I've written a first draft of our October Home On The Course newsletter and will have it in the mail (email) in the next week.  The lead article will be of interest to those who yearn to play golf year round.  There are not many climates where that is possible, but the housing market woes and consequent price drops are putting the two-home choice within reach for many who like their golf not too hot (think summers in Florida) and not too cold (think winters in Maine), but just right.

         I also describe in less than scholarly detail a 12-year old scholarly paper that investigates the irrational expectations sellers have about the value of their homes, and how buyers can use that psychology to their advantage during negotiations.  I don't know whether this article will help you save money when you negotiate to purchase someone else's home (or to sell your own), but it should make the process less anxiety riddled.

         If you are not a subscriber to our free newsletter, you can sign up now in the box at the top left of this page.  It is simple, secure and guarantees you will receive the next edition of Home On The Course.  Rest assured, we never share your email address with anyone.

 

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Family compound:  Furnished condos at Owl's Nest in Campton, NH, are priced beginning in the $300s, and most have views of the terrific golf course (I played it).  Ski areas are just 20 minutes away.  Contact me if you would like more info.

          Global Position Systems have two main purposes:  Get you where you want to go, and suggest places to go that you might not know about.  While driving through New Hampshire and Vermont this week, I set my GPS on "leisure" and then "golf courses" and hit the "sort by distance to travel" button.  If I had not, I would have missed the Eagle Mountain resort.

         Eagle Mountain in Jackson, NH, is one of those old time mountain resorts that sit high on a hill with views to die for from the front porch, and a golf course that, by the looks of it, was built more by industriousness than some golf course design philosophy.  The final hole -- see photo at top below -- takes serious advantage of the change in elevation but adds no other accoutrements (water or sand).  Approach shots require an additional club or two, and if the wind is blowing, as it was as I stood on the precipice green, add or subtract another two clubs.  Overestimate and you might be apologizing to someone sitting on the front porch of the Inn, directly across the street, if your approach flies past the rock that sits at the rear right of the green.

         The course's pro shop is smaller than your living room, and you will be hard pressed to spend more than $20 to play nine holes.  Membership runs just $500 per year.  The Eagle Mountain course is definitely a throwback, in more ways than one (its designers, Patrick Marky and Brian Fox, are unknown to me and Mr. Google).

         Added note:  The fall appears to be intoxicating for golf course and lodging owners in New England.  The other day I posted a photo of an ornate pumpkin display at Mt. Anthony Golf Club in Bennington.  Eagle Mountain adds the Addams family to its holiday scene, with one obligatory pumpkin (see bottom photo).  Indeed the entire town of Jackson, which is also home to the Wayne Stiles designed Wentworth Golf Club, was bedecked with characters that ranged from Star Wars to the Blue Man Group, Jackson's answer to those ornately painted cows that have been showing up in New England towns the last few years.

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