Dover, NH

Although the snow continues to fall, there are still folks out there that need to buy homes! February was no exception in Dover, NH. Here's the statistics for Dover home sales in February:

22 homes sold in Dover

-13 single family homes

-9 condos, and

-One mobile home.

In addition, 15 Dover homes went pending with active contracts in February. There are 244 active listings in Dover, which includes residential, condo and mobile home listings.

Year-to-date, Dover, NH homes sales are as follows:

34 homes sold in Dover in the first two months of 2008:

-22 single family homes

-12 condos, and

-2 mobile homes.

BUY low, SELL high. It's always the best real estate advice! The time to BUY is when prices are low and sellers are motivated. Sounds a lot like today doesn't it??!! Even if you sell your home now for less, you will be buying a home at lower prices. You'll also get a good interest rate now and greater appreciation on a higher priced property. And, if you're happy in your current home, it may be time to consider a second home or an investment property. Remember, BUY low....and, low is now!

Real Estate Market Update 16 For February 12-18, 2008

Strafford County, New Hampshire

Single Family Homes

• Total Listings Available 765 (Last Week 769)
• Price Range $39,900-$2,750,000
• Total New Listings This Week 20 (Last Week 41)
• Price Range $99,900-$480,000
• Total Pending This Week 11 (Last Week 20)
• Total Withdrawn This Week 3 (Last Week 5)
• Total Expired This Week 15 (Last Week 18)
• Total Sold This Week 8 (Last Week 14)

Condos

• Total Listings Available 200 (Last Week 206)
• Price Range $69,900-$399,000
• Total New Listings This Week 4 (Last Week 16)
• Price Range $102,900-$187,500
• Total Pending This Week 3 (Last Week 3)
• Total Withdrawn This Week 5 (Last Week 4)
• Total Expired This Week 3 (Last Week 3)
• Total Sold This Week 3 (Last Week 1)

Shannon Aldrich, Keller Williams Coastal Realty Portsmouth, NH

Join the monthly e-newsletter for featured listings, area happenings and updated real estate information at saldrich@kw.com I respect your privacy and will never share your email address.

This information for Rockingham and Strafford counties is compiled through NNEREN, Northern New England Real Estate Network for the period listed. Information is deemed reliable but not infallible.

Yesterday I worked on a vacant condo and as it turns out came up with an idea for props that I found very useful. It may not be very original and you may have already thougt of it, but I'm excited to share the idea.

The condo is a restored older home and the kitchen has no upper cabinets. The only lower cabinet is the one under the sink. You know how useful that one is.

The good news is that there are two pantry closets which are very roomy. I wanted to display one closet for dishes, small appliances and pans and the other closet for food storage. Originally, the plan was to pick up some canned goods and boxes of cereal for the closet. While packing my Jeep in preparation for the job, I went to add some paper to my recycling and it hit me...

I pulled out several cereal boxes, a tea box, a coffee can and brought them with me to the condo. They were so easy and light to transport, look great in the pantry, and who cares if I ever get them back! Now, this may not be something you need for every staging job, but it sure comes in handy for a vacant with questionable storage space.

This whole experience reminded me of when I created a "store" for my young children to play with using empty food containers. I had family members saving all their empties for me. My mother, sister and even grandmother became experts at opening cans from the bottom so when placed on the "store" shelf they still looked unopened. We were all very careful with labels and packaging. I even put polyfil in flour and sugar bags. We had every kind of product imaginable. It was quite the competition, each of us wanting to come up with the most original items. I actually got quite excited when someone would drop off their collection of groceries for our store. The kids loved when new inventory would arrive and they could put it away. The kids had a little cash register and loved playing in their store. I ended up donating all the pretend food to a pre-school when my children out grew it.

I look forward to playing "store" again someday, with grandchildren....until then I'll just have to keep playing with my staging props in other people's houses.

Sponsored by Federal Savings Bank, and the Dover Chamber Of Commerce. The city of Dover New Hampshire held it's annual "state of the city" breakfast forum at the Cocheco County Club.

The main topic of conversation for the morning was the recently voted legislation of a city wide tax cap. Many budget cuts and limitations will need to be addresses due to the tax cap. The tax cap was voted on, and passed back in November of 2007. The main purpose of the tax cap was to limit "out of control" city spending and provide relief to elderly residents and young families.

The most recent reality hit of the tax cap was felt in budget talks regarding Dover New Hampshire's Main Street Program. Nearly 33% of the Main Street program funding comes from the city budget, but now may be cut due to the restrictions of the tax cap.

It will be very interesting to see how things play out in the future now that the residents have voted for a tax cap. Many residents may feel a crunch in services, such as the Main Street Program. Only time will tell what may lie ahead for Dover's future.

For more information regarding Dover New Hampshire Contact:

Bill Somerset, CEntury 21 Central Falls Realty, Dover New Hampshire 03820

Phone:603-742-2121 Email: info@billsomerset.com Web: www.billsomerset.com

Contact me for a free relocation kit for Southern New Hampshire!

Single Family Homes

• Total Listings Available 769 (Last Week 759)
• Price Range $39,900-$2,750,000
• Total New Listings This Week 41 (Last Week 34)
• Price Range $69,900-$549,900
• Total Pending This Week 20 (Last Week 19)
• Total Withdrawn This Week 5 (Last Week 9)
• Total Expired This Week 18 (Last Week 30)
• Total Sold This Week 14 (Last Week 13)

Condos

• Total Listings Available 206 (Last Week 201)
• Price Range $69,900-$399,000
• Total New Listings This Week 16 (Last Week 27)
• Price Range $92,000-$309,900
• Total Pending This Week 3 (Last Week 4)
• Total Withdrawn This Week 4 (Last Week 3)
• Total Expired This Week 3 (Last Week 5)
• Total Sold This Week 1 (Last Week 3)

Shannon Aldrich, Keller Williams Coastal Realty Portsmouth, NH

Join the monthly e-newsletter for featured listings, area happenings and updated real estate information at saldrich@kw.com I respect your privacy and will never share your email address.

This information for Rockingham and Strafford counties is compiled through NNEREN, Northern New England Real Estate Network for the period listed. Information is deemed reliable but not infallible.