Do you want chickens with that new home?

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The new trend is farming at home….corn, chickens, and deed restrictions.  Oh my.  Loved this article on “The Rise of the Backyard Farm” by Meg White for Realtor Magazine.  She covered so much in this article I’m not sure what I could add.

Highlights:Co

  1. Is that chicken coop coming with the house?
  2. The deed restricts livestock and poultry…but the town’s zoning allows for it.
  3. If I remove my lawn to plant food will that devalue my property?
  4. Are the solar panels included, or are they leased?

Well maybe it brings up more questions than answers.  Stay tuned.

Just my thoughts. -Jenn

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Townie Tuesday Pictures in New Hampshire (NH)

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Every Tuesday I post a picture on my Facebook page depicting a New Hampshire scene.  This week goes to Benson Park in Hudson, NH.

 

 

Just Hanging out at the Park with my little guy.  Benson’s has lots of trails, some are even paved, large pond, there are restored parts of the the original Benson’s Animal Park, 9-11 monument, and many areas have been transformed by local groups into interesting fun vignettes.  A true community effort to save a piece of history.

The Ladybug at the Benson's Playground

The Ladybug at the Benson’s Playground

Read all about Bensons Wild Animal Farm:
   www.nhmagazine.com/October-2011/Bensons-Wild-Animal-Farm-Revisited/
   http://www.bensonsanimalfarm.com/
http://www.hudsonnh.gov/boards/bensons

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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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Hudson NH Real Estate Trends

The Old Bensons Animal Park - Hudson, NH

 

What’s going on in Hudson?  The spring market hit well over a month ago (the spring real estate market starts in February or March) and looking at the graph below you can see the increase in listings going under contract.

Hudson New Hampshire Market Trends

Once a property goes under contract it will typically close in 60 days, so the increase in contracts will make the next couple months show a large increase in sales.  Just look at January and Febuary of last year.

The active listings show 4 months of inventory….a stable market typically has 3-6 months active inventory.

Looking pretty good!

-Just my thoughts…Jenn

Top New Hampshire Homes

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How skewed can the market data be?

Every market has submarkets, so when you watch the news about double digit declines- it’s all the markets combined. A cookie-cutter subdivision with a price point of $350,000 and up may show a larger decline than an entry-level subdivision. A contemporary home on a lake may show no decline. Bank-owned properties would most likely show the largest decline. All this within the same timeframe/market. They are examples of submarkets…move-up (mid level), entry level, standard cookie cutter, vacation, lake front, bank-owned, or unique style properties. So depending on what submarkets posted the most sales it would skew the overall market data. Knowing this you can now postulate that these huge declines are due, in part, from most sales being bank-owned or entry-level in the past 6 months so it is a false representation of the market.

-Just my thoughts.

www.TopNHhomes.com

www.JACoteAppraisals.com

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Top Towns In A Declining Market

Something I noticed in the recent real estate debacle was that more “desirable” areas fared better overall. They were the last to start declining and they were the first market areas to stabilize. This may not be news to everybody but I thought it was rather interesting to point out.

-Just my thoughts.

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