2007 July | New Hampshire Real Estate Blog

New Hampshire Home Sales Trends Look Better Than the Nation’s

July 20, 2007 By Jay McGillicuddy Leave a Comment

Articles in this Series New Hampshire Market Trends

New Hampshire Association of REALTORS just came out with their June Market Trends

New Hampshire Home Sales Trends Look Better Than the Nation’s

-by Peter Francese

The monthly data chart at the end of this article gives us a snapshot of residential sales versus new listings. But Chart I below shows the trend over the past 24 months. It shows pretty clearly the seasonal variations in statewide home listings and sales.

What it also shows is that over the past two years, new listings rose to a peak of above 3,000 units each summer and then fell to about 1,000 units each December. This seasonal pattern looks remarkably consistent over the past 24 months.

Chart I also shows residential sales (excluding condominiums) peaked in August 2005 at about 1,800 units, peaked again at almost 1,600 units in June of last year, but may not have peaked yet this year. June 2007 sales reached nearly 1,400 units. The lowest sales months, to no one’s surprise, were January and February when transactions averaged about 700 a month both last year and this year. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Market Trends Report Tagged With: monika mcgillicuddy, new hampshire association of REALTORS, New Hampshire Market Trends, Peter Francese

Pass me the money honey!

July 19, 2007 By Monika McGillicuddy 15 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard as a Seller to understand how agents come up with the suggested listing prices especially when those prices are lower than the price your neighbor’s similar home sold for. Why should your home be worth less?

Why can’t you test the market? After all you don’t want to give it away or let someone steal it. You’re not desperate…

One thing you need to understand is that playing catch up in the real estate market becomes a never ending cycle. Especially when the market is spiraling downward. It is important to understand that pricing right at the start is crucial.

This may sound like a corny analogy but it is something I learned a long time ago during the 1st real estate market crash I lived through. So bear with me….

When was the last time you went to the bakery to buy fresh bread? You walked in, the smell was so inviting and all the loafs of fresh bread were enticingly displayed.

You walked right past the day old reduced bread…even though it was cheaper and really truth be told it was still very good but you wanted the freshly baked bread.

You might have squeezed the loafs gently, maybe you even smelled them and of course you checked the expiration dates before selecting your loaf and heading to the check out counter.

The day old stuff, the 3 day stuff in the reduced bin you passed it right by…maybe it would be good for making stuffing but thats not what you’re there to get.

You paid full price for that fresh loaf of bread…you didn’t hesitate at all. Why?

While buying a house truly does not compare to buying a loaf of bread. The concept is the same, a new listing priced right generates excitement and activity. A listing that has been on the market a while with a big REDUCED sign in the front yard does not. Pricing it right from the start makes all the difference. Why gamble with your home? Selling a home in this market can be stressful, actually I really should say IS stressful but it can be very successful.

Stay tuned for Part 2…Just how did you come up with that price?

A Slice of New Hampshire’s Seacoast

July 16, 2007 By Monika McGillicuddy 8 Comments

We took a day trip to Odiorne State Park recently and of course we took a bunch of pictures. I really want a better camera…desperately but until I get one my trusty little Cannon will have to do. I just love digital. We took about 150 pictures, many are not worth sharing but a few came out great including the one I chose to put on this Blog title page. I hope you enjoy this look at New Hampshire’s Seacoast….it really is pretty here.

My husband Jay and I are both beach lovers and we love to spend our free time exploring the coast of New Hampshire as well as points north along the majestic Maine coast.

One of our favorite local parks is Odiorne Point State Park in Rye NH. Rye is a quick 35 minute ride from our home in Hampstead and Odiorne is a 330 acre park that is open daily year-round.

We’ve been lucky enough to able to visit Odiorne State park during all four of our New England seasons…including the winter months. Sometimes we simply bring a bagged lunch and sit by the ocean…other times we’ve brought in some wine…shhh don’t tell anyone, and sat drinking wine at sunset while watching the changing ocean directly in front of us. What a treat that is and oh so romantic!
We’ve biked the paths and brought our kayaks to explore the waterway via Witches Creek to Portsmouth Harbor.

There are remnants of formal gardens and beautiful wildflowers throughout the park, along with man made military bunkers. Odiorne has a very rich history.

Odiorne Point is a well known New Hampshire Sate park and it truly does offer something for everyone.

Picnickers can enjoy dramatic sweeping views of the ocean and rocky shore while children of all ages enjoy swinging and sliding at a play ground.

There are several picnic tables, many of them along the coast line. All with incredible views and others hidden in the trees that offer an abundance of privacy.

There is also an extensive network of trails, including a paved bike path, that all wind through the dense vegetation or along the shore of the entire park.

The Seacoast Science Center which is also located in the park has exhibits relating to the history of Odiorne Point and the seacoast area. Check out the science centers on line calendar to see a sample of the offerings.

Odiorne has sheltered tidal pools, exposed rocky shore and on the north end a pebble beach area which shelters a fresh water marsh.

Enjoy Odiorne’s sand dunes…swim on the beach, eat a hearty picnic lunch, bike or walk along the trails, enjoy boating of all levels or simply take a nap on the edge of the ocean.

Odiorne Point State Park is a full day adventure and one that truly helps create memories. Click here to view a map of >>>Odiorne Point.

Come spend the day and cherish the memories!

You won’t be disappointed in this little slice of New Hampshire’s seacoast.

Serving Southern New Hampshire and Rockingham County

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH 603-548-7728

Filed Under: General R.E. Information, N.E. vacations & camping, Special Places Tagged With: microsoft, monika mcgillicuddy, NH Real Estate, NH seacoast, Odiorne Point, portsmouth harbor, Rye NH

Painfully Beautiful…Boothbay Harbor Maine

July 14, 2007 By Jay McGillicuddy 4 Comments

Painfully Beautiful

Grimes Beach Cove My wife Monika posted about our kayak trip at Linekin Bay in East Boothbay, Maine during the 4th of July holiday. While we were there we took a long walk along the rocks at Grimes Beach at Ocean Point.

Boothbay Harbor is one of our favorite weekend getaway House on the rocks spots in Maine and the Ocean Point area is a must visit for us.

The walk along Shore Road at Ocean Point has some of the most spectacular views along the Maine Coast.

The views just make you want to find a hammock and a nice bottle of your favorite beverage and just kick back and relax.

It’s so peaceful you can hear the bird’s chirp and the crickets and frogs make sounds that you may never had heard before.

Ocean view We often ask ourselves if we had to give up our current lifestyle of traveling in our motor home to live in one of the houses across the street from the ocean at Ocean Point, would we do it? To never RV again in exchange for a home at Ocean Point? Those that know us know that we love RVing!!!

The answer is a resounding Yes, it is that beautiful up here.

Words can’t describe the place or the feeling we get as we walk along Shore Road or climb the rocks jutting out to the sea at Ocean Point.

Hopefully some of our photos capture a little bit of how we feel when we are visiting “the Soul” of the Boothbay Harbor Region. Sadly many tourist never leave Boothbay Harbor and explore East Boothbay or the Ocean Point area. They have no idea what they are missing!

Most of the Ocean Point residents that we have talked to, say that they inherited their homes from family members generations ago. No wonder you don’t see a lot of turnover at Ocean Point.

People love the area and keep the homes in their family and simply hand them down generation after generation.

Beach House

We first fell in love with the area many years ago in our pre-motor home days when we used to stay at the Ocean Point Inn every memorial Day weekend. They had some fabulous pre-season specials that we took advantage of for a few years until we bough the RV.

From the wonderful old stone church to lovely summer cottages and homes that line Shore Road and of course those awesome Ocean Point sunsets. We love it all!

Ocean Point

The movie Message in a Bottle was partly filmed at Ocean Point. The actor who starred in the film Kevin Costner once described Maine as “Painfully beautiful”.

Jay and Monika’s description of Ocean Point…Painfully Beautiful!

Filed Under: N.E. vacations & camping, Personal, Special Places Tagged With: Boothbay Harbor Maine, camping in Maine, Camping in New England, Jay McGillicuddy, NH Real Estate Blogs, Special Places

Don’t Stigmatize Your Home By Over Pricing!

July 7, 2007 By Monika McGillicuddy 7 Comments

A little while ago my husband and fellow REALTOR, Jay, wrote a post on his blog about a Seller who over priced their home. It was all about the cost of not believing and since that time I’ve seen the same thing happen over and over again.

Many sellers are still in denial, thinking that their treasured home is worth more than this current market believes it is.

The market rules…not agents…not sellers but The Market!

What is the market…who is the market? It is simply what a buyer is willing to pay for a home and what a seller is willing to sell that home for.

You need to price your home right the first time out of the gate. Or you simply won’t attract any buyers and it will sit and sit! Eventually the price will be reduced and reduced some more as you try and play catch up to the market. Never quite catching up!

At some point people will begin to wonder what is wrong with it? Why hasn’t the house sold? Don’t run the risk of allowing this to happen to you! Don’t stigmatize your property…price it to sell from the get go.

I’ve reprinted Jay’s article in it’s entirety…it’s well worth the read.

The Cost of Not Believing

By Jay McGillicuddy

Monika and I have been selling real estate for over 23 years and we pride ourselves at how well we present or CMA’s (comparable market analysis). We were contacted by someone back in Sept. of ’06 who wanted to sell quickly so they could relocate to Florida and not spend another winter in New Hampshire. House

Monika and I did a two step listing presentation. We went and viewed the home and then went back in to present our findings. The house was in ok condition and nothing spectacular. It was dated and needed some minor repairs and a good cleaning. The house sat on over 2.00 acres with over 2700 sq. ft. of living space. The location was excellent a very popular area of town. An area that commands high prices.

The seller had called in a few other agents for comparison and when we presented our CMA she told us we were way off. Monika and I looked at each other with amazement and we asked the seller “how much”? She said we were off about $25K at our HIGH Price. We felt the home was worth between $ 380-400K back in September of ’06.

Our competition came in at $425K and of course the seller thought that was great and we feel that is the only reason she listed with our competition.

The home was on the market 189 days with one price reduction to 399,500 on December 8th.

Three months had gone by and it was finally reduced to where we thought their high price should have been originally. The home finally went pending after three more months on March 10th 2007. They closed on April 11th for $ 380,000.

lower values I wonder how the seller now feels, she probably feels she lost $45,000 plus, having to spend another winter in her NH home. I wonder how she feels after paying her mortgage, taxes and insurance for many months longer than she had planned on. Do you think it made any difference in her thought process in the end?

I often wonder how much she would have sold the home for back in Sept. while the market was still somewhat ok if she listed with us for $399,000 and how long it would have taken to sell. I guess we will never know. I really feel she lost more money by trying to get more money by pricing her home that high to begin with.

It’s frustrating but I guess people will believe what they want to believe. We thought we had excellent rapport with her and she seemed impressed with our credentials…in the end money talks. And in the end she lost…What was her cost in not believing?

Serving Southern New Hampshire and Rockingham County

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH 603-548-7728

Filed Under: General R.E. Information, Home Seller tips Tagged With: microsoft, NH Real Estate, NH Real Estate Blogs, Seller Tips, stigmatized property

Are You Smarter Than Your GPS ???

July 1, 2007 By Jay McGillicuddy 1 Comment

I have always loved technology and always needed the newest tech toys when they first came out, except a GPS.
Garmin C330

I never really felt I needed one as I knew my way around my marketplace very well. I knew all the shortcuts and there really was no need for one as I had my trusty road atlas.

Atlas maps

I had a customer a couple of weeks ago who wanted to view some homes in an area that I had not been in for quite a while. During our initial conversation my customer mentioned all he needed was the addresses as he had his GPS. No big deal I thought as for someone from out of state I guessed it would be quite handy.

He and his wife arrive at my office and he grabs his GPS and we set it up in my car and off we go. He plugs the address to the first house in the GPS and I can see the GPS acquiring the satellite signal.

I back out of the office parking lot and it tells me how far to drive and when I come upon about .2 miles it prepares me to turn. How cool is this I’m thinking. It also told me all the streets to turn on and the best was when we arrived at our destination it told me we had arrived at our destination. We viewed a bunch of homes that day and that is where I fell in love with the GPS.

I know most of you probably own one and can relate. I decided that this was a must have as I am beginning to hate to drive at night and this would really help. I also know that when my customer had his, it was very easy to talk with them and not worry about flipping through paperwork or maps while conversing. That was the selling point, right there, it was a no-brainer.

I have had it a little over a week now and Monika just absolutely loves it.

Today I had to meet Monika’s clients at a house I had never been to so the GPS would come in handy and I wanted to test it’s ability to see if my shortcuts were really shortcuts. Once it locks into the satellite it tells you what time you should arrive. So, of course, I had to try and beat it. It told me I would arrive at 9:50 AM for a 10:00 AM appointment, so, off I go. I plugged the GPS to take me the shortest route, because, when I took off down my street it had me heading in a different direction than I wanted to go. I was going to take the shortcut.

The minute I deviated from the original course it would tell me “re-calculating” and the time changed to 3 minutes longer than I had when I started, Not to be discouraged, I knew I could make up time by going my way.

Sure enough, when I got to a point where I knew the GPS wanted me to go originally I had made up 2 minutes off the original 9:50 AM time of arrival. Two minutes may not seem like a lot but if you take a 30 day month you could save an hour to do something else you would really like to do.

All in all I love our GPS and I highly recommend you look into getting one. They come in all shapes and sizes and prices. This one is under $300.00 and well worth it.

So, that is why I ask “are you smarter than your GPS?

Jay and Monika