roof, and the condition of walkways and the driveway, outbuildings, decks and porches.

Have the professional get shots of the outdoor seating areas with furniture, tables and the grill. That gives buyers an opportunity to picture how they might use outdoor spaces.

Snow and ice hamper exterior shots, and the cloudy days that accompany them affect interior shots, too.

The bright light of late summer and fall is a good time to get those inside photos. Our cloudy winter days make rooms look dim and drab. Bright, clean interiors attract buyers.

To generate interest in your home next year, get in touch with a real estate professional today and have photographs taken and available to post online at the end of winter.

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Gifting to your grandchildren is one of the most meaningful ways to leave a legacy. If done right, the financial impact can be significant and lasting regardless of the dollar amount contributed, but it can be a challenge to find the most effective way to achieve your gifting goals. ...

Entertainment

Live Theater Preview

There’s Plenty to Enjoy This Season in Northeast Ohio

 

“Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” will be performed at The Fine Arts Association in Willoughby this season.

Photo courtesy: The Fine Arts Association

By Marie Elium

 

Nothing’s quite as appealing when the weather turns cool as sinking into a comfortable theater seat.

Autumn’s blustery weather chases many of us indoors — and into one of Northeast Ohio’s theaters for live performances.

This theater season is gearing up to be another good one. We’ve got big productions in little theaters and even bigger productions in some of our finest showplaces. Here’s a roundup of what to see and where to see it.

 

Beck Center for the Arts

Beck Center for the Arts is more than a nonprofit organization that combines professional theater with arts education. It creates art experiences and is committed to doing so for all ages and abilities. Beck Center offers over 200 award-winning classes, programs and lessons in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, outreach and Creative Arts Therapies, serving more than 60,000 annually. Beck Center is at 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood.

Here’s the theater production lineup:

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Sept. 15-Oct. 8

“Waiting for Godot,” Oct. 6-Nov. 5

“Disney’s The Little Mermaid,” Dec. 1-31

“Hair,” Feb. 9- 25

“My First Time,” March 30-April 29

“Bent,” June 1-July 1

“Gypsy,” July 6-Aug. 12

 

The Fine Arts Association

The Fine Arts Association in Willoughby produces a full season of outstanding community theater featuring musicals, comedies, dramas and family shows.

Fine Arts also produces a Senior Matinee Performance Series on select Wednesdays. Season subscribers save 20 percent on individual ticket prices and are guaranteed choice seating. Discounted group pricing is also available.

Visit fineartsassociation.org/performance or call 440-951-7500, ext.

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Explore the Ohio and Erie Canal Corridor

No-Hassle Trips for Hiking, Biking & Sleeping

 

By Marie Elium

Brian and Tracy Davis have hiked all over the world, but it’s right here in Northeast Ohio where they’re blazing a trail for local explorers.

The two grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Northeast Ohio 26 years ago. This year alone, the Davises have made trips back to South Africa as well as to Panama, where one of their sons is in the Peace Corps, and to Switzerland to visit another son who is on a work assignment. Hiking always is part of their travel plans.

When they aren’t on the road, Brian is an engineer and professor at the University of Akron. Tracy is a teacher in Euclid.

 

A Plan — and a Grant

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is close to their heart. They’ve spent years exploring its valleys, rocky outcrops and scenic trails. Last year the Davises were awarded a prestigious Knight Cities Challenge grant from The Knight Foundation, which was looking for suggestions to boost the 26 cities where the Knight brothers had owned newspapers. The Akron Beacon Journal was their flagship paper.

Brian and Tracy were among 37 recipients — out of 4,000 applicants — who snagged a share of the $5 million grant. They used the money to help start Explore-A-Foot, an initiative that plans and books overnight or multi-day trips for families along the Ohio and Erie Canalway.

 

International Inspiration

The Davises’ experiences in Germany hiking the beautiful Eifelsteig and Malerweg trails got them wondering if that type of experience could be replicated in Northeast Ohio. They wanted to make hiking and biking accessible and hassle-free so visitors could explore the beauty of our Northeast Ohio trails, starting with those in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

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We celebrate grandparents and grandkids in this issue, and it sounds like a lot of fun — at least that’s the word from friends who have them.

What’s fun for me right now is not raising kids. I liked raising kids when I was doing it, and most days I was good at it. But I don’t miss the pressure, especially at this time of the year. Autumn kicks off the kid-centric holiday triad of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, amplified by a force I never faced: Pinterest.

I feel for today’s parents. The website for creative and, seemingly, insomniac high achievers makes every birthday and holiday celebration an EVENT. I’ve seen the pins (favorite items) on Pinterest, and they make me anxious. We all know that parenting is a competition; Pinterest is the equivalent of a steroid booster. Everything’s bigger, better and less attainable.

In the early ’90s, someone gave me a box of Halloween outfits, and my kids wore those for a few years. Then, you couldn’t buy a cute Halloween costume for $20 bucks like today. Eventually, I tackled the job on my own with limited success. I inexpertly smeared mascara across “pirate” eyebrows and globs of lipstick on “fairy” cheeks. My kids looked like they were dressed out of the church donation box with a side trip to Sephora’s clearance aisle.

Worse was the 1960s, and now that I think about it, Halloween costume fails may be an inherited trait.

Mom had a lot of talents, but designing creative Halloween getups wasn’t one of them. An early childhood memory is when I showed up at Akron’s Rankin Elementary for the kindergarten Halloween parade wearing a store-bought princess costume with a plastic mask.

Mom apparently didn’t succumb to or didn’t care about the holiday pressure to create. She was raising my two younger brothers while dad worked nights at the Akron Beacon Journal.

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Welcome newsletter readers to our first issue. We'll share interesting tidbits, news you can use, and suggest just plain fun stuff to do in Northeast Ohio. To paraphrase a line from "Seinfeld," - We're new, and we're spectacular (at least that's our modest goal). ...

We want to honor volunteers in our November/December Issue - and that involves you, but just a little bit. Our volunteer salute issue last year received a lot of positive feedback. After all, it's inspiring to read about people who are doing good things. People find all sorts of ways to use their time and talents to help others. We want to hear about them. ...

Our July/August Boomer has a story about the fun, quirky and festive farmers market experience. But did you know that farmers markets are vital sources for nutritional food in inner city neighborhoods that have few grocery stores?

The Gateway 105 Farmers’ Market, in Cleveland Ohio, is a part of a county-wide farmers’ market nutrition incentive program, “Produce Perks.” In this video, vendors and customers discuss the health and economic benefits of a farmers’ market-based nutrition incentive program.

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