Don Goudreau's Weblog

Concord NH & Manchester NH Sales Stats for Week of Jan 24-30, 2012.mp4 – YouTube

Don Goudreau — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:25:05 +0000

Concord NH & Manchester NH sales stats for week of Jan 24-30, 2012

Is there a benefit to paying cash for your home purchase in New Hampshire?

Don Goudreau — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:16:25 +0000

Is there a benefit to paying cash for your home purchase in New Hampshire?

There use to be a saying in real estate “It’s all cash in the end”.
That excuse use to be legitimate in a seller’s market.
Guess what, as of 2008, it is no longer a seller’s market.
Since it has become a buyer’s market cash buyers are becoming more and more attractive to sellers.
Some of the reasons that cash is king now in real estate are as follows:
Lenders are tougher and stricter on their conditions and qualification process for home buyers.
Appraisals are getting tougher all the time and very often it gets challenging to get the home to appraise for full purchase price.
With home loans many buyers look for the sellers to contribute towards buyer closing costs and but not so with cash sales.
A buyer that is financing can qualify one week and 3 weeks later could get a job challenge or finance issue that could knock them out of qualification and then no sale.
So it is best to take the cash offer over a financed offer if it is strong enough.
This is the short version of why cash trumps finance in NH Real Estate.
So weather you are buying or selling in Concord NH, Manchester NH, Nashua NH, Hudson NH, Merrimack NH, Derry NH or Londonderry NH these guidelines apply.

For additional info or to discuss with a sales professional go to: www.dongoudreau.com

For the smart phone friendly site go to www.dongoudreau.mobi

New Hampshire foreclosures and Short Sales, Buyer & Seller tips.

Don Goudreau — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:01:39 +0000

Foreclosures:

As a buyer you may be seeing more and more bank owned homes coming to the market.
Here is a brief description of some of the distressed home types on the market today:
Bank Owned: These are homes either foreclosed upon by a bank or picked up at an auction by the bank.
Fannie Mae Properties: These are homes that are owned by this quasi-government lender.
Freddie Mac: Homes owned by this quasi-government lender.
Auction Properties: These are not foreclosed upon but are in a pre-foreclosure status
It is best hiring a real estate agent to represent you in a foreclosure purchase.
They can get complicated and there are disclosures and addendums that apply.
Late fees will apply to the buyer if you can’t close on the property within the allowed period.
The fees can often be $100 to $150 per day charged to the buyer.
Inspections are allowed but the home is sold as-is and the buyer could be on the hook to de-winterize the home and re-winterize the home per bank rules. The lender will sometimes offer a 2 year home warranty if you use their finance package.
Why view and purchase foreclosure properties?
It is because there are some well priced homes on the market.
Sure very often they will need repairs but you can often pick up bank owned homes at a significant reduction off fair market value. With some elbow grease and a small investment you can make a great investment.

Short Sales:
For Sellers:
Being behind on your mortgage can be a real struggle and a frustration.
The reminder of you bills aren’t going away either, you may feel you run out of money before you run out of month. Being proud of all you have done to maintain a decant credit history and score you may feel like you are one or two paychecks away from total financial disaster in spite of a good track record.
God forbid you have unexpected expenses pop up. You fully intend to get caught up with the mortgage payments and get ahead of the bills but you may be wearing weary of the battle. Fear not there is hope.
Don Goudreau (NH Realtor) has helped over a dozen families over the last 3 years to successfully negotiate a short sale with little or nothing to pay back in order to get of a loan they no longer could afford to make anymore.
If you have been struggling for 12 months in a row you may have to decide if you could realistically every catch things up and get ahead of your bills. If you are looking for an answer and want to discuss all your options and weather a short sale is right for you please request information and request an in-home analysis on how to best deal with our pre-foreclosure options. Don will be happy to go over Loan modification options, deed in lieu of foreclosure and short sales and do a free in-home market analysis.
For Buyers:
The key to buying a short sale is don’t even entertain entering into an offer on one unless you can be truly patient and it could take 1-3 months or more from when the offer is made to get an approval from the bank.
After approval is issued they allow 30-45 days to close.
You do risk that the sellers may not like the terms of the back short sale acceptance letter and they could reject the deal.
The odds are though that in most cases the sellers will agree to the terms.
So the short sale option is ideal for the buyer that can be very patient waiting for the deal to go through in order to get a very good price on the home they truly want.

To schedule a free buyer or seller consultation simply request an in-home consultation with Don Goudreau, Realtor. www.dongoudreau.com

Londonderry NH + Derry NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

Don Goudreau — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:54:56 +0000

via youtube.com

Real Estate Market report for Londonderry NH and Derry NH for Jan/24/12.

Why do I want to live in New Hampshire, why invest in NH Real Estate?

Don Goudreau — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:48:37 +0000

Why do I want to live in New Hampshire, why invest in NH real estate?
New Hampshire is consistently one of the top 5 states to move to or live in year after year.
From South Central NH you are 1 hour to Boston, 1 hour to the Ocean, an hour to the Lakes region and mountains.
You are also 5 hours to New York City or Canada and other exciting locations.
The reason New Hampshire always runs among the most desirable states to live in is do to less crime and low unemployment rate.
There are minor league sports teams, high quality concert venues, desirable retail and business cities, a major airport right in Manchester NH and a high tech industry and software development industry that is top rated.
With unemployment well below the national average and no state income tax or retail sales tax, NH is a big draw for consumers and companies looking for business friendly rules and regs.
The tourist industry is big in NH and sports enthusiasts, skiers, fishermen and hunters keep the roads busy on weekends and that translates to business and revenue for local business.
With a location in the North East you get the 4 seasons and foliage is in full color bloom in early October each year.
Being a NH native I love the Granite State and having traveled quite a bit it is always a real joy to return and there is no other place I like better.
Yes we have to deal with Winter but how long does it really last?
16 weeks and we are out of the deep freeze so I guess it’s a New Hampshire thing.
So if you have never been to NH plan a trip and see what the buzz is all about.
If you have been here keep enjoying it and consider buying your 1st or 2nd home in NH.
There are some smoking hot deals for buyers right now so 2012 looks to be a booming year for real estate sales.

www.dongoudreau.com

Nashua NH + Hudson NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

Don Goudreau — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:01 +0000

via youtube.com

Nashua NH & Hudson NH home sales trends for week of Jan/24/2012.

Hey New Hampshire, what is the purpose of the appraisal and what should I know about them?

Don Goudreau — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:14:45 +0000

Hey New Hampshire, what is the purpose of the appraisal and what should I know about them?
For anyone in New Hampshire that is purchasing a home will need to have a bank appraisal per lender requirements.
An appraisal is a comprehensive report that shows all the details of the home you are purchasing and compares it to other homes and pertinent trends and data to determine the fair market value of the home you are purchasing.
Because the lender doesn’t really know the house or the neighborhood of the home you are purchasing it needs independent eyes on the scene to determine fair market value on their behalf.
So in order to get the loan consumers will pay in the neighborhood of $400 towards the cost of the appraisal services.
The actual appraisal will show fair market value and the consumer will also get a hard copy to keep for their records.
The purpose of the appraisal is to show the market value as the lender will not lend the buyer more than what the home is worth.
So what it all means to the buyer is documented assurance that you are getting a fair deal and your investment in real estate is a smart one.
Hope this helps explain this topic and sheds light on why you need an appraisal and what the appraisal is.
Please come visit my web site to learn more or to simply do real estate searches from.

www.dongoudreau.com

Merrimack NH+ Bedford NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

Don Goudreau — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:22:19 +0000

via youtube.com

Merrimack NH + Bedford NH_Week of Jan/24/2012.

What is a short sale and should I make an offer on one in New Hampshire, Short sale pros and cons.

Don Goudreau — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:00:13 +0000

What is a short sale and should I make an offer on one in New Hampshire, Short sale pros and cons.
From a buyer’s perspective what do I need to know about short sales?
First off a short sale is a home for sale and the seller is underwater on the loan.
Meaning the market value of the home is less than what they own the bank.
When you enter into a sales agreement on a short sale the key is to be extremely patient.
There is a huge backlog on short sales at all banks at this time.
The other thing to remember is since the sellers are underwater already then they usually don’t have the funds available to do repairs after home inspections.
The process is once the offer is made a ton of paperwork has to be inputted by the listing agent or the 3rd party negotiator.
Very often there is a 2nd lender involved and both lenders will have to agree to take a short fall on what is owed to them.
The key is to have patience as it will often seem like nothing is happening at times but things are happening as there are a lot of people that have to touch the file.
It is kind of like conducting an orchestra and there are many components to getting an acceptance letter and approval for a short sale.
Once the letter comes in the lender who is the ultimate decision maker may accept, modify or counter your offer.
Understand that the lender has to do a Broker Price Opinion independently and they will only accept up to a certain percentage of the BPO and usually cannot bend beyond a certain limit.
So what benefits are there to going for a short sale property?
Usually the home is being lived in and is in good working order. Sellers are easy to work with and seller concessions are usually allowed if the buyer needs assistance with closing costs.
The government has been encouraging banks throughout New Hampshire to work with buyers and to streamline the short sale process.
So be aware of the pros and cons and if you have the flexibility of being patient for 2 or 3 months you could potentially get a Smokin Hot Deal!

Don Goudreau's Weblog

Concord NH & Manchester NH Sales Stats for Week of Jan 24-30, 2012.mp4 – YouTube

Is there a benefit to paying cash for your home purchase in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire foreclosures and Short Sales, Buyer & Seller tips.

Londonderry NH + Derry NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

Why do I want to live in New Hampshire, why invest in NH Real Estate?

Nashua NH + Hudson NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

Hey New Hampshire, what is the purpose of the appraisal and what should I know about them?

Merrimack NH+ Bedford NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube

What is a short sale and should I make an offer on one in New Hampshire, Short sale pros and cons.

Concord NH + Manchester NH_Week of Jan_24_12 (Report) – YouTube