Happy New Year! Hard to believe it’s already here.  I will be brief this time around as I will be posting a year in review entry with all sorts of info looking back at historical sales, charts, graphs, etc. I’m even going to make a few predictions for what the future holds! Below is my typical run down of monthly sales. As you will see, this December actually had more sales than the previous 2 years. Rather nice to end the year with some slightly positive stats. Historical Sales For Our 16 Local Towns January 2006-23 Sales January 2007-29 Sales January 2008-27 Sales February 2006-26 Sales February 2007-30 Sales February 2008-25 Sales March 2006-35 Sales March 2007-38 Sales March 2008-17 Sales April 2006-46 Sales April 2007-28 Sales April 2008-21 Sales May 2006-56 Sales May 2007-53 Sale... 01/15/2009

Man oh man is the world getting crazy! I did a quick scan of my igoogle news today and it looks like pirates are running rampant attacking cruise liners! Apparently there's going to be a Nuclear Attack at some point in the next few years, and surprise surprise, the U.S is in a recession! With all this negative news I sure am glad ski season is here.  It's absolutely the best way to get away from it all and make some good turns on the slopes. At the moment Mount Sunapee is open with 15 trails and 5 lifts on 18" to 24" base. I've heard that the mountain already has had an immense number of season pass holders and registrations for the various ski programs.  I think that this is a great sign that people are staying local and enjoying amenities that are a reasonable drive instead of flying.... 12/07/2008

I've had the opportunity to meet with Bruce on many different occasions. The one thing that really stands out about him is his easy going nature and the fact that he will make time to meet with anyone who would like to learn more about what is happening at the New London Hospital. With the the major expansion of the hospital space, I decided to interview Bruce and try to get a quick snap shot on the affects of the new hospital space and what that means for everyone in the community. Due to the expansion are hospital rates/fees increasing? Each year during the NLHA budgeting process, our team reviews the cost of medical services for comparable size hospitals in our region and projects our own costs based on clinical personnel, equipment and materials for our service area.  Any cost incre... 12/03/2008

  If you follow all the latest the headlines, you probably feel like you should be living in a cave hoarding what money you have and waiting for the economic chaos to blow over! I meet people on a daily basis and when they find out I’m in Real Estate, I constantly get this response “Whoa, how are you doing?” Tons of genuine concern on their face.  I can understand and appreciate their concern, but contrary to popular belief, not everyone is closing up shop. Properties are still selling and people are still buying. Also, there are some fantastic deals out there and I think that our section of NH is very close to the “bottom” of the decline. Now that we have a new president (regardless of political views), I think it will help inspire more consumer confidence and start pulling us out of o... 11/10/2008

In these uncertain financial times, I thought it would great to ask a few of my favorite local lenders some questions about the loan process and what they are seeing. 100% Financing a thing of the past? Elizabeth Dabrowski (Sugar River Bank) - While it is true that programs like FHA and VA have tightened up some loan criteria in recent months, that does not mean qualified borrowers must supply the full 20% conventional down payment. SRB offers a range of down payment options, each tailored for a customer’s particular needs. Cathy Murray (Ledyard Bank) -Not true!  100% financing is available through a program with the US Department of Agriculture for rural and small community home sites, called Rural Development.  This program is NOT limited to first time homebuyers.  Eligible properties... 11/03/2008

My blog has been customized!! The header photo is of a sunset that occurred this summer. I was on my way from Springfield New Hampshire to New London New Hampshire, crested a hill and this is what was right in front of me. We get great sunsets but this one had to be the best one I've seen in a long time. My background is of Eastman Lake. A 325 acre lake located in the community of Eastman, in the town of Grantham, New Hampshire. These are the original photos:   10/31/2008

Recently Katie Bacon from the New York Times published a fantastic article on the town of New London. When you are reading the article make sure to click on the slide show on the left hand side...they got some awesome photos of our area. **update the online article is no longer available with the photos. The link below will take you to the text version of the article New York Times article on New London   Source: http://sunapeeregionblog.com/2008/10/18/new-london-in-the-ny-times/ 10/22/2008

This past week I went on an awesome dinner/cocktail cruise on the MV Kearsarge...I think the last time I was on one of the Lake Sunapee cruise boats, I was 10 and my father had gotten "Captain Dave" to let me take the wheel! The Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event and provided us with a great relaxing fall cruise.  Below is a picture I took just as the sun was setting.     Source:http://sunapeeregionblog.com/2008/10/02/dinner-cruise-on-mv-kearsarge/ 10/07/2008

It certainly has been an interesting month with all the bailout news and it's affect on Wall Street, creating insane drops in the stock market...You'd think that everything real estate wise would come to a screeching halt and we'd all be out washing windows for extra $$! Well times are definitely uncertain, but banks are still lending and people are still buying and listing their homes. I have a closing coming up in 2 weeks that is through Bank of America and they've assured us there is nothing to worry about.  I've also had a few closings with Sugar River Bank - Elizabeth Dabrowski (loan officer) and they have significant reserves and are able to lend with excellent rates and great programs. So it's not all gloom and doom...Although it does sound like there are some regions out there t... 10/07/2008

Hard to imagine another month has flown by and we'll be stepping into Fall before we know it....Ok, here's the down and dirty on the past month.....looks like we're back to being 20 some odd sales behind previous years at this time frame. Although 57 listings went under agreement this past month and as usual, the office has been extremely busy. Recently I was setting up a full day of showings and 3 of the listings went under agreement before we even got a chance to see them! Also the weather has been absolutely fantastic so I think more people are making the drive up here to experience all the awesome outdoor activities we have in our area. On a side, note, if you didn't already know, we have recently move to a new location! We are in the "Kidder" building on 11 Pleasant Street, New Lon... 09/09/2008

As we are fast approaching Fall, I thought it would be good to do a quick run down on what has sold for land year-to-date in the 16 towns that make up the Sunapee Region. As you will see below I have compared it to previous years and provided sale price, acreage and location information for what has sold this year. The chart I put together is great as you can see how the average sales price has more than doubled in the past 7years. Also the transaction count has has gone down significantly which I believe is part because of our current "exciting" economy and the development of the area.   Andover NH $100,000--14.5acres on Beech Hill Rd, Andover NH Bradford NH $57,000--8.13acres Lot 4 Dunfield Rd, Bradford NH $89,000--54acres on Tuttle Rd, Bradford NH Goshen NH $85,000--137.1acres on Mou... 09/07/2008

To me, this past month in our area seemed to be quite busy. The other agents in my office as well as myself have been running around like crazy on showings, wrapping up sales and getting ready to put some new listings on the market. Don't get me wrong, like everywhere else we've been affected by this crazy economy, but things are still happening and there are deals out there. In July, I had 2 deals where there were actually multiple offers on the same property! One of them, my buyers stepped up and paid a bit more to get their perfect first home, and the other, my client didn't come up high enough so they lost out on the deal. These were properties in good locations at reasonable prices. I know this isn't the most common thing in a market like this, but it goes to show that if a propert... 08/04/2008

If you have been thinking about coming up to our area, this is definitely the time to do so! From July 31st through August 3rd there are a ton of activities planned in the New London and Sunapee Region. On August 1st the Freese Brothers Band will be playing on the New London Common, on the 2nd there will be a huge parade through Main Street New London-floats, classic cars, and tons of people just having fun-starts at 2pm. There are a whole slue of events planned during the four days. This link will take you to a pdf of the event calender and this link will take you to the website for the event. Below will take you to the Wikipedia article on New London and will provide you with some interesting history on the town and additional links of interest in our area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... 07/25/2008

In the Sunapee region we are fortunate to have numerous Lakes and Ponds. I've found that whether you are familiar with our area, thinking about moving over full time, or considering a second home investment, it always helps to know what bodies of water are located in which towns. Below I have compiled a list of the 20 major bodies of water in our area, their acreage and the towns they reside in.   Here's a great picture from Mount Sunapee's Mountain Cam. Click on the photo to see more pictures from their site. Lake Ashuelot--299.5 acres Washington NH Baptist Pond--98.9 acres Springfield NH Blaisdell Lake--158.2 acres Sutton NH Crescent Lake--116.2 acres Acworth NH, Unity NH Eastman Lake--350 acres Grantham NH Highland Lake--210.9 acres Andover NH Highland Lake--697acres Stoddard NH, Was... 07/16/2008

Summer is finally here and the 4th of July is getting ready to take off! It's amazing how fast time flies. The following link will take you to all the different firework events that are happening for the holiday http://www.newhampshire.com/fourthofjuly/fireworks.aspx There are a total 57 Listings in our area that are currently under agreement, 39 of which went under agreement this June. Historical Sales For Our 16 Local Towns January 2006—23 Sales January 2007—29 Sales January 2008—27 Sales February 2006—26 Sales February 2007—30 Sales February 2008—25 Sales March 2006—35 Sales March 2007—38 Sales March 2008—17 Sales April 2006—46 Sales April 2007—28 Sales April 2008—21 Sales May 2006—56 Sales May 2007—53 Sales May 2008—34 Sales June 2006—59 Sales June 2007—46 Sales June 2008—30 Sales •... 07/03/2008

Now that we are past Memorial Day, summer has kicked off in full swing in the Sunapee area (regardless of prices we are seeing at the pump). Golf tournaments are dominating the country club scene, local theaters have opened their doors for summer productions, road races and rallies are defying the black fly season and art lovers are making their way around to the local galleries. The Sunapee region has truly embraced the start of the season, for a calendar of the ongoing activities you may want to check out the Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce calendar Here as well as the Mount Sunapee calendar of events Here. Historical Sales For Our 16 Local Towns January 2006—23 Sales January 2007—29 Sales January 2008—27 Sales February 2006—26 Sales February 2007—30 Sales February 2008—25 Sal... 06/20/2008

                                                              The New Hampshire Legislature in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Services, recently passed a "New and Improved" Shoreline Protection Act, to be effective April 2007.The New Legislation requires that buildings or additions compensate for the runoff created by these impervious surfaces (like roofs or driveways) by installing porous materials to help absorb the water. The total volume of "runoff" must remain the same! No increase in runoff.... will protect our bodies of water.     In a pro-active reaction to the new Regulations - specifically- "Pervious" surfaces.  The town of New London experimented in the hospital parking lot, with a Newly Developed Concrete.  To everyone's delight when a truckload of water wa... 12/03/2007