CRAIG DELLA PENNA
Broker in North Hampton, MA

Residential sales, Luxury homes, First time home buyers, Horse properties, Staging, Relocation, houses near greenway and bikepaths

The Murphys Realtors.
63, Northampton 01060
(413) 347-4339
License #9514692

GRI, GREEN

Home Buyers, Home Sellers

Single Family Home, Condo/Townhome, Multi-family

smart growth, traditional neighborhoods, biking, building rail trails, cruising in my old British Sports Car

featured in the WSJ, two national realtor mag articles

English

historic or antique homes, traditional neigbhorhoods, innovative realtor, nationally known, negotiations

I have a unique niche real estate practice—specializing in houses near to walking or biking pathways. This niche was featured in two National Association of Realtors magazines, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors magazine, a BOSTON GLOBE editorial, an article in the WALL STREET JOURNAL and even in United Airlines in-flight magazine—HEMISPHERES. I also like to work in the antique or historic house realm as well--and have sold some of the area’s most dramatic properties. <br /> I am also one of only a small handful of realtors in the northeast to receive Green designations from both the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Green Building Council. And three books have been written in the past few years that feature some aspect of my life as a case-study in creative marketing. Because of all of this, I am one of the top realtors in the Five College Area of western Massachusetts. <br /> Of course, not many people just appear early in life into the world of real estate. And all realtors bring to their practice, their own life experiences. However, I have had an extraordinarily different and interesting life journey in the past 30 years. I have a transportation and political organizing background. <br /> I worked in the railroad industry for many years—marketing rail freight and planning the start-up and management of large scale, contemporary, trans-loading facilities. In the mid-1990s, while working for the railroad, I was invited to write a series of books on the history of old railroad lines converted to walking and biking trails aka rail trails. [I have a background in railroad history.] Two years after the first of three books on this subject came out, I got involved in the politics of how these paths did [or did not] get built and began to actively organize “friends of the trail” groups in scores of communities all across New England and eastern New York. <br /> In the late 1990s, I was hired by the national organization— Rails-to-Trails Conservancy – as a political organizer/ lobbyist in the New England region to not only prevent bad policy at the state and local level, but to also “parachute” into some of the most notable rail trail wars in the northeast. I am a “battle-hardened veteran” of every rail trail war in the northeast. <br /> In their 10th anniversary issue, THE RIDE MAGAZINE named me as the most effective advocate for rail-to-trail issues on the eastern seaboard and I have helped build over 1,000 miles of rail trails in scores of communities in New England and New York. <br />Today, having given over 1,200 lectures in 19 states, I am one of the country’s most in-demand public speakers on the subjects of rail-to-trail conversions and their tie-in to the issues surrounding smart growth, land preservation, effects on nearby residential real estate values and other similar topics. Just in the past two years, I have been the keynote or plenary speaker at state or regional conferences in New York, California, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan, and Massachusetts. <br /> In late 2001, my wife Kathleen and I bought a run-down 1865 farmhouse next to the rail trail in Florence village center. We had contractors there for 14 months renovating the house and then in the spring of 2003, we opened as a bed & breakfast called Sugar Maple Trailside Inn. The renovation was featured on HGTV’s Restore America television program and the house won a historic preservation award from the City of Northampton too. <br /> Interestingly, I also get 4-7 real estate transactions a year from people who start off as B&B guests and love the area so much, that they want to relocate to our beautiful valley. More info at www.trailsidecompanies.com

Buyer's Agent, Listing Agent, Relocation, Commercial R.E.

7 Main St, Florence 01062

11

09514692 (Massachusetts)

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