My daughter asked me a very good question today. She asked "What is Labor Day?" The answer that first came to mind was the celebration of workers, a day of barbeques and parades. She simply replied "i thought it was when everyone got a vacation" It got me thinking though and the discussion continued... traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer especially here in the Northern states. It is known by most children as the start of school except for the few that go back before labor day. Here in New Hampshire this Labor Day means i get to see Mitt Momney and Sara Palin both in town today. For many politicians the local parades and rallies are a place to gather and campaign especially leading up to an election year.For me, i had to work all wee... 09/05/2011

The New England ELVIS festival runs from Sept. 2-4, 2011 in Downtown Manchester NH. The festival plays tribute to the King of Rock N Roll. Elvis was spotted all over downtown Manchester yesterday. Elvis fans and tribute artists from all over the world decend on the  Radison Hotel known locally as the Center of NH. Twenty of the worlds most seasoned Elvis tribute artsist will compete for the Champion's crown. This year "Stories about Elvis" featuring Sonny West who was a body guard for Elvis for 16 years is one of the highlights. There is also an Elvis collectible's sale, music contests and after hours events. For more info go to www.NewEnglandElvisfest.com If you are looking to buy or sell a home in New Hampshire, please call us first. We strive to provide the best in personal and profe... 09/04/2011

  Owning a Real Estate company makes it important to maximize exposure so i joined Twitter. However I have had about all i can take with Twitter. It is everywhere and i cant get away from it. I watch the news and there are 4 references to Twitter. I get depressed from the news so i turn to a America's Got Talent and Howie is touting his Twitter account. So what is the problem you ask? The problem is not Twitter itself , the problem is it's users. I signed up to follow most business that i use or visit. It is a great way to find out unpublished sales and deals. However on my first page right now, i have 12 tweets from nascar, 10 tweets from the New England Patriots, 5 tweets from Dunkins and 4 tweets from Best Buy. I am being assaulted with multiple tweets. Enough is enough... The rule o... 09/03/2011

I need your opinion... If you are assigned a REO listing from a Bank or asset management company, is it considered a "LISTING" when it still need to be priced?Basically when i am assigned a REO listing it comes with a listing agreement where i need to check a box that i agree to the terms and electroncially sign it. It is already e-signed by the asset manager. Most of my banks than place it in either "Pre-listed" or "Pre-Marketing" status.The usual process after receiving a new listing is:1. Checking to see if it is vacant. If vacant secure and notify asset manager. If not attempt "cash for keys" and if they dont accept, wait for eviction. 2. The banks legal department works on clearing the title and filing the foreclosure deed with the local registry of deeds.3. Once vacant the bank us... 09/02/2011

It is back to school day today this 2nd day of September 2011 for Manchester NH. As students head back to class, parents are left scratching their head on one of the most controversial starts to school. See they voted to start schoold the Friday before Labor Day. Most families are on the road heading to teh last vacation of summer but not here in Manchester.The head of schools explained it that due to school contracts with the teachers union, school could not start until Sept 1. Teachers are required to be in school 1 day before students. Also in the contract school must end by June 30 2012. The state of NH mandates 190 days be scheduled although the school year is 180 days. So here we are the Friday before Labor day with a start to school.What to you think about this "tom foolery"?    ... 09/02/2011

MARKET UPDATE  and Report for MANCHESTER NH for August 2011 compared to July 2011 What do market updates mean? Basically this is a snap shot from July 2011 to August 2011 of what the Real Estate market was doing here in Manchester NH. I wanted to take the stats and break them down for you. So sit down and enjoy them a please email me any questions on my report or buying or selling a home in New Hampshire.* Currently there are 586 properties for sale in MANCHESTER NH * There were 179 new listings from July 2011 to August 2011, That is  22 MORE than in July 2011 * There were 76 properties put under contract and 113 placed continegent for a total of 189. from July 2011 to August 2011, That is  6 LESS than  than in July 2011  * There were 101 properties that Closed from July 2011 to August ... 09/02/2011

Residents of Manchester NH can bring yard waste and tree debris from Tropical Storm Irene to the drop-off facility on Dunbarton Road for no charge up to Sept 9, 2011. Residents may also place tree debris at curbside this Saturday 9/3/11 for trees and branches with diameters up to 4 inches in diameter. Residents may place yard waste at curbside as well during their regular trash pick up day. Yard waste barrels should be less than 33 gallons. Barrels or bags can not weigh more than 75 lbs. For more information please call the Highway Dept at 624-6444Please check ouy my top blogs.HURRICANE IRENE FLOODING PICTUREShttp://www.trulia.com/blog/scott_godzyk/2011/08/flooding_continues_from_hurricane_irene_please_see_my_picturesHOW A SHORT SALE WORKS?http://www.trulia.com/blog/scott_godzyk/2011/08... 08/31/2011

Flooding clean up continues from Hurricane Irene here in New Hampshire. The water is coming down in the smaller rivers and emptying into the larger rivers causing them to rise such as The Merrimack River which runs from the Lakes Region through Manchester NH on it's way to the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport MA. Flooding on the major rivers here in the south as been confined to the river basins. Roads remain closed in Northern NH with major bridges washed away and roads no longer there. I opted not drive up North as of yet to stay out of the way. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has suffered through this natural disaster. the majority of people flooded out you are not seeing on the news, but they are not forgotten.Please check out my pictures taken today.Amoskeag Dam in Manc... 08/31/2011

As the August sales numbers will come to a close with a flury of activinty expected in the next couple of days here in Manchester NH as the end of the month arrives. We look back at July 2011 numbers one more time as compared to July 2010. August will tell a huge story to what the housing market is doing as we compare apples to apples. You see in July 2010 sales were down huge but not becuase of the economy, it was that the Real Estate stimulous ended and everyone rushed to close in the months proceeding to get that $8000 in stimulous money leaving a shortage of homes and buyers.July 2011 saw a 29% increase over that fatefull month in 2010. Overall the market in New Hampshire has stabilzed in some markets. The keys are that foreclosure sales are very strong which means the amount of hom... 08/29/2011

DO YOU REALLY NEED TO USE A REALTOR? This is a question debated among buyers, sellers, bankers, experts on TV, written in books and debated by all. As a leading Listing Agent of homes in Manchester NH this is one of the questions posed to me in at least half of my listing appointments. Real Estate Brokerage is a service, as with any service it is often judged on it's value. Are you getting your moneys worth? The main service of RE Brokerage is guiding you trhough the purchase or sale of a property. You have to ask yourself if you were sick, would you let a co-worker read a book and operate on you? If you were in legal trouble would you take legal advice from a magazine? If you need help with your 401 k or stocks and did not have a financial background would you take advice of a neighbor... 08/29/2011

How do you get a mortgage today? Well that is the million dollar question for alot of potential buyers, for sellers and for Real Estate agents not only here in Manchester NH but throughout the country. In this day an age where the banks are not lending money so freely, it is so important to make sure buyers are prequailified with local and trusted lenders before starting to look at homes as well as for listing agents it is all so important for the properties to be able to be approved for a buyer to get a mortgage on the property. The most common question is the property up to code and in good enough condition for that buyer to get a mortgage...The first step any potential buyer needs to do when they start thinking they want to buy a home, is to contact a local and trusted mortage broker... 08/29/2011

Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Irene is making it's way through New Hampshire. The rain has stoppped in Southern NH but the wind has changed direction as the center has now passed through and the wind continues to blow. Here in the Manchester area we have alot of branches down and a few trees. I lost power for a couple of hours as a massive tree hit a house and took down the wires on Jewett Street. Others are not so lucky as they are reporting 160,000 still without power. Yards and Streets in my area are just littered with shreaded leaves. We had alot of street flooding which is subsiding as the rain has stopped. Hampton Beach and Seacoast NH was battered by high winds and waves. The storm did not come during the astronomical high tide limiting coastal flooding. Storm lookers hampered ... 08/28/2011

What was supposed to be a relaxing day at the beach today for me has turned into a full blown prepardness exercise. With eye expected to come just west of Manchester 5-10 inches of rain along with sustained winds of 75-80MPH are forecast. My duties of sitting in teh sand soaking up some of the last sunshine of summer will have to wait as checking and securing the dozens of bank owned homes i manage along with duties at home of putting away the lawn furniture, umbrellas,  securing anything that can be turned into flying debris and stocking up with gas, water and food.  In preparation for the impending weekend storm, the City of Manchester has launched an emergency web page on the official city website (www.manchesternh.gov); the new web page is www.manchesternh.gov/emergency. The emergen... 08/26/2011

I was recently asked to answer a question on What are the most important tips i could give a buyer who wanted to purchase a short sale in Manchester NH. My answer though applies to any buyer in any state looking to purchase a short sale. The first thing is that some people and surprisingly some agents still do not know what a short sale is. THE BASIC PROCESS OF THE SHORT SALE1. The listing agent or negotiator completes a title search to see how many liens and if home is in foreclosure.2. Listing agent or negotiator makes preliminary contact with sellers bank to obtain any specific forms or instructions they want or need to complete the short sale3. The listing agent completes a broker price opinion, home should be priced at or just below market value. pricing a home too low, will result... 08/25/2011

The one thing i am NOT blessed with is the ability to take long vacations. Real Estate sales in Manchester NH is so busy for me a week long vacation will just have to wait. So yesterday afternoon with the sun shining i decided to call it a half day and head to the Beach for an afternoon vacation. With all clients  taken care of, all showings set, all closings scheduled, re-keys of my new listings sceduled i felt comfortable having an afternoon and evening of rest, sun and surf.Well... i should have resisted my urge to leave my ringer on. An asset manager called just as i set my chair in the sand and asked if i could complete a BPO, no problem i said, when did you need it. they replied with TONIGHT. ugghh i thought as i asked the address. She replied with an address at Hampton Beach, hey... 08/24/2011

I got a rather unusual call yesterday from another agent. The call started asking how i list bank owned homes in the Manchester NH area. Not knowing who it was, i asked how can i help you? this agent said they were certified in default Real Estate and how was i getting all these REO listings when they dont see a long list of certifications in my marketing.Instead of blasting this person into next week, i took a long pause. I was thinking that I see agents using all sorts of titles, certifications and badges but to the average person, what do they all mean? So it lead me to complete a little research reading up on various blogs regarding the subject. What i found was jaw dropping. There are thousands of agents who are taking online courses to become "certified" in default, short sales, R... 08/24/2011

The road to the Beach just got a little easier from Manchester NH to Hampton Beach and other seacoast points east. Federal dollars in the amount of $5,115,088 are on there way to NH for paving of Route 101 and other road projects across the state.The federal govt reported 1800 applications for ovr $13 billion for this years projects from across teh country. The problem was it was 30 times more than there was money available. I was not sure that this section of road even needed paving as NH highways are in great shape when compared to it's neighbor to the south. But yes when you look, hear and feel, this14.8 mile section of the road does need repair. i drive it every day but when you are looking, you can notice it is rough in places. But our rough is like a grade B in  our neighbor state... 08/22/2011

Well things are not that bad here in Manchester NH however the city is going forward with an idea to sell naming rights for the brand new $43.5 million dollar municipal complex that will house a new police station and the highway department.The idea will go before the full board of Mayor and Alderman whether to solicit bids for the naming rights. i think it is a great idea, afterall they sold the naming rights for Manchester's civic center for $11 million as it is now known as the Verizon Wireless Arena.There was an overall opinion that naming the whole complex was a good idea and not naming the ploice station iteself. One alderman was firmly opposed asking if they will sell ads on the garbage trucks, police cars and fire turcks next. Well you know, they sell ads on buses, so why not ga... 08/22/2011

FORECLOSURE Sales were reported to be DOWN 31% in New Hampshire from July 2011 with 238 sales from July 2010 where there was 346 sales statewide. In Hillsborough County there 66 foeeclsoure sales for July 2011 down 44.5% from july 2010 where there was 119 sales which was reported from Real Data.Over all for the year there has been 2340 foreclosure sales down 7.7% from last year during teh same period. As a leading listing agent of bank owned homes i have seen a slow down in foreclosures becuase becuase the banksare delaying new foreclsoure starts as they are fixing the mess from missing deeds and assignments which have held up closings up to 9 months on quite a few foreclosures. The legal notices in the newspaper seem to be down which matches the lower amount of inventory available to b... 08/21/2011

I just got back from a showing on one of my listings and the buyers agent not only was sounding the alarm, they were in full panic mode. They could bring the most happiest person on earth at the best time of their life from happiness to tears. They complained in front of me, they complained in front of the seller and they complained in front of their own buyer, i want to add. They carried on about how bad things are at their office, how this is the first buyer they have had in ages, how they have no listings and how the economy is ruining real estate and the world. They continued on how their office cut back all ads almost in full and cut back on phone lines and web promotions.A showing is no time to talk politics nevermind "woe is me" talk like this. This is not the first time i have h... 08/18/2011