New Hampshire Real Estate Blog

Jay and I are in DC attending the REALTOR Mid Year Conference. We arrived on Sunday night and on Monday I took an all day e-buyer class. The class was taught by fellow Bloggers Amy Chorew and Melanie McLane. While it was hard to sit in a class all day long, I really enjoyed it. And yes, I walked away feeling that the day was well spent and that I learned something.

The class was sponsored by REBAC and is one of the electives that can be taken to complete the ABR ( Accredited Buyer Rep) course requirements. I took it so that I could be certified to teach the course to fellow REALTORS when I get back home. The class was interesting and blogging and social networking sites like Active Rain was mentioned often in the class as was realestateshows.com and other web 2.0 applications.

Tuesday I took the all day REBAC Auction course, again so I could be certified to teach it in NH. Afterwards I went to the Bloggers lounge at the Omni Shoreham where I met fellow Blogger Daniel Rothamel from TheRealEstateZebra.com I had a blast talking with Daniel.

Jay joined us after he came back from the member director forum and we did a live video stream from the Bloggers lounge. It was very nice meeting Daniel, Ian Smith from CRT and Keith also from CRT (center for real estate technologies)… we missed meeting a few other bloggers during the day but I’m sure we’ll catch up with them in the next few days.

It’s going to be a very busy week in DC.

This is pretty cool. All you do is enter your zip code and it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices in your zip code area. Plus it’s updated every evening.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

Or try this one…

http://gasbuddy.com/ (thank you Sabine and Jay)

Don’t forget Mother’s Day this weekend.

If you’re looking for something a little different to do on Mother’s Day this year check out the Children’s Museum in Portsmouth NH. The museum is offering free admission on Mother’s Day and it is a fun way to spend some quality family time. Check out their website for more details. Then head on over to the Adams Memorial Opera House in Derry NH to catch a cute entertaining performance of Willy Wonka. What ever you do have a Great Mother’s Day!

P.S…If you want to buy mom a new house…here are some suggestions

• 17 Marilyn Park Drive Listing Blog
• 39 Boulder Drive Danville
• NH Waterfront Homes for Sale
• 14 Higgins Ave Sandown

I have updated a few towns through the end of April, Atkinson, Chester and Hampstead. I will continue through the weekend to finish what we have so check back often for your favorite town.

It’s May and in New Hampshire my grass is green and my flowers are starting to peek out. Yet last week I got an invite to an open house being held tomorrow…the picture of the house had at least a half a foot of snow on the roof.

Yesterday I surfed the MLS and I noticed a listing that had recently expired, the listing photo had a few feet of snow on the ground. Another new listing has 2 photos repeated 3 times…so 8 photo spots used up in the MLS of the same two shots, another showed dishes and clutter on the counters. Then…god forbid a lovely picture of a bathroom showing nothing but the toilet with the lid up no less! I’m happy the house comes with a toilet but really how about showing more of the bathroom or skipping the hopper shot all together.

Remember how we were all taught about the importance of making a first impression? Today, depending on what survey you believe up to 90% of home buyers search or use the Internet to find a house. First impressions…each time a listing is viewed on line a decision will be made based on that photo. A decision to make an appointment or to inquire about more information, or the decision to by pass the home completely.

What does your on-line listing photos say about you and your house? What does it say about the professionalism of your agent?

I wonder if the Sellers of the listings I looked at yesterday know what their online first impression is?

Monika McGillicuddy Real Estate Training

NewHampshireRealEstateBlog.com

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH Real Estate

Follow me on Twitter.com @monimcgill

Visit our Listing Blogs at…

• 17 Marilyn Park Drive Listing Blog
• 39 Boulder Drive Danville
• NH Waterfront Homes for Sale
• 14 Higgins Ave Sandown

****Open House****

Please come join me this Sunday April 20th from 1 to 3 pm at 17 Marilyn Park Drive in Hampstead NH.

MLS # 2712993