I used a woman that I met two years ago and she provided a drawing of my landscape with a plant list. It was very helpful. Her email address for serious inquiries only is: nancyaskin@aceweb.com. She measured my house and my backyard and put in the hardscape that I already had. She really listens and knows how to work with you. Give her a try. Debra

Hi Donna, First of all, even if your agent is limited to one picture, it doesn't mean that has to be of the front of your house. I've seen ads with no exterior shots or with a single picture of a spectacular view. You should insist she use a great interior picture instead, unless she has a better reason to use the exterior shot. As for contracts with Realtor.com, yes, there are different types, but it gets a little complicated. Realtors don't pay per listing; rather the ability to enhance listings with 6 photos is an annual service that must be paid up front. What fee your agent would pay differs bewteen different locations, different broker contracts and your agent's number of listings, but it generally isn't cheap and may not be feasable for your agent right now. Enhanced listing ability isn't compatable with all MLS's either, so it might not be possible for your agent to do it where you are. Finally, if your agent's broker isn't enrolled in enhanced listings, I'm not sure your agent could sign up as an individual or not. My best suggestion is to firmly let your agent know your position on the photo, and ask if she could consider enhancing her listings. (If possible, it could do great things for her business, too, and benefit you both!) It's unreasonable for her to keep a sub-par picture up if you've communicated your unhappiness with it and she agrees it's sub-par, but there may not be anything she can do about the number of pictures on Realtor.com. Are you listed on any other websites? How many pictures are you allowed on the MLS? You should also ask to get more pictures out there in other places. Finally, I usually evaluate how showings are going at the 2-week point based in part on web traffic. If a listing has been viewed 900 times on realtor.com but no one has called, there is a problem with your picture. If it's only been viewed 4 times and no one's called, it is more likely a problem with price, description, or wording. Ask your agent if you can get that information from them, as well. I wish you the best of luck! In many markets, 17 days is not time to stress yet... hang in there! Jane

Sod may be the best choice this late in the season since simply killing the existing weeds with a post-emergence herbicide won't necessarily "green-up" the lawn if nothing else is growing fast enough to fill in the spots where the weeds formerly were. The pity is that it wasn't done two months ago when the moderating temps and more rainfall of early Fall would have made a big difference. If you do use herbicide, I'd definitely overseed the area with a good cool-weather germinating grass seed, then water it abundantly and pray for a late warm fall to give it some oomph this year. The seed may be wasted, but you never know. Once we established sod (starting with bare, newly-leveled earth) on a half-mile long grass runway which we sowed on Thanksgiving weekend up here in northern NY (Z5a/4b). We got very lucky. It didn't look great through the winter but took off like crazy at the first hint of Spring. Here's hoping that you can reseed earlier than we did, have a long Fall so it germinates and greens up and that you don't still own the house next Spring! If you do seed, be sure you get the contractors to slightly abrade (rake) the ground, then roll it thoroughly after seeding to get good contact with the soil. Make sure the herbicide and grass seed are technically compatible and wait enough time for the herbicide to get the job done, if necessary. When you planted the tree you mentioned that you hoped it would re-bud out after its adventure traveling in an open truck. When I read that I actually hoped it wouldn't (not to be mean) because any small leaf regrowth emerging this late in the season would likely be frost killed, possibly taking the tree with it over the winter. I hoped the tree had enough sense to remain dormant and try again next year. It's contradictory to hope you're having a warm, re-seedable Fall, and yet hope the tree feels chilly enough to stay dormant until the sap rises again in the Spring. Keep watering it until the ground is completely frozen no matter how it looks. Properly protected with anti-dessicant and a steady program of watering until the ground is frozen and mulched you might be able to get some useful green-ness there with evergreens but by now even leafless deciduous trees won't look out of place. However they need to be transported in a covered vehicle, or at least be carefully wrapped in tarps to avoid being wind-whipped and dried to death en route. The comment the agent made about the luxurious inside not matching the exterior resonates with me. You have lavished considerable attention on the interior with very good effect, but the exterior looks less distinctive, less elegant primarily because the house is just parked out there with no trees to meld its presence into the lot. I realize many new houses look like this on completion, but just like a house's interior would look out of kilter if you had beaded-inset Crown Point cabinets with post-form Formica counters, the house's outside looks dissonant to me. Because there's been no significant effort to establish large-ish trees the house looks sort of unfinished, as if you ran out of steam before the whole job was done. I think I would consider planting one or more really big trees (3-6" caliper). Not a cheap solution since each would cost $300-maybe as much as $1,000 apiece, but they would (even in a deciduous state) anchor the house and kind of make it match the interior. Buy them from a professional nursery and they should come with a survival/ replacement guarantee. If you're leaving the area, hire them to do any tending if you're moving before you sell the house. A big part of the price of these trees is the cost of the Vermeer (or equivalent) machine than comes along to replant it. Trees this size may have a root ball 4 or 5 feet wide. Feel free to disregard my comments if they aren't useful. I will still my fingers crossed that you can get this house sold and quickly move on to your next one. L.

Very cute house. Please do not paint nor limewash the brick. It looks good just as it is. I would paint the windows and the garage doors to match the trim. Then spend your money on curb appeal, which it doesnt have at all right now. Have a landscape company draw up a design, and then you can diy it little by little. Landscaping, is what your house needs, the most. Congratulations on your new home.