NH Gift Giving Season…Restaurant offers (very cool)

It isn’t often that we actually get a gift for no reason at all and like all things this gift has some strings BUT if you are planning on a dinner or lunch out then this is really a gift.

I received this information from someone who actually has used this service often, but so far Jay and I have not. We do plan on trying it and I have verified that the website does have restaurants that are local to me.

Basically what you do is put in your zip code on the web site and it will bring up participating restaurants in your area within 15 or so miles. As I said, I checked our area and there are some excellent restaurants that participate. Most restaurants offer gift certificates in various amounts and some with pretty steep discounts. The kicker is you need to buy the gift certificates and of course you pay for them upfront so if you don’t use them the restaurants get their money. But if you do use them you could enjoy a $25.00 meal for only $3.00 excluding alcohol and tips of course.

For example recently there was a special buy a $25 certificate for 80% off (ended that day) which came to $5.00…then when you get to the check out, you type in for the promotion code the word “Surprise” and the total of the certificates you’ve ordered came up at $2.00 each!!! Pretty cool! Buy, print them out and go enjoy a super cheap meal. Most are good for a year but be sure to check out the expiration date just in case.

Don’t forget to type in the word “Surprise” for the added discounts if they apply! www.restaurant.com

Enjoy and Happy Holidays

Jay and Monika

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Atkinson NH A very special tree lighting

Atkinson Country Club will host a Holiday tree lighting on Thursday Dec 4 at 5:30 p.m., residents and those of surrounding communities are all invited.    It sounds like a

grand time is planned for all.

If you never been to the Atkinson Country Club then take advantage of this special holiday event to visit.

There is no cost to attend but if you can spare a new unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program or a non-perishable food item for the soup kitchens it would be most appreciated.

The plans include a musical celebration with caroling, arts and crafts, hayrides, ice-carving and much more.

Santa will officially light the 40-foot tree at 6:30 p.m. with fireworks. Plan on meeting Santa right after the tree lighting…he’ll be waiting in the ballroom.

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NH Real Estate…Black Friday?

This morning Jay got up bright and early to run to Staples. He got there a few minutes before the opening of the highly anticipated Black Friday sale. There were people waiting in line and the shopping scene was one of controlled determination. The shoppers had a mission and the “deals’ were fantastic. When Jay told me about his novice Black Friday shopping experience I couldn’t help but make a comparison to real estate. Here we are in the midst of one of the best home shopping markets in many-many years…yet no one is lining up.

There is plenty to choose from that’s for sure

Home inventory is way up with bank owned properties just dominating the market…yeah, there are a lot of bank owned (REO) properties out there that are pure junk but those can be picked up for a steal. Actually most REO properties can be stolen this time of year. So here we are…conditions are ripe with 30 year fixed rate mortgage programs near 5.5% with no-points. Down payment funds can be gifted and there is a $7,500 tax credit to take advantage of with your 2008 tax returns.

Conditions are ripe

Yet the buyers are still hanging back, waiting…consumer confidence is still down and I think buyers are waiting for the market to drop further. Will it? Who knows and who knows how much if it does. My theory is if you’re renting now…you’re just helping to pay off someone else’s mortgage and with the property discounts available during our current Black Friday NH real estate market conditions…you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it. If you’re gainfully employed and have a credit score of at least 580 or better and want to own your own home conditions are ripe. Come and see for yourself…you could be in your own home by the end of the year.

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Holiday Parade 2008…

I’ve listed a couple of local Holiday Parades for you to put in your planner. I love the local town parades and truly nothing gets me in the holiday spirit like a parade.

Derry, N.H. Plans on having their parade on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 1 p.m. From Adams Memorial Opera House on Broadway to Crystal Avenue to Hood Commons.

Salem, N.H.: Sunday, Nov. 30, at 1 p.m. Parade starts on Route 97 from Cisco Systems to Salem High on Geremonty Drive.

Hampstead, N.H.: Sunday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m., starting on Holiday Lane. This year will be long term fire chief Chip Hastings last parade as chief. He retires after 40 years serving Hampstead in January.

Best wishes Chip!

If you ‘d like us to list your holiday events please drop us an e-mail.

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Happy Thanksgiving

To all our friends, family and readers…

We hope you all have an extra special Thanksgiving.

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NH Real Estate market trends report…here is what we can do

October 2008 Market Trends Report

I’ve often said that I wish I had a crystal ball but somehow even without one…we knew this…

Peter Francese titled this months real estate market trend report “What do we do now” ….I say for starters please read this article carefully and understand that investing in a home is still much better than investing in stocks and offers a greater return. Peter Francese says it will be some months before we see an improvement and he makes comparisons to Best Buy and Circuit City. He also stresses that a greater web presence will be required to make an impact in this market. Things like multiple virtual tours, video tours and greater details will be needed in your listings. I don’t mind telling you that makes me feel real good.

Jay and I create videos, do multiple virtual tours and individual weblogs for ALL of our listings. We believe in giving our sellers all the tools we can and we know Internet marketing is the way to go. I can’t believe how many homes are listed in the MLS by our so called competition that don’t have a virtual tour or even multiple pictures. Some don’t even have any pictures. If your home is currently on the market do yourself a big favor and check out how your home is presented in the MLS and on the Internet. If your agent does not have a virtual tour up and at least 12 pictures in MLS…it’s time to think about switching agents! You can’t afford not to…

An example of a few of our marketing efforts:

12DixonLane.com , 9CaseyRoad.com and NHWaterfronthomesforsale.com

The market trend report below is reprinted with permission from the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS

What do we do Now?
-by Peter Francese

Since October of 2007, the value of an index fund based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 40 percent. But a great many stock funds are down at least 50 percent from a year ago, and hardly anyone is suggesting that this is the bottom.

PLEASE don’t forget to complete our survey regarding home buyers. The link is below, and here.

By comparison from October of 2007 to this past October, the median sale price of a New Hampshire residence (not including condominiums) has fallen just 13 percent. All homeowners can rightly be distressed about the drop in home prices in our state, but over the past year it’s pretty clear which was the better investment.

Considering the sharp drop in retail sales and the general economic situation, it’s likely to be some months before consumer confidence climbs up from its all-time low point. The president of Best Buy recently said, “In my 42 years of retailing, we’ve never seen such difficult times for the consumer. People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we’re not immune from those forces.”
The fact that, despite their problems, Best Buy is so much better off than their chief competitor, Circuit City, which has filed for bankruptcy, offers some insight for REALTORS®. The biggest difference between those firms is that Best Buy invested a great deal more in their website, and they invested more heavily to understand how customers for electronic goods were changing.
There is no doubt that this is an extraordinarily difficult time for New Hampshire REALTORS®. But it is my belief that when the economy recovers, the most successful ones will be those who invested in upgrading their website and increasing their knowledge of today’s home buyers.
Results from the monthly survey which we ask you to complete will provide more information about home buyers (October survey results are described below).
But improving your website really requires some technical assistance. Here are three suggestions for the next time you upgrade your site:
1. Make the print bigger. More of the people visiting your site are older and have trouble reading small print.
2. Use as many virtual tours or video tours of homes as you budget permits. More site visitors will expect to see some type of video presentation rather than just small still photos.
3. Describe in more detail a home’s benefits in terms that matter to prospective buyers. More buyers, for example, want to know if it has broadband access, how close it is to town or if it’s handicap accessible and/or energy efficient.
Almost a thousand homes were sold in our state in October, according to NNEREN, about 1 percent more than in October 2007. But we only have 265 completed surveys, a 27 percent response rate. That’s much better that the 10 percent of the previous month, but still not high enough to say that the sample is representative. The more responses we get, the more useful it will be to you, so please take a moment to go to the website below and take just a few minutes to tell us about the homes you sold in the past month.
Survey site: click here.
Here are some results from the October survey of New Hampshire REALTORS®:
• 70 percent of homes sold were single family dwellings; only 15 percent were condos
• 18 percent of sales were due to foreclosure and 12 percent of sales were new construction
• 26 percent of buyers were from out-of-state, about a third of them from Mass.
• 78 percent of homes were purchased for a primary home, and 10 percent for second home
• 37 percent of buyers were first time home buyers and 12 percent were age 65 or older
• 35 percent of buyers were families with kids, 25 percent of buyers were single people
The table below shows that while unit sales were up in several counties, prices were between 12 percent and 33 percent below last year everywhere except Carroll County. It’s also taking longer (4.6 months) to sell a residential unit and over five months to sell the average condominium.
The median condominium sale price in October was only 25 percent below the median residential unit sale price. That relatively small difference makes it more difficult to sell a condominium (YTD condo sales are 34 percent below same period last year). That suggests condo prices may go lower in future months.

October 2008 NH residential (non-condominium) sales

County	Units Sold	% change 2007-08	Median price	% change 2007-08	YTD units Sold	% change 2007-08
Belknap	62	0%	$176,250	-33%	510	-19%
Carroll	82	34%	$215,000	2%	557	-13%
Cheshire	53	-4%	$166,900	-17%	560	-8%
Coos	38	-3%	$100,000	-17%	259	-12%
Grafton	64	-28%	$185,200	-21%	582	-23%
Hillsborough	254	18%	$245,000	-12%	2,384	-13%
Merrimack	104	-15%	$215,000	-20%	909	-23%
Rockingham	205	3%	$266,000	-15%	1,981	-11%
Strafford	84	1%	$220,450	-14%	766	-19%
Sullivan	43	-10%	$155,000	-12%	309	-25%
Statewide	989	1%	$226,000	-13%	8,817	-16%

Source: Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN). Statistics are based on information from NNEREN for the respective periods shown for the respective regions in the State of New Hampshire or all towns in the State of New Hampshire. All analysis and commentary related to the statistics is that of the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS® and not that of NNEREN.

Finally, here are a couple of economic indicators just published by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. The New Hampshire unemployment rate last September was just 4.1 percent. That’s by far the lowest in this region and well below the New England-wide rate of 5.7 percent and the national rate of 6.1 percent.
Our state’s September index of economic activity was 198.7, which is again the highest in this region and 20 percent above the national index of 159.3. Since September of last year, New Hampshire’s index has risen by 2.9 points compared to a one point rise for the nation. By contrast, Rhode Island’s September index of economic activity was just 156.6, and that was nearly six points below September of last year.

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