While many people connect New Hampshire with the political primary season, I’m here to tell you that our beautiful state has so much more to offer.

Here’s a look at some of our North Conway, NH area real estate markets and why so many people are proud to call this state their home.

Living in the North Conway, NH Area

Here in the North Conway area of New Hampshire, we have a lot to be proud of, including:

• Top notch public schools
• Plenty of winter recreational activities
• Impressive dining and entertainment venues
• Plenty of summer recreational activities, too!
• And so much more!

North Conway, NH Area Real Estate Statistics

Considering all of the amazing amenities that residents can find in the North Conway area, it’s no wonder the area real estate markets are thriving, despite the sluggish national housing market.

Here’s a look at some recent sales data for a few of these beautiful New Hampshire communities:

Conway/North Conway NH Real Estate

• Median sales price for Conway NH homes for sale from Jan 11 to March 11 was $155,000, which was an increase of 7.6 percent compared with the same period last year
• There were 27 home sales from Jan. 11 to March 11, which is a 107.7  percent increase compared with the same period last year.

Jackson NH Real Estate

• Median sales price for Jackson NH homes for sale from Jan 11 to March 11 was $221,300, which was an increase of 20 percent compared with the same period last year
• There were 3 home sales from Jan. 11 to March 11, which is a 50 percent decrease compared with the same period last year.

Relocating to the North Conway, NH Area

If you’ve been thinking about entering the North Conway, NH area real estate market as a home buyer or seller, then contact us, Pinkham Real Estate.

As your New Hampshire real estate expert, we’ll let you know about available listings in the area as well as answer any questions you have.

While you’re looking at North Conway, NH real estate, we recommend that you check out some of our other unique NH communities, including:

• Conway
• Bartlett
• Jackson
• Hale’s Location
• Bretton Woods
• And others!

Each of these communities has its own personality and claim to fame.  The one thing that they all guarantee to residents is an amazing quality of life!

Until next time,

Pinkham Real Estate

The first thing most people do in this situation is call their bank and ask if there is a restructuring program they can enter. Many banks will work with you on this process because they may not want to lose the loan through a foreclosure but there are those that do not want to make your life easier. This procedure takes time and a lot of aggravation. It will seem that the bank will not want to work with you and would rather repossess the house and sell it as a forclosure. There are also people who will start the process and never finish it because it takes so much work and the bank will seemingly drag the ordeal out for months on end. This is the strategy they used on Ted. He got fed up and decided it would be easier to walk away.

Unfortunately, Ted did not take advantage of all of his options. By consulting with a real estate professional he could have had a comprehensive analysis of his property to determine its value. In Ted’s case, he owed less than the current market value for homes like his. We are going to market Ted’s house aggressively to try and find a good buyer who wants a pretty good deal. In some cases, you may have to enter a short sale whereby you make arrangements with the bank to sell the property for less than you owe. The bank gets to avoid the hassle of a foreclosure and you get out from under a mortgage you can no longer afford. It can take some time to go through this process but it is a good deal for all involved: you get some relief, the bank saves some money and aggravation and someone gets a new house to make into their home.

This scenario may seem very simple but there are some difficulties that need navigating. A good realtor can help guide you through this frustrating process and take some of burden from your shoulders by performing certain tasks like dealing with the bank directly on your behalf. The best advice I gave Ted was to keep fighting and not give in-we have a decent chance of selling his house and saving him years of fighting to clear his credit. Most important to Ted is that he has someone in his corner fighting for him. Before you throw in the towel give your local realtor a call to see what they can do for you. If you live in Mount Washington Valley, give me call and I will be happy to help.

Greydon Turner

Pinkham Real Estate

603 356 5425 office

603 387 6081 cell

51 Ammonoosuc Drive, Bartlett

New Price: $499,000

With its recent $50,000  price Reduction, this Attitash, NH beauty truly is priced to sell.  Just steps from the slopes, this “like new” completely turnkey home features beautiful views, 3 bedroom suites,  a huge bunk room, 5 baths, open living, kitchen and dining area, wood flooring, 2 gas fireplaces, a gas log stove in the master suite and a large family room with wet bar which is perfect for entertaining.  There is absolutely nothing to do with this one but to open the door and enjoy.

For more information or to schedule a showing, call Josh at 800-322-6921 or 603-986-4210.

www.pinkhamrealestate.com

My name is Chad Fletcher and I have “Valley Fever”. I purchased a home near Cranmore in April 2008 and consider it my own “valley original”. Built on post and pillars in the early 1900’s, it has a certain quality that brings out the best in anyone who enters. I don’t believe in magic –but this

Chad's North Conway ski home

house is magical. 

Here is my story………I graduated from UNH back when cell phones were the size of car batteries. I spent 11 years in Commercial lending and made the transition to residential –Blue Water Mortgage Corp. Why residential you ask? Homes are where memories are made and sometimes we don’t savor our memories as much as we should. Growing up in NH is a privilege..(just wanted to throw that out there.) I married my beautiful wife Kerri in 2003 and in 2007 we were blessed with our daughter Nola Ellen. 

Blue Water Mortgage Corporation is an independent, owner-operated company based in Hampton, New Hampshire. Our team of loan officer-owners has more than 45 years of collective, credit-based mortgage experience.We are successful because we explain the process and set the expectation with the borrower upfront. Let’s face it, mortgage lending has changed but it’s not going away. You deserve the highest level of service and integrity in the business. 

On the positive – Builders appear to be planning more projects in 2011, based on permits rising 16.7 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 635,000 units, the best pace since last March. Fannie Mae is even more optimistic. It expects overall starts to increase 17.3 percent and hit 710,000 units this year, with another 42 percent increase to 1.1 million units in 2012, followed by a 42 percent gain to 1.5 million units in 2013. 

If you are thinking of buying, I know I am biased, but I believe I can be a great resource both as someone who is an expert in my field and also as someone who loves Mt Washington Valley and know the ins and outs second home ownership. Feel free to call ( 603-758-1688/603-591-6582) or email (CFletcher@bluewatermtg.com) anytime. I look forward to talking with you soon! 

NMLS #311097

NMLS #1291

Businesses often require a lot of hard work. I have seen many people come to our area, buy a restaurant and figure they will spend a few hours each night walking around greeting people while sipping some wine and chatting away about their day or skiing. Unfortunately, this scenario is more often replaced with long work weeks and unending hassles that you never even considered, like computing the cost of an empty seat or managing an inventory for a business that can go up and down more often than than a toddler in a bouncy house. However, it can be done and many have succeeded. spend some time researching the busness climate to prepare yourself for the mania of the summer tourist season to the dregs of mud season. If you look around North Conway NH you will see a multitude of successful businesses from arts and crafts stores to kayak rentals as well a gamut of service oriented operations like contractors, landscapers and the hospitality industry. Find a good niche-there are a lot of visitors to the area and good base population. Try to find a business that caters to both to help ensure a reasonable return year round. Some people will move here and bring their business with them like a painter or a successful furniture store. Often they can find some great retail space and a good workforce. I often help these people choose the right spot for the business since location can be crucial. There are many unseen parts of North Conway and the surrounding areas that are unexplored by people new to the area and a missed opportunity can be costly. Traffic flow and whether you want to be on the busy “strip” can be as important as a comfortable fir for your business. After all, it may be a great spot but is the needle point store going to be successful squeezed between a balloon and store and a shoe outlet? Do you need to have an expensive storefront in North Conway for you mail order rubber band store or should you find a more remote and less expensive site in Center Conway with greater elbow room for growth and expansion. Many tradesmen will locate a business out of their home and then they should consider how much land they will need and if there will be zoning restrictions or development covenants that will hamper their ability to keep their equipment in their yard or be able to build a big enough storage unit for everything. Take time to investigate each neighborhood to determine where you want to be now and ten or twenty years down the line.

Purchasing or establishing a business is exciting and rewarding. Fulfilling your dream of being your own boss and having the freedom to do things the way you want to do them is a wonderful experience and the basis of capitalism. Entreprenuers abound in Mount Washington Valley and we can always fit in a couple more. This area is growing each year and largely due to the people who visit here and decide to incorporate a great quality of life with the potential for a rewarding career. Please feel free to call and discuss your business ideas and needs. I am always willing to listen offer suggestions to help get you closer to your starting your next great investment.

Greydon Turner can be reached at 603 387 6081 or by email at greydon@pinkhamrealestate.com.

We are here, and we’re working. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello.

Pinkham Real Estate

www.pinkhamrealestate.com

800-322-6921

Click here to see ticket prices (and deals) throughout New England.

Need a place to stay while you’re here? There is still plenty of time left in the ski season to buy a great getaway that you can use not just this winter but in the years to come. Prices and interest rates have stayed low, but there are signs that this might not be the case forever. We strongly believe that buying real estate now will pay dividends when it comes to making memories with your family. We have been working with buyers and sellers in Mt Washington Valley for longer than any of our competitors, and have the experience to spot a good deal when one comes on the market. Why not stop by and tell us what’s on your wish list? We will do the searching for you and find you the best property out there for your dollars.

Have a happy and safe New Year, and if you are around stop in at our office in North Conway village and say hello. We look forward to seeing you!

Christmas lights on our home

One of my favorite things about this time of year is driving around in the evening and seeing the beautiful lights in the windows of the homes and in the trees in the yard. I love putting the strings of white lights out on our porch, and I always feel warm and happy to be home when I see them pulling into the driveway.

But I don’t like the increase in our electric and heating bills during the winter. While not much can be done about the heat, here are some tips that I have found to make a difference in the winter electric bill:

-Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Simple, but if you start watching yourself, you may be suprised at how many lights end up on by the end of an evening. 

-Leave outside lights off unless you need them.

-If you are decorating with Christmas lights, use single strands instead of icicle strands. Icicle strands are shorter than single strands (so you need more to decorate the house), and they have more bulbs per strand.

-Plug your Christmas lights into a programmable timer. We have one with a sensor that comes on at dusk and automatically shuts off after 4 hours.

-Electric space heaters are energy suckers! If you must use one, use it on low and shut it off when you leave the room.

-Computers, cable boxes and TVs still use power when they are off. If you have them in a second home, unplug them before you leave. If you have them in your primary home, consider putting plugs into a power strip that you can turn off during times when you won’t be using them for a day or two. (This may sound a little overboard, but according to PSNH, up to 8% of your electric bill can be from inactive but plugged in machines.)

Cutting your energy costs isn’t hard, and the great thing about it is it leaves a little more money in your wallet for something you really want to spend your money on-like a second home! Come and see me at Pinkham Real Estate to give me your tips for how you save money on utilities, or to invest those pennies you have been saving into something you and your family can enjoy for years to come.

Merry Christmas!- Kyla Brustin, Pinkham Real Estate, 800-322-6921, or kyla@pinkhamrealestate.com

For more information on how the small things you do impacts your eletric bill, check out the Public Service of NH website.

-

New product from Apple?

Sorry, Charlie.

Oh! I know.  A group of whales!

Nope.

No? It wasn’t Wales either?

Bad pun AND wrong again.

How about those things in the bottom of the pool in Cocoon?

Give up?

Yeah…what the heck is it?

An APOD is short for Annual Property Operating Data. This is a simple one or two page form that will outline the profitability of an investment like an apartment building. I use this sheet frequently when evaluating an apartment to calculate how much money this building will cost and what kind of profit there is. There are more involved calculations a person can use to determine the worthiness of their potential investment but I find this one to be a good start.

Let’s use Uncle Paul as an example. He comes into the office and announces he want to buy a building in Conway or North Conway and rent the apartments out to young people moving to the area. After looking at a few properties he finds a couple that suit his needs and are asthetically pleasing. The next step I would suggest is to take a look at an APOD. The APOD will take into consideration Uncle Paul’s total rents minus vacancies, operating expenses and taxes and give him a net profit before income taxes, also known as EBITDA. From this figure comes his interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Now we are getting somewhere because Uncle Paul is starting to see what kind of money this real estate will pay out and whether or not he should seriously consider buying this building.

I use a modified APOD that also features a figure for calculating the mortgage and interest payment as well as a capitalization rate. The capitalization rate is roughly figured by using the income generated by Uncle Paul’s investment and the amount of money paid for the building. This rate could also be used as a rate of return. In most cases I look for a strong figure of about 10% or more. On a smaller investment like a four unit building Uncle Paul might want to try for a rate of 12% while on a larger building he could settle for a smaller rate of say 6-8% because the cash generated is higher. Of course, there must also be copnsidered things like the age of the building and its location. A new building in Conway NH may not have half the value of an older one in Los Angeles CA.  

There are many other formulas for looking at the profitability of a property but these are a good way to start. These formulas are good to review with clients looking to sell their properties. After all, how can someone expect Uncle Paul and others of his ilk to purchase property that provides a small, or in some cases, no return. These gentlemen will turn their sights on other properties located in Mount Washington Valley and another building goes unpurchased. After all, I want to keep Uncle Paul happy. He tends to be grumpy around his wife and getting out and working on a project that will benefit younger folks gives him a thrill.

So when considering buying or selling an apartment building I encourage people like yourself and Uncle Paul to come see me at Pinkham Real Estate in North Conway NH. My name is Greydon Turner and I can be reached at either 603 356 5425 or 603 387 6081 or online at greydon@pinkhamrealestate.com.