The Dream Homes Team Blog

In this market, home values are sinking to reasonable levels, interest rates remain attractive, it’s a great time to buy! There are a  TON of 1st time homebuyer mortgage programs that are meant to assist a 1st time homebuyer to get into the housing market.

When you figure out how much rent you’re paying, that you’re throwing out the window, you can probably own a home for roughly  the same as what you’re paying! And…the interest you pay on the  loan and  the property tax  may be tax deductible (speak to your accountant).  

Whatever your situation, your mortgage professional can evaluate your current situation and your goals, and fit the right mortgage to meet your needs. Here are just a few programs that are out there:

Rehab loans: The lender will lend the  cost of the house plus repairs. They will escrow the repair money and your contractor will draw the money after each repair is made. This is the perfect program if you want to save  some money buying a fixer-upper.

FHA loans:  FHA requires that you put 3% down on the purchase of a 1-4 family owner-occupied home. Your credit has little impact on this type of loan.  There is no PMI (private mortgage insurance) on this type of loan, as it is backed by FHA.

100% finance loans: These loans are alive and well. Be prepared to document your income! Gone are the days when banks will lend any amount of money.

Stated income/stated asset: If you’re like me, and all of your deductions eat up your income, you may fall in this category. Here, you will tell the lender how much you make and/or tell them how much you have in the bank (between savings accounts, stocks, mutual funds, 401(k), etc). The interest rate is marginally higher. Be prepared to have excellent credit for this type of loan though. The lender may require you to put 5-10% down on the home.

This is just the tip of the iceburg. There are many, many loan programs out there. Your mortgage professional can help you find just the right one that works for you.

Happy house hunting!

How’s our market doing? Here are some stats for you for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Hillsborough County covers the southern tip of New Hampshire, encompassing Nashua through Manchester, mostly covering route 3.

Currently, there are 2558 single family homes currently on the market in Hillsborough County.

There are 277 listings currently pending

In the past 6 months, 1779 homes have sold, giving 296.5 homes that are currently selling in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.

All things being equal, assuming the market neither gets better nor worse, it will take approximately 8.5 months to deplete all of Hillsborough County’s single family home’s inventory.

The recent influx of foreclosures have been saturating the market.  This  is not all doom and gloom as the media might have you thinking.  There are still plenty of buyers out there in the market  who are buying homes today!  Buyers today have lots of choices. Is your home one of those homes  that is going to stick out in the buyer’s mind?

December has always been the best time of the year to buy, so, get out there and do some shopping before the holidays!

Today’s housing market is met with a lot of competition. Gone are the days when a sign stuck in the ground was all it took to sell a home. Today, sellers and their agents are looking for new ways to get their home considered for a showing.

One of the ways is through staging. Staging means just what you think it means. Setting your home up in such a way that will mostly appeal to the buyer. Here are some simple, inexpensive tips to getting your home sold:

• De-personalize, de-clutter  - Your family is important to you. You enjoy having pictures of your kids, grandkids, and pets on every available table space you have. This makes it difficult for a buyer to visualize their things in your home. Remember, the buyer is not buying your home, they are buying their future home!
• Consider renting storage – Start packing now! You are moving, right? Pack up everything you won’t need for the next 6 months. If you have extra pieces of furniture in each room, move them out too. If some rooms have too little furniture, consider moving the extra pieces in there. Each room should have a theory. A bedroom should have a bed, nightstand and/or dresser in it. Never leave a buyer guessing as to what each room in your home should be used for.
• Go Yard-saling- Check out the local yard sales and flea markets. Pick up some seasonal items to dress up your home a little. Maybe you have a large foyer with nothing in it. A small table, a vase with silk flowers, and a mirror will dress up this room very nicely. Don’t overdo it. You only want to create a warm atmosphere.
• Don’t forget about the walls!- Maybe your teenager  is into bright red bedroom walls. You don’t want the buyer to run from your house screaming! Tone it down a few notches. Evaluate every room, so see if the wall color is one that is neutral enough to accommodate someone else’s furnishings. I once saw on one of the “Stage this house” shows, where the interior decorator took an old calendar, cut out the pictures, and framed them with thin black picture frames. It was a very cool idea and extremely cheap! I did something similar to my kids’ room and completely transformed it! I must say it’s the best-looking room in the house!
• Create Balance- Place furniture symmetrically around the room. A well-balanced room is warm and inviting. If you have 3 bureaus against one wall and one wall completely empty, the room looks unbalanced. That’s the best way I can describe it.
• Remove Odors – I can’t stress this enough! If you have pets, consider having a neighbor or friend watch them during the listing period. If you smoke, consider smoking outside during the listing period. NEVER, NEVER try to cover up bad odors with strong sprays or incense! It will be sensory overload! The buyer will smell the new odor, and the underlying bad odor all at once! This is never pretty.   Have your carpets professionally cleaned, or rent one of those cleaners from Home Depot.  After all, the idea is to create a warm, comforting environment for the buyer. The longer the buyer stays in your home, the more likely he/she will consider buying it.

So, try some of these things when you get ready to list your home and see what happens. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Ahhhh, that is a question I get a lot these days. In a nutshell, a short sale is when the bank agrees to take less than what is owed on the house. The remainder of the money that is owed on the house is forgiven.

In the previous housing  market, when everyone rushed out and got their 100% financing, adjustable rate mortgages, everything was fine as long as the house prices continued to climb. When they started to drop to more realistic levels, and when the mortages started to adjust, people could no longer afford the new mortgage, yet they couldn’t re-finance because they owed more than what the house would actually appraise for.

So,  in order to avoid the extreme mark on your credit report, and so the bank can avoid the cost of foreclosing on the property, many banks will agree to  a short sale.

So, you’re now asking, how do I approach this?  The first thing is to call them up. Explain your situation, and ask them if they will be willing to agree to a short sale. As long as you’re selling your property, you can ask your favorite Realtor to do this for you. Realtors have strong negotiating skills, after all, it’s what we do all day long! Realtors are also unemotional third-parties who won’t  get lost in  the current situation  that could affect  his/her ability to negotiate an effective  solution on your behalf.

You’re probably thinking this is quite simple! Before you start hopping on the phone, there is more you should know. Most banks (if not all) will issue you a 1099 for the remainder portion of your loan that you did not pay off. They will consider this income and thus, you will be paying taxes on this money. Another gotcha is that some banks (I take this on a case-by-case basis) will put “settled for less than full balance” on your credit report. These are some of the things you should ask your bank when and if you plan to do a short sale.

I hope this helps! Happy house hunting!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is still warm, the leaves are turning, and there is still enough daylight left to do a lot of outdoor activities.

Fall is also a big  selling season. The summer vacations are over, the kids are back in school, most of us start settling back into our normal routines.  The fall selling market  has a short life span, but there are deals to be happening right now in the fall. For those who are fortunate enough to seize the opportunity. It certainly keeps the active agents hopping!

I like to take this time of year to evaluate how our market has performed throughout the year. I perform market absorbtion rates throughout the year to see how healthy we are. Even though we’ve seen a lot of stress in the mortgage industry with the lenders going out of business and the number of foreclosures on the rise, our market has gotten a little bit better.

Last November, we were in a 7.5 month market, meaning it would take 7.5 months to sell all of the listings that were currently listed for sale. This month, we’re in a….drum roll please…

6.3  month market!!!! How long will it last? That’s anyone’s guess. I just wanted to dispell the myth that we’re in a depressed market, and that maybe you should wait until the market heads lower. Well, folks, I don’t see the market headed lower. I see the market stabilizing over the next year or two. I see the prices dropping slightly in some price points, as more foreclosures enter the market. I also see prices holding steady in the hotter price points.

So, now is still  a great  time to buy! The good buys are going fast as some of my buyers are faced with a little competition when putting their offers together. And sellers, when you’re getting your homes ready to put on the market, remember the little things count. I have a whole list of little updates you can do to make your house sparkle. There is a lot of competition out there and you want your home  to stand out in front of the pack!

Good luck in this fun selling season!

This is often a difficult topic to understand. In New Hampshire, agency relationships are clearly defined. Everyone needs to know who represents who. The seller has someone negotiating hard for them. Doesn’t it make sense to have someone represent your best interests in the negotiation as well?

This is where Buyer Agency comes into play. A  buyer’s agent is an agent who  represents you’re best interests in the transaction. A buyer’s agent can use his/her experience in the market,  coupled with your needs, to put together an offer that represents  your best interests and gives you  the best deal. In addition, a buyer’s agent will keep your motives for the property confidential, will  determine the best price to offer, based on comparables  of similar homes that have sold in the area, and will  try to head off any potential pitfalls throughout the contract period.

It makes good sense to hire a buyer agent to do the work for you. After all, we all have access to the MLS (multiple listing service). Now, the next step is to find an agent who you feel comfortable with, and let her do the job for you. Finding the house is only half the battle. Getting through the tough negotiations, especially in this market, and making sure you have all of your ducks in a row is the other half.

Good luck in your home search. We wish you all the best!  

Welcome to  the Dream Home Team’s  Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Nashua New Hampshire and the surrounding area.