Many home Buyers and Sellers near the Manchester NH area who find their purchase or sale having problems turn to the experience for help. Recently a Home Seller whose agent was not any help began a long search to come across my blog. The problem is that because this home owner has their home listed, I can not offer them the advice they are looking for. i do want to share their question so others can learn from their experience.  The sale is contingent upon the Buyer getting a mortgage, and the buyer had gone past their contingency date. What do they do as they are supposed to close in 3 days.The problem starts with the FACT that the Listing Agent should be managing every aspect of the sale which this one seems not to be doing.The hard fact for this Seller is this may not ever close if t... 12/17/2013

A Home Seller called to say the Buyer for their home is asking for a HUGE price reduction after the Home Inspection. They said they were appalled and canceled their listing. They decided to ask the sellers of recent sales in the Manchester NH area who was the Best Listing Agent in their neighborhood and sought to find a NEW Listing Agent. I was very pleased they called me. I started how the home sale process is supposed to work in order for them to be prepared this time.    Their past Listing agent left them to fend for themselves in the selling process. They LOVED finding and reading my Active Rain Blog that reads that I work with my sellers through EVERY step of the Home Selling Process.   I asked to see the home inspection report as i told them we needed to address it now because if ... 12/16/2013

With a decrease in the amount of Homes Listed For Sale in the Manchester NH area, some buyers are asking to see homes considered "Fixer Uppers." There is a tremendous opportunity to buy a home that needs work, get it at a great price and be able to fix it the way you want. The problem is a lot of Buyers do not have a realistic expectation of what a "fixer upper is, until they start seeing some. The second problem is many buyers can not estimate properly what repairs cost. A home that needs the most cosmetic work, can cost less than a better looking home that needs more repairs such as rood, furnace, electric or plumbing.   What you can see is easy to estimate such as paint, carpets and cosmetics. It is what you can not see between the walls that should scare you.    A "fixer upper" is N... 12/15/2013

With a fresh foot of snow over night in the Manchester NH area, most businesses have closed and appointments for the day are canceled. As most people rejoice, I am a little sad. I am a Real Estate Agent and I know that if a Buyer can not see a home, they can not buy it. Some buyers are anxiously looking for the gift of a new Home for Christmas while Sellers are looking for a Christmas Sale to close in the New Year with a new start.   The only plus is it give some time to catch up on some emails, calls and reports. I also will get to see the Patriots at Miami game which i was dreading missing.   Buyers and Sellers can rest assured that they have now learned the secret of my now infamous philosophy, which is simple, to provide more personal and professional service to guide my clients thr... 12/14/2013

In business and in life everyone asks what my New years Resolution is. I thought it best to reply in the December Echosign and Active Rain Challenge. I have been a Real Estate agent in the Manchester NH area 28 years as of December 9, 2013. I got my Real Estate License just after my 18th Birthday. If you do the math it makes me 33. With 28 years in Real Estate, the one thing that remains the same is the passion and love for this job. Therefore i am not making any resolution to change anything except for a promise to continue to get the word out that when you List with me or Hire me to be your Buyer Agent, My simple promise is to provide more personal and professional service to guide my clients through each step of the buying or selling process.     There will be no New Years resolution... 12/14/2013

It is SHOCKING for some people to learn that even with a Shortage of Listings in the Manchester NH area, not ALL Listings will Sell. The Home Owners whose homes did not sell during their 6 month and in some cases 1 year Listing period are upset, stressed out and want to know WHY. Many of these Home Sellers find my blogs when searching for Home Selling Tips. Every one asks "Why did their home not sell?"    The two most common reasons a home does not sell is that it was over priced or a lack of marketing and attention by the listing agent.   Many ask for details, however It is hard to give a detailed answer unless I see the home.   There is no secret many people know the agents who are not very active, don't answer calls, don't return messages, don't show their own listings, don't update ... 12/13/2013

You never want to hear that an Agent KILLED a sale because of bad advice but it does happen. Looking at a Manchester NH area Home in which the Lender required some minor repairs BEFORE Closing. The Seller had no money and no ability to make the repairs which the buyer understood. The buyer made a simple request to complete the repairs to get the clear to close and finish the sale. The Listing Agent said no way, no how, not today and not ever. The Home Owner said "What ever my agent says I have to follow." Fast forward and the Deal is dead... The house gets foreclosed on and the seller loses out on cashing in on the little equity they had that would have given them a new start. SO did the Listing agent do what was right?   My answer is simple, no. You see, there are situations where the ... 12/12/2013

A Home Owner recently asked if they paid a higher commission percentage if the Listing agent SOLD the home for a price over and above the asking price of their Manchester NH area Home AND paid a LOWER commission if the home sells under the asking price would spur their Listing Agent to sell the home faster and for more money?      My answer was simple, no. You see the Seller should be more focused on listing their home "Correctly" than figuring a scheme to do so. Homes priced over market value are not selling in this market.   You see if they simply choose a "GOOD" Listing agent form the start, the incentive is for the Agent is to simply get the home Sold.   One of the most Important steps Home Sellers should make is the selection of a "GOOD" LISTING AGENT.   Make a "bad" choice and you... 12/11/2013

With an increase in Bank Owned Homes and a shortage of traditional re-sale homes, more Home buyers in the Manchester NH area are asking to see Foreclosed Homes listed For Sale. The problem is many buyers are not informed how the process of Buying a REO home works. Even more troubling is the amount of Buyer brokers who are unaware and giving bad advice. Purchasing a Bank owned Home can be a great bargain, but needs to be completed correctly.   One of the most common mortgages Buyers are using is FHA. With only 3.5% down, it allows the buyer to put down less money, get a low interest rate and the seller can pay most if not all of the closing costs.   The downfall is that FHA has strict guidelines to the properties condition. The home must meet the basic requirements outlined by FHA for he... 12/10/2013

The Market in the Manchester NH area is changing like the seasons going from fall to winter. The amount of Sales has leveled off. There are less homes currently listed for sale than there has been in quite some time. There is a rise in First time Buyers and Re-locations from other areas looking to take advantage of the affordable prices and great job market. The one fact is we NEED homes to sell. if you are thinking of selling yours, Contact me today for a FREE Market Analysis. For the period of November 2013 compared to October2013  There was 442 Listings available For Sale (20 Less more than 10/2013) There were 134 New Listings (31 Less than 10/2013) There were 138 homes with Sale Pending. (38 Less than 10/2013) There were 93 Homes SOLD. (29  Less than 10/2013) The average Sales Price... 12/10/2013

How easy is it to sell one's pwn home? Some Home Owners who see a shortage of homes listed For Sale are thinking it is "pretty easy' and trying it here in the Manchester NH area. Many soon learn some important lessons with the first being it is not as easy as they thought. What do you think is the number ONE mistake Home Sellers make when trying to Sell their own home?      Many Sellers try to sell on their own to save money. Most soon realize that by doing so has cost them money by selling at a lower price and taking a longer period of time than they ever thought.   They get swamped with phone calls, overwhelmed with buyers they do not know how to qualify to even know who to let into their home. They are not ready to negotiate, they are unaware of national and state disclosure laws. Th... 12/09/2013

Home Owners and potential Buyers want to know why they are receiving conflicting information with media saying one thing, Real Estate web sites saying another and some Brokers and Agents reporting a different types of markets within the same area. The Manchester NH area market seems to be changing as well. Although there is a shortage of new Listings listed For Sales, every home Listed is not selling. The correct way to report what type of market we are in, is a neutral market somewhere between a Sellers Market and a Buyers market.      BUYERS who are ready to buy, are enjoying ultra low interest rates that we are not hearing enough about.   HOME SELLERS who want OR need to to sell can certainly sell their homes without much competition they only would LIST THEIR HOME CORRECTLY.   I lea... 12/08/2013

When a Buyer is asking the Listing Agent if they really need to have a Home Inspection direct, you wonder why the Buyer Agent is not helping their Buyer. Some Buyers in the Manchester NH area may not be getting the help they need when Buying a home. The question is why and the answer is simple.    Whether you are a FIRST TIME BUYER or Buying your second, third or tenth home, the one thing we can agree on is what is that A GOOD Buyer broker will assist the Buyer through each step of the Buying price's that starts with negotiating the BEST purchase price for the buyer.   They then assist with the home inspection, the buyers mortgage and the long process of underwriting. Once approval is received, the agent assists with the final walk through and making sure the HUD Settlement statement is... 12/07/2013

There are some strange ways to get tips to get one's Home SOLD, but a Manchester NH area Home Owner went to extremes yesterday. They called and asked to see a home I have listed For Sale. The key here is it was not until we were in the home they began to compare this home to their own. It was then they told me they lived down the street and owned the home listed for sale with a "national" company. They than began to pepper me why I have had so many showings and they have not had any. I actually already had an offer on the home but the seller wanted me to show the buyers who already had scheduled appointments this weekend and they will choose an offer on Sunday.    During the conversation they told me about their agent not answering their phone and not getting any updates with their sale... 12/06/2013

There are some Home Sellers who have done their homework and their calls and emails usually reflect it. When a Manchester NH area Home Owner calls and states they have seen many ads with every company claiming to be the "Biggest or the Best". What she wants to know is "Can I get her Home Sold?" I sure can I replied. The consumer proceeded to tell me that I sold a home in her neighborhood a couple of years back. She recently came across my blog and knew I was the one to call.    During the conversation she said she LOVED the idea of a Listing Agent standing by the Seller through each step of the Selling process.    That the most important thing to her was knowing she would not be left alone during the selling process.   She told me a story about a co-worker who had an awful experience wh... 12/05/2013

Isn't the HIGHEST PRICED OFFER the one that Home Sellers should always take? Asked a Manchester NH area Home Owner. Why then do my sales keep falling through??? It was soon apparent why this home had been pending so many times and had seen each of the sales falls through. Choosing the Highest Offer may not always be the BEST offer. "How is the Seller supposed to know what is good and what is bad?" was the next and possible the best question.   A Listing agents JOB is to go over each and every offer and explain it to you before you sign.    More important than price is that if there are any contingencies in that offer. The most common are a HOME INSPECTION and for obtaining a MORTGAGE.   The Agents Job is to make sure that buyer is pre-qualified to even buy a home BEFORE accepting an off... 12/04/2013

An agent told me this afternoon "I was pretty Lucky" to be getting all these new REO Listings. What she did not see is that here in the Manchester NH area there has been a sharp increase in new foreclosure postings. The only luck invilved was me finishing 32 BPO's in the last 3 days as 3 different banks and entrusted me to complete. Before anyone panics, it is necessary to clear all the vacant and non performing loans from the Banks books. Most homes are 1 to 3 years behind and many have defaulted on Loan Modification that were meant to save them.   To those who do not actively work REO, I wasted to share some pictures from today's homes.   For Home Buyers, who are thinking of buying one, quite a few homes look like this before they are cleaned and marketed.   Many buyers are asking abo... 12/04/2013

What does it mean that there is an increase in Foreclosures in many areas once again? Here in the Manchester NH area I have seen a sharp increase in new foreclosure postings and an increase in auctions. Before you jump up from your chair though, what if I told you this was a good thing. As a Leading REO agent in my area, the conclusion is it is necessary to clear all the vacant and no performing loans from the Banks books. Most homes are 1 to 3 years behind and many have defaulted on Loan Modification that were meant to save them.   Some of the good points are that there is a shortage of homes on the market so the new listings are filling a void to stimulate the market and economy.   Another good point is that values are actually increasing in most areas so the new REO homes are not bri... 12/03/2013

Is anyone noticing less homes For Sale these days? Here in Manchester NH area the amount of Homes listed For Sale is down. The reasoning is two fold. There are less new listings come on the market and Buyers are buying at a steady base to take advantage of ultra low interest rates before they may rise in the spring. The homes listed right, priced right and marketed right can sell in days while other listings can sit for months if not listed right. Some agents are not always so happy when another listing gets a new listing. A call yesterday asking how did I get another listing.  It makes me chuckle this big "company" agent has so much time to dwell on me.   Because you are a faithful reader I will share it with you. I worked harder and longer to earn it. I provided some of the BEST custo... 12/02/2013

Last week I had an interesting question which I wrote a blog about asking if there is going to be an BLACK FRIDAY DEALS in Real Estate. Although it managed to sneak by the AR gods, It made my email box fill up from Manchester NH area consumers. So if you follow me, you know I could not let Cyber Monday go by without shouting from soap box that the GOOD news is you do not have to wait for just ONE DAY a year to get DEALS in Real Estate. You can get a DEAL any day you want one if you do it right.  BUYERS can start with a FREE PRE-QUALIFICATION with a local and trusted lender. They will look at your credit and financial picture and let you know what type of mortgage you may qualify for and what your interest rate and monthly payment may be. HOME SELLERS can get a FREE MARKET ANALYSIS. Lear... 12/01/2013