Selling my house...:(

[Lakesrider]

Sad to say the better paying jobs are not up here. Moved here to retire but my wife lost her job of 15 years with a great paying company that had great benefits. She was able to find a job in Nashua where our other house is that was up for sale. Luckily, I guess, it did not sell during the down market, so we can move back there and be mortgage free if we sell this house. We still own a slip at the Quayside Yacht Club so we can still come and stay on the boat weekends. But the house is going.....It is in the classifieds if you know anyone looking.;):D

[SAMIAM]

Bummer, Lakesrider.....very best of luck and hope you stay on the forum. Always enjoy your posts.

[BroadHopper]

I am a Laconia resident. For the 40 years I was working I had to live in the Nashua area as there is nothing up here. When Obama pulled the plug on defense jobs, I have not been able to find a decent job since. My expertise is defense contract work. =(

In 2008 I had my Hooksett home and my Laconia home for sale or rent. I was able to rent the Hooksett property and moved into the Laconia property. My tenant will be leaving so again I will be putting both homes on the market for sale or lease.

Since 2008, the Laconia property was on the market three times with no buyers. I was able to rent the property a few weeks out of the summer months. During that time I would live on the boat, which to me is fun.

Both homes will be on the market for less than the mortgages. I bought both home in the mid 2005 when the market was at its peak. I can't afford both properties.

Good luck in selling your home.

[tis]

Tell me this economy is getting better!!!!!! NOT

[Chaselady]

Better in some areas, but not in an area that goes to sleep in the winter, at least economically.

[kauriel]

Sorry to hear your news :(

It might be a bit late in the season but you might be able to get some extra cash by temporarily renting out whichever house you are not in for short stays on airbnb. You can even rent out extra rooms wherever you are staying (if you have extra space). We started using it this summer to rent out our condo at the lake when we aren't there and have had really good luck so far. We allowed flexible rentals (e.g., 1 day or 20 days) and just charged a flat cleaning fee for each rental and wound up with rentals for every open weekend this summer as well as some mid-week and fall rentals (compared to 1 last summer with local rental agency).

[Irish mist]

It's difficult selling year round homes in the Lakes Region. Condos are an easier sell, but the real estate market up here is still weak IMO. There are some good paying jobs in the area, but in general, this is rural America. I'm always surprised when people are surprised that there is no professional job base in the area.

[Lakesrider]

Oh I am not surprised about the pay up here at all. I have been working here for many years and know the economy fairly well. We bought our home to retire in. We had rented it out during the summer for a few years, but the renters destroyed the house in short order. Yeah we kept a few of the security deposits, but still the damage was pretty extensive. So I have done about $60,000 in upgrades and have no plans to rent it out ever again if at all possible. The house is in too good a shape right now to let renters come in and destroy it all over again.:( As a last resort we may rent it out long term, bt trying hard not too.

[Flylady]

I have found that with the correct contract and security deposit and price, I have rented out y place for the last 7 seasons. The only damage I had was a broken dish. I ensured that renter were one family not multiples. So I beieve if you take the time to screen you can find good renters who will treat your home as their own. Good luck in selling...

[kauriel]

Oh I am not surprised about the pay up here at all. I have been working here for many years and know the economy fairly well. We bought our home to retire in. We had rented it out during the summer for a few years, but the renters destroyed the house in short order. Yeah we kept a few of the security deposits, but still the damage was pretty extensive. So I have done about $60,000 in upgrades and have no plans to rent it out ever again if at all possible. The house is in too good a shape right now to let renters come in and destroy it all over again.:( As a last resort we may rent it out long term, bt trying hard not too.

We chose short-term rentals to minimize damage with assumption that less time in our place means less time to get comfortable and re-decorate. Our neighbors did a long-term rental and they wound up with quite the partiers. Thankfully they did not renew lease so we can now enjoy our place again without all the 3am shouting and music!

Our cleaner has been really impressed by our guests so far. We're not sure if it's because our rentals tend to only be 2 or 3 days or if airbnb guests are just more clean and respectful or some sort of combination. Airbnb encourages you to review your guests after they visit so there is an incentive for them to behave if they want to continue using the site. So far we've been really happy with using airbnb for short rentals. We have longer/monthly rentals available on there too but so far we've only had short-term rentals.