Is it possible to BUY INVESTMENT PROPERTIES in the Manchester NH area using OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY? Well from the amount of calls and emails recently, you would certainly think so. Potential buyers of all types would love to know this secret. It is possible to buy a home with no money down if you qualify. When it comes to Investment properties though, there is more risk and therefore usually a higher cost. Even if you can find one, You do need some money though for items such as the deposit, appraisal fee or home inspection fee. Where do you start you ask? The key in becoming an investor is to have experience, good credit and or a good deal of cash. The FIRST STEP is to hire a Buyer Broker who is WELL Experienced with investment properties and the types of mortgages available. Here in NH,... 10/02/2013

"You people sure are NOSEY" states Mr. and Mrs. Home Seller of a Manchester NH area home that was listed FOR SALE? What could be the greatest lesson to Home Owners of what not to do. When i arrived at a home For Sale with my Buyer Clients, the Home Owners were there to let us in. The listing agent however was not. The agent arranged the sellers to let people in to show their own home. That was the first mistake. As we walked through the home Mrs. Buyer asked if she could look in the pantry closet as the Sellers stayed within inches of us. As we went from the Kitchen through the dining room to living room and into Bathroom, we were followed.With a "hmmm" here and a grunt there and a sigh there the seller sounded off to let us know they were only a step behind.When we asked to see the bas... 10/01/2013

I had my first panicked buyer this morning waiting for me at 8am asking if the Government shutdown will affect their purchase of their new Manchester NH area home? The news had kept them up all night. Rest assured their sale will not be delayed by the shut down as the are getting a conventional mortgage and not a FHA or VA.  Yesterday I took the time to contact my other Buyers who are going FHA to update and inform them what a possible shut down may mean.The good news for each of these 2 buyers is early in the process. The local bank will still be processing their loan application. The appraisal will still be ordered and completed. Once the loan goes through the local under writer it is sent to FHA for final approval, they are 3 weeks out for that so the odds are the shut down will be o... 09/30/2013

I got an intersting call from a Manchester NH area Home Owner stating they will only allow people in their home who have had a Flu Shot. They are ready to list thier home, but have some restrictions. They debated the Flu shot was not only for the protection of the person who gets it, but the people around them. I have not got the Flu Shot and have been debating the benefits against any side effects without anyconsistant information to assist in the decision. Now that a Home Seller makes this request, I can get a shot, but how do you make sure other agents have had a flu shot never mind check and confirm potential Buyers have had their flu shot? I have never had such a request in 28 years in Real Estate and my first thought is to reach out the Active Rain community. After a couple of mor... 09/29/2013

One of the most common calls is from Manchester NH area Home Owners asking HOW MUCH CAN I SELL MY HOME FOR? They are all finding widely differing values from web site to web site that just do not seem right, The truth is no one can give an exact amount without seeing the home. Some homes are easier to estimate than others such as if they are in a condominum community or newer neighborhood with all similar homes.  The only true way to judge what the realistic value of a home is in today's market is by completeing a CMA "Comparative Market Analysis" or a BPO "Broker's Price Opinion". We will look at your home, and compare it to the 3 most similar homes that have sold and the 3 most similar homes currently for sale in your area. I will add or subtract for condition, size, lot, room count, ... 09/28/2013

If you are reading a Real Estate ad, a description on MLS or an internet site, Can you believe what you read? There are so many Real Estate terms and each person seems to assign their own meaning to them. I see it here with many Manchester NH area homes listed FOR SALE. Brand NEW, Newly Remodeled and my famous "Ready for your finishing touches.  BRAND NEW means "never used" so if you have Brand New Appliances and then use them, they are no longer BRAND New.You can say "Like New"...Recently I saw a MLS Listing for a home with a NEW ROOF and recently remodeled interior. What we got was a roof that was redone in 2004, 9 years ago is not NEW.Therefore when entering it was no surprise the NEWLY remodeled Interior was a decade old as well. The problem is some agents in their haste to build up... 09/27/2013

An ACTIVE RAIN Challenge to write a blog where I would want to visit right now based on the Local areas that other bloggers write about or have posted photos of. The criteria is to write about a place I want to visit, vacation or live for a lifetime. There are just too many places I read about to pick just one. I have opted to include two parts to my blog today, the first is where I would like to visit and vacation and the second where I would choose to spend a lifetime.   My ideal vacation, that does not include a flight to the Bahama's that is, would be to visit MANY PLACES in a road trip style vacation as I vist some of my AR Friends. I would start in Texas and visit Cathy Bureau. I have a craving for some real Texas BBQ before she teaches me a healthier life style.  While in Texas I... 09/26/2013

Can I BUY a home if I do not have money? was how the conversation started with a Manchester NH area potential Home Buyer. When I meet a FIRST TIME BUYER like this, I find it important to start at the beginning with how the Buying and Mortgage process works. The Buyer was quite happy that I took time to sit with them.  It is possible to buy a home with no money down if you qualify. There are VA and USDA mortgages and FHA is only 3.5% down.  You do need some money though for items such as the deposit, appraisal fee or home inspection fee. The first thing they did right, they hired me as their Buyer Broker where my services will not cost them anything as my fee is paid from the Listing agent at closing through what is offered in the second. The second step was for me to explain the basic t... 09/25/2013

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT that this Manchester New Hampshire 6 Unit Building Located at 133 W. Hancock street has BEEN SOLD by SCOTT GODZYK of the GODZYK REAL ESTATE SERVICES.  This landmark building on the corner of second Street with 5 residential units and a store front.  This Property features: Newer Roof Newer Electric (4) 2 Bedrooms UNITS (1) 2/3 BR UNIT (1) Store front Nice yard Could be retail or office? Full Basement Not a short sale and not Bank Owned. No hastles and no wait. WE CAN SELL YOURS TOO!!!!!       Tenants pay all utilities including heat and electric. Easy to maintain. Clean units. Apartments are fully rented. 48 hr notice to see residential units please. Subject to prior sale, price change without notice and subject to errors or omissions.                       If you ar... 09/25/2013

Why would a Home Owner pass up on a CASH OFFER on their Manchester NH area Home. Aren't all Cash Offers the BEST offers any Seller could ask for? The Reality is that there is a sharp decrease in Homes listed For Sale. The amount of Buyers has stayed steady. Many of my new Listings get many offers with the first couple of days. Therefore Sellers do not have to discount their homes like they did only 2 years ago. There is however Sellers who NEED to or MUST Sell quickly and there you will find sellers willing to take CASH offers.The question then, is always "I offered CASH, so why did my offer not get accepted?"The key fact is that a Seller willing to sell at a discounted price wants to know the home is 100% sold and is not going to fall through because of any contingency.Yet many cash bu... 09/24/2013

Buyers are in the market for GOFFSTOWN NH area Condos. This town is located just west of Manchester NH (New Hampshire's largest city), this town offers good schools, country living, easy access to highways, shopping centers and restaurants.  A Condominium is more than just a type of home, but a "WAY OF LIFE".  Home Buyers tend to prefer a condominium for their ease of living, no exterior maintenance, no lawn care or snow removal and more amenities such as a pool and club house. One of the best indicators of the CONDOMINIUM Market in the Manchester NH area is by looking at the MARKET REPORT from the current month compared to the previous month. We see a trend of the amount of listings coming on the market reducing as sales have stayed steady. For the period of August 2013 compared to Jul... 09/24/2013

How do you get a discount on a home you want to Buy? Here in the Manchester NH area, there is a sharp decrease in Foreclosures and Short Sales listed For Sale. Therefore Investors are moving into the Owner Occupied Listing inventory and looking for deals. They commonly make CASH OFFERS. We are also seeing Home owners whose values have increased the last couple of years and who did NOT refinance their equity away, be able to sell their home and have a huge chunk of cash to move up to a bigger home or down size into a home that better suits them.   As one of the Leading Listing agents i find myself in the center of a debate when multiple offers come in on one of my new listings. The question is always "I offered CASH, so why did my offer not get accepted?The key fact is that a Seller will... 09/23/2013

Do you LIST every home that wants to List with you? Surprisingly every home will not always SELL, even in this market. A Home Seller of a Manchester NH area home called me to list their home, I set up an appointment to meet with them. They saw on TV that they should interview 2 agents. They saw that they should choose a big national company and choose a Leading Local agency, that was me.   I have listed and sold many homes in this desired neighborhood. All the homes were built within 3 years of each other. All are similar style and similar in square footage. After touring the home, they got right into price. In this area there are several sales over the last 6 months. Over all there is a shortage of listings. Sales were as low as $220,000 and as high as $265,000 for a home completely re... 09/22/2013

Try outs/Evaluations are on Saturday September 28, 2013. The Manchester NH Vipers announce Try outs for their 2014 Girls Softball All Star style Travel Teams in the U-10, U-12 and U-14 Divisions. Evaluations will be held Saturday September 28, 2013 and Saturday Oct. 5, 2013. All girls who meet the age criteria are welcome to try out. U-14 will start at 3:30pm, U-12 will start at 430pm with U-10 starting at 530pm. (rain dates will be announced online) Please be there early to make sure your registration is complete and your player is dressed and ready to play by the start time.It is the players age AS OF Dec. 31, 2013 as to which team they qualify for.U-10 Must be born after Dec 31, 2002.U-12 Must be born after Dec 31, 2000.U-14 Must be born after Dec 31, 1998.A player can not be born be... 09/22/2013

Politics and Business does not usually mix. The Question of "Will the Battle over the Debt Ceiling hurt my ability to sell my home?" from a Manchester NH area Home Owner who was generally concerned as they get ready to list their home. They actually met with another agent who told them to WAIT. We then sat down and I went from Realtor to comforter, philosopher and economic predicter. Most people are getting complacent with 5 years of non functioning government. But it is affecting the mindset of some who see this on the news day after day. Most people who are active in the news and economics are right on top of this. Others, like this seller only hear bits and pieces and are scared. No matter which side of the political aisle you sit on, this is just more scare tactics meant to sway vot... 09/21/2013

An interesting call from a Home Seller of a Manchester NH area home who claims their Buyer can not close on time, what can they do? The problem is it is not listed with me and it is not my Buyer. It is Listed FOR SALE with a "Big time" agent. They said their agent is not answering the phone or emails and they need answers. I sold many homes in their area so they looked me up. I wanted to share this story as a lesson to other Sellers of what to do and what not to do. For this Seller they are under contract, I can not offer them the advice they seek other than they may need a better agent I can tell all of you the situation should have NEVER been allowed to get this far. A GOOD agent will keep track of EVERY aspect of the Sale process.They will keep a constant communication with the Buyer... 09/20/2013

When a Buyer states they are not ready to buy yet but still wants to see a Manchester NH area home listed FOR SALE, should the Seller allow them in to see the home For Sale? One of the topics i bring up with a Home Owner when listing a home is to go over the types of buyers and the different types of showings we may encounter once we put the home up for sale.  The key for any Buyer who wants to see your home, is to be at least qualified to buy a home. As a Listing Agent i go through a series of questions with the Buyer to determine this. A Home Seller does not want un-qualified buyers going through their home.When a buyer wants to start the buying process, they should meet with a local and trusted loan officer to get pre-qualified and learn if they can get a mortgage or what they will n... 09/19/2013

Should I consider an offer where the Buyer has a Home to sell before they can purchase my home? asks an owner of a Manchester NH area home. The sale would be contingent upon the Buyer selling their home so they can purchase this home. Just yesterday i was working with a buyer in this situation. Many of the sellers questions was, if this is common and is this a scam?  It is more common in a market where there is an over abundance of listings and perhaps a shortage of buyers that home sale contingencies are used.There are many valid reasons that even in a market such as this with a shortage of homes for sale and a steady pace of buyers that a Home Sale contingency is needed and used.I first explained how this type of contingency works such as a Home Owner who has a home to sell and they w... 09/18/2013

Can I BUY a home if I have a home to sell? asked an owner of a Manchester NH area home. They would like to sell and Buy a new home, however they do not want to put their home up for sale until they find a new home though. After calling many different agents they were discouraged until they found my disadvantages and asked for some "real" answers.  The first thing I did is explain to them the disadvantages of having a home to sell, but one not even on the market when making an offer to purchase. Many Home Sellers, especially in this market may pass on their offer as there is a shortage of homes listed and a steady flow of buyers.I also told them that it is not impossible though. There are many homes for one reason or another have stayed on the market longer than the average that may be a... 09/17/2013

An interesting question from a Buyer thinking that they need to call every bank and mortgage company to get pre-qualified with each one. This is not the way to start your home buying process. Some Buyers may start by getting pre-qualified while others will obtain the services of a Buyer broker who they look for guidance in finding a loan officer. Here in the Manchester NH area, many Buyers wonder the same question.  Buyers should start with one Loan Officer who should be both Local and trusted. For those in NH who seek assistance through myself, I guide them to the experienced Loan Officers i work with. Buyers do not and should not make applications with multiple banks. What people need to know is the interest rate and closing costs will be very similar will all banks and mortgage compa... 09/16/2013