New Hampshire and Maine Homes and Condos

 

In case you don't know, here in Portsmouth NH, we have quite a few antique and historic homes, and the vast majority of them are still being lived in.  Some of the larger antique homes have been converted into condos, but most of the historic homes are still single family homes. 

 

Years ago, probably back in the mid 1980's or thereabouts, I was working with a buyer who was moving up here to Portsmouth New Hampshire from somewhere in Texas.  I can't recall exactly where in Texas, but somewhere that was much "younger" then most of New England is.

She and I had spoken on the phone a number of times about her trip up here, what she was looking for in a home here, etc.   She wanted to be close to downtown, near the water, and she told me several times how much she really just loved old and older homes.

 

YAY, I thought!!  I get the opportunity to show some of the really wonderful old homes that are all over the place here.  We set up the days and starting times for each day's showings, and I went to work getting all those showings set up. 

Day 1 of 3 days of showings arrived, and I was really looking forward to it.  She and I had really hit it off on the phone, and I could tell working with her was going to be alot of fun. 

We saw house #1, and she didn't really say very much, and the same happened after house #2.  House #3 was better than the first 2 we saw, and when she still wasn't liking any of them, I kept talking to her, and she finally admitted that her definition of 'old' was homes that were 20-25 years old!!  WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Keep in mind, I'm talking about New England here - New Hampshire - which was one of the original 13 Colonies.  And we're talking about Portsmouth specifically, which was settled back in 1623.  We have homes here that date back to the 1600's, many are from the 1700's to early 1900's.  On the outskirts of town, we do have newer homes, and we have some new construction, too.

So, after that 3rd showing and finding out exactly what she meant when she said 'old' to me and what I thought she meant just didn't match up, we headed back to my office to cancel the rest of that day's showings, as well as the next 2 full days' worth of showings. 

Then I proceeded to schedule new showings for us.  And after all that, we did find her just the right house, that fit her description of "old". 

Rest assured, after that experience, I learned a very valuable lesson!  From then on, I began to ask every single person I work with as a buyer to describe to me what time frame they mean when talking about the age of homes they might be interested in, especially if they happen to like "old" and/or "older" homes!!  

 

 

 

 

If you love antique and historic homes, and would love own one of these gems, let me know.  I'd love to show you some of the beauties we have for sale here in Portsmouth NH!