Should I buy a home??

Should I buy a Home?
By Monika McGillicuddy

Many Buyers ask why they should buy a home. Isn’t it easier to just rent and let a landlord take care of any hassles regarding the property and it’s maintenance. Isn’t paying taxes and budgeting for home repairs very costly…especially in New Hampshire where property taxes are known to be high? So why should I buy instead of renting?

Many first time buyers DO get in over their heads! They put the cart before the horse…they fall in love with a home that they can’t comfortably afford, they get hooked up with the wrong real estate agent…WE are not all created the same. Some agents simply should not be allowed to practice real estate. Think about this…my hair dresser has stricter continuing educational requirements to renew her license than real estate agents do. Yet, real estate agents are responsible for helping you with the biggest financial decision in your life…are you just going to trust anyone? Agents don’t like this kind of talk but it’s true and you should know it…You shouldn’t just trust anyone to sell your home? Or to help you buy a home? Make sure you work with a skilled REALTOR. Find out how long they’ve been in the business, what has their training been…do they believe in continuing education? What is their availability? Do they have the skills necessary to understand todays generation X and Y buyers? All very important questions to ask.

Consider our recommendations:

#1 Get pre-approved before you start looking or contact an agent

#2 If you think you might have credit issues sit down with a lender…they can counsel you on what steps you might need to take so that you can purchase

#3 Research on the Internet…most homes are available on website like REALTOR.com and NNEREN.com or you can search our site

#4 Research by driving around in the areas you are considering living in

#5 Visit the local police department if issues like Megan’s law are important to you

#6 Consider hiring a buyers agent…They can advise you and keep all your financial information confidential

#7 Contact the real estate commission to see if the agent you’re working with has had any complaints lodged against them

#8 If any agent at first meeting does not explain who they represent before asking you a bunch of questions..find another agent fast

#9 In NH the beauty of working with agent is that you know who they represent before walking out the door to view property…if it’s not you than they are representing the other guy…don’t tell them a thing

#10 Don’t skimp on the Home Inspection…like agents home inspectors are not created alike

My cyber friend George Souto a mortgage officer from Connecticut wrote a series about Home buyers seminars that his company McCue Mortgage promotes. I really like his style and thought the tips and suggestions he wrote about are excellent. George gave us permission to use his article and I’ve copied some of it below.
The advantages of owning a home
By George Souto

• A place of their own: It is their own house and they can do what ever they want to it, and what they put into it is theirs.

• Stable housing costs: The mortgage payment will always stay the same (if it is a fixed rate loan), unlike renting which can change every year.

• Increase in value: As property values go up so does their equity in the property, and this can far exceed any money that they put in the bank over a period of time.

• Tax benefit: This quite often is the first response, because everyone knows that the interest payment on your mortgage is tax deductible, and that this can substantially reduce your tax liability each year.

Can they afford to purchase a home? In other words, have they considered the costs of purchasing a home? Do they realize that they will need money for the following thing, or obtain assistance to pay for them?

• Down payment: Most “First Time Homebuyers” seem to think that they only need to have a down payment in order to purchase a home. Many are very surprised to find out that there are other costs involved.

• Up-Front Costs: Represent many of the costs that “First Time Homebuyers” have not considered, and are very surprised when they are told that they are going to need money for an Application Fee, Appraisal, Homeowners Insurance, maybe Points, Earnest Money (deposit on sales contract), and even though it is not part of the Loan Process a Home Inspection is always advisable. These are all cost that the Buyer will have to pay before they get to the closing table.

• Closing Costs: Some “First Time Homebuyers” realize that there are cost that they will incur at the closing such as Attorney Fees, but do not have any idea that there are other significant costs involved, like Title Insurance, Taxes & Insurance that many times have to be put into Escrow, and Recording Fees.

Have they considered how much money they can afford for a monthly mortgage payment? This is very different from what they can qualify for a mortgage. Qualifying for a mortgage, and being comfortable with the payment, are two different things. In qualifying them for a mortgage they must look at all their revolving debt, which can be determined from their Credit Report, but there are other expenses that are not taken into consideration in qualifying a Borrower for a mortgage. These expenses can include, but not limited to Food, Clothing, Gas, Entertainment, Child Care, General House Maintenance, and Church Contributions to just name a few. These expenses need to be considered when deciding on how much of a mortgage a “First Time Homebuyers” can handle. A “First Time Homebuyers” can quickly get in over their head, so the more that I can bring to their attention at these Seminars, the better equipped they will be to determine how much they feel they can afford to pay for a mortgage. George Suto
Interested in reading what we’ve had to say about our communities:
Hampstead Happenings
Hampstead Market Info
Hampstead Tid Bits
A little bit about Hampstead
A little bit about Danville NH
A little bit about Kingston NH
A little bit about Atkinson NH
New Hampshire’s Old Man
New Hampshire’s White Powder
New Hampshire Kayaking Adventures
New Hampshire My Favorite State

We know that you don’t care what we know ….until you know that we care!
Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

Southern NH Living…fun in the water

Southern New Hampshire Living!

I love living in Southern New Hampshire. To me it offers a little bit of everything. This is Part 1 of a 2 part series on lakes in Southern NH.

My husband and I are Water people…we love the ocean and the many lakes found in our state. That’s part of the reason we stay here in New Hampshire…we can drive 30 minutes and be at the ocean…Hampton Beach is a funky little beach town and we just love it!

All summer long there are free concerts right on the beach at Hampton and every weekend boasts some pretty cool fireworks. Route 1A winds along the waterfront and is lined with every imaginable shop there is. Further south on 1A are the beach towns of Seabrook NH and Salisbury Massachusetts. North brings

us to Rye, New Castle and Portsmouth NH.

Lobsters…Steamers and Clam shacks can be found just about everywhere.

We’ve kayaked Portsmouth Harbor and this neat little place called Witches Creek in Rye NH…oh the freedom of being in a small craft exploring the nooks and crannies of our coast line…just nothing like it and in a bigger boat you’d never even see what we’ve seen from our kayaks. Of course we just need a few inches of water under us to move along.

We’ve also kayaked on many of our lakes. In southern NH within a half hour ride from us here in Hampstead there are several ponds and lakes. Some are private so you would need to know someone who lives there or in some cases just live in that town.

If you’re into fishing and flat water boating…like kayaking New Hampshire’s Fish and Game department has a pretty complete list of public access ponds for fishing but of course boating counts as well. Need information about depths of these ponds check out the Depth maps.

Some of our local ponds are listed below. There are many more we’ve been out on and love dearly. Keep an eye out for part 2 of this highlighting some of our favorites…and not so favorite ponds and lakes.

Angle Pond located in Sandown NH…There is no public access, you would need permission to launch a boat from the Angle Pond Camp ground. This campground offer season camping sites as well some limited transit sites.

Beaver Lake located in  Derry NH
Public access is located on route 102, Beaver lake is good sized at about 134 acres. No personal watercraft allowed.

Big Island Pond aka Island Pod and is located in Atkinson , Hampstead and Derry NH
This is a very popular private pond with day access for fishing only, a permit and key is required and can be purchased at Don’s market in Hampstead. 500 acres makes a delightful kayaking pond…if you’re lucky enough to know someone who lives on the pond. If you’re into camping there is a Campground again mainly seasonal sites but they have a few transit sites and this is also a waterfront campground.

Lake Massabesic located in Auburn NH
Public access Rte 121 and Rte 28, no swimming allowed as this is the drinking water supply for the city of Manchester NH but for boating…fishing and kayaking this is absolutely awesome… 2900 acres makes for a full day of exploring.

Pow Wow Pond Located in Kingston and East Kingston NH and is 246 acres, great for fishing…many fisherman I know call this a paradise for them and boating. Pow Wow is a weedy pond so swimming might be limited.

Great Pond Kingston NH is a very popular 204 acre lake with State park access and boat launching.

Country Pond Kingston and Newton NH 306 acres . Very limited access…we’ve never been out on this lake.

Sunset lake  aka Washpond Hampstead NH  151 acres pond with access for Hampstead residents only.  Jay and I can kayak this lake in about an hour.

Pawtuckaway State Park Located in Nottingham NH…This is an awesome state park with an awesome campground.  We love kayaking here…fishing and boating is very popular. Public access and l800 acres of lake plus boat launches make this very desirable…get here early!

Interested in reading what we’ve had to say about our communities:

The best of the best my Southern NH

Hampstead Happenings
Hampstead Market Info
Hampstead Tid Bits
A little bit about Hampstead
A little bit about Danville NH
A little bit about Kingston NH
A little bit about Atkinson NH
New Hampshire’s Old Man
New Hampshire’s White Powder
New Hampshire Kayaking Adventures
New Hampshire My Favorite State

We know that you don’t care what we know ….until you know that we care!

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

The Perfect Time To Buy A Home in New Hampshire…is now!

Now is the time to buy a home in New Hampshire!

The New Hampshire Real Estate is what we call a buyers market and that means for the buyer its like apple picking time…the tree is full and the apples are ripe…rates are good and buyers have a choice…Don’t Hesitate if your on fence wondering if you should buy…but only you can come to that conclusion. Contact us if you’d like more information about the market…. Jay and Monika McGillicuddy or search New Hampshire homes for sale on our website.

This article was written by George Souto a mortgage originator with McCue Mortgage in Middletown Connecticut. George gave us permission to reprint it in its entirety.

When is the right time to buy a home???
by George Souto

It will not be long before we get more Economic Reports for 2007, and especially on what the interest rates and housing costs will be for the upcoming year. I say prediction because that is what they are, and like most predictions they can be wrong. They are only someone’s guess based on the economic data they have available right now. This data changes constantly, and depending on what happens, these economic indicators can change with a blink of an eye. Are these predictions good educated guesses? Yes they are, but lets just take a quick look at what was predicted were for 2006.

As early as June of 2005 I was getting reports stating that the mortgages rates on a 30 year fixed mortgage would be 7% by January of 2006. This did not happen, in fact my 30 year fixed rate in January of 2006 was 6.125% with no points. The rate did finally hit 7% around June/July of 2006, but then start to come back down again, and today my rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage is 6.25%. This is almost the same rate a year later, and they have been holding at this level for about a month now. The predictions for 2007 will probably be much the same as they were for 2006. The safe bet would be to say that rates are going to go up, but who knows, they could continue to go down as they have been the last several months. If the financial gurus’ predictions could be taken as fact, there income would have several more zeros after it.

So what does this all mean? What it means is that no matter how complete the economic model is for making these predictions, they will always be just that predictions, and predictions can be wrong a good percentage of the time. All it takes is for a couple of unexpected things to occur in the financial world and predictions start to change. What we need to do is to treat these predictions for exactly what they are, guesses and not fact. Unfortunately all too often consumers do look at them as fact, and hold off doing what they really want to do.

This is why when I am talking to a Borrower, and they ask me should they buy know or wait, my answer is always buy now. The best time to buy is always now, because as you can see we really don’t know what the economic conditions are going to be tomorrow. All of the economic data in the world can do is to predict a trend, which could change in a blink of an eye with new data that is being generated every second. So why wait and take a chance on interest rates being higher, and houses costing more. If you can afford it today, then it is today that you should purchase. If you find a house that you want to purchase, at a price that you can afford, then don’t wait, purchase it now. Unless you are buying a house as a short term investment, then it does not matter if the house prices drop, because one thing that we do know with a high degree of certainty is that over the long term the value will go up. In the long term Real Estate is one of the best investments that you can make.

So if I have a Borrower who is ready to buy today, then it is today that I am going to advise them to buy. Today is the only day that we truly know what the rate and house prices are, tomorrow it could be much different. So home buyers whether it is your first home, or your third home, base your decisions on facts, not guesses that could be completely wrong tomorrow. Base your decision on what the facts are today.

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Thank you George for sharing this well written perspective on the Buying decision. If you’re interested in reading what we’ve had to say about our communities, the state of New Hampshire and real estate in general just click the links below.

Interested in reading what we’ve had to say about our communities:
Hampstead Happenings
Hampstead Market Info
Hampstead Tid Bits
A little bit about Hampstead
A little bit about Danville NH
A little bit about Kingston NH
A little bit about Atkinson NH
New Hampshire’s Old Man
New Hampshire’s White Powder
New Hampshire Kayaking Adventures
New Hampshire My Favorite State

We know that you don’t care what we know ….until you know that we care!

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

Some Days You Work Nights…..

Some days you work nights….or better yet some days you just shouldn’t work at all. I’ve had a pretty interesting week…first there was my encounter with the lovely biker chick and then my encounter with Mr. closing dates aren’t important.
I think I should have known enough to pack it in for the rest of the week.

Today we awoke to freezing rain…the dreaded black ice…there are few things in life I fear more than the dreaded black ice! Not a problem as I figured I’d just stay home and enjoy the big game …which in my household is a big event.

Then…I got a call from a client wanting to take a look at a house I discussed with him yesterday…the house was empty and in need of total rehab. I knew that I could just go show and leave a voice message letting the listing agent know, as I had spoken with her yesterday.

I told my client that I don’t do black ice...and if he really wanted to see it he’d have to come pick me up at my house and drive us. He said okay and came and got me.
The roads were icy and he drove slow.

We arrived safely and walked about the outside very carefully due to the ice. This is a 200 year old home with 14 rooms and really should be torn down. Armed with flashlights we entered the home very carefully…there was no power, wood rot and un-level floors made for slow going.

The first floor was pretty bad but when we found the formal stairway leading to the second floor it was a sight to behold. You could just imagine how it must have looked in its glory days…just awesome. The second floor was very intriguing…the workmanship and attention to detail just incredible but all in major disrepair…long neglected and looking for love!

After going through several rooms on the second floor we followed a long hallway with wood floors to the back end of house, stepped up 3 good sized steps and entered another level of the home…two rooms and attic access. In the second room there was this funky round hole cut into the floor…right in the center of the room.
It was pretty dark up there…so I walked up to the hole and looked down and couldn’t see anything at all. I said “I wonder what this hole is for?” at the same time my client walked up behind me and shinned his flashlight down the hole.

I’m embarrassed to tell you that when I saw what was looking up at me with it’s eyes open…I freaked and let out a loud scream…my listing package flew out of my hands as I turned I pushed my client aside and ran hollering like a blubbering idiot out of the room…through the other room and you guessed it…..I forgot about the stairs so of course I fell down them whacked my head on the wall…still screaming now only harder as my body was as out of control as my mouth was!!!

I landed on my knees…my body sliding down the hall way… I could hear my lock box ricocheting off the wall and my client yelling…“It’s dead…it’s dead…it’s dead” …I’m on all fours and could feel the warm blood pouring down my leg! I’m trying hard not to cry and praying that I didn’t break my ankle again!

My client…he’s freaking out trying to help me up…I’m okay but my leg is bleeding but he can’t see that as I have on long pants…thank god. Anyway I get up compose myself and tell him that I am breaking a cardinal rule in real estate but he would need to do the attic and the rest of the house without me as I’m done in the house and would wait for him outside…

The ride home was interesting and my client thank god he knows me well and likes me because I’m sure anyone else would have thought I was a nut case. Did I tell you he was my ex brother in law…he tells everyone he kept me in the divorce because he likes me better than he does his brother!

Did I tell you what I fear more than black ice?? Mice…alive or dead it doesn’t matter!

I should have just stayed home today!

My knee… it’s okay it just looks like my thigh.

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Serving Southern New Hampshire and Rockingham County

Monika McGillicuddy Real Estate Training Website

NH Real Estate Blogs

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH Real Estate

603-548-7728