Eastman Real Estate Blog

For those of you that are thinking of selling your home, not just in Eastman but anywhere, one huge issue is often over looked, PHOTOS!!!

Let me start by saying that the ultimate key to selling a home in this market is price. The right price will get it sold every time. After price what makes you home look good when buyers are looking on line? Photos. Everyday I look in MLS and see bad photos. It is amazing to me that sellers don’t complain more. Buyers won’t look at a home if the photos are bad. I see crooked photos, dark photos, blurry photos, what the hell is that photos and more.

In my office we have a large flat screen tv that we use as a computer monitor. I show potential buyers listings this way. Two out of every three listings, the buyers comment about the photos. Not all of them are bad but a few per property. All it takes is one bad photo for either the husband or wife to discard a property. There are a many times that I can not get them to over come a bad photo so that property will not be shown.

So, what is a seller to do? Before you list, look at the agents listings online. If the agent has their own web site you can go there and all of that agents listings will be right there. If there are bad photos then maybe you help choose the photos that agent is going to use. If that agent doesn’t have his own web site, you might want to think twice before you list with that person anyway.

ASK what kind of camera and lens do you use? If they use their phone or some kind of cheap point and shoot, you might want to think twice. ASK what kind of photo-shop program do you use? If they don’t you might want to think twice. It doesn’t take much to go into iPhoto and straighten and crop photos. This makes a huge difference in the appearance of a home.

All my photos are now shot with a Nikon D200 with a 10x24mm lens. It’s a really nice set up and takes great photos. There are no parabolic curves that a lot of lesser cameras give you. I put all my photos through iPhoto too. I crop and straighten, brighten or what ever needs to be done to make the house a beautiful home. I don’t change the colors of things or alter photos in any other way. ie: If there is a propane storage tank on the side of a house and it looks terrible I will either not get the tank in the photo, crop it out if I do get it in or just not use that photo. I will not photo-shop the tank out of the photo as that would not be a “true picture” of that property.

I just read a brief article about two houses in Ohio that are magnetized. Just when you think you have heard all the odd issues with homes up pops another one.

Apparently the owners say “their homes became giant magnets”. The builder of the home uses steel joists and some how they have become magnetized and cause interference with cordless phones, computer hard drives get corrupted and tv screens get distorted. Obviously this causes issues for the owners. They have taken the builder to court and have lost every time. The builder says that their home warranty does not cover “magnet” problems.

The law suit is now going before the Ohio Supreme Court. Can you imagine that?

It’s August 13th, 2011 a picture perfect day. A slight breeze, mid 70′s temperatures, beautiful blue skies with a few cotton ball clouds floating by.

The Quechee Club tennis courts were in full action as the finals for this years CTA Summer Tennis League were held there. The Eastman NH women’s team had a very successful year, making it to the finals. Neither the men’s A or B team did as well.

The women, had a very hard fought battle on court one going to a third set tie break. The number 1 Eastman team just could not pull out the victory after splitting the first two sets.  The Eastman court two team lost to a very strong Storrs Pond team that could have easily played number 1. The good news for the day was that the Eastman 3 team won in straight sets.

So, congratulations to Storrs Pond, winners of both the women’s A & B level and the Storrs mens A team all winning this years league play. Woodstock took the title for the men’s B level.

Country Houses Real Estate held it’s annual dinner at the Appleseed Restaurant in Bradford NH last night.This is part of the email that we received this am….

I want to thank those of you who came to our Relay For Life Benefit Dinner last evening.  It was
lots of fun – good food and good company!!!  We made $659 to go to The American Cancer
Society and I have you all to thank for that!!!  Anyone who would be interested in joining us on
June 3-4th, please let us know.  We have luminaria bags available for $10 if you’d like to
decorate one (or your kids or grand-kids) for the track the night of the event.

As you can see this was a huge success but only a part of the fund raising that Country Houses does during the year. IF anyone would like to support our cause please contact me at jeffadie@gmail.com or Janet at newbury@countryhousesre.com

It is just so hard to believe that 2010 is just about over. It seems like yesterday, I was watching fireworks from around the world welcoming in Y2K. As we get down to the last few days of December, the November sales stats are finally here. The trend lines are all heading in the wrong directions still but it looks like the median sale price line might show some signs of flattening. In Sullivan County the median sales price has actually risen 1.67% year to date. That’s good news. Merrimack County is is down 2.23% YTD.

So if you want all the NH Sales Statistics Year To Date click on bold letters and get the latest for New Hampshire, Merrimack and Sullivan Counties.

If you have questions regarding taxes on income that will be imposed due to Health Care Reform, The National Association Of Realtors has put together a document with frequently asked questions and their answers.

Health INS Reform 1 and Health INS Reform 2 will get you the PDF’s for you to down load. This is a six page document total (three pages each PDF) and is filled with information that will affect so many. Do you know “Who is a HIGH INCOME taxpayer?” Do you know if rental income will be taxed? What about the 3.8% Medicare tax?

This is a must read for so many and it’s just a click away.

I don’t have all the details but the Eastman Woman’s tennis team won the Upper Valley Summer Tennis League Championship.

After a competitive summer schedule the women ended up finishing first in the standings. This gave them home court advantage through the quarter and semi-final matches. After not dropping a match (I actually think they didn’t drop a set!) in the first two playoff rounds Eastman headed to The Quechee Club to play in the finals.

Once again the women stepped up their play, winning all three matches and proudly bringing home the championship banner.

A special thank you goes out to Christine Cecchetti for being captain of the team. After several years she is passing the torch. A great way to go out Christine, with the title of Champion.

If you haven’t noticed recently interest rates have dropped to their lowest point in decades.

Local lenders all around Grantham NH have rates as low as 4.375% for a 30 year fixed rate loan. If you want a 5 year adjustable then how does 3.5% sound?

When I bought my first house in New London NH I was thrilled to have an interest rate of 7.99% I thought that was the best I would ever get. Back in November I purchases home number 4. Just 9 months ago I was happy to see 4.75% I’m still happy with this rate and who would have thought that rates would continue to drop?

So many “experts” were saying how rates would jump as high as 8% by the fall of 2010. I had serious reservations about that but I too thought rates would start to head higher. This down trend is perfect timing for the housing market and is really the true stimulus, an unforced natural effect of the “market place”. So unlike government interference and programs that cost so much money.

Buyers and sellers should take notice, do some math and figure out just how much money they can save.

It’s very hard to believe that half of 2010 is behind us. Two of the best things I can say about this year is the weather has been mild, not that much snow and finally a real summer with heat and sunshine. More importantly home sales are up HUGE!!!

Sales are up just over 225% when you compare the first sixth months of 2010 to 2009. In 09′ there were just fourteen home sales compared to 32 home sales this year. The first 6 months of 2010 equaled the entire amount of home sales for the year in 2009. How does that sound for an improving market?

As for condos and land the numbers are not nearly as good. In the same time periods used for home sales, condo sales totaled 3 in 2010 and just 2 in 2009. Land sales, there was only one in 09′ and 2010 has seen 2.

Here is where the debate comes in: Has the market really turned? Web site traffic is down, sales are up. Is the buyer pool stronger because only the most financially sound buyers are left? Did the tax credits that the government had in place really drive sales? Now that the credits are over will sales drop? Are web hits down because the tax credits have ended?

This is what I see in the micro market of Eastman with observations of the Upper Valley and New London/Lake Sunapee mixed in.

May was most likely the quietest May I will ever see. At least lets hope so!! June started off slow but finished strong. The activity I see in my office has been steady to fairly busy. The mid priced home is no longer a non existing market. There has been several homes in the $350,000 to $550,000 price range that have gone under agreement. There always seems to be some action in the sub $200,000 range. Currently the selection of Eastman Lake waterfront homes is down and it would be good to get some inventory in that category. ($500,000 plus with good water access)

I think land sales are down for the obvious reason. Why build when you can buy existing for less?? Condo sales? No that’s a good question. Are sales down because of the maintenance fees? Are buyers looking at homes and just see better values than a condo? There are some great prices on Eastman condos but can buyers be watching their monthly dollar expense so closely and they are not figuring for repairs on a home making a home look inexpensive?  Home maintenance is not a monthly expense but it still adds up by the end of a year?

I can not understand why condos are so over looked right now. Maybe the vacation buyer has really been taken out of the market? If that’s the case than condo sales will remain slow until those buyers come back. About 75% of Eastman condos are vacation homes.

OK enough typing, home sales are up HUGE and that’s GREAT news!!

This post comes a little late but it’s some that should be mentioned.

Country Houses RE earned the Bronze level for fund-raising for this years relay, held at Kearsarge Regional High School. The company totaled over $3000 in donations and I think that’s awesome. About 25-30 members of the company spent Friday evening walking and talking. Only about 10-12 tried to stay the night, then the winds, thunder and driving rains came and the event was cut short.

A special thanks go out to Janet, Susan and Sherry for all their hard work in getting everything organized. An honorable mention goes to John for his help with the tent.