Jeff Adie’s Blog

Having unexpected company? Someone stopping by for a visit or maybe your home is on the market and you have an hour before the showing? Start with these steps, the impact you can make in a short period of time will make a huge difference.

Start with the rooms that are going to make the bigest impact:

The Bathroom: Wipe down the toilet, mirror, floor and sink. Then empty the trash.

Next go to the Kitchen: Clear the counter top, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher, wipe the sink and counter top with sented multipurpose cleaner.

Rest of home: Pick up debris and clutter. Depending on how much time you have will depend on how much if this step can be done.

The last thing would be to vacuum as much as possible.

For more information go to www.jeffadie.com

Today I received an email from a local bank that had some of the best interest rates I have ever seen. I first bought a house in 1988 and since that time rates have never been this low.

I remember the high rates from the early 80’s but I was a benefactor then as I was saving money to buy that first home.

With what I see today, people should be jumping joy. Here is a sample from Lake Sunapee Bank

 Term                                           INT. RATE        ANNUAL %      POINTS        PMT. PER $100 

I hope this helps to open some eyes, this has to be one of the greatest times to buy a home in a very very long time.

The weather has not been the greatest recently, so power outages, rain, ice and sow have slowed things down a bit. Here are some of the latest photos.

On a rainy day with temperatures in the high 30’s and low 40’s the snow you see in this picture is unbelievably slippery.

Even though there is plenty of hardship and damage to many things there is always a time to look back and say, wow that wasn’t so bad.

In 1998 my daughter was 3 and that was the first major ice storm I had experienced in a very long time. We lost power for seven days, so we melted snow for water, cooked warm meals and tried to heat our home with the wood stove. It was an very interesting time and made us appreciate some very simple things that you use daily and take for granted.

Although Lauren barley remembers that storm, I remember some things like it was yesterday. The sounds of trees snapping under the weight of the ice is a sound that is hard to forget. I heard those same sounds the other day and and it brought me right back to the time I was standing in my barn, holding my daughter, telling her it was natures fireworks. She was still scared but after a few moments the crashing almost had a rhythm to it.

Now that I look back, those seven days are such a blip in time. The sun will rise and set and life goes on.

For those people that live south of Grantham NH and still have no power, you will prevail and life will become normal again. I hope for you that it’s a short period of time that you have to endure this hardship.

There seems to be quite the debate going on right now.

I am reading and hearing some very bullish comments and some very pessimistic opinions on the direction of where the housing market is headed. Some statistics show some of the worst hit areas in housing prices are improving. For example home sales in many Florida communities are way up, but I question there statistics that they use.

Sales might be up from last year levels but the comparison number being used is so low, a 30% or 40% jump is still way below previous years. Las Vegas is another area where you are hearing that the bottom has been found. I want to know the inventory level? Is that shrinking anywhere?

On a local basis sales are down 27% from last year and inventory is up. There were quite a few homes that came off the market in the last few months only to be re-listed in the spring. Right now the inventory is down about 7% from it’s peak over the sumer. When spring hits and new and newly re-listed homes hit the market our local inventory will swell to the highest number of homes on market we have seen in many many years.

The best part about all tis is interest rates are about as low as you will see. I would love to see the rates fall into the 4% range but i just don’t think we will get there.  I would put a less than 50% chance we will see a 4.875% 30 year fixed rate. With rates at 5.25-5.5% and all this inventory if you are a buyer you control the market.

This is the time to buy, you won’t regret it. Are you ready or are you waitig for???? I would like to know…….

This is not a good thing! The delinquency rate right now is about 4.67% for the fourth quarter of 08′, this is expected to climb to 7.17% by the fourth quarter of 09′. This is a huge percentage jump and most of it is based on the loans that will be resetting to higher interest rates.

 If the economy is as bad as the media is making it out to be I wouldn’t be surprised if that number climbs even higher. The 7.17% level would mark the highest delinquency rate in over 16 years.

If this happens, and a majority of homes fall into foreclosure, how could we possibly see a bottom in housing prices in the next few months? The answer would be IF buyers step back into the market and start buying up some of these properties prices will stabilize but until that happens prices will continue to fall.

With the lousy weather and Thanksgiving last week there wasn’t a lot of noticeable change for a Friday update.

Today however there was something to see. Trusses are being set, walls are going up and concrete is still being poured as the weather has turned warmer. At least for a few days…..

On the left you can see the concrete forms for the pool area. This is the second attempt at pouring this wall as the first time was a failure when the concrete froze before it could set up.

If you look close at the bottom of the trusses, it appears that there will be exposing some of that wood to give the ceiling a wood beam effect. It is hard to tell so we will have to see what happens.

With all the snow we had last year late into spring, which hindered sales, this fall’s weather has been a benefit.

A large percentage of our local home sales are to the second home market. With the warmer weather and lack of snow we are seeing some activity with buyers. Questions are being asked and homes are being shown. This is a direct opposite of the normal November market which is usually very quiet. Warmer weather and falling interest rates are a great combination.

If buyers take advantage of this great time to buy, now, you wont be saying: I should have bought, I could have bought, why didn’t I buy two!!!

There will be a lot of folks out there that are going to miss the bottom and they will be sputtering for a long time.

I like what I am seeing recently! Interest rates coming down quite steeply over the last week to 10 days.

I have been complaining for months that is what’s needed for a recovery. Interest rates need to come down! Today I saw a local bank with with a 30 year fixed rate two points, for 5.375% the no point loan was 6%

Still these rates are not quite as low as they were this summer. I believe and hope that we can beat the summer lows, buyers could then buy again and people on the edge can refinance and stave off foreclosure.

Keep a lookout for activity to start picking up as we head into December. If rates continue in a down direction December will be an unusually busy month!

IF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING TO BUY, PRICES HAVEN’T BEEN LOWER AND IF YOU LOCK IN A SUB 6% LOAN IT JUST MIGHT NOT GET ANY BETTER!

www.jeffadie.com  jeff@cbredpath.com

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Grantham Land Listing (edit/delete)

Does anyone out there have a need for privacy and space? My newest listing is 51 acres that is as private as you can get. Weather you want it for hunting, wildlife management or timber harvesting you won’t see a parcel like this come along very often.

The terrainis rolling and there are at least two streams that cross the property. Access is over a class 6 road then an abutter would need to grant you limited impact easement to get a driveway in.

For more information call 603-863-7537 or www.jeffadie.com