You'll fall in love with this low-maintenance, year-round lakefront getaway - all at a fraction of the price of some of the other waterfront listings! Easily accessible to skiing, skating, fishing, swimming, boating, biking, and hiking. All season fun for sure! Beautiful landscaping, dock and outdoor shower. New kitchen and bath with granite counters and double-facing fireplace. Offered at $319,000. Visit www.52WestShore.com for more photos and details.
Stacey Viandier, Listing Agent
If you are even thinking about buying, then all I can say is - do it sooner rather than later. Here is why you should be buying:
- We are at historic affordability. Prices nationwide are down an average of 36% from the peak and rents are rising. It’s never been cheaper to buy a home. Mortgage rates hit an all time low of 3.87% in February.
- 2012 is projected to remain flat and then pricing is expected to appreciate 1.75% in 2013, 2.71% in 2014, 3.23% in 2015, and 3.32% in 2016.
- The Case Shiller Pricing Index for the US shows you can buy a house for the same price as in 2003. However, with the lower interest rate, the house will cost you less.
- The cover of Barron’s Magazine for March 19, 2012 – “Home Prices Ready to Rebound”
- John R. Talbott, (Bloomberg News calls him the” Prophet of Real Estate”), said in Dec. 2011, “it is now time to buy a home”.
Based on personal experience as well as hearing what other local Realtors are saying, activity levels have increased and we are actually seeing multiple offers on properties as well as quick sales for those homes that are properly priced for the market. In the words of John R. Talbott, a finance expert who predicted the housing bubble –“ run, do not walk to your neighborhood banker and finance a new home”. Whether buying or selling, if you want to work with a REALTOR® in the know, then give me a call! 603-526-4116
Donna Forest, Broker Associate
To incredible views of Ragged Mountain! You can move right into this spacious, open concept home at the top of a dead-end road. Sellers are installing a brand new, state approved, 3 bedroom septic system. Efficiently heated with propane and wood boilers - use one or the other or both. Small, level yard with lovely perennial beds. Under 2 miles to town and only a mile to the Rail Trail. Enjoy the best of Andover's recreational opportunities without ever having to get in the car! Offered at $196,000. Give Stacey Viandier a call today to schedule your showing, 603-526-4116.
Stacey Viandier, Listing Agent
New listing in Springfield, NH. Enjoy the quiet on your Farmer's porch with a cup of coffee. 3 bedroom, cape style log home sits on 5.18 acres offering an easy commute north or south on I-89. Fieldstone fireplace with wood pellet stove makes for easy heating. Kitchen has been updated with new cabinets, countertops, and large butcher block island for meals. Offered at $175,000. Call Sara Ellis to schedule your showing today! 603-526-4116
Sara Ellis, Listing Agent
Restored with loving care and meticulously maintained. Located on a quiet, country road, it's the best of today combined with the appeal of a gentler time. Beautiful setting of fields, woods and a small river. Immaculate home offers wood floors, 2 working fireplaces, large and sunny country kitchen, beamed ceilings, a covered and a screened porch plus a barn/workshop, utility shed, and summer guest cottage/studio. Minutes to Mt. Sunapee Resort, hiking & snowmobile trails. Offered at $325,000. Visit www.NHFarmhouse.com for more information and photos.
Donna Forest, Listing Broker
How will you choose your REALTOR®? Will you pick the agent who gives you the highest listing price? If so, you may be doing yourself a disservice. Some agents intentionally overestimate the value in order to get a seller to list with them. Their self-interest means that the overpriced home will sit on the market as the seller eventually reduces the price trying to find a buyer. At that point, the house is stale and the selling momentum is lost. REALTORS®, who suggest what seems to sellers to be a “low” value on the property, are motivated to get the price right so the property will sell. It takes time, energy, and money to sell even a properly priced home in this market. These are resources a good agent would not want to waste on an overpriced listing.
Sellers also tend to overlook the carrying costs of having a house on the market too long. Carrying costs are how much a seller will spend until the property is sold. Mortgage payments, taxes, heat, utilities, etc. all subtract from the bottom line of what a seller nets at closing. Obviously the longer a house is on the market, the less profit there is. Picking an agent who gives you the highest listing price may actually mean you end up with less money in your pocket. If you want to work with a REALTOR® who knows how to price listings in the current market conditions, then give me a call, 603-526-4116 or email donna@donnaforest.com.
Looking for a good buy? This well built home has just been reduced from $250,000 to $239,000. It sits on 2 acres of land and has the abutting lot also available for sale for $40,000 which consists of 5.7 acres. 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 car attached garage. Heat with wood or oil. Call Stacey Viandier to schedule your showing, 603-526-4116.
Stacey Viandier, Listing Agent
Excellent conditions, both in terms of weather and purchasing leverage, lifted first quarter residential home sales to its highest level since 2007, according to data released by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. Low snowfall totals, combined with low prices, low interest rates and relatively high inventory, opened the door for 2,223 homes to be sold in the first three months of 2012, a 17 percent increase over the 1,903 sold through March 31 in 2011. Median price on those sales, meanwhile, dropped nearly five percent, from $197,500 in the first quarter of 2011 to $188,000 in the same period 2012. “This is about supply and demand, and it’s about home prices continuing to adjust to a market that has been favoring buyers for several years now,” said NHAR President John Rice, a 40‐year veteran of the real estate industry and an agent with Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty in Rye. New Hampshire residential sales for March‐only were also ahead of last year’s pace by 17 percent, from 769 in 2011 to 896 in 2012. Median price in March 2011 compared to March 2012 declined 3 percent, from $195,000 to $188,750. In terms of local markets, each of the state’s 10 counties saw unit sales increases in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, including a 65 percent gain in Sullivan County, 42 percent in Coos County, 31 percent in Cheshire County, and 18 percent in the state’s largest, Hillsborough County. Only Merrimack and Coos counties showed first quarter median price increases. March 2012 data residentialMarch 2012 data condo-1 Rice said he believes the surge in sales is likely to mean the beginning of the end of dropping prices. “That’s just fundamental, free market principles,” he said. “More sales equals less inventory, which eventually equals higher prices. “In future years we’ll look back and be able to pinpoint when prices stabilized. We can’t know that point while we’re going through it, but if this pace keeps up, I can’t imagine we’re too far from it right now.” Source: Press Release, New Hampshire Association of REALTORS®, Dave Cummings, Director of Communications
Beautiful 5 bedroom, 3 bath home has been remodeled, keeping the charm of an old cape, but all upgraded material and addition. Exposed beams, pine floor, antique looking bath fixtures and light fixtures and much more to give this house the relaxed, homey feel it boasts. Nicely sited on 4.5 acres. Offered at $950,000. Visit www.CountryCape.com for more details and photos.
Jane Snow, Listing Agent
1. Don’t overprice. It’s the kiss of death. 2. Don’t choose the agent who gives you the highest price and lowest commission. They are just “buying” your listing. See #1 above. 3. Not prepping your property for sale. Clean, de-clutter, paint, landscape, stage the house, etc. 4. Ignoring maintenance and repair items. These will ALWAYS come back to haunt you. It stops buyers from making offers, it kills sales at inspection time, or selling prices are negotiated lower to deal with these issues. 5. Making decisions based on emotions. When your house goes on the market, it has become a commodity and not your home. 6. Listening to the advice of friends and neighbors instead of your agent. Your agent is a professional in the business of selling – your friends are not. Looking for a REALTOR® to help you avoid these big mistakes and others? Then give me a call! 603-526-4116
Donna Forest, Broker Associate