17 Lamson Dr in Merrimack, NH for Sale

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OPEN HOUSE ON SUNDAY, MAY 22

FROM 11 AM-1 PM

StoneWallStepsSMALLRemodeled raised ranch in south Merrimack, close to everything!  New kitchen with granite counter-tops opens up to the living room with large picture window.  All the wood floors: in living, hallway, and bedrooms have been refinished.  The bath was expanded and updated as well.  As you walk outside onto the new multi-tiered deck, you can see the multi-tiered gardens, planting bed around the rock outcroppings, a fire-pit, plum and sweet cherry trees.  A large finished family room and den finish off the basement that leads to the extra deep 1-car garage.

Click for listing details MLS4491106

Please email me for more details:

Click for larger image:WassermanParkGIS

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190 Baboosic Lake Rd in Merrimack, NH

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Slideshow Video of 190 Baboosic Lake Rd. in Merrimack NH

The Barron House c1771

190 Baboosic Lake RdPreserved antique Colonial with heavy timber framing, wide-plank pine floors and wainscoting, 5 fireplaces, period trim, Moses Eaton stencils, and perennial gardens make this a very special place!  The home has a rich history dating back to pre-revolutionary times documented in the “History of Merrimack, NH, Volume I.”

The formal living and dining rooms flank the front staircase.  The keeping room runs the length of the house, a grand fireplace with beehive oven. Heading towards the back you have the large kitchen, half bath, laundry, and then you enter the large mudroom/library to access the 2-car attached garage.

Over the barn there’s a finished living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bath with separate electrical and natural gas furnace. A two-car garage with generator hook-up, walk up attic with more wide plank flooring.  The fieldstone foundation has a concrete floor, 200 amp service, chestnut beams, and many secrets.

MLS 4477896: Click for an Interactive Listing Sheet
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on’t forget to like my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/topnhhomes

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Nashua Detached Condo with 2-Car Garage For Sale

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1$175,000 for this 3-bedroom detached condo. Backs up to common area, large rooms, even a 2-car garage! Condo fees include exterior maintenance, siding, roof, even plowing the driveway!  Great property for investor.  This is a short-sale, being sold as-is.

Click for Craigslist Flyer with more Pictures

Additional Posts:
Top 5 Things to Consider when Doing a Rehab Loan
The Short Sale Chronicles with Jenn

 

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New Hampshire’s Real Estate Cycle- Up Markets

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TOP TOWNS LAST IN...FIRST OUT

Real Estate in NH Increasing

During the decline of the last real estate cycle I wrote a post about how different towns function in the cycle.  I.E. top towns are the big indicators when the market will start to stabilize after a decline: Top Towns in a Declining Market

Right now we are in a completely different market, but the point remains the same.  Top towns LEAD the UP-cycle, they are a good indicator when prices start to rise. So it’s “First Out” of a declining real estate market.  There are still New Hampshire towns struggling, but most are stable, if not slightly increasing.

Just my thoughts. -Jenn

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What’s an arms length transaction in real estate?

hello

New Hampshire Homes

An arm’s length transaction is important in determining the market value of real estate. Appraisers know this term as it’s what helps determine if a comparable sale is truly comparable. So what’s an arms-length transaction?

The key concepts: the property must be on the open market for a reasonable amount of time, neither the buyer nor seller can be acting under duress, they must have reasonable knowledge of the property, be acting on their own self-interests, and from equal bargaining positions.

ArmsLength


Here are the top 3 NON arms-length transactions:

  1. Bank owned property
  2. Family sale
  3. Most short-sales

THE BIG QUESTION: Why is this important in selling your house or buying a new house? If a sale is not an arms-lengths transaction it will not be used to determine the value of that property because it would not be market value.

Market value is the highest price a buyer would pay and seller would accept for an item in an open and competitive market.

-Just my thoughts. -Jenn

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Todays Nashua Market Trend Update

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Market Trend update for February 2015

Current Nashua NH Real Estate Market Report February 2015

The Nashua NH real estate marketed report February 2015 indicates a 12 month trend from January 2014 of average sales prices increasing and declining inventory. Declining inventory is typical over the winter months.

Nashua NH Average Sales Prices

The current trend is upward and indicates the average sales price of $232,000 with days on market of 87 for January. In February of 2014 the average sales price was $207,000 with 97 days on market.  Can you imagine if we did not have all this snow on the ground?

Nashua NH New Property Listings

The trend for properties on the market is slightly higher than last February with 75 listings, January this year has 87 listings.  The spring market listings have been delayed due to the severe winter snow storms. March and April we typically see the largest influx of new listings.

Nashua NH Real Estate Market Report

Nashua NH Real Estate Market Report

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Do you prefer a walkable mixed-use or big lot suburban community?

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The 2013 community preferences survey from the National Association of Realtors is an analysis on the types of communities people prefer to live in.  On one hand compact, walkable communities continue to have leaps in demand, but detached houses with large yards and lots of privacy are still tops.  You can read all about it in this 51 page slide show: http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2013/2013-community-preference-analysis-slides.pdf

WalkablecommunitiesSplitpieOne of the things I was surprised to see is the breakdown between a walkable, mixed-use community and a conventional suburban one to be very balanced.

Anyway, you should check out the slideshow…good stuff.

-Just my thoughts.

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The End of the Hometown

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When asked where’s your hometown, how do you respond: the one you were born in, or the one you grew up in?

Seeing as the median duration in a residence is only 5.2 years* most of us have moved multiple times since birth.  So people aren’t tied to one location in today’s mobile society and many are missing that connection to a town.

I would always respond that I was born in Lowell, MA but moved a couple times before Nashua…which is where I grew up.  I have a connection to both, but my hometown is Nashua.

So I ask the question in my next post: What is home?

It’s just something I’ve been thinking about, the loss of the hometown.

NashuaMyHometown1Just my thoughts. -Jenn Cote

*https://www.census.gov/sipp/p70s/p70-66.pdf  page 4 “Seasonality of Mobility and Duration of Residence” Household Economic Studies  By Kristin A. Hansen

FACEBOOK: topNHhomes

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What’s that vacant lot next door to my home?

As both a real estate agent and an appraiser, I look at the entire neighborhood, not just what’s next door.   I can remember a property in Merrimack I was working on at the end of a cul-de-sac.  Nice quiet neighborhood, but through my research you could see the subdivision ends with a couple large lots, one of which is zoned for commercial uses.  It was just under 100 acres with frontage on a main route.

Here's the GIS map of the same area now.

Here’s the GIS map with the zoning overlay of the area now.  The R is residential, the C-2 is commercial area that was in place, but the large commercial building was built after.

Sure enough a few years later a large “box” store opened and you could definitely hear, and “see”, the noise through the neighbors yard.    Can you imagine buying your new home on this quiet cul-de-sac, and then a few years later having this happen?

Cul-de-sac in Merrimack, NH

Cul-de-sac in Merrimack, NH

So here are a few ways you can find out for yourself (if I’m not your agent):

  1. Google maps is the easiest first step.  Zoom in, do the street view (little yellow man icon) and look around.  Of course Google Earth is stunning, A 3D globe.
  2. My favorite is using a GIS viewer you can usually find on a towns website.  Do a search for GIS and the name of the town/municipal location.  GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and it is an overlay mapping system combing lots, zoning, wetlands, and all sorts of information.  For more information about GIS mapping here’s my previous post on GIS maps in New Hampshire communities.
  3. Online deeds and/or plans.  Here in New Hampshire we have www.NHdeeds.com and you can look up your deed in most counties.  From the deed you can get the subdivision plan # in many cases.  Enter the plan # and you get the subdivision plans.  Really great information!

My point is to look at the surrounding land, the uses.  I can hear my clients say: “but Jenn, we don’t mind that…”

It could be the property is one street over from a major highway, a property with only 2-bedrooms, or industrial zoned land next door, they may not perceive it as a negative.

Key Point:
Do the majority of home buyers see it that way?  I help my clients become informed, for the future marketability of the property.

 

 

 

 

What is the difference between a Superfund site and a Brownfield?  Check out an earlier post: http://jennifercote.info/superfund-or-brownfield/

Just my thoughts. –Jennifer Cote- Everything Real Estate

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Nashua’s Central Fire Station Repurposed?

Banner Nashua Central Fire Station

How about we do something with this downtown building?

I enjoy taking pictures of interesting buildings. This one was once the Nashua Arts and Science Center. Look at the corbels, the arched window headers, the brick detail on the gable, and what’s with that window air-conditioner? Yikes

I liked the picture so much I used it on my Facebook Page for a while, and started to look into the significance of the 1870 date.

Well, I learned quite a bit of Nashua history in my search, but I’ll focus on this picture. It’s the original Central Fire Station, which is on what’s now known as Church St. I wish it had a better use, looking a bit run down now.

Central Station in Nashua, NH back in time.

The Nashua NH Central Fire Station

Going by the Central Station countless times in the previous 3 decades,  I never noticed the tower on the back left of the building until I saw this picture.  Old fire houses had a bell tower…that was the fire alarm for the neighborhoods around it. Most bell towers have been removed due to structural deterioration. Look at the bell tower in this old postcard photo of Central Station.

 

Lowell Central Repurposed
Lowell Central Re-purposed

 

Here’s a good example of a re-purposed fire station in Lowell, MA.  It’s now a restaurant and offices.  Beautiful building from the street.  Notice the bell tower is still there.

You can find a great history of Lowell firefighting:  Lowell Fire Fighting by: J.T.Strunk.  My uncle Gerry was a Captain at this station before it (and he)retired.   I would love to see Nashua do something with the old fire house.

Hmmm, Visualize Nashua?

If you’d like to know when I post another article on this topic “like” my Facebook page: Facebook.com/TopNHhomes

Just my thoughts. -Jenn

Resources:

www.nashuahistory.com

Nashua’s Central Station to Close” -11/12/1970 Nashua Telegraph-

http://www.firenews.org/nh/n/nashuanh.html

http://www.nh.searchroots.com/documents/Hillsborough/History_Nashua_NH_7.txt

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19701112&id=0JgrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p_UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5756,1378818

http://www.TopNHhomes.com

http://www.JACoteAppraisals.com

Homes of Character in Nashua, Hudson, Hollis, Milford, Merrimack, Pelham, NH Real Estate, Land and Homes, Windham property.

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