About Jennifer Cote

Real Estate junkie, appraiser, sell, buy, analyze, research,passion, invest, environmental, crunchy, municipal, planning, efficiency...everything real estate!

Garden Rehab in Pelham

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MAIN ENTRY WAY

Front Entry- Rotten steps and retaining wall.

In 2011 purchased a fixer upper in Pelham, NH.  The yard was terribly neglected and overgrown.  These are pictures only of the front entry presentable before we sold it in 2019.  I did the landscaping rehab myself.

Overgrown beds everywhere!

 

 

 

First, removal of the carpenter ant infested retaining wall and steps.  Second, grading the slope, and removing overgrown bushes.  Add the new landscaping and mulch before installing granite steps a few years later.

Need to find a pick of the final. Oh, no….I no longer live here.

Getting there.

Granite steps before stone dust went in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that’s it until I find the final presentation.

How to get discounted LED lighting.

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Light up your world!

Light up your world!

New Hampshire residents get discounts on energy efficient lighting!  April 22nd is Earth Day. I celebrate the week, not just the 22nd, and I’m going to tell you one of the best ways to save energy and reduce your electric bill.  BUY LED lightbulbs….I know they’re not cheap.  So I want to let you know about NHsaves.com.


“The mission of NHSaves is to advance the efficient use of energy, while caring for the environment and promoting economic development in New Hampshire.”


There’s a lot of information on the site like: “Go Ductless & Help Your Homeowners Save!
OR
This one on smart LED lighting.

Light your world with LED

Lit with LED

If you would rather go to a brick and mortar, try a Batteries Plus store.  They have locations in Nashua, Manchester, and Salem. When I checked out the Nashua one they let me buy bulbs that offered a rebate, AND they automatically discounted the rebate after I filled out the form for them to submit.  Very convenient!

Not only that…they recycle batteries too.

-Just my thoughts.
Jenn

ReUse, ReCycle, and RePurpose

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Pallet Coffee Table

Pallet Coffee Table 2016

As a big fan of Earth Day I compile a weeks worth of posts to celebrate.  A few years ago I became a big fan of making things out of old pallets. I love the colors of rustic wood.

 

I was picky about the pallets, looking mostly for hardwood and character.  When I was trying to “square” the coffee table top, my buddy Tom at Make It Labs told me many pallets are treated wood.  I did not know that, and this began the decline of my interest in pallets. That, and the pain in the katuckus to take them apart!  Still finding nails throughout the basement my disassembly location.

You won’t believe this! Home Depot is now selling disassembled pallets. Only $26.59!

Pallet Table 2015

Pallet Sofa Table 2015

Here’s a post from TreeHugger.com showing  what some of the symbols on the pallets mean: “How to upcycle pallets into “rustic-industrial” stuff for your home”

The style is wearing on me anyway, time to upcycle something else…there are quite a few hotel liquidation places in the Nashua area. Who knows, maybe my home is ready for something more upscale.

-Just my thoughts. Jenn

354 Nashua St Milford, NH aka Conant House c1782

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This remodeled antique home and offices are now on the market.  Character, mixed use, expansion potential in barn, public utilities and on over half an acre. Traffic count is 13,000 daily and two curb cuts on Route 101A with parking lot, as well as a private driveway on Vine Street.
Excellent street presence and curb appeal!

  • Keep it offices…
  • Medical? It is currently a Naturopathic Clinic
  • Prior owner ran a Veterinarian office (Classic Cat Clinic).
  • Make a 1-floor in-law suite: aka ADU- accessory dwelling unit.
  • Open an inn. It was Victoria Place at one point.
  • Daycare?
  • Need a workshop…most of the huge barn is still unfinished and one of the L’s was used as a work-shop.

    More details on the blog: history, zoning info, and more photos:  https://conanthouse.wordpress.com/


Residential: MLS Listing

Commercial: MLS Listing


-Just my thoughts. Jenn

 

Commercial vs Residential Loans?

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Residential Mortgage

Residential Loan

Commercial Loans

Commercial Loan

Commercial loans:
1. Require a higher down payment, typically 20%.
2. Have shorter terms, typically 5-20 years with a large chunk paid at the end.
3. Have higher interest rates.

So you typically have higher carrying costs(monthly payment) associated with a commercial loan, there’s more risk because you have a balloon payment at the end of the term – or you have to refinance, and you cannot refinance out if the rates go down without a prepayment penalty typically.

Qualifying for a commercial loan is different…it’s based on income potential of the property. While a residential loan is based on your gross income and debt.

Here are a couple articles:
Business Finance Commercial Residential
Commercial VS Residential Loan Terms

Just my thoughts. -Jenn

WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR OFFICE NEXT DOOR TO YOUR HOME?

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Conant House c1782 Milford, NH


    I started a special blog for a special house.  A beautiful antique colonial located at 354 Nashua Rd in Milford, NH.  This is a mixed use property…it’s zoned Residential but Milford has a special overlay district called the “Nashua and Elm St. Corridor Overlay District.”   A perfect situation if you always wanted to be located close to your office, but still keep it separate.

     Currently it’s a medical clinic, prior- a vet, and before that it was an inn.  The living area is completely separate from the office space.  It includes a waiting room, reception office, kitchenette, 3 offices, and a conference room on 2nd floor.

I’ll be adding photos in the next couple weeks, just had a huge estate sale and the place needs to be put back together!


Blog:
The Conant House c1782 Milford, NH

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The Conant House c1782 354 Nashua St, Milford, NH 03055

What is an Expansion Cape? #RealEstateTerms

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cape

My Very 1st House in Hudson, NH- An Expansion Cape

What is an expansion cape, first we need to know what is a cape style house?  Originally a “Cape Cod” is considered folk architecture spanning the early settlements of the United States of America (Cape Cod Massachusetts).  Typically one floor, with side gabled roof-lines, and low to the ground because of the flat terrain and heavy winds off the ocean of Cape Cod.  The siding was weathered grey wood shingles…only the wealthy could afford to paint the houses white, and then it was only the front.  This is only the beginning of the history of a cape, it’s one of the early styles built in America for the harsh Cape Cod environment.

Jenn's Favorites

Jenn’s Favorites

The design evolved over the years, roof-lines became steeper to allow for 2nd floor living areas, they became much larger, and many embellishments where added to the basic design. One of my favorite books on the subject is: A Book of Cape Cod Houses by Doris Doane, and of course my trusty Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia & Lee McAlester.

An expansion cape is when the Cape you’re buying isn’t finished on the second floor.  The key here is that there’s already a FULL staircase to the 2nd floor…it’s not just an attic.  Most expansion capes I’ve run into have the sub-floor in, electrical, the ceiling and floors are insulated, and some have the plumbing brought up to make it easy to add a bathroom. This allows for somebody to buy a modest house, and easily expand in the future = SWEAT EQUITY.

capecodsketchsf

Messy rendering of square footage calculations.

Just my thoughts. -Jenn

New Hampshire Property Tax Rates 2016

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property taxesAt the end of every year, around October, our state releases the new property tax rates for the year.  BUT, tax rates are just part of the story for determining your property taxes.

There may be an Equalization Ratio that needs to be applied to the value of your home, and this is determined by how close your house’s Assessment is VS the Market Value. What’s an equalization ratio: http://jennifercote.info/how-is-an-equalization-ratio-used-in-nh-property-tax-calculations/

$YOUR TAXES$ =  (ASSESSED VALUE * TAX RATE)/1000

Below is a list of a few southern New Hampshire towns.  For the statewide list go to: NH Department of Revenue Administration.
(A higher tax rate doesn’t necessarily mean that town charges more in taxes.)

Southern NH 2016 Tax Rates

Per $1,000

Amherst $25.10
Derry $27.06
Hudson $21.97
Litchfield $21.60
Londonderry $21.50
Merrimack $22.79
Hollis $23.43
Milford $28.96
Nashua $25.07
Pelham $20.95
Salem $20.43
Windham not in yet

-Just my thoughts. Jenn

How Is An Equalization Ratio Used In NH Property Tax Calculations?

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Reconcile

First, what is it? “Equalization is the process where the state makes adjustments to each municipality’s locally assessed values to calculate the estimate 100% value of the municipality.” NH Dept. of Revenue Administration

Simply put, it helps adjust your real estate’s assessed value to meet the current market value.   Sometimes the assessment may not be up to date.  Your town assessor determines what your real estate is valued at using different techniques than an appraiser.  It’s not updated as quickly as the real estate market changes and why the assessment ratio is needed.

So to balance out the difference, and bring the assessment up to market value, the ratio is applied and that value is used to determine your total property tax…not the assessment value.

Total Assessed Value (AV)
Total Market Value (MV)
= Equalization Ratio

If the town is at a 100% equalization ratio, then the Assessed Value is what’s applied to the tax rate.

You can find the equalization ratio’s by municipality on the
Department of Revenue Administration’s website:

2015 : http://revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/property/equalization-2015/index.htm
2016’s will not be done until early 2017, after all the tax rates are determined: http://revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/property/equalization-2016/index.htm

-Just my thoughts, simply.  Jenn