Moving within NH and frustrated (Manchester, Concord: real estate, mortgage, credit)

[kaotik78]

Hi all,

My wife and I are looking for a home now and have just about run out of ideas. We currently live in lovely (sarcasm) Manchester, NH. She works/commutes to the Chelmsford, MA area and I work in Merrimack. I set the price cap upwards of 260k (I refuse to have a mortgage over 2k a month!) we found a house a few weeks ago but our realtor botched the entire offer and we lost out.

Concord/Bow is too far for her, so we've started looking elsewhere for ideas. The general concensius is that people in NH simply don't take care of their homes, least the one's we've seen and it is EXTREMELY frustrating to shell out the cash for something that is utterly destroyed.

We have looked over in Epping, that puts us somewhere in the middle yet close to 101 to get to MA/Merrimack. One other town that has come to mind was Raymond. I have spoken with the Chief of Police there and got the general idea that the town is "blue collar". All stereotypes aside, there are all sorts of levels of that. We both want our privacy, a bit of land and a house that isn't riddled with old cigarette butts and beer bottle caps in the lawn, ie: Derry.

I don't think it's just me but the real estate in this state is a complete joke, and the realtors should be ashamed of themselves with the asking prices. Our realtor won't even give us listings, we have been doing all the legwork ourselves, and the only time she shows up is if we want to go inside to look around, no other offer suggestions, help etc. Needless to say im very frustrated now as living in the NH area and trying to buy a home seems to be not worth it, I'd opt to pack up my belongings and take my money and move south or west. The wife won't hear of it.

So that being said, any thoughts/input on Epping/Raymond? Taxes ok or are they high? I'd imagine Epping would have low taxes (sub 5k) unlike other towns... thanks to walmart/lowes etc.

[Valerie C]

Hey kaotic
I'm a Realtor (gulp) but please don't hold that against me
First I do have to say (I shoot myself in the foot time after time) that it is true--you can get alot more house for the money in other areas. My brother and his wife and kids left this area about a year ago for Lexington KY, and just love it. They can actually afford for mom to work part-time only, have a nice home and taxes are reasonable as well. That said, most people who leave this area can only take it for a few years before they need to come back!!

There are a multitude of homes in the 260K range, certainly no McMansion but decent houses. Epping has one of the lower tax ranges of towns in that 125/101 area, and some nice homes in neighborhood settings. Lee/Madbury/Durham are Oyster River, and taxes are through the roof.

Is the school district a consideration for you? Nearby Auburn or Chester might work, although Auburn does send HS students to Manchester (which may or may not work for you) Professional courtesy doesn't allow me to offer you help with looking at listings, however your agent should be providing you with every listing (including property address) that falls within your criteria. I do know that there ARE homes out there that are well maintained and not trash strewn. 260K might not get you much in Derry/Londonderry, but check out Danville/Sandown, maybe Brentwood?

I do have to speak in defense of Realtors and the asking prices of homes. As much as we would like to set home prices realistically, the owner is the one who sets the price. Sometimes they NEED to set the price there to be able to pay off the mortgage (seems everyone has cashed out the equity in their homes over the last couple of years) and now they need to make that money back, or will have to bring money to the closing table to sell that house. There have been several listings that I have refused to take because the Seller has unrealistic expectations of what their home will sell for. Price it too high and it will sit for months without being shown (then Seller's get mad because the Agent isn't doing their job.). Price too low, and it will start being shown immediately, and offers might start actually coming in (then Seller's get mad because the Agent priced it too low and the Seller will lose money for not pricing it higher) Prices are definitely coming down all the time, seeing a home price drop 10, 20 or 30,000 in a couple of months is not unheard of...

[kaotik78]

We do not have children nor will we so school's thankfully are not something we need to look at. Mabye we should incase I have to pay more in taxes etc for everyone elses children to attend

We are certainly not looking for anything extravagant, yet every single place we have been shown has been a complete dump. Why would you take your client to see a home that advertises an in-ground pool, and when you get there the pool hasn't been cleaned or cared for in over 5 years? Or better yet, a home that is chock full of dirty laundry, misc junk strewn about the home on the floor etc? The standard it seems is buy the home, live in it, forget the roof, windows, and septic, mabye replace the boiler, throw some paint on the walls, if that, then turn around and ask a ridiculous amount of money for it. I call it like I see it.

The three towns you have suggested we have been looking into. Professional courtesy, it's ashame because when we have asked to go see homes, our realtor has taken days to get back to us, we've already lost out on two homes thus far in the past two weeks, and all she says is we need to move faster? We feel strongly it's because she's out chasing higher value clients etc.

We'll be looking into the homes in the suggested locations, I'll probably just go see the homes myself because im tired of waiting for my realtor etc to show up.

[southward bound]

You can always change realtors. I would! Why don't you look in Merrimack. I think you can easily find a nice home in your price range. I haven't seen any 'trashy' areas in that town. Everything is nicely kept up. People are nice, responsible, and care about their properties.

And, Valerie, we've lowered the price on our home twice, each time the price was recommended by the realtor. Eveything is new and updated and sparkling clean in the house, but still no takers. So, it's not just price. You guys have to come up with some innovative strategy, other than 'drop price'. Prices are not unreasonable right now. It's the buyers who are expecting a cheap deal due to all the marketing hype about how bad it is. True, some people may have trouble with financing due to the tighter credit, but not all.

[Valerie C]

I agree, it's NOT just price. And it's not just condition. There is absolutely NO sense of urgency for Buyers at this time, and frankly they are in the drivers seat, especially those without a home to sell. When people turn on the TV and there is nothing but doom and gloom, they buy into that. A couple of weeks ago they had some kind of dateline special, where the Seller was offering a corvette convertible with an acceptable offer on the house. Others offer boats, etc. I try to expose each listing to a multitude of buyers. Traditional advertising, open houses, virtual tours, list in both MA and NH MLS, talking house, single-address websites. In the end, it's a matter of the right buyer finding out about your house, being motivated to see it, make an acceptable offer, get approved for financing, and get through the inspections, etc. and BUY IT!

And I have to agree with you, if someone is not satisfied with their agent, change. Goodness knows there are several thousand licensed agents in this state. One of them should be be willing to work hard for you...

Originally Posted by southward bound

You can always change realtors. I would! Why don't you look in Merrimack. I think you can easily find a nice home in your price range. I haven't seen any 'trashy' areas in that town. Everything is nicely kept up. People are nice, responsible, and care about their properties.

And, Valerie, we've lowered the price on our home twice, each time the price was recommended by the realtor. Eveything is new and updated and sparkling clean in the house, but still no takers. So, it's not just price. You guys have to come up with some innovative strategy, other than 'drop price'. Prices are not unreasonable right now. It's the buyers who are expecting a cheap deal due to all the marketing hype about how bad it is. True, some people may have trouble with financing due to the tighter credit, but not all.

[kaotik78]

Unfortunately in our situation, our realtor uses her "team" and each one gets to work on your home. This ended up biting us as we were mislead with a contract and now the house is under agreement, and we can't switch realtors. When all is said and done we'll have our say through many means of media and web publications.

Aside from the shoddy real estate agent. The cost of homes coupled with the current rates, think about it for a minute. $2000.00 or more a month for a mortgage? The cost of living continues to go up yet the wages/salaries do not reflect this.

Realtors to me, and we've been through a few over the past few years, need to either be enthusiastic about wanting to sell your home and help, HELP you find a home that suits your specifications. The majority of the one's we've had sit on their collective rear ends, wait for a phone call from the seller to go see a home, take them there, and just let you walk around. There is no interest in your life, how the home would suit your needs etc, it's cold, uncaring, and to me, insulting.

Now let's talk about exposure on the internet. Realtors, unless you are a photographer, PUT THE CAMERA DOWN! Most of the listings on mlspulse we've seen are AWFUL. Take professional photographs, show more than a few pictures, make the picture's BIGGER, say 640x480... Show the neighborhood, and STOP trying to HIDE things in the photograph. I don't know how many times I've wasted time to go see a home only to find out it's next to a mill or a retail outlet. It doesn't relfect good on you at all, do your research, show a little effort.

I took my own photographs, then delt with the so-called webmaster that my realtor hired, the pictures ended up getting shrunk down to 320x240 or so and did not show detail. Even more frustrating is that web design/marketing is what I do for business, but the realtor said they knew what they were doing...

In the end, it's about the REALTOR helping the seller/buyer find a decent home, help in offering a fair price, already did the financing bit, have reputable home inspectors, not fly by night people like Hi-Net etc, and buy the home.

[Valerie C]

The fact that you feel you were misled with a contract is very disturbing, and you may want to consider consulting with a real estate attorney. Your last sentence sums it up perfectly. Agents are not home inspectors, lawyers, marriage counselors. We are the liaison between Buyer and Seller, and believe it or not, going out and house-hunting is usually the least time consuming part of a transaction. We oversee the entire transaction, deal with the title companies (NH), the lawyers (MA), assist with negotiating home inspection items (did you know that in NH, home inspectors are not licensed? Not that a license means you've hired a good inspector...sort of like believing that everyone with a drivers license can drive!)

It sounds like you've had some bad experiences with real estate agents, and I'm sorry to hear that. This time around, have you hired your agent to be your Buyer's Agent? This requires signing a contract with a definite start and end date (can be a day, a week, a month) If they are a non-agent (working without a contract) they are supposed to act as a neutral party who can let you into property, since they work for neither the buyer, nor the seller. Of course the Seller's agent is acting solely on behalf of the Seller, but they do owe honesty and fair-dealing to all parties.

You mentioned the picture taking part, something that is near and dear to my heart. I don't have access to MLS Pulse (I believe that is a ReMax or other national company's marketing tool) but the NH MLS system limits us to 12 pictures, and forces us to shrink the pics to such minuscule proportions that even the agents can barely see the details. I've complained about this time and time again, don't know if this feature will change or not. About a year ago, our MLS decided that we needed a "new and improved" system. Well it is new, but not improved. Massachusetts has a fantastic MLS system, we can upload up to 25 BIG pictures, lots of tools.

The shoddy treatment that I received in past transactions is what put me on the road to becoming an agent myself. After having the good luck to meet and hire an INCREDIBLE agent in Missouri, I was astounded at how my perception of real estate changed. I patterned myself after her, and while I'll never be a top producer or drive a Lexus, those things aren't important to my lifestyle. Until a few weeks ago, I drove a mini-van because I can fit my dog, and more kids (and their musical instruments) plus not worry about sand on the floor when we go to the beach. Life (and summer in particular) is too short to sweat the small stuff!

[Snafu]

I can second your comments on the MLS pictures... as well as some of the realtor comments... I had to do my initial "shopping" on-line, because I was trying to move in from well out of the area. I used MLS for almost 6 months to get a feel for areas, prices, styles, amenities, etc. I grew up in MA, moved south, have friends and family in New Hampshire and have wanted to move here for years, but I knew little about the various areas. When I showed up in person to meet with the agent, she kept trying to push me to a higher mortgage than I was comfortable with and kept increasing the distances from landmark areas I told her were important. I did not sign a contract with her and ended up not taking any of her recommendations. Just to make sure my trip not a total waste, I checked out a couple "marginal" properties that I had found on MLS on the internet... the pictures were atrocious, and my thoughts were that if the property was at least decent, I could bulldoze the property and start fresh! I ended up driving up to the home/property of my dreams that bore NO relation to any of the pictures I saw. Since I got absolutely no help from the agent, I went through a different local one, did my own dickering, and got what I consider a great price.
Note: You were correct on the properties' condition... I bargained the price down enough to cover a new roof and all new windows, which I replaced within the first two months of buying the property. It was worth the dickering and footwork, however, and I have the home (and area) I have wanted for years.
I wish you luck in your search!

[southward bound]

Massachusetts has a fantastic MLS system, we can upload up to 25 BIG pictures, lots of tools.

Valerie - Does the agent pay per listing on MLS, or does the agent have to pay per photo, or can they upload all 25 pictures for the same fee?

[Valerie C]

To belong to the MLS, agents pay a quarterly fee to access the MLS. Once you have access you can add, modify as many listings as you are contracted to. No extra fees for pictures, we get to put in the pictures for "free". It's funny, so few people upload more than 5 or 6 pictures, and sometimes I really wonder what they were thinking....

If anyone is ever thinking of getting involved with real estate because of all the big money that you'll make, come see me first, so I can tell you about all of the fees that you'll be paying before earning one dime

That said, it's the best thing I've ever done, sometimes I wish I had started when I was younger, but with age comes wisdom and thick-skin (and wrinkles!) and maybe I became licensed just when I was supposed to!