FOR BUYERS · SOUTHERN NH
The P&S, the inspection, the well test, the septic, the appraisal, the closing. In plain English, in the order they happen, so you are not Googling acronyms at midnight.
THE SIX STEPS
From the first tour to the keys.
Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&S)
This is the main contract. It names the price, the deposit, the closing date, the contingencies, and the inclusions. In NH the P&S is usually written on a standard NHAR form. I walk you through every clause before you initial it.
Home inspection
Ten business days is typical. A NH home inspector walks the roof, the systems, the foundation, and reports in writing. We go over the report together and decide which items to ask for, which to let go, and which to use to renegotiate price.
Well test
Most Southern NH homes outside town centers are on private wells. A standard well test checks bacteria, nitrates, arsenic, radon in water, and flow rate. We require this in the P&S. If the numbers come back wrong, we negotiate a treatment system or a credit.
Septic inspection
If the home is on septic (common outside town sewer zones), you want a dye test or a Title 5-equivalent inspection. We flag tank age, leach field condition, and last pump-out. A failing septic is a $20,000 to $40,000 negotiation line item.
Appraisal
Your lender orders the appraisal once the inspection contingency is cleared. If the appraisal comes in low, we have three paths: ask the seller to lower the price, contest the appraisal with comps, or bring additional cash. I have done all three.
Closing
NH closings are done by a closing attorney or title company. We review the closing disclosure 72 hours before signing, I flag any math that looks off, and we close. Keys, deed, and a new mailbox. Plan an hour for the signing appointment.
COMMON WORRIES
The five questions every buyer actually has.
How much house can I actually afford?
Mortgage calculators are optimistic. We back into affordability from monthly take-home, property tax escrow, insurance, and a realistic reserve. In Southern NH, plan on 28% of gross for principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a 30-year fixed.
Will I overpay in a bidding war?
Multi-offer situations happen in Windham and Londonderry especially. I show you the recent sold comps, the list-to-sale ratio, and the days on market for the street. You always know the ceiling before you write the offer.
What if the inspection uncovers something bad?
That is what the inspection contingency is for. We either renegotiate the price, ask for repairs, or walk away with the deposit intact. I have walked three deals in the last year over inspection findings. It is a feature of the process, not a failure.
What will my NH property tax bill look like?
Every town's mill rate is different. I pull the current assessment and the certified rate before you go under contract. You see a full-year estimate, not a guess. The /tax-calculator page on this site has the math if you want a first pass.
Will you actually answer my texts?
Yes. Evenings, weekends, the stretch between offer and close. The single loudest complaint in online agent reviews is post-signing silence. That is not how I work.
The shortlist method
Skip the portal. Get the shortlist.
No search widget here on purpose. Send me your town, budget, and must-haves. I will pull the MLS by hand, including off-market homes and coming-soons Zillow does not publish. You see 5 to 10 homes that fit, in 24 hours, not 1,500 that do not.
BUYERS, IN THEIR OWN WORDS
What Southern NH buyers are saying.
buying
“Texted Karyn at 10:30pm about a listing. She had showing times back to me before I woke up. That is the level she operates at. Closed on the 3BR in April, under contract in eight days.”
Mike D.
Windham, NH
relocating
“We were done with Massachusetts taxes. Karyn did the actual math for us. Showed us what we would pay in Salem versus Methuen on a $550K home, what the commute looked like from Exit 2, which school district fit our daughter. She did not oversell Windham just because it was more expensive.”
Jess R.
Salem, NH (from Methuen, MA)
relocating
“My wife and I had been getting outbid in Massachusetts for a year. Karyn found us a house in Londonderry that was not even on Zillow yet. We offered, got accepted, closed in 32 days. She knows people up here.”
Brian K.
Londonderry, NH (from Woburn, MA)
buying
“First-time buyer here. I had no idea what a P&S was, what a septic inspection cost, any of it. Karyn broke it all down for me in normal English. No jargon, no talking down to me. Closed on my first house last October.”
Dan P.
Salem, NH
relocating
“Moving the whole family up from Andover. Karyn met us at four different houses across three towns over one weekend. She was patient, honest about which ones had issues, and she never once pushed us toward the more expensive option.”
Tom and Sarah B.
Atkinson, NH (from Andover, MA)
buying
“Bought an investment duplex with Karyn's help. She knows the Derry rental market cold. Told me straight up which streets cashflow and which do not. Two years later the numbers have held exactly where she said they would.”
Richard H.
Derry, NH
START THE SEARCH
Fifteen minutes on a call beats an hour on Zillow.
Tell me the town, the budget, and the must-haves. I will tell you whether what you want actually exists in Southern NH at that price, and what we do if it does not.