This is one of our favorite locations to visit while on vacation in Maine. This show was put together a few years ago but not much has changed.

The following year Bill’s ex-wife had taken ill and was now unable to take care of their three boys, Peter, Paul and Patrick. Peter moved in with my cousins and lived with them. Paul went to Canada and lived with his mother’s relatives and Patrick moved in with us. Two years later my mother and Bill married and now Patrick was part of our family.

Patrick had the most gorgeous curly hair as a kid and was your typical three year old. But, one thing he had that most kids didn’t have was Hemophilia. Every time Patrick fell down he would bruise very easily and have continuous internal bleeding until we could inject him with a blood factor that would stop the bleeding. As a little kid this was quite often and very painful for my mother who took care of Patrick.

Patrick would never be able to play the sports that we could all play as kids and take for granted. He couldn’t play football, baseball, basketball, hockey or even dodge ball because any physical contact would mean internal bleeding and a black and blue body.

Patrick led more of a normal life than most would think, but as he got older all the bruising and falling down had taken a toll on his knees and he had a hard time walking. His leg was extremely hard to bend and he always walked with a limp.

One thing Patrick had to have a lot of was blood clotting factor concentrates that helped stopped the internal bleeding. These were little bottles that we got from the hospital and Patrick would get injected with this blood clotting factor to help stop the bleeding and save his life.

The early eighties brought us the scare of HIV/Aids and due to Patrick’s Hemophilia he would be very accessible to contracting the HIV virus from blood transfusions. Sure enough our fears came true around 1985. Patrick needed a blood transfusion and contracted the HIV virus from tainted blood. I never found out for a few years as the family kept it hush hush.

As the years rolled on Patrick led as normal a life as he could and became quite ill in 1999.  One of his goals was to live to see the ball drop in 2000, the new millennium. As the Christmas season neared in 1999 Patrick became extremely ill and fell into a coma. The doctors told us to gather the family as Patrick was slowly slipping away and may never regain consciousness again.

We were able to contact his brother Paul, who was living in Seattle at the time and had not seen Patrick for many many years and I had never met Paul as well. Paul was able to fly in right away.

We all were in Patrick’s  hospital room when Paul and his wife walked in and Paul walked up to Patrick’s bed to say his goodbye’s when all of a sudden Patrick woke up and sat right up to say hello to Paul.  This was a miracle and shocked us all as well as the doctors. I know it is hard to believe but if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I probably wouldn’t have believed it as well, but I did.

Patrick stayed awake and celebrated Christmas with us and in the next few days he started to slip away again and on January 1st, 2000 at 4:00 pm Patrick passed away.

Patrick was able to see the new millennium as he so wished.

May you rest in peace Patrick we all miss you.

My Grandfather Jeremiah Joseph McGillicuddy worked most of his life as a steam fitter and ended up passing away with Lung Cancer caused by asbestos. Below is Mr. James’ article in it’s entirety.

Located in the Northeastern part of the United States, Maine is known for its extravagant scenery, mountains, rocky coastline and of course its appetizing seafood cuisine. The road to owning a home is a wonderful experience, but one that requires new responsibilities.

Gaining assistance from real estate adviser can help in dealing with making that all important decision. Many properties will also require repairs or remodeling. Asbestos is a natural fibrous mineral used in millions of homes throughout the twentieth century as a form of insulation, piping, roofing and flooring.

Potential Maine home buyers, re modelers or those looking to lease or purchase a commercial property built before 1980 should be aware that the potential for asbestos materials to be present exists. This does not mean you should jump out of your seat because asbestos exposure is easily prevented by taking simple precautions.

If any suspected asbestos is in good shape, it’s posing no apparent risk. If it’s in bad shape, it could be a problem. If a home inspector suggests removal is necessary, it must be performed by a licensed abatement contractor who is trained in handling hazardous materials. They can perform the removal in public facilities, homes and work places. At the present time, there is a growing list of green insulation alternatives which replace the need for asbestos.

The inhalation of its fibers can cause a rare lung-ailment known as malignant mesothelioma, which accounts for three percent of cancer diagnoses in the United States. Mesothelioma survival rate varies from patient to patient for many reasons. These include age of diagnosis, latency period and cigarette smoking.

Maine Going Green

Recently, congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Included in this act were extensions to the tax incentives placed for energy efficiency in 2005, as well as new credits for

Homeowners who remodel or build using Eco-sustainable methods. Some of the measures that are eligible for tax credits include added insulation to walls, ceilings, or other part of the building envelope that meets the 2009 IECC specifications, sealing cracks in the building shell and ducts to reduce heat loss. Storm doors paired with U-factored rated wood doors are also eligible.

Recycled building materials that are healthy alternatives to asbestos include the use of cotton fiber, lcynene foam and cellulose. With an increase in technology and public awareness, the United Nations Environmental Program states that the use of recycled building materials such as cotton fiber insulation can reduce energy use by 25 percent.

Of interest to those involved in real estate, a citizen based environmental advocacy group called Environment Maine, is combining independent research and a tough minded strategy to overcome the opposition of special interests who seek to undermine pro environment approaches. Focusing to rid Michigan of asbestos use and other harmful materials, they also focus to protect the water and open spaces. Environment Michigan is working hard to give the state the healthy environment that the people deserve.

Well Atkinson, NH  has stayed the same in volume but doubled it’s sales from last year and I am sure there will be a couple more sales posted Monday or Tuesday as firms have 48 hours to post their sales from the time the property closes.

If your home is priced to sell it will sell quickly.

Prices on average are down as well along with price per square foot.

Monika has been invited back to speak on AM radio station WKXL1450 today at 1:00 PM. So please listen live on your radio or by following their link WKXL1450 to listen on your computer,

This station comes in faintly in Londonderry on the radio. Best heard if you are close to the Concord area.

So tune in to hear what Monika has to say.

She will be interviewed by fellow REALTOR® Brenda Perkins from Concord, NH

I purchased it at Best Buy as I am not one to order online and wait for it to arrive. Best Buy is a reseller of the Ooma™ phone system.

I never have to pay for another phone bill again. This includes local and long distance calls. I am paying almost $ 60.00 a month for local and long distance service now. I will have this system paid off in 6 months as I also kept my home number and upgraded to the Premier version.

The Ooma™ system works with my high speed internet system and my current home phones.

No monthly fees! Read what other’s think – read user reviews at Amazon.com.

I have made a few calls and received a couple of calls and the quality is just as good as to what I had before. Actually I went outside with my portable phone and I was able to walk further away from my house than ever before.

i would like to thank Kristal Kraft who read my Twitter post a few months ago and purchased Ooma™ and told a group of Realtor® Cyber Professionals™ at this years meet up how pleased she is with it.

That sealed the deal for me. So I would highly recommend you check it out.

Click WKXL 1450 Logo to hear the interview

Their topic for the show was the code of ethics and Monika’s training. Monika felt the time flew by and she enjoyed it immensely. She has always wanted to be on the radio and this day her dream came through.

Monika and Brenda ran out of time so Monika will be back in the studio on Monday October 13th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and it should be  a lot of fun.

Be sure to contact us if you need more information or would like to set up a showing on any of these listings.    Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

REALTORS 603-548-7685

Short Order Sales

When our other hosting company’s term ended our sites went down. It took me a little while to figure out how it happened. Thanks to Blue Host they pointed me in the right direction.

I needed to export the old database and import the old database into Blue Hosts sql servers. I didn’t do it. Then I needed to re-configure the config.php file properly to reflect the Blue Host server. Thanks to the helpful technicians at Blue Host I finally understood how to do this properly.

My old hosting company only gave me back up files and the backup file of the sql database was a year old. Now you can see why I am no longer with them.

Stay tuned as we will be bringing you more Real Estate information and good topics of our surrounding communities as we write about how great New Hampshire is.

This Wednesday the 13th was not like every Wednesday it was the first Wednesday in quite a while that it didn’t rain. Sean and his dad, my step-brother Peter, were working in the driveway together tinkering with an engine in one of their vehicles they had. Father and son working side by side on a glorious sunny day, something they enjoyed to do a lot.

Peter was moving some stuff out of the way and he needed to move Sean’s Harley Davidson to make room to repair the vehicles engine. While moving it Sean decided since it was such a brilliant day why not take the bike to work. He then thought that he probably shouldn’t because he also had to carry a lot of gear with him but his dad offered to take the gear for him and deliver it to the station in his truck.

Peter also mentioned picking the bike up for Sean but Sean said no problem he’d like to ride it home. Peter will second guess that decision for the rest of his life.

As I read through the comments on WMUR.com and Union Leader.com sites it makes me feel good to know Sean was extremely loved by all that came to know him.

Here is an interview with my nephews Scott and Daniel, Sean’s younger twin brothers. Scott is following in Sean’s footsteps and is in the Marines as well. Their grandfather William J. Powers also was in the Marines and was extremely proud of his grandsons.

Pictured in the first row. Peter Powers, Sean, my son Justin, my step son Michael Gosselin. Behind him is my step son Marty Gosselin, nephew David Powers, Sean’s uncle Billy Powers, one of the twins Scott or Daniel, hard t otell them apart at that age, next is Sean’s uncle Michael Powers, then facing away either Scott or Daniel. In the back is my mother Pauline Powers, Sean’s dad Peter, me Jay McGillicuddy, Sean’s uncle Paul Powers and Patrick Powers and William J. Powers Sean’s grandfather.

Patrick, Paul and William J. Powers have all passed away since this Christmas photo was taken in the mid nineties and now Sean has gone to join them in heaven.

May God Bless You Sean and keep you with him by his side. We will miss you!

Love Uncle Jay and Aunt Monika…

All stats are down except the fact that our listings are getting shown more this year than last year. Interesting stat to say the least and unique visitors are down slightly.

Since it may be the best day of the week we decided to head out to the loop road in Acadia National Park and we headed on down to Sand Beach to take a hike up to what is called the Great Head Loop. Supposed to be easy as stated in the Acadia Weekly magazine. Maybe it wasn’t as easy because I did it in my Teva’s.

We are hurting a little this morning as i guess we used some muscles that we ordinarily don’t use. My right heel hurts as it took a lot of pounding yesterday climbing up and down the boulders all over Great Head Loop. To see more photos of our visit to Bar Harbor visit our photo blog Through the New Hampshire View Finder.

This makes things tough when trying to calculate miles per gallon. Do I calculate by how much gas I put in or by how much gas used on my console computer?

Well, we filled up and headed to a listing we were updating pictures for and then headed back home.

We were traveling down route 3 and our gas mileage kept creeping higher and higher. I must admit I am more conscious as to how I drive as I keep a much better steadier foot on the accelerator.

The nice part about where we were heading to was to Pawtuckaway Lake to visit friends and we were able to get the miles per gallon all the way up to 22.7. This has to be the best I have ever seen for our SUV.

I did notice Sunday and today that while driving around town mileage has dropped to 19.8 as of tonight. It will be interesting to see how we do as time goes on.

A few key players are on the unable to play list and one is key wide receiver Wes Welker also linebacker Mike Vrabel and saftey Rodney Harrison.

Will the Pats miss wide receiver Donte Stallworth? I guess time will tell.

Go Pats!!!

Creating Hydrogen gas and having it filter through the intake exhaust of our vehicles is what we built this weekend and installed it on our SUV Sunday and I tried it out Monday.

I normally get about 16.5 to 17 miles per gallon in my 2000 Ford Explorer SUV around the countryside here in southern New Hampshire. On the highway we average about 20.5-21 mpg.

I topped the tank off paying $3.99 a gallon and I had traveled 140 miles since our last fill up. I pumped in 8.253 gallons. That is an average of 16.96 miles per gallon.

I then reset all the gauges on the trip odometer and the console of my SUV.

I had to go to the Fremont town hall and the Danville town hall to pick up tax assessment cards for our real estate business. As I traveled down the road I could see my miles per gallon tick away as it climbed to 16.8 miles per gallon which usually seemed to be the norm. I had to stop at home which is only about 4 miles away from where I topped my tank off and then I headed to Fremont. As I drove across route 111 and headed north on 111A the gas mileage kept creeping higher and higher and it passed the 18.4 mpg I had achieved on the way to Brad’s son’s house in Raymond on Sunday the day we installed our “H2GO Economizer”.

I left Fremont and on the way back through Danville I noticed I had reached 20.4 miles per gallon. I then switched over to see how many gallons had been used and sure enough it had just switched from .09 to 1.0 gallons used. I was grinning ear to ear as it seemed to be performing as expected. I arrived home and called my buddy Brad to let him know the results. He said “Cool” and that his son Chris had installed one and he was gaining 2 miles per gallon on his Chevy Silverado Pick up truck that he uses for construction work.

I then realized I needed to head back out and go to Fremont again so I headed out to Route 111 and north on route 125. I must admit that I now drive a little easier and not so heavy on the foot.

I looked down as I approached my destination and noticed I had hit 21.1 mpg and as I stopped at a stop sign it actually reached 21.2 miles per gallon. Now I am psyched. I called Brad again… LOL

As I kept switching back and forth as to how many gallons I used and MPG, I noticed I had driven 44 miles and my gallons used had just turned to 2.1.

I returned home and had to go to the bank and post office and then a little later I headed out to show a couple of houses for my wife and our Buyer client. When I finished the showings I came home and had to head to the office and when I returned home I pulled into the driveway and stopped, I had driven 70 miles and used 3.5 gallons. that is 20.00 miles per gallon on average for our first day using our “H2Go Economizer”.

That averages out to about a 20% increase in fuel consumption. Brad says it takes about thirty days to get the full affect of the new hydrogen system.

The match ignites the gas that has been created by the electrolysis of the water.

I’ll keep you posted on our success.

When preparing a Comparative Market Analysis, CMA, recently I was trying real hard to come up with a good realistic listing price and it was not easy!

I had to put more weight on the “on markets” than the “sold” comps.

Traditionally real estate agents are taught to put more weight on the “solds” when trying to establish a property value.

After all, the “solds” tell us an important story. They tell us what a property actually sold for!

Not the pie in sky hopes that the listed price usually indicates but what a buyer actually paid. Very important data for sure. And in the old days that piece of data was the most important piece.

Not anymore…

When agents prepares a CMA they usually select homes that are comparable to the subject and they rate the homes they selected.

A typical rating system is much like this;

1. Equal (=)

2. Inferior (-)

3. Superior (+)

If there are comparable homes on the market that are priced at 399,900 (-), 389,900 (+) and 384,900 (+) and they have been on the market 129, 95 and 80 days respectively.

Would it make sense to price your home higher or the same as ones that have not sold especially if they are superior or equal to your home? If you were a buyer and looked at nearly identical homes in a similar neighborhood and setting…which would you buy?

Now understand that the average sold prices indicate a value of 409,000 to 419,000…but nothing has sold in the last 4-6 months. The sold data is very old in terms of market movement.

It is very important to make sure your agent has analyzed the whole market. The Days on Market are very important.

If the average days on market “DOM” is 118 days…should a seller be panicking 60 days out without an offer? Depends on the seller and their needs.

Some questions to consider…How quick do you need to move? What is more important money or time?

Do you really need to sell? If not perhaps it would be better to wait the market out and list your home at another time.

Here in lies the dilemma.

Do you test the waters, list on the high end, play catch up and run the risk of stigmatizing your property?

Do you list below your best competition and hope your home sells first?

Do you list at a fair market price and do everything possible to make your home shine?

Only you can answer those questions. Make sure the agent you are working with understands the market and is realistic…you don’t need an unrealistic overly optimistic agent. You need sound market advice and an honest experienced REALTOR.

Pricing to sell is a must in New Hampshire.

Read everything you can, there are a lot of good New Hampshire real estate blogs full of excellent information available. Education and a good agent is the key to market success.

Read also:

Pass Me the Money Honey!

Multiple Offers -A Bird in the hand

Don�t stigmatize your home by over pricing!

I don’t trust you

Thanks Jay