In memory of my step-brother Patrick Powers

I was eleven years old and I remember it like it was yesterday. Bill Powers was having dinner at our house in Watertown, Mass. when he received a phone call that his house was on fire.  We learned that his son Paul who was 4 years old had taken a lit candle into a closet and burned the house down.

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.

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Happy New Year 2010 so long 2009

Merry Christmas ~Video from Jay and Monika

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Happy Thanksgiving

Monika McGillicuddy REALTOR® of the Year

I just wanted to say how proud I am of my wife, Monika McGillicuddy. She has worked extremely hard at real estate and real estate training this year,  I don’t even know how she finds the time to be a great wife, mother, grandmother and best friend.

She is not one for early mornings but she day in and day out is either heading to Concord for meetings or taking her buyers out to show homes. Then when she gets home she takes care of everything that needs to be done around the house. A true Champion.

She is always working on the computer, if she isn’t out with clients, enhancing her online presence whether it be by blogging or Social Networks.

I think she is hooked on RE Bar Camps. RE Bar Camps are when a group of real estate agents get together and share their knowledge  in a peer to peer enviremont. She has been to ReBar Camp’s in Virginia, Philidelphia and Boston. All great experiences for learning. At the Boston event she won a free pass to to RE Tech South another gathering of agents for learning the most in Real Estate Techonolgy. I am sure she is counting the days to March 26, 2010.

Rockingham County Real Estate Sales stats for the last 10 years.

Recently my wife had the  opportunity to be on NHPR (New Hampshire Public Radio) talking about the real estate market and her feelings as to where the market is headed. They called upon her mainly because she is  the New Hampshire Association of REALTOR®s 2009 President-Elect. The program was all about the state of our economy and the real estate market/crisis in particular.  The show she was on is called The Exchange and Laura Knoy was the host.

While she wasn’t on for a long time she was, I hope, able to communicate some crucial information. You can listen to the show here.

There is no doubt that January saw a major market stall as many people put home buying on hold in anticipation of what President Obama would do once he took office.  Early February saw some mass confusion due to the up and down real estate stimulus package potential of a $15,000 tax credit.  Some buyers moved forward in anticipation by making offers contingent upon the 15,000 tax credit becoming a reality.

Of course we all know that did not happen.

The reality is that people buy homes not sticks and bricks, they buy lifestyles, they buy a dream and while everyone wants their home to appreciate in value, it’s important to remember that long term real estate is an excellent investment.

Are we at the bottom? I really don’t know but I do know that investors have stopped looking and have started buying! Which tells a very important story.  If  you’re a buyer “On the Fence” don’t let this opportunity slip by you.  It would be pretty sad to look in the rear view mirror someday soon and kick yourself for missing this opportunity.

The last week of  February in our Londonderry office alone, we had 24 homes go pending in one week alone.

That’s a lot of homes and to me that speaks volumes.

The chart below shows a 10 year history of the Rockingham County real estate market.

Year	Units sold	% change	Median price	% change 2	DOM	% change
1998	4,112	N/A	$153,200	N/A	123	N/A
1999	4,228	2.8	$169,900	10.9	83	-33
2000	3,896	-7.9	$200,000	17.7	77	-7
2001	3,662	-6	$237,850	18.9	69	-10
2002	3,797	3.7	$264,900	11.4	72	4
2003	3,551	-6.5	$285,400	7.7	75	4
2004	3,889	9.5	$314,373	10.2	75	0
2005	3,458	-11.1	$337,500	7.4	81	8
2006	2,628	-24	$330,000	-2.2	112	38
2007	2,576	-2	$316,000	-4.2	132	18
2008	2,286	-11.3	$285,000	-9.8	135	2

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