Stage Road Junction Office Complex is getting a face lift!  New siding, new windows, new doors a whole new appearance makes this the perfect place to call home for your business.

Unit # 5, 6 Mary E Clark Drive, Stage Road Junction is available for lease.

Unit # 5 is a premium Condominium unit located on the first floor and  is a coveted end unit.  Large windows bring in lots of natural light for pleasant working conditions. Central Air keeps the temperatures regulated and comfortable on even the hottest days. 

You owe it to yourself to take a look. Exterior renovation to be completed shortly, interior freshly painted throughout.

Total square footage of 1100 includes 5 rooms plus kitchen and bath. Ample parking and potential for additional finished lower-level space.  

Don't hesitate call for a private tour or click here for a>>> Virtual Tour. For more information and a tour of the unit fully furnished click here>>>Stage Road Condo 

You work hard and now you need a place to showcase that hard work.  Stage Road Junction is ideally located at the junction of busy routes 111 and 121 in Hampstead NH.

Hampstead is located 15 minutes east of I 93 and 15 minutes north of I 495. Boston a scant 60 minutes away and Manchester airport 25 minutes away.  Busy Salem NH with it's abundance of real estate is just a few miles down the road, you simply can not get a better professional office location.

Tax free New Hampshire is a booming state and Hampstead is the ideal Southern NH location for your business and possible new home.

A little history...Stage Road Junction was developed by the late Joseph Jeremiah McGillicuddy and his wife Barbara in 1989, prior to the condominium being built the site housed an old yellow farmhouse which was home to four local businesses. Hampstead Associates a real estate firm, Lavelle Associates surveyors,  attorney John Tateosian and Morris Insurance Agency. Jay's dad Joseph Jeremiah envisioned a grand complex and 17 years after his death Stage Road Junction is just that.

 

              

                        

 

 

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH  603-548-7728

By Monika McGillicuddy

Where has the time gone?  I have to ask myself that, as this year I enter my 23rd year in real estate!  Sounds scary doesn't it?

I must be feeling  nostalgic...don't really know why but I am.  I can't help but think of all of those that have come and gone as the Lure of easy money is a mighty pull...and for them the reality really does bite.

I've been a real estate professional for nearly 23 years now.  I've been through many ups and downs...good markets and bad ones....been there... done that and got the T- shirt!

So I can safely say that over the years I've seen many agents come and go...the lure of "easy" money and then the reality of having to really work hard to earn that easy money sets in and poof their gone!

Years ago at a former company...I trained an agent who after sitting through 2 weeks of our company's new agent training program thought he knew it all. I thought to myself...I'll give him a month. His first customer did him in...he showed her four houses and refused to show her more...he thought she should just buy one of the four he showed her and she should be grateful that he had taken the time to show her those four.
  What did she expect that he would cart her butt around until she found something??? He lasted 3 weeks.

Another agent didn't understand why he had to be available to show homes during the customers schedule...he wasn't wasting his weekends with Looky Lou's. 

One guy told me point blank that he couldn't stand real estate agents...he had all sorts of degrees and certainly knew how to sell real estate...he didn't want to waste his time participating in training.  After all he had sold many of his own homes without the help of an agent...what was it that I could teach him that he didn't already know...I wonder what he is doing today? Not selling real estate thats for sure!

Then there was the nurse who left a highly stressful career to do something "easy"...she needed to  remove all the stress from her life and real estate sounded like fun! 

The guy that takes the cake was in his late 50's, he sat through training...a good student, watching everything I did. This was the days of the floppy disks...Bill Clinton was president...remember those days? Anyway after training was complete, he came up to me and gave me a floppy disk labeled "Monica" and told me I left it at his house. I had never been to his house and reminded him of that and that my name was not spelled Monica with a c but Monika with a k. It didn't matter he insisted it was mine and left it on my desk.

Much later I decided to play it and see what in the world it was. I was pretty grossed out as it was full of pornography... an X rated spoof of Monica and Bill Clinton.  It really grossed me out and made me wonder what he was thinking about all those times he sat in class watching me. Yuck!
                                                                                                                                                                                     
The list is endless...and it always bothered me to see someone spend $1,000 plus just in start up money just so they can do real estate and last less than a month.   They were clueless about the reality of being a real estate agent.

What does it take to be a good real estate agent? What would you look for if you were to hire an agent to represent you? Can you describe you ideal agent?

Often I've wondered what special attribute do you have to have...to love this business.

I've never been lucky enough to get rich in this business.
I've missed more family time than I care to remember.  My kids had to learn to accept that mom might jump in the middle of dinner or laugh when they cut into their birthday cake in front of all their friends to find somehow the table spoon got baked into the cake...mom must have had a real estate call in the middle of mixing the cake and forgot about the spoon. 

Just what is that makes us a good agent?

I may not financially be rich but I am rich in many ways...I've helped shape the future for many people...helped them be able to create memories and achieve the American dream of home ownership. I'm a damn good agent...I know my stuff, I'm ethical even when no ones looking and I love what I do.  Is that enough?  I think so.

What makes you a good agent?   What sets you apart ?                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                            

 

 

 

Serving Southern NH
Jay and Monika McGillicuddy
Prudential Verani Realty
Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

 

By Monika McGillicuddy

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago as a  true humorous story  about a day in the life of a real estate agent...guess who the agent is? Me...thats right and my knee is still bruised and sore! Have a good chuckle...we all need a laugh now and then.

Some days you work nights....or better yet some days you just shouldn't work at all.
I've had a pretty interesting week...first there was my encounter with the lovely biker chick and then my encounter with Mr. closing dates aren't important.
I think I should have known enough to pack it in for the rest of the week.

Today we awoke to freezing rain...the dreaded black ice...there are few things in life I fear more than the dreaded black ice! Not a problem as I figured I'd just stay home and enjoy the big game ...which in my household is a big event.

Then...I got a call from a client wanting to take a look at a house I discussed with him yesterday...the house was empty and in need of total rehab. I knew that I could just go show and leave a voice message letting the listing agent know, as I had spoken with her yesterday.

I told my client that I don't do black ice...and if he really wanted to see it he'd have to come pick me up at my house and drive us.  He said okay and came and got me.
The roads were icy and he drove slow.

We arrived safely and walked about the outside very carefully due to the ice. This is a 200 year old home with 14 rooms and really should be torn down. Armed with flashlights we entered the home very carefully...there was no power, wood rot and un-level floors made for slow going. 

The first floor was pretty bad but when we found the formal stairway leading to the second floor it was a sight to behold. You could just imagine how it must have looked in its glory days...just awesome. The second floor was very intriguing...the workmanship and attention to detail just incredible but all in major disrepair...long neglected and looking for love!

After going through several rooms on the second floor we followed a long hallway with wood floors to the back end of house, stepped up 3 good sized steps and entered another level of the home...two rooms and attic access.  In the second room there was this funky round hole cut into the floor...right in the center of the room.
It was pretty dark up there...so I walked up to the hole and looked down and couldn't see anything at all. I said “I wonder what this hole is for?" at the same time my client walked up behind me and shinned his flashlight down the hole.

I'm embarrassed to tell you that when I saw what was looking up at me with it's eyes open...I freaked and let out a loud scream...my listing package flew out of my hands as I turned I pushed my client aside and ran hollering like a blubbering idiot out of the room...through the other room and you guessed it.....I forgot about the stairs so of course I fell down them whacked my head on the wall...still screaming now only harder as my body was as out of control as my mouth was!!!

 I landed on my knees...my body sliding down the hall way... I could hear my lock box ricocheting off the wall and my client yelling..."It's dead...it's dead...it's dead" ...I'm on all fours and could feel the warm blood pouring down my leg! I'm trying hard not to cry and praying that I didn't break my ankle again!

My client...he's freaking out trying to help me up...I'm okay but my leg is bleeding but he can't see that as I have on long pants...thank god.  Anyway I get up compose myself and tell him that I am breaking a cardinal rule in real estate but he would need to do the attic and the rest of the house without me as I’m done in the house and would wait for him outside...

The ride home was interesting and my client thank god he knows me well and likes me because I'm sure anyone else would have thought I was a nut case.  Did I tell you he was my ex brother in law...he tells everyone he kept me in the divorce because he likes me better than he does his brother!


Did I tell you what I fear more than black ice??  Mice...alive or dead it doesn't matter! 

I should have just stayed home today! 

My knee... it's okay it just looks like my thigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH 

603-548-7728

Trying to figure out where buyers come from?

By Monika McGillicuddy

It can be frustrating selling a home in this market and wondering just where all the buyers are...so if you're a  home seller this information will be helpful to you.

That National Association of REALTORS® publishes a yearly report on Home Buyers and Sellers, they also break this report down to reflect the individual states.

This typically reveals some very interesting facts about today's New Hampshire home buyers, and since Jay and I sell real estate right here in Hampstead NH this type of information is fascinating to us and we thought to you as well.  Southern NH is typically a hot market due to it's proximity to Boston but like the rest of New Hampshire this market has cooled.

Some of the details from this report:

For example did you know that the average buyer purchases a home 15 miles from their previous residence... I didn't know that!  That means that people really don't move very far and that the potential new owner of your house could be living in the same town as you do.  All the more important is that yard sign of yours. Make sure especially as snow approaches that your sign is clearly visible from all angles. Please...please keep shrubbery trimmed around the sign...nothing is as frustrating for the REALTOR® professionals and potential home buyers as a hidden for sale sign! You want your house to Pop...don't hide the sign!  While I'm on my rant about signs make sure yours is in good condition and clean...nothing irks me more than a dirty faded yard sign or one that is falling down. If your home is on the market currently take a good look at your yard sign...does it need some sprucing up? Call your REALTOR® Professional and have them come take care of it.

Did you know that 89% of New Hampshire's home buyers purchased their home through a REALTOR® Professional? 89% now that's a huge percentage if you ask me...of course I'm probably a little prejudiced since I am a REALTOR® Professional..but I still think that's a huge percentage! Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't try to sell on your own if that's what you want to do but consider the facts...89% that means that 11% came from some other source...maybe from your For Sale By Owner sign or maybe not?? Oh by the way out of that 11% something like 4% are people you already know.

So now think about this...28% of the home buyers learned about the home they purchased through a REALTOR® Professional and 47% learned about it through the Internet...that means that you need to be sure your REALTOR® Professional has a strong company website...47% of your buyers found their home on the net and then contacted an agent! Wow!

Folks you need to check out your real estate companies website...don't let anyone fool you about this one. Yes the personal touch is still needed..Thank goodness for us...remember 89% bought their home through a REALTOR® Professional BUT 47% found their home on the Net! You betcha...a solid web presence is crucial to your success!!!

Lets look at the rest of the story.
We know that:
28% of the buyers found the home they bought from a REALTOR® Professional.
47% found the home they bought from the Internet.
12% found the home they bought from a yard sign.
AND get this 2% from print newspaper advertisement.
6% from a friend, relative or neighbor.
3% directly from the sellers.
1% from the home builder or their agent.
1% from a home book or magazine.

So where do you think your buyers are? I bet their surfing the web, watching and waiting but I do think that while this market has been very slow here in New Hampshire...2007 will  be a good year in real estate.

Prices will be much more affordable and that means that maybe your children will be able to afford to buy a home in the town/area they grew up in and that I think is a very good thing! 

Need more information about New Hampshire's real estate market e-mail me or search homes available.

Monika and Jay McGillicuddy

603-548-7728

copyright Monika McGillicuddy 2006

New Hampshire Real Estate Market Trends II

The New Hampshire Association of REALTORS just released their market trend study. I've reprinted it below in it's entirety as it has some very interesting data.  Peter Francese does an awesome job with our Market Trends and in this issue he talks about some of the things that don't show up in market studies and trends but that do dramatically affect us all.

While the story that our Market trends tells is definitely chilling... both for real estate professionals and home sellers but for buyers it's some mighty fine news.
One interesting thing is that while our average sales price was virtually the same as it was a year ago the actual solds are significantly lower.  The predictions however for our year end residential sales volume will be at least a billion dollars below last year....now that hurts!!!!

 To quote Peter "That’s damn  cold". 

November/December 2006

It's been a cold year for real estate

by Peter Francese

November may have seemed warmer than usual here in New Hampshire, but there’s a deep chill in real estate. Three of my neighbors perfectly illustrate how the sales statistics, unpleasant as they are, do not completely reflect just how hard this market shift has been on Realtors.

Each of these three neighbors has put his or her house up for sale in the past year. There have been several open houses and dozens of showings, at no small cost to the Realtors involved. But none have sold, and now all three properties have been taken off the market. In at least one case, the reason was an unrealistic price expectation.

None of these “No Sale” examples will show up in the statewide data, nor are the hundreds of unpaid hours the Realtors spent recorded anywhere. Such are the limitations of real estate information systems we have.

What the data from the Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN) and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority (NHHFA) does show is that when homes have sold, the average price was virtually the same as it was a year ago. But the number of homes sold is down significantly.

During the first 10 months of 2006, according to NNEREN, the average residential sale price, not including condominiums, was $309,000, which was only $1,000 less than during the same period last year. But the number of units sold dropped 19 percent, from just over 14,000 to under 11,400, and sales volume fell by over $800 million.

Condominium sales did not fare much better. The average sale price during the first 10 months of 2006 was $207,000, down just 3 percent from the $201,000 during the same period last year. But the number of units sold fell 18 percent, from 5,000 to about 4,200, and sales volume dropped by about $160 million.

When 2006 is finally over, residential sales volume in New Hampshire will be at least a billion dollars below last year. That’s damn cold.

The question is: What about next year? Next year’s sales may be better, but it will depend to some extent on an increase of jobs in our region (which have had virtually no growth in the past six months) and a continuing desire of Baby Boomers to own two or more homes.

We may be in a situation where the lack of affordable workforce housing is having a significant impact on the ability of employers to find workers. This suggests that perhaps the prevalence of growth moratoriums in New Hampshire towns is having a negative effect on our workforce growth.

As the table below shows, residential home sales, excluding condominiums, declined in every county for the first 10 months of this year versus last year. The average sale price rose in half the counties, but was flat or declining elsewhere.

Trend in residential home sales (excluding condominiums) January to October 2005 vs. January to October 2006
County	Units sold Jan.-Oct '06	Percent change 2005-06	Average sale price Jan.-Oct. '06	Percent change 2005-06
Belknap	725	-14	$335,000	+5
Carroll	783	-11	$347,000	+8
Cheshire	752	-5	$237,000	+3
Coos	338	-9	$129,000	+2
Grafton	801	-10	$267,000	-1
Hillsborough	2,975	-23	$322,000	0
Merrimack	1,222	-18	$284,000	0
Rockingham	2,238	-26	$382,000	-1
Strafford	1,066	-20	$270,000	-3
Sullivan	461	-9	$231,000	-6
Statewide	11,363	-19	$309,000	-1
Source: Northern New England Real Estate Network NOTE: Statistics are based on information from the Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN) for the respective periods shown for the respective regions in the State of New Hampshire. All analysis and commentary related to the statistics is that of the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS® and not that of NNEREN. The Real Estate Market Trends newsletter is provided for the benefit of the members of the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS®, Inc. ©Copyright 2006 New Hampshire Association of REALTORS®, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Peter Francese is the Demographic Advisor to the New Hampshire Association of