NEW HAMPSHIRE -- New statistics show that New Hampshire's real estate market is in the midst of a slow and steady recovery. The numbers from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors showed October home sales were up 8 percent compared to a year ago. And home sales through the first 10 months of 2009 show sales are up over the same period last year. But it's not all good news. Numbers show that so far this year, prices are down 11 percent over last year. The New Hampshire numbers contradict national trends. The U.S. Commerce Department said that nationally, housing starts dropped 10.6 percent last month.  Slow and steady sales show that those homes under $300,000 are the ones that are selling.   To Search the Entire MLS at your convenience check out: www.patricia4realestate.com    or  C... 11/20/2009

BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2010 all home inspectors in the state of New Hampshire will have to hold a license in order to inspect homes. Makes sense to me how about you?  For a long time now this hasn't been the case here in the "Live Free or Die State of NH." Anyone  could go through a home and inspect it without holding a license. As a Realtor I would always recommend those home inspectors who were licensed to my buyers. I would give them three names and let them decide who they wanted. When I'm looking for a doctor, lawyer, or Realtor I always look for those who are licensed. It says to me that they are educated first off and they have to live by the rules. It also tells me that they care enough to go to school/classes to become licensed. They have put in the time and the effort. Wouldn't... 11/16/2009

Let me be the first to admit it:  I've been known to whine and complain.  I'm not perfect and I haven't yet mastered a positive attitude.I'm not alone...there is no shortage of people willing to piss and moan right along with me. Misery loves company and, more times than not, people will dwell on what's wrong, not on what's right.  Negative energy is quite powerful. It is much easier to complain and whine about problems than it is to come up with solutions.  Today's buyers are looking for a home they can move right into, not a house they have to improve or customize to meet their needs.  They are more likely to notice negative features before positive ones, and the negative features will make a stronger impression on them.   Don't underestimate the power of negative impression.   Think ... 11/09/2009

My tip for dealing with difficult customers: Practice the Golden Rule and put yourself in the other person’s position. Always treat the customer right ..as you want to be treated. Keep meetings productive... Keep to the list of homes you've set up showings for. Don't deviate, stick to the list. Be sure to show Byers your listings... If you have a listing that falls into the price range that your prospective buyers are looking for make sure you include it on the list of homes to view. My  best marketing techniques... Everything I  do drives traffic to my  website. Whether I use print advertising, billboards or TV, we direct everyone to our website because that is where the action is.  How to keep consumers educated about today’s buying opportunities?  I spend time talking/educating buyer... 11/09/2009

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Market Update - Single Family Homes Activity Visit Portsmouth NH Condo Market Update (YTD-October 31,2009) to view a report for condominium activity for 2009. Market Snapshot Single Family Homes - There are 68 homes on the market with an average listing price of $612,362 These homes have been on the market for 110 days.  For sales pending, there are 9 homes under contract with an average listing price of $351,711. The lower end of the market is the most active as first-time home buyers are taking advantage of the $8000 tax credit. To view current listings on the market with a mapped based result,visit Portsmouth NH Homes for Sale.  The October statistics report 105 homes sold with an average sale price of $346,533 which is a little over a 2% decrease in values ... 11/08/2009

It is common knowledge that you need to prepare your house for sale.  You would have to be living under a rock not to know that you have to "declutter"to make your house more desirable, and it is highly unlikely that you haven't seen some form of home staging show on television.  So, I have a question for you....What gives?  How is it possible that there are so many filthy, cluttered, poorly maintained houses out there on the market?I'm not talking about running into one every now and then.  I'm talking about more times than not... The market is cluttered with "BEFORE" pictures!  Maybe it's just me...maybe it's the nature of my work...I am, after all, called in to give advice.  Maybe I'm only seeing the ones that really need help.Maybe I've spent too much time checking out houses on the... 11/03/2009

Home Value Update for Concord NH Through September 2009  According to Zillow.com, the listing prices of single family homes have fell 2.2% in the last 3 months, while listing prices of condos increased 6.9%. The current mean listing price of homes for sale on the market in Concord, NH, is $204,000. Below is a chart of the trend of listing prices of homes for sale in Concord, NH, in the past year through September 2009: Median List PriceMore Concord Home Values   If you're looking for a home or condo to purchase in Concord, NH, or in the surrounding area, then try this home search. You can still buy a home with no money down with the USDA Rural Development Home Loan program. With the FHA Mortgage program, you can purchase a home with as little as 3.5% down. When you're ready to buy a hom... 11/01/2009

Home Value Update for Portsmouth NH Through September 2009 According to Zillow.com, the listing prices of single family homes have increased 6.3% in the last 3 months while listing prices of condos declined 4.7%. The current mean listing price of homes for sale on the market in Portsmouth, NH, is $350,000. Below is a chart of the trend of listing prices of homes for sale in Portsmouth, NH, in the 3 months through September 2009: Median List PriceMore Portsmouth Home Values  If you're looking for a home or condo to purchase in Portsmouth, NH, or in the surrounding area, then try this home search.  You can still buy a home with no money down with the USDA Rural Development Home Loan program. With the FHA Mortgage program, you can purchase a home with as little as 3.5% down. When you're re... 11/01/2009

Portsmouth New Hampshire Real Estate for Sale! Virtual Homes Real Estate provides direct access to the New Hampshire MLS and Massachusetts MLS systems and offers various tools to assist you in searching properties for sale that meet your criteria. If you are a first-time home buyer you will be able to obtain information that will educate you to the values offered in the Portsmouth, NH market. New Hampshire Home Search Service - New Listing Alerts! Home search is a web-based real estate software tool that keeps you continually informed of your local real estate market. Daily/real time new listing alerts, advanced search capabilities and addresses with mapping are available. To sign up click on  NH MLS Listing Alerts to subscribe to our FREE service. Portsmouth, NH MLS Map Search NH MLS m... 10/29/2009

We invite you to visit the best New Hampshire Real Estate School.  Our New Hampshire Real Estate Courses are fully accredited and approved. Our New Hampshire real estate school is one of the leading online Real Estate Schools offering the best prices for online real estate courses available anywhere.  Licensed Instructors are available to assist you with your New Hampshire Real Estate course and New Hampshire real estate license. Our New Hampshire online real estate school offers pre and post licensing and continuing education for New Hampshire Real Estate, Appraisal, Home Inspection, Mortgage Broker, Land Surveyor, Engineer, Personal Finance, Professional Development, Counselor, Social Work, Tax Assessor, funeral director services, consumer education and legal CEU. http://www.rowlettca... 10/15/2009

Why Are You Pricing Your HOME Like Clothing at the Mall? Why Are You Pricing Your Home Like Clothing at the Mall? Sellers who really want to sell their property NOW so that they can move on, are more involved with analyzing their price point than ever before.  It seems that most sellers want to price their property with something that ends in '99'--$599,000 or $599,900, etc.  Here's what I ask them:"You're about to move to Raleigh and your Realtor® has set up a search for you through his/her MLS.  Can you tell me what your price parameters are for that search?  When you're searching online at night for homes in the Raleigh (or destination city of choice), what price points do you use in your own search?"   They'll say, "We're moving up a bit so, we enter $600,000 - $700,000.""What if yo... 10/14/2009

Have you tried this great Google tool yet? Google Trends Labs lets you search, find, and compare keyword search terms with others to see which ones are being searched for most. Here's an example from my area comparing: "Knoxville Real Estate", "Knoxville TN Real Estate" and "Knoxville Homes For Sale"     The blue line above represents Google searches within the US for the keywords, "Knoxville Real Estate" which form the baseline at 1.00 The red line is for "Knoxville TN Real Estate which scored 0.45 or less than half the top keywords rank. Last is the term, "Knoxville Homes For Sale" which is the keyword set the salesman below told me was the top search term for my area and it ranked 0.39 These results are for searches done within the United States for the year 2009. You can ask Google ... 10/10/2009

If customer service, loyalty and retention our some of your goals in business, what are you doing to insure the satisfaction of your clients and past clients. In a recent visit to a major sporting goods store I had an issue being able to purchase a hunting license the day before the season started because their machine was down(found out later it was out of license paper). Approximately one month earlier I had a similar issue with the same store. As I walked out disgusted I picked up my BlackBerry and promptly left. About 3 hours later while preparing for my morning hunt I received an @reply on Twitter and guess who? The chief marketing officer & evp e-commerce from the store searched and read my tweet. He asked about the problem, we had a short conversation (140 characters or less) and... 10/09/2009

  How to Gain Control of Net Income   Here is a quick fix to net income issues.  It’s just a quick fix not a long term solution but maybe it will get you through until you get the help you need from a CPA, Coach, Financial Planner or the CRS200 Business Planning & Marketing class.  Here is the disclaimer; I am no CPA, Tax Accountant or Financial Planner, I am just a well battered REALTOR® who learned his lesson. Early on in my real estate business I did pretty well considering my young age of 22 and the small Wisconsin town I was in.  It wasn’t long before I averaged a transaction a week, an average of 10 days on the market and a 99% list price to sales price ratio.   Respectable stats but I was spending 60 hours a week and netting about $13,000 a year back then.  I could have done bet... 10/06/2009

Getting Your House Ready to Sell Many sellers will hire an agent to put their house in the MLS and then they wait for showings to occur.  While this will probably generate a few showings, they are definitely not taking advantage of the market.  It is a buyer's market and sellers have got to learn to think like a buyer. Follow these steps to not only make your house more livable but to reach your goal...to receive an offer in a shorter period of time. Keep the front of your house looking nice.  The curb appeal is the first thing that the buyer sees when he looks at the house online and also when they pull into your driveway.  This means have the bushes trimmed, the flowerbeds weeded, the grass seeded/mowed and have the gutters cleaned.  If the buyer views a house that is not taken care o... 10/05/2009

DO YOU TAKE A FULL DAY OFF EACH WEEK?  No ifs, ands or buts about it. You have to take at least one full day off each week. This will help generate energy, peace of mind, and time to do what you want to do. Time for yourself can only help you. Seperating  yourself from the many tasks a Realtor has to do each and every day gets tiring. A "day off" will rejuvinate you...mind, body and spirit. Taking a day off means no real estate calls, no answering your cell phone, no negotiating offers, no taking ad calls, no taking sign calls, no meeting with clients or prospects. The minute you do any business activity, it’s a workday, even if it’s for five minutes. You are deserving......The 24/7 weekly approach to the real estate business leads to family frustrations and burn out. This will help yo... 10/03/2009

Plan on selling your New Hampshire house in the near future?  Wondering what you can do to increase your chances of finding a buyer and selling it fast? If you're fishing for buyers, you need to use the right bait.Unfortunately there are a lot of other New Hampshire sellers with their hooks in the water right now and those buyers have a lot to choose from.In order to get their attention, you need to have the shiniest house.  Your house has to be attractive, appealing, and memorable.  The secret is in the preparation.You can't do anything about the location.The market will determine the price.Condition is the one thing you have the most control over. The way you prepare your New Hamphsire house for sale could determine just how long your house sits on the market and just how long you sit... 10/01/2009

MEMORIES ON ACTIVE RAIN - September 29, 2009 Over the last two years or so I have been apart of the Active Rain community. There are some very nice memories along the way of those who have been of particular help and support to me. This is the first time I've been involved in the social media concept and while the first year I only dabbled in it, this second year I've put myself out there with comments and blogging. I remember a  very memorable response along the way  from Gary Wotal. He is an active member as well and he had written a blog that had a wonderfully, funny photo called "the packed truck"  that I fell in love with. I emailed Gary and asked about it and he promptly sent me the link to this funny picture.  Take a look for yourself......http://www.gwoltal.myfastmail.com/files/... 09/29/2009

Get a Free List of Websites of Government and Bank Foreclosure Listings in Portsmouth, NH There are a number of websites that contain free listings of government and bank foreclosed homes in Portsmouth, NH. These websites contain descriptions, color photos, and addresses of the foreclosed homes for sale in Portsmouth, NH. And, most of these websites have government and bank foreclosure listings nationwide. There's no charge to search the foreclosure listings on any of these websites, and there's no 7-day free trial period either. Virtually all of these websites do not require any personal information to get access to the government and bank foreclosure listings. You can access these foreclosure listings anytime you want and as often as you want - free of charge! Click here to get your o... 09/22/2009

FHA, VA, and USDA Rural Development Loans in Portsmouth, NH Are you looking for a home mortgage loan in the Portsmouth, NH area? Then you’ve come to the right place! Northeast Community Mortgage is a mortgage broker serving Portsmouth, NH, and many of the surrounding areas. When you decide to buy a home or refinance a mortgage in Portsmouth, NH or in the surrounding area, your search for a home mortgage loan should start and end here.  With so many lenders to choose from in the greater Portsmouth area, you should choose one you can trust to find the mortgage loan that will best meet your needs. As a mortgage broker, we help our clients obtain a loan from the lender who has the terms that best matches their needs. In terms of mortgage programs, we specialize in FHA, VA, and USDA Rural De... 09/22/2009