Christopher Bonta,Realtor/ Integrity and Honesty

A new year is upon us and the 1st quarter of 2009 has closed, so how did Windham do in this 1st quarter. The absorption rate for the Town ended at 7.46 months, which means that it will take that many months for the market to absorb the current inventory of properties that are out there.

Windham ended last year with an absorption rate of 9.44 months, so the good news is that our rate has dropped by two months. The not so good news is that the rate is still very high, if the absorption rate is above 6 months the market is considered to be a Buyer's Market. Also, the Towns rate is approximately the same as it was for 2008, which was a very slow market and remained a declining market, so if you are a Seller what do you make of all of this. The main point is that pricing is key to selling your property, along with how it is being marketed. I property being placed $5k- to $10k over where it should be priced is most likely not going to sell, so even if the marketing is great you will end up being an expired listing.

When marketing your property it is always important to be aware of current market trends, any changes and how it may effect you. I have over 10 years of experience in Real Estate and I consider myself someone who can bring my experiences to assist any Seller in Marketing their property. If you are considering selling your home, you need to have someone with the expertise and experience to help you navigate the ever changing waters of the Real Estate Market, so call me so that I can assist you with your largest financial dealing.

The 1st quarter has ended for Londonderry and it is time to see where the Town stands. At the end of 2008 Londonderry's absorption rate was 7.19 months, which means that it would take the market 7.19 months to absorb the current inventory on the market. As I have stated in previous posts, when the absorption rate is above 6 months the market is considered to be a Buyer's Market. The end of year absorption rate showed that Londonderry was firmly in the grips of the Buyer's market and even though the Town fared better than their neighbors or the County the market for Sellers was not good.

Now that the 1st quarter has ended, the newest numbers show that the Town has slightly moved even more into a Buyer's Market. The Towns absorption rate is now at 7.68 months. As I've spoken about in past posts, knowing what length of time it will take your property to sell is very important, and the absorption rate of a Town is key to knowing where to price your property and how long it will take to sell.

When marketing your property it is always important to be aware of current market trends, any changes and how it may effect you. I have over 10 years of experience in Real Estate and I consider myself someone who can bring my experiences to assist any Seller in Marketing their property. If you are considering selling your home, you need to have someone with the expertise and experience to help you navigate the ever changing waters of the Real Estate Market, so call me so that I can assist you with your largest financial dealing.

The start of this sentence is what I am hearing a lot of lately. It seems many would be Buyer's are running into the dilemma of only meeting 2 of the 3 criteria to buy a home. What are the criteria's to buying a home, to a Realtor they are, the Buyer is ready to buy a property (this means they have made up their minds to look seriously), willing to buy a property (this means they are not going to be tire kickers), and finally able to buy a property (this means they have the credit, income and deposit to purchase).

I have been running into the situation lately where Buyer's meet the first two criteria, but they don't meet the third one. The first time home Buyer seems to lack the assets to purchase a home, now I'm not talking about putting 10% or 20% down and still having closing costs. I am speaking about not having the 3.5% to do the FHA loan or having the cash reserves to pay for closing costs and have money left over in reserves like many Banks require. I am constantly trying to find creative ways for the Buyer to get a down payment and have reserves. Do you have family members that can gift you the deposit? Do you have any 401k or IRA that you can tap into for money? In many instances the answers are NO and even when they are YES, the Buyer still has to look for help from the Seller for closing costs.

With the state of the economy being where it is, Mom and Dad are no longer able to gift their kids money to help them with the deposit and closing costs like they use to in the 80's or 90's. Even if family can assist with the deposit, Buyers are having to ask the Sellers for 2-3% in closing costs. If you get family to gift money and the Seller to pay closing costs, you have not passed all the hurtles. The last one for a Buyer would still be cash reserves, many banks and mortgage companies are requiring 6-9 months of reserves after the Buyer closes on the loan.

If you are a Buyer and looking to purchase a property what do you do? The first thing is to look at your financial situation and determine whether you need to ask family for help, if you need the help find out if your family is capable and willing to assist. You should not assume that you will get help, you need to ask before you start your property search. How much will they be able to help, deposit only, deposit and closing costs? Once you have these answers you need to get qualified by a Bank or Mortgage company with a solid foundation (Wells Fargo as an example). You also need to start saving money NOW, especially if you think your property search won't be starting for another six or more months.

In my real estate career I bring over 10 years of experience to the table, I work to represent my Client giving 100% to them. My job is to give you my advise, experience and knowledge and to help you navigate the wonderful and frustrating world of real estate. My job does not end when you purchase your home, it just begins because I will be there even after the closing keeping in touch with you and reminding you that I am always just a phone call away.

The 1st Quarter has ended for the Town of Derry and the absorption rate figures are in. Derry ended last year strongly gripped in a Buyer's Market with an absorption rate of 7.89 months, this meant that at years end it would take approximately 7.89 months for the inventory that was on the market to be sold. Any time the absorption rate for an area is above 6 months, the market is considered to be a Buyers Market.

Derry's 1st quarter results show that it is still strongly gripped in a Buyer's Market and that its market position has worsened. The absorption rate for Derry has moved up to 9.14 months, which means that it will take even longer to move the current inventory than it did at the beginning of the year. Derry Sellers need to take the absorption rate of their Town into consideration when marketing their home, since the market is showing that it continues to be weak. There may be a few factors to consider when looking at Derry's number, first is that this is the Spring Market and more homes due come on at this time;also, foreclosures are still hitting the market pretty hard and are accounting for a lot of the inventory that is out there. Lastly Buyers appear not to be coming out in the numbers that would help drop the absorption rate in Derry.

When marketing your property it is always important to be aware of current market trends, any changes and how it may effect you. I have over 10 years of experience in Real Estate and I consider myself someone who can bring my experiences to assist any Seller in marketing their property. If you are considering selling your home, you need to have someone with the expertise and experience to help you navigate the ever changing waters of the Real Estate Market, so call me so that I can assist you with your largest financial dealing.

The end of the 1st Quarter has come for Rockingham County and if you have followed my blogs on the absorption rate for the County, you have seen it rise and fall a lot. As of this post there are approximately 2,792 Residential and Condo style properties on the Market within the County. The absorption rate for the County has gone up from where it was at the end of the year, as of the end of 2008 the rate was at 9.86 months and it is up to 11.25 months. What this means is that the amount of months it will take the market to absorb the current inventory has risen from almost 10 months (end of 08) to 11 and a quarter months now. There can be many factors that have contributed to the rise in the rate, some of them may be the advent of the Spring Market (when more property naturally comes on) a further increase in foreclosures may be occurring and the amount of Buyers out in the market place may have dropped off.

If you are a Seller, these remain very trying times and you need to continue to keep an eye out regarding what the market trends are in your area. Knowing the absorption rate for the County, as well as your Town, will help you to better price and market your home.

The absorption rate was calculated using properties from $50,000 to $1,000,000.

When marketing your property it is always important to be aware of current market trends, any changes and how it may effect you. I have over 10 years of experience in Real Estate and I consider myself someone who can bring my experiences to assist any Seller in Marketing their property. If you are considering selling your home, you need to have someone with the expertise and experience to help you navigate the ever changing waters of the Real Estate Market, so call me so that I can assist you with your largest financial dealing.