Who pays what when it comes to a Real Estate sale? Home Buyers and Sellers are often confused what Closing Costs are for and who pay what. Closing costs should never be a surprise, because a good agent can easily go over what costs you may have and what they are for before you even begin your transaction. The buyer and the Seller each have separate costs associated with any purchase or sale.   HOME BUYERS will have costs associated with purchasing, All buyer whether getting a mortgage or paying cash, will pay either a Real Estate Attorney, Closing company or title company to complete the closing. It usually includes the title search, preparation of documents and conducting the closing. If you state has a transfer tax that would be payable as well. For those Buyers getting a mortgage, th... 11/08/2014

Not again, it is only November and the Polar Vortex the chilled the country in 2013 is scheduled to make it's return before Thanksgiving even arrives. The talk of the coffee shops this morning was if the sudden cool down would be an end to the busy fall market? Last year saw temps dip below zero, it was even too cold to snow. This round anyway will send chills all the way to the Gulf coast.   Despite the chill on weather, Buyers are looking to take advantage of the ultra low interest rates and will continue to buy homes before they are expected to rise next year.   Home Sellers are finding with low inventories of homes for sale in many markets, the competition of other homes for sales are minimal as we are often getting many offers on our new listings leading to a quick sale.   Many Hom... 11/06/2014

Take a look at this home advertised as "Move in Ready". Truth in advertising seems to be lost unless you are looking for a well soiled carpet. Freshly painted walls and a new kitchen are mentioned but how can we get past this carpet. At worst tear it up and at best, why was this advertised as move in ready.   When you List your home, you want your agent to provide the best and most up to date information to attract the most potential Buyers.   Short cuts, tricks and false advertising do not work.   I leave you with an infamous fact, There is a RIGHT WAY in order to Buy or Sell one's home. Many Home Owners may not know there is a difference in Listing Agents.   You should know that All Agents are not created equal and every buyer or seller should take the time to hire the BEST, not just ... 11/05/2014

There is a trend to encourage Home Sellers to list their home at a price much lower than market value to attract more buyers and encourage a bidding war. It would be a good strategy except when the home owner is not willing to accept that low of a sales price if there is no higher offers. I will shout from the roof tops that "Tricks", gimmicks and short cuts are not the right way to go about listing and selling your home. You only have one chance to get the momentum of being a "New" Listing and to simply say, why not just list your home correctly from the start.   A simple recipe of choosing the right listing agent, pricing the home correctly, using a good marketing program to get your home in front of potential buyers and an agent willing and able to do the work will produce more offer... 11/04/2014

As we enter November in New Hampshire, Real Estate has had a very busy Fall. The amount of new listings starts to slow, but the amount of Buyers is plentiful. Everyone wants to know what is happening with the Real Estate Market. Should they list their home for sale? Should they buy a home now or wait? Our market as seen values start to rise with a steady flow of buyers and a slight shortage of homes currently listed on the market. That makes NOW a great time to list and sell your property.   .Scott Godzyk Owner/Broker of the Godzyk Real Estate Services has prepared a comprehensive Market Report that has been shared through out the area to show you what is happening in different Communities in NH.   Interest rates are still Ultra low allowing buyers to afford more of a home at a lower mo... 11/04/2014

You may agree or may moan, but one FACT is that when people are not happy or do not feel safe, they will not buy. Not just homes but anything except what is needed. We are on the edge, many Real Estate markets came back in amazing fashion, a simple recipe of low supply, high demand and ultra low interest rate inspired buyers across the country. Some market values are near the pre-recession values.   Some will tout the stock markets sharp increase. However those "in the know" tout the governments printing money or buying bonds as the reason Wall Street gets rich while the average guy gets by. The main stream media calls attention to the sudden drop in gas prices. Did you notice it is before the election and that stock piles are at all time highs, perhaps because people are driving "a lot... 11/03/2014

"Did they get their Advice from a Cracker Jack box" asked a Home Buyer as the response to their full price offer was that they were waiting for a "few more offers" to pick one. Setting the scene, the home has been on the market a couple of months, it was priced at the higher end of the market value but was located in the neighborhood my buyers want to be in. To speed things up they make a full price offer, ask to close in 30 days and include a pre-approval letter.   The listing agent seemed to be no where around, days turned to a week and no answer. The buyers could not wait and we started our search over. Soon after we found another home and the buyers offer was accepted. That is when calls from the seller that "wanted more offer" began to call me. They could not reach their listing ag... 11/02/2014

The phone rings and it is a woman crying. She is returning my call as an expired Listing. Her home did not sell after 6 months on the market. She barely had any showings. She never got any offers. She never even heard from her agent. It was priced too high. Now she worries everyone will know and no one will come see it, even if she does lower the price.  With the arrival of November, she worried she missed the market. After a little while of her venting she asked my opinion. She can not go back in time, but she can move forward and do it right. Late fall is a good time to list one's home as the amount of listings in winter is the lowest of all the year. That means less competition. The amount of Buyers is still strong as buyers look to take advantage of the ultra low interest rates. Hom... 11/01/2014

The happiest moments sometimes come from smiling faces. There is new home owner in the neighborhood purchasing their FIRST HOME. The News Release out of Manchester NH, stated that Scott Godzyk with the Godzyk Real Estate Services assisted as a Buyer Agent for the SALE of this home in Manchester NH. Seeing the home quickly when it hit the market, making a good initial offer got this home under contract quickly. A fine attention to detail, patience and persistence got the mortgage to close. A special Thank you to Tim Amsden from RMS for the great service as our Loan Officer.   Congratulations to the Buyers.....   If you are thinking about BUYING or SELLING a property, you can call or email today.  With ultra low interest rates now is the time buy, With a steady flow of buyers now is also ... 11/01/2014

It is time for some help. Is it possible to Like something more than you Do NOT like something? Confused, you should be... Imagine a Buyer looking for their first home and wanting to make sure everything is perfect. Where do they start? When I was meeting with some Buyers relocating to the Manchester NH area and Buying their first home. Their list of what they liked was HUGE. His list had different things than her list and when asked lets start with age, Do you want a new or newer home? He says YES she says NO and i say 'oh oh".   The KEY is not always what they like but "What they DO NOT LIKE."We started a list to rule things out. Type of neighborhood, what age of homes they did not want, no homes without garages, only the BEST School districts, no less than 3 bedrooms, no less than 2 ... 10/31/2014

In the October Active Rain "Above and Beyond" Challenge we are asked to write about a purchase or sale where I as an agent went above and beyond. It took me a whole month to think about it.   I think the most important thing and part of my business model is to go "Above and Beyond" with every sale.  Some of teh hardest work starts after finding a buyer for a home or finding a home for a Buyer. An old timer used to tell me that the hardest work you will ever do is the work no one sees and you may never get a Thank you for.   When you look at a recent sale of mine, I represented the Buyer, we looked off and on for a year until the pre qualification was complete and that the buyer was ready to go. We found a home immediately. We made a great offer and got it way below even today's market v... 10/31/2014

Tell me if this is a TRICK or a TREAT. A Buyer wants to see a new home, then an old home. They wanted to see a home that does not need any work, and one that needs a total re-hab. They asked to see big homes and small homes. They want to see rural areas and urban areas. They wanted to see 1 story homes and 2 story homes. With all this criteria they had over 40 homes they wanted to see so they could decide what type of home they wanted to buy.   I asked how long have you been looking at homes. The answer was 1 year. Following up I asked how many agents are you looking at homes with. The answer 5 or 6. Cutting to the chase, I asked when are you looking to buy a home? The response was as soon as we find what we like.    Scratching my head because this young couple may really not know the r... 10/30/2014

I NEED to know if the Home Owner is trying to Trick me by placing an asking price over what the town has the property assessed for? Should I run from this sale? These were 2 of the many questions from a Manchester NH area home Buyer who wanted to base their offer on the assessed value thinking that is what the home is worth.   My answer is that assessed values usually have no relation to what a home is worth in today's market. Here in NH assessed values go through re-evaluation every 5 years. Most towns therefore have values set 5 years ago in the heart of the recession. Therefore it should be known to never use the assessed value to set your asking price or offer.    The correct way to go about it is to assess what the home is worth in today's market. A GOOD agent can easily do that fo... 10/29/2014

You may have heard about Home Inspections that go bad, but it is not always because of a badhome, some times it is because of the inspection. We all can agree an inspection is to identify current condition, past incidents and any repairs that may be needed. The Buyer agents boasted there is no such thing as a "bad" inspection in the buyers eyes. However  how about when an inspector states the plumbing needs to be replaced because of freeze damage when the home was vacated in July and had simply been winterized?    Take the Forced Hot Air furnace by gas that was reported to be rusty when it is dirty? Toilets that leak when the water is off? The hot water heater needs to be replaced as it does not work, oh yeah the water is off. All inspectors are not created equal and in most cases you g... 10/28/2014

A local Home Owner saw on TV that they should be present at EVERY Home Showing. A Manchester NH area Listing expired and the Seller while interviewing myself as their new listing agent, said they would only give the listing to an agent who allowed them to be at every showing. Would you take the listing?   AS the Home Owner was very cautious and easily argumentative, I knew there was a very short opportunity to tell them the pros and cons of this strategy. The PRO which they repeated over and over is they would be there to answer questions from the buyer. The cons started with they would be there to answer questions from the Buyer.   A  seller who attends showings would be more of a hindrance to the sale than a help. There is no doubt that Buyers would be uneasy and feel restricted to be... 10/27/2014

The Manchester Police Department would like to inform you that the Halloween Trick-or-Treating for the City of Manchester will be on Friday, October 31, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  Please refrain from cell phone use - particularly during Trick-or-Treat hours. AAA offers the following tips for Halloween safety. Motorists Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals. Drive at least 5 mph below the posted speed limit to give yourself extra time to react to children who may dart into the street.  Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs. In dark costumes, they’ll be harder to see at night.  Look for children crossing the street. They may not be paying attention to traffic and cross the street mid-block or between parked cars.  Carefully e... 10/27/2014

What does it mean to purchase a home "AS IS"? What should one know before purchasing a home that is sold this way? These are just a few of the many question Manchester NH area buyers have been asking, It can get scary but it does not have to be. In general "AS IS" means just that, as is with no further work, repairs or credits for work to be given. Most of the time you will see this on a Bank Owned sale or a Short Sale. These days though you may see some Home Owners try to sell their own home "AS IS" in the hope of a quicker sale without any contingencies,   Buying a home is not like buying a car, the Seller can not just shout "As Is" and be relieved from all state and federal disclosures. Here is what you should know. The seller still has to disclose anything in need of repair whether ... 10/26/2014

This is the perfect time of year to conduct a poll of what scares Buyers and Sellers about Home buying and Selling. Do you have your opinion of what the scariest part of the Buying or Selling process is? I compiled what Manchester NH area Buyers and Sellers were saying and the #1 thing people mentioned was, they were afraid of "not knowing", scared of the "unknown", also garnered as the items that were out of their hands that they had to wait for.   For HOME BUYERS Examples were making an offer, the mortgage process, appraisal and home inspections.   For HOME SELLERS Examples were will their home sell? Getting updates after showings and getting updates while the buyer gets their mortgage.   All Buyers and Sellers though will not experience the same amount of worrying. Some may worry onl... 10/26/2014

How many Pumpkins would one have to give out to find a Buyer for their home?  An agent was offering a free pumpkin to everyone who came to their Open House. They spend a small fortune on buying pumpkins. It sounds like a fun promotion, but will the people coming for a free pumpkin be real home buyers?    I am thinking probably not. It may be good exposure for the agent but seeing I heard the Seller was paying for it, was it a wise expense for the seller?   To attract Buyers the simple formula is pricing it right to start and then marketing the home to the most potential Buyers. I think I would rather have a hand full of qualified buyers who are ready, willing and able to make an offer than hundreds of people coming for a free pumpkin who could give a care a home is even for sale.    The... 10/24/2014

Have you ever met a SCARY Listing Agent? Yesterday we met our match showing a home where the listing agent was present and standing at the door like a Bouncer at a night club. Arms crossed, blocking the door and demanding we took our shoes off before we even entered as the rain poured down. The house was a "fixer upper" a modest home, great neighborhood and as  the seemingly worst home on the block, priced low enough for the buyer to be able to afford it.   Listing Agents should be welcoming, accommodating and be there to point out what makes the home special and answer questions if asked. As we entered the home it smelled like cats, the carpets was stained not even 2 feet into the loving room with cat pee. The buyer asked if they could put their shoes back on. The listing agent sounded... 10/23/2014