While there is not a lot of new home construction going on in the Lakes Region of NH, it is nice to see that there are some homes being built despite the depressed housing market that we are currently struggling through. It is even nicer to see that some of the developments are actually moving product!

The busiest new home development right now is the Villas at Paugus Bay off White Oaks Road in Laconia. These are entry level modular homes priced starting in the 160’s and offered with either two or three bedroom floor plans, two baths, stainless steel appliances, a full basement, and a two car garage. There are several plans to choose from and a few upgrades available including granite countertops and hardwood flooring. These homes are great as a primary residence, retirement, or vacation home. It certainly doesn’t feel like we are in a down market when you drive into this development; there’s a lot of activity going on there! Sales have been brisk. One point worth clarifying on this project is that you actually don’t own the land your home sits on, it is a land lease; kind of like a condominium form of ownership. There are minimal HOA fees to cover lawn care and road maintenance so you won’t need to mow your lawn! The project has 24 acres of conservation area, but the homes are a little tight to each other so you will get to know your neighbor quite well. That’s great if you both root for the same ball team and bad if you don’t.

Another great development that has had extremely strong sales this year is at Willow Pond in the Long Bay section of South Down Shores in Laconia. These high quality, stick built, cape style homes are available in either 1,775 square foot or 2,230 square foot versions starting at $279,900 for the base model. There is a long list of luxurious upgrades so you can individualize your home just the way you want it. The homes have a bright and open floor plan with cathedral ceilings, first floor master suites and laundry, full basement, and a two car garage. The homes have great curb appeal and the builder has paid a lot of attention to every detail. Sales have been strong over the summer and there are only seven lots remaining. This is the first time single family homes have ever been offered in this price range in Long Bay so the response has been tremendous! And with all of the great amenities provided, why wouldn’t they sell ? Long Bay has 1,500 ft of shorefront, a fantastic lakeside pool, beach, walking trails, clubhouse, tennis courts, and dry berths available at the South Down Boat Club. When you package quality new construction, a great price, and outstanding amenities together you get great results.

This developer also offers the same homes at another development called Nature’s View located off North Street in Laconia. Prices here start a little less at $259,900. You obviously won’t get all the amenities offered in Long Bay, but you will get the same quality home in a great new neighborhood. Homes here have sold very well and there are still plenty of lots available. The builder also offers a ranch style home with a base price of $229,900.

The Villas at Paugus and Willow Pond demonstrate that new homes will sell even in difficult market if the builder provides consumers with a truly great value…

This wonderful log home in Tilton NH has so much to offer it is tough for me to put it into words! So, let’s hear the seller tell you about this special home:

For more info on this great property, just click here!

For more detailed information on this great listing, click here!

You know, sometimes you just don’t need to say anymore…

For more information on this fabulous property, click here!

Classic Country Cape

7059 Pleasant Street Extension, Loudon, NH

MLS #4004940  Offered at $345,00

This new three bedroom cape has wonderful curb appeal & sits at the end of a charming country lane on a beautiful 5 acre lot surrounded by stone walls.

This is a high quality home featuring a large kitchen/dining area with granite counter tops, beautiful cabinetry, tile floors, & upgraded lighting fixtures. The huge living room has gleaming wood floors as does the adjacent master suite. The master has 3/4 bath but is also plumbed for a jacuzzi or hot tub. French doors in the master lead out to a farmer’s porch overlooking the back yard & is the perfect spot for morning coffee.

Upstairs you’ll find two additional bedrooms & a full bath. There is a full walk out basement and an attic that could also provide additional living space.

Heat is provided by an energy efficient high tech gas furnace with hot water baseboard plus in floor radiant heat in the tiled areas. There’s also a single stall garage/barn and car port to keep your vehicles or toys under cover. If you have got some horses, this property would a be perfect place as it is fenced in.

Enjoy country living at its best!  Come check it out today…

39 Dragonfly Drive, Loudon, NH

MLS # 4008472  Offered at $324,900

If you are looking for a high quality home that is in immaculate condition & located in a country neighborhood of new homes, than this property deserves a look.

This bright, open concept colonial is not your typical run of the mill colonial. It features a wonderful kitchen that flows into the dining & large living room to make it a great home to entertaining in. The kitchen boasts granite countertops, beautiful dark oak cabinetry, hardwood floors, & great lighting. The hardwood floors extend into the living room & dining areas as well. There is a 1st floor bedroom currently used as a den.

Upstairs there is a huge master suite with bath featuring double sinks & a jacuzzi tub. There is a huge walk in closet for the lady of the house—hubby can have one corner of it!

The basement would be perfect to finish off as a family room as there are plenty of windows to brighten the space. There is nice farmer’s porch to rock on & a large trex deck out back for barbequing.

This home is located a just a short commute from Concord on a level 2 acre lot on a great country road! Enjoy serene country living at its best..

The telephone is ringing, well, at least a little bit. It seems that buyers are out riding around and calling in on the yard signs which is great, but sometimes frustrating. One afternoon this week our duty agent had two inquiries on properties by cell phone and lost calls due to poor cell phone connections. Sometimes calls will get dropped two or three times in order to get just the basic info exchanged. We may not be in the boonies, but many listings are! Hopefully, they’ll call back when they get into cell range, but they’ll probably forget where they were. Can you hear me now?!

It’s always great to get that call from someone out on a boat asking: “ How much is that little, white, waterfront cottage?” Agent: “Where are you?”, Caller :“On the lake”, Agent: “Which one”, Caller: “Winnipesaukee”, Agent: “Where”, Caller: “On the Lake”, Agent: “Where on the lake? Which street?”, Caller: “ I don’t know, I’m not on the street, I’m on the lake”, Agent: “Are you in Meredith Bay?”, Caller: “Yes”, Agent: “Do you see a boat house?”, Caller: “Yes”, Agent: “That property is on the market for $1.2 million.” Caller: “For THAT?!” Click. We all get one or two of those calls every year.

I checked again this week to see what I could find for interesting properties currently on the market that are “Stuck In The Middle”. That’s the dreaded area between the under $200,000 “used-to-fly-off-the-shelves” price point and the million dollar “we-don’t-care-we-got-lots-of-money-and-buy-what-we-want” price point. More specifically, I looked into the $250,000-$450,000 price range to see what was up and found just over 400 homes in this price range vying for a prospective buyer. Here’s the scoop on a few that are priced well below assessed tax value and could be good deals.

At 89 Wood Ridge Road in Center Harbor, near the Waukewan Golf Club, you’ll find a contemporary cape with 3,3496 square feet of living space, 3-4 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths. This home has an open concept layout with a post and beam feel, a large brick fireplace, hardwood and tile floors, a master suite, and large deck for entertaining. This home sits on 1.75 acres of land with lake and mountain views. The property has been on the market for nine months and was originally listed at $595,000. It is now offered at $389,000 which is 68% of the current tax assessment of $568,600. This is a home that really doesn’t deserve to be Stuck In The Middle. Great deal…

Another nice contemporary cape with great views that seems to be mired down and not getting any traction with buyers is located at 528 Cherry Valley Road in Gilford. This 3,642 square foot, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home has vaulted ceilings, two fireplaces, a first floor master, lots of character, and fantastic views of Winnipesaukee. It has been on the market for about two years and was originally priced at $489,000. A recent $46,000 price reduction has now put it at $349,000 which is 82% of its current tax assessment of $428,500. Someone is going to get a great buy and a great value with this home!

If you want a colonial with mountain views, check out the home at 88 Phoenician Way in Laconia. This 3,051 square foot home constructed in 2006, has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a master suite, cathedral ceilings, eat in kitchen, large deck, and two car garage. This home was originally offered at $369,000 and has been on the market for about 3.4 years. It has been reduced to $289,900 as a short sale and they are looking for an offer. The property is now priced at 70% of its current assessment of $411,900!

So why haven’t these homes sold? Is there something wrong with them? Do they need a lot of work? Well, you’ll have to go and see them to find out for yourself for sure. It is most likely that they haven’t sold because of a combination of too few, too many, and too high. That is: too few buyers, too many homes on the market, and an initial asking price that was too high. And so, they are just Stuck In The Middle.

Fabulous Winnipesaukee Waterfront Contemporary

85 Pinnacle Park Road, Meredith NH

MLS# 4004940   Offered at $945,000

Enjoy stunning views and fabulous sunsets from this Winnipesaukee waterfront home sitting on a .8 acre lot with 158′ of frontage that sports a cabana, a 29′ x 4′ dock, a couple of moorings, and a coveted 14′ x 30′ boat house. The water is crystal clear & has good depth for all your toys.  What more could you possibly want? You will probably spend a lot of time sipping drinks down under the cabana unless, of course, you are out on your boat enjoying the lake!

This comfortable, open concept lake home has a fantastic living area with hard wood floors, a beautiful stone gas fireplace, great woodwork, and a wall of glass looking out at the bay. You won’t miss the fireworks from here!

There is a gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops & stainless appliances that opens into a dining room which flows out onto a large deck perfect for watching the sunsets and barbequing. This is a home that is perfect for a casual lifestyle centered around enjoying all that the Lakes Region has to offer!

The upper level is dedicated to the master suite complete with another stone gas fireplace, a luxurious master bath, and a private deck overlooking the lake. You will undoubtedly have a lot of trouble getting by the upstairs deck without at least spending a moment to take in the view!

On the lower level there is a family room with great views which makes a great place for the kids to hang out. Outside there’s a 2 car garage with storage above plus a full basement underneath. The lot is nicely landscaped and low maintenance so you can spend more time enjoying the sun. There is, however, a small Koi Pond– no fishing allowed!

So if you are looking to spend your summer on the lake this could just be the place! So come check it out and make this great home, your lake home this summer!

32 Hill Road, Tilton NH   MLS #4004478

Offered just in time for summer at $424,900

This impeccably maintained Winnisquam waterfront home is undeniably charming and comfortable.

The property features a level lot with a fantastic lawn area, dock, perched beach, and beautiful, expansive lake views especially from the huge three season porch (where you will undoubtedly spend a lot of your evenings telling stories).

Just inside there is a nicely updated country kitchen with an island and double wall ovens plus a huge pantry that Julia Childs would have loved. The living room features a wood fireplace to take the chill off fall evenings. There is also a first floor master as well as a 3/4 bath and laundry on this level. There are two more bedrooms upstairs and a large full bath.

The kids will have a great time playing tag on the lawn, playing on the beach, or jumping off the end of the dock. Dad will enjoy the dock even more and the great boating on the lake.

Enjoy Winnisquam this summer and start making memories you’ll remember for a lifetime!

Memorial Day is upon us. Everyone thinks of it as the start of the summer season and a great reason to get together with family and friends and have a huge barbeque. It is also common to include lots of beer in the festivities which allows the attendees to loosen up for New Hampshire’s unofficial sport of kings: horseshoes. Memorial Day is certainly a great day to relax, unwind, and appreciate what we all have and often take for granted. But it does have a solemn side, so everyone should take time to thank those soldiers who fought for our country and honor those who died to keep our country free so that we could enjoy our homes, play horseshoes, and grill on the Barbie.

The BBQ, Barbie, pig cooker or whatever you want to call it, according to Wikipedia, “derives ultimately from the word barabicu found in the language of both the Timucua (native American Indians) of Florida and the Taino people of the Caribbean. The word translates as ‘sacred fire pit.’” To me the best kind of barbeque is the classic homemade one fashioned out if a steel drum cut in half, fastened back together with hinges to make the lid, and has a pipe sticking out the top for the smoke to come out. The Barbie is a true modern sacred fire pit that allows today’s natives to hold rituals, tell stories (mostly lies), make friends, and have a feast. It is also good that today’s “sacred fire pits” are elevated to keep the natives from falling into them.

More importantly, when coupled with adjacent horseshoe pits, this combination is an indicator of an areas friendliness and “livability”. You could actually give the towns in the Lakes Region a rating based on the number of BBQ/HS-pit combos in the community (the BBQs have to be real ones, not those Green Egg fancy ceramic ones, and certainly not the stainless steel enclosed by $30,000 worth of stone work, but the steel drum cookers count triple). The more combos in a town, the more friendly and laid back the town is, guaranteed. Just to prove this theory, which town would you say has more BBQ/HS-pits; Wolfeboro or Belmont? Which town is more laid back and friendly? Case closed. Now if we could get these census workers to count something that actually matters we could institute this new rating system and revolutionize real estate searches for those discerning buyers!

Looking at the residential listings that have come on the market in the last 60 days or so, there are some homes that stand out as good enough deals that you could actually afford to buy a new barbeque grill at BBQ Paradise and Emporium. How about a very nice open concept, three bedroom ranch, with an updated kitchen, large living room with a fireplace, and a three car garage tucked away on a private 2 acre lot with a great lawn and in ground pool. This nice home could have the perfect BBQ/HS-pit combo if desired .

Located at 47 Bell Street in Laconia, this property is on the market for $199,000 and has a tax assessment of $294,600. That is 68% of assessed value! You can afford an extra set of horseshoes with this one!

Over at 40 Skyline Drive in Gilford is a bank owned brick ranch which has about 2,000 square feet of living space, two bedrooms, three baths, and a two car garage on 1.5 acres. It will need some TLC and lots of updates, but it is listed at $199,900 which is way below the assessed value of $359,850.

At 46 Pine Street in Laconia there is a 2,800 square foot, four bedroom, one and a half bath, New Englander built in 1900 that has many of its original features intact including hardwood floors, great woodwork, pocket doors, tin ceilings, and stained glass. This solid home is listed as a short sale at $189,900 which is 73% of the tax assessment of $259,700. Good side yard for horseshoes and a deck for the grill.

If you’d like to live, grill, and play horseshoes in Center Harbor, the property at 52 Elliot Road appears to be a no brainer. This 4,000 square foot, four bed, four bath, contemporary home nestled in the pines on 10 acres of land provides the space and privacy required by true back yard kings. There are numerous mahogany decks to place multiple grills on so most of the town can come over for the final four thrower playoffs (Sanctioned by the CHHPA—the Center Harbor Horseshoe Pitchers Association). This fine home is on the market for $499,000 which is 76% of the $659,000 tax assessment. No traffic noise here, just you brother-in-law yelling for another burger and the clinking of horseshoes on the stakes…