Christopher Bonta,Realtor/ Integrity and Honesty

In life no one makes you feel as guilty as children do and if your a parent you know what I mean. You may do things that bother your spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends and even your parents, but nothing compares to doing something that brings that guilty feeling out when it pertains to your kids. The other day I was reminded very strongly, by my 8 year old just how much power my kids wheel over me.

The morning started out just like any other morning, with Mom and Dad helping the kids get off to school. As I was walking my son to the top of our driveway, so he could waite for the bus, he suddenly remembered that I had not packed him his snack. I was going to rush back in and grab him something, but his bus was already coming up the road. I told him that it would be okay to go to school and asked him what time "snack time" was at school and he said 10:15, so I promised to drop off his snack before 10:15. Well you all know what happened, Dad forgot about the snack. I did not remember about his snack until around 2:00 and that's when it hit me, my first round of guilt and I knew I was going to be in trouble.

The thing about guilt is that it is worse when the person you hurt forgives you,even though you know that they were hurt by what you did. My son Jason is one of those types of kids, when he got home from school he said nothing to me about my error. I could tell that something was wrong, but he was not going to say anything. When I finally got him to talk about what was bothering him, he of course told me about how he had no snack to eat with his buddies and how he his friends had to share their snack with him. Jason of course also told me, with complete sincerity, that it was okay that I forgot his snack. The look of disappointment on his face said volumes to me though. I of course had to make up for this error on my part, as a parent nothing cuts as deepas having that look of disappointment from your kid.

So what did I end up doing last night, I was in the kitchen baking until 8:00. I made my son two of his favorite desserts, banana nut bread and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Once into baking he reminded me that he owed his friends for sharing their snack, so I made extra cookies for his classmates.

My lesson learned was that, I know who I don't want to disappoint in my house and its not my wife it's our 3 kids. My wife by the way agrees with me, that she is okay with upsetting me but never wants to be in the position of disappointing our sons.

As the title implies, it is very important to choose the correct Agent when you decide to sell your home. How do you go about doing this, what are the correct questions to ask, do you work with an Agent that a friend or family member refer to you? These are just a few questions among many that face the average home owner when they decide to place their home on the market.

First I think you should look at whether there is someone you know in real estate or that could be referred to you. Sometimes the best Agents to work with are ones that are referred to you, what you want to ask the person who is referring the Agent to you is why they are recommending them. You want to ask how do they know the Agent, did they use them themselves, what was their experience with them and why they think that Agent would be a good fit for you. Once you have asked these questions of your friend/family member, then you should interview the Agent and see what you think of them and then ask them your questions ( which I will address below).

Second, I think that if you don't have someone who can be referred to you, then you need to ask co-workers, members of the community that you know or anyone else that is not a family or friend for the name of someone that they might know. This is different than the above example because here you are actively looking for the name of a Realtor through your sphere of influence. Lastly, you can call the local agencies in your area and make an appointment with someone to speak with, but in doing this its like cold calling for a Realtor. In this last situation you are essentially rolling the dice on who you have coming out to your home.

Once you have the Realtor/Realtors that you want to interview, what do you ask and how do you compare them. Here is my list of things that I think you should ask or expect:

1) This is the most important thing to me and it's not even a question, when the Realtor arrives are they dressed for the appointment or not? As a professional in the business your Realtor is going to represent you and their image is very important, so how they are dressed speaks volumes. You should expect the Agent to be dressed professionally because for them this is a business appointment and an interview.

2) Prior to the appointment, ask the Agent for a copy of their resume and if it's on line where you can find it, whether the resume is on line or not is important because it can indicate whether you are dealing with someone who is familiar with the Internet etc.. Once you have the resume review it and during the interview ask the Realtor some questions about what you read.

3) During the interview every Realtor is going to tell you about their own or their Companies marketing strategy, but you also want to know how the Agent is going to represent you. By this I mean once offers start coming in how do they plan to handle things, what is their negotiating strategy.

4) The fee charge is another question that you want to ask about, now every Seller knows that they are going to ask this question of the Realtor(s) that they meet, but how does the Agent(s) react to this is important. If an Agent cannot negotiate their own fee, no matter what it is, but is automatically willing to take whatever you want to pay, then you need to ask yourself whether they are really a strong negotiator or not.

5) Besides taking the regularly required licensing classes to maintain their license, does the Agent take any other classes during the year to keep up with on going changes to the real estate market? Is the Agent active in their board, taking advantage of classes,seminars etc. do they participate in their local board? These are important points because it lends to the professionalism and dedication to the Real Estate Industry that the Agent has.

Choosing the right Agent is imperative especially in these trying times. My resume can be found on my profile page of Active Rain or you can go to the Masiello website and look me up under the "find an Agent" link and view my resume on line there. I bring over 10 years of experience in all kinds of markets and look forward to discussing your needs. Remember your house is probably the largest financial asset you have and you need to know that the person who is handling our home has the qualifications to meet your needs.

Recently I came across some very interesting information regarding home sales for New Hampshire as well as Rockingham County. The information comes from Northern New England Real Estate Network/NHAR. The information looked at Statewide/Countywide residential home sales, over the past 10 years and here is some of what they reported:

In 1998 the amount of houses sold Statewide totaled approximately 14,507, with a median price of $127,500.

In 2008 the amount of houses sold Statewide totaled approximately 10,169, with a median price of $235,000.

The increase in property value over the 10 year period reflects an approximate 85% increase in home value,the amount of houses sold has dropped from the high back in 2004 (we had 17,050 sales) to last years total of 10,169, which does support the continued weak market condition.

In 1998 the amount of houses sold inRockingham County totaled approximately 4,112, with a median price of $153,200.

in 2008 the amount of houses sold in Rockingham County totaled approximately 2,286, with a median price of $285,000.

The increase in property value over the 10 year period for the County reflects an approximate 86% increase in home value, again the amount of homes sold has dropped nearly in half from 1998, which again supports the continued weak market.

The interesting thing that I pulled from the statistics is that over all, when you view the long term history of home ownership it is still a great investment to own your own home. You always hear how great it is to be a home owner, but when the market gets weak people think it's not a good time to buy. The opposite is true in my opinion, over the long term Real Estate continues to be a very good long term investment.

If you are considering buying or selling a home and need the expertise of a Realtor, then give me a call or e-mail me. I have over 10 years of Real Estate Experience and have worked in all types of markets, let me bring my experience and market knowledge to your home buying/selling experience.

Here are a few more pictures of our wonderful Town, hope you like them:

Londonderry Presbyterian Church at the Corner of Pillsbury and Mammoth Rd

Historic Old Grange House which is on the National Registry of Historic Landmarks

I hope you enjoyed looking at some scenes of Winter In Londonderry NH. If you are considering moving to any of the Towns in Southern NH then give me a call, I would love to show you around our area.

Londonderry and the surrounding Towns of Southern New Hampshire attract a lot of people due to their convenient location to Boston MA and the White Mountains of Northern NH. I decided to start my photo gallary with winter pictures of some scenes of Londonderry. As you can see there is beauty, and a lot of New England Charm in these photos :

Old Farm House On Mamouth Road

Civil War Monument in the Center of Town

Presbyterian Church In Town Center

If you are thinking of moving to Londonderry or any of the surrounding Towns of Southern New Hampshire, then give me a call. As a Realtor in the business for over 10 years, I will bring my expertise and knowledge to your home finding experience. Purchasing your home will be one of the most important financial decisions in your life, make the right choice and call me to assist you.