Manchester, NH Real Estate News

By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This Morning's question is " i can not afford my monthly payments anymore, I give up... What can i do? Is there anyway to save my home? If i cant save it, can i avoid a foreclosure?Unfortanately these types of questions are on the increase, you should not feel bad for asking for help. You should explore ALL options before letting your property be foreclosed on. The first thing you should do is contact your bank, ask for the home retention department, let them know your situation and ask what they can do to help you save your property. The first thing you should ask for is a loan modification. This is where the bank can lower your interest rate down to 2% or so which will reduce your monthly payment. If they say you do not quailify for a loan modification or you do not have time for a lo...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This afternoons question is a common one i have been seeing. "There are several variations on what my house is worth, there is me assessed value,there is the Zestimate and other site with differnt values. Which one do i use and how do i know what the real value of my house is?The zestimate is just that, an estimate of value based on their secret calculations and recent sales.  The assessed value is what your assessor estimates your value to be, the problems are they could be up to 5 years old and sometimes are not bvased on 100% but can be as low as 75% of value or at 125% of vale.  You should not base your value, an offer or sale price on anything but true market value obtained by an appraisal or brokers price opinion. This will give you the true market value of your home in todays mar...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This mornings question comes form a potential new customer, they called this morning kind of interviewing me to come by and list their property. One of their questions was: "Will you put pictures of our house in the MLS and your ads? and How often do you update your pictures?"I thought it kind of a strange question as i thoght it was common sense, that of course i put pictures of your house in MLS and update the pictures as often as needed.The seller then told me they signed a 6 month listing with another agent and it took them over a month to put the picture in MLS and on their website. Then they said it switched from Spring to summer and the pictures with a dead lawn and no leaves on the trees remained for the rest of the listing.  I let them know this was unacceptable in my opinion, ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
Todays question is "As a seller, do i "have to" pay the buyers closing costs?"As a seller you never "HAVE TO" do anything. However as a seller you need to know that you should do whatever you can control to bring the most amount of potentilal buyers to your house. there are so many variabls you can control, you do not want to alienate buyers from teh start. As a listing agent and as a seller the goal is to bring about the quickest sale at the most obtainable price. The first thing you need to do is get a brokers price opinion. you need to know what teh value of your property is in todays market. You need to price your house at or near market value. Make sure though you leave room to negotiate though. Virtually all offers will be lower than your asking price and yes some buyers may ask y...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
What is net-etiquette?Upon reading some recent threads , it is apparant that a review of some "net-iquette" is needed. (Netiquette is ettiquette when you are using and posting on the internet or in forums like this) The bottom line is if you could not say something to someone standing next to you then you should probabily hit the delete key when in online forums. if you are comfortable standing face to face with soemone and telling them what you just typed, then hit the enter key.It is appaling the name calling, attacking and words that are used in an online forum. (My Momma always said if you do not have something nice to say, then do not say anything.)There are proper and polite ways to tell people you disagree with them. there is a polite way to tell them their answer was borderline ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
I received an interesting comment on one of my blogs recently that compelled me to write this blog. Someone recently wrote: Scott, Glad to see your practice allows you the time to be chatting away at this time of year. I will have to wait until things slow down a bit".....It got me thinking... 1. Am i wasting my time chatting away? 2. Do i even have any extra time?3. Am i even chatting? ME... "chatty"???  This has been the busiest Real Estate has been for me since 2005. Buyers are buying and houses are selling. time is valuable and i have to use it wisely... so what am i to do? Where am i going with this....Social Media has become part of my marketing plan. When i start my day at 7am after checking my emails, then checking to see if i have any REO assignments I then check my Social Medi...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
If you are looking to rent to own a home, here are some tips to get you started.The first step: Get Prequailified...It is a good idea as the first step, to get prequailified. Meet with a local and trusted bank or mortgage company. Stay away from internet lenders. You need to find out how long it will take you to get a mortgage so you know how long of a lease your need. As well as what you will need to do to be quailified by the time that lease is up. You can get prequailified at no cost at most trusted lenders.Then you need to know what price range you will be able to purchase in. you do not want to lease a home out of your price range as you may never be able to purchase it. Second step: Look at properties within your price range...You may not have the resources to find the properties ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
One of the most common questions of late is: "I have been watching this house that got foreclosed on, i really want to buy it, how can i find out which bank owns it?The first thing you should know is that virtually all banks do not sell the properties themselves in which they have foreclosed on. The bank contracts with an asset management company who then contracts with local brokers who are approved in their network.When a property is purchased back by the bank at the foreclosure auction, the property is then assigned to that asset management company which then assigns the listing to an approved broker in that area. if the loan was insured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, sometimes there is a delay in them taking over the property and getting it listed.If the listing is assigned, once the...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This Morning's question is; 'No one is looking at my house, What can i do?"Unfortanately in this market it is a common question. Without any lookers, the first thing you have to do is get a new brokers price opinion completed to see where your house is priced in teh market. If your house is priced above market value, with the increase in listings, your house my be priiced too high to attract buyers. You want your house priced at or below market value, most often no lookers comes from too high of an asking price. The second question to ask is anyone calling, where is the agent directing their marketing. Ask the agent why they think there is no lookers. If your price is at or below market value and no lookers why is this happening and try and solve it.WHAT SELLERS ARE FACING TODAY?As i wr...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This evenings question is "Should i pay a credit repairing agency to repair my credit?"The simple answer is there is no miracle cures and you can do everything you would pay someone to do. Simply pull your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus. you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get your free credit report once a year. If you were turned down for credit, you also have the right to a free credit report. On each of the credit bureaus website there is a place where you can dispute credit reporting that is wrong. The creditor then has 30 days to respond or it may be removed. This is the best way to dispute incorrect credit reporting or fraud. i have seen some people dispute everything, whether it was theirs or not, then some creditors dont report and it gets cleaned up. D...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
Do you know who has access to your house or your listing? Well you should. A common scam is people calling agents saying they want to conduct a showing, inspection or appraisal and they are not even Realtors, Inspectors or Appraisers. This means you have a stranger in your property and who knows what they can or will steal.I have switched to setting up all showings through eshowings. If an agent calls me and i dont know them or recognize their voice, i simply ask them to log on or call eshowings and set it up through there where there is a record of who received the code. I have also switched all my lockbox codes up so they are not all the same. Whether you are listing reo properties, short sales or have tenants or the seller living there.  A little precaution can save you liability and...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
This afternoons question is "How can i find out who owns a property and can i see what they have for mortgage amounts?"If you are looking to see what the home owner owes, you will need to know the owners name, if you do not know it, search the assessors data base in the town or city the property is in. From there you may be even able to get the book and page number to look up their deed. If the book and page is not on their tax card,  you will have to look it up at the registry of deeds or county court house by name. Some areas are now all online while some are still in the stone ages and you have to actually go there to search. There you will be able to research what is owed. Updated August 8, 2010Blog Written by:Scott GodzykGodzyk Realty Group
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
As reported in the New Hampshore Union Leader, The 2010 New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority rental cost survey report shows rental rates have risen 2% in the last year on average. Rents were highest in Rockingham County averaging $1205 month while Hillsborough County came in second at $1089 month. The cheapest rents are found in Coos County with an average of $687. The highest rents for cities were Portsmouth, Nashua, Concord and in fourth position was Manchester.2% is quite small when looking at rents as a whole, but it does show that New Hampshire's Economy is stabilizing and parts of it our growing once again. With one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and affordable prices, new Hampshire continues to be a great place to live, work and play.UPDATED August 8, 2010PLE...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
Todays question is regarding foreclosure deeds: "How can a bank sell a home when they did not record the foreclosure deed saying the bank is the owner?"It is common occurance accross the whole country, The situation arises when the bank takes back or buys back the property at the foeeclosure auction. the problem occurs when the foreclosure deed does not get recorded after the bank takes ownership.What happens after the foreclosure auction?After the foreclosure auction the bank takes possession of the property if vacant. if occupied they will evict the occupant or offer them a cash for keys agreement to get them out. Once vacant, they take possession and secure the property.Once they have possession, they usually give it to an asset management company to sell. The property is put up for ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
There is a continued rental scam going on accross the USA, and it could affect you as an agent and all potential tenantsThe problem is that people both in this country and other countries are trying to rent out houses that do not belong to them. The find vacant homes, list them online in such places as Craiglist and offer them for less than market rent to attract more potential victimsWHAT TO LOOK OUT FORFirst thing is if anyone asks you to wire money, it is a red flagIf you are being asked to rent a house without being able to see itIf anyone says they are renting it for soemone and they are not licensed by the Real Estate commission in that state. If anyone asks you to leave money in the mailbox and pick up the keys the next day.If there is a "for sale" sign, contact the listing agent...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
Todays question is "After i make an offer and the purchase and sales agreement gets signed by the seller, what happens if damage occurs such as a leak in the roof or skylights?"The first thing you have to do is try and find any old or current problems during your showing. Whether it is your first showing or a second or third.... Look with your eyes starting at the roof and work your way down to the basement. Most problems you can see with your naked eye such as a worn roof, water stains on the ceilings, windows that dont close, cracks in teh basement floor, leaking basements or leaking pipes.If you see the problem during your initial showings, you should address the problem in your initial offer, you can ask for it to be repaired, you can ask for a credit so you can repair or you can lo...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
One of the most common questions is "How can i avoid foreclosure?" "Is there help?" and "Where do i find it?"There is help and there are opportunities to avoid foreclosure. It starts with you "The home Owner" though. There is no quick fix and no magic formula however, you will need some faith and persistance.Avoid being Scammed...First thing is do not be scammed, do not sign your deed over to anyone, do not pay anyone with a boatload of promises of quick results and big promises, chances are they are not realistic or true. Real and genuine companies do not charge anything upfront.What got you behind?If you find yourself behind becuae of a high interest rate, you lost your job, illness or divorce. You need to take the first step for assistance. What is available to you will depend on whe...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
On August 2, 2010 Forbes came out with it's list of "The Best Sports Fans in the Country" when looking at the big 4 sports of professional sports in America. Baseball (MLB), Football (NFL), Basketball (NBA) and Hockey (NHL).Forbes states they gathered three different criterias for their poll.1. They measured their home and away game attendance, which indicates a team's drawing power in its home market and nationwide. 2. They counted their merchandise sales 3. they then ranked each team's in-market popularity, based on surveys of American sports teams by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. They ranked all of the teams, then took the top four from each of the four leagues.For the full article please log onto Forbes.com___________________________________The top 15 Best sports fans were : 1. ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
Todays question is: "Can i make an offer on a new house when i still have to sell my old house to purchase the new house?"The common catch 22 is you do not want to sell your house until you find a new house and cant buy a new house until sell your house....If you need to sell your old house to get the money to purchase the new house, what you need is a seller who is willing to accept an offer with a home sale contingincy.THE HOME SALE CONTINGINCY:A home sale contingincy is a paragraph in the purchase and sales agreement that allows you to have an offer pending on a house, while the sale is contingent on you selling your house. HOW DOES THIS WORK?You make an offer on the new house, you include teh contingincy that this sale is contingent upon you closing on your home prior to purchasing ...
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By Scott Godzyk, One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents
(Godzyk Real Estate Services)
One of the most asked questions is "How much of a discount should i ask for off the selling price when i make an offer?Simply put....You can not go by what the asking price is. You need to assess what the house is worth in todays market. You should then base your offer on what the house is worth in todays market. Without obtaining the value in todays market, you do not know if that asking price is already at market value, priced much above or much below. It is usually followed up with "The home has been on the market for 120 days, shuldn't i be able to make a lower offer?"As a buyer you should not use any kind of a scale to determine offering a certain percentage off based on time on the market. It is better to find out why the house has not sold, is it poriced too high? Does the seller...
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Manchester, NH Real Estate Professionals