Lisa Brouillette, REALTOR® | The Valley Realty | November 13, 2026
There are six steps to selling a house in New Hampshire: prepare and price the home, complete the state's required disclosures, list it for sale, accept an offer through a signed Purchase and Sales Agreement, get through the buyer's inspections and financing, and close with a real estate attorney or a title company. In the Mt. Washington Valley, most sales take three to four months from listing to closing. I have been selling homes here for more than 26 years, and the step that decides how smoothly the rest go is the first one, long before a buyer walks through the door.
Key Takeaways
- Records first: Septic, well, heating and road paperwork gathered before listing, and uploaded to the MLS with it, answers most buyer questions and cuts down on delays.
- Disclosures: New Hampshire sellers must give buyers written information about the water supply, septic system, insulation, flood zone and, since August 2026, any underground heating oil tank before an offer is prepared.
- Timing: In the Mt. Washington Valley, a typical sale takes three to four months, with about 57 days from listing to an accepted offer and about six weeks to close with a mortgage, or three to four weeks with cash.
- Closing costs: New Hampshire's real estate transfer tax is $15 per $1,000 of the sale price, paid at closing and divided between the buyer and the seller.
- Septic inspections: New Hampshire has no mandatory septic inspection when a home is sold, unlike Massachusetts under Title 5, with waterfront property as the exception.
The New Hampshire Selling Timeline at a Glance
Sellers usually ask me two questions in our first conversation: what happens, and how long does it take. The table below answers both for a typical sale in the Valley. Your own timeline depends on the price, the condition of the home, the season, and whether your buyer is paying cash or financing.
| Stage | What happens | How long it usually takes |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing to list | Gather records, complete disclosures, settle on a price, get the home ready, photos | Less than a week to a few months, depending on whether the home needs upgrades or clearing out |
| On the market | Showings, feedback, offers | About 57 days from listing to an accepted offer |
| Offer to signed agreement | Negotiate price, dates and terms until both sides sign the Purchase and Sales Agreement | Typically within 48 hours |
| Inspections | Buyer's home inspection, water and radon tests, septic evaluation, then any follow-up negotiation | Set by the dates in the agreement |
| Financing and appraisal | The buyer's lender orders an appraisal and finishes the loan | About 6 weeks from signed agreement to closing with a mortgage, 3 to 4 weeks with cash |
| Closing | Deed signed, funds transferred, keys handed over | One day |
Timing based on my sales in the Mt. Washington Valley from January through mid-November 2026, a period with $9,158,600 in sales volume that ranks in the top 10%.
Step 1: Before You List
Before listing a house in New Hampshire, a seller needs three things in order: the home's records, the right price, and the home's condition. After more than 26 years of doing this, I can usually tell how a sale will go by how those three are handled before the sign goes up.
Gather Your Records
Buyers in the Valley ask detailed questions about how a house works, and New Hampshire's disclosure law asks some of the same ones. Pulling the paperwork together early means you can answer them accurately, and it gives a buyer confidence that the home has been looked after.
Septic design, approval paperwork and pumping or service receipts
Well information and your most recent water test
Heating system service records, and details on any oil tank
Road maintenance agreement, if the home is on a private road
Condo or association documents, fees and any pending assessments
Survey, deed and any easements you know about
Rental history and future bookings, if the home has been a short-term rental
I go through this list with every seller at our first meeting. Most people have more of it than they think, often in a folder from their own closing, and I can point you to where the missing pieces are usually found.
When we can upload every available document to the MLS at the time of listing, it cuts down on delays and shows buyers they are working with an informed and willing seller.
Set the Price
Price is the decision that shapes everything after it, including how long the home is on the market and how strong the offers are. I prepare a comparative market analysis for every seller, built from recent sales of similar homes in your town and what is competing with you right now. I have written about pricing in more depth in my guides to pricing strategy in the Mt. Washington Valley and what your North Conway home is worth.
Get the Home Ready
You do not need to renovate to sell. You do need the home to be clean, repaired where it counts, and easy for a buyer to picture living in. My room-by-room guide to preparing your home for sale covers where that effort pays off.
Step 2: What New Hampshire Sellers Have to Disclose
New Hampshire does not have one all-purpose seller disclosure law. It has two separate requirements, and they ask for different things at different points in the sale.
| Requirement | What it covers | When the buyer gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Seller disclosure (RSA 477:4-d), for homes with one to four units | Private water supply: type, location, malfunctions, installation date, most recent water test and any problems. Private septic system: location, malfunctions, date last serviced and who services it. Insulation: type and location. Whether the property is in a federally designated flood hazard zone. Any underground residential heating oil tank. | Before or during the preparation of an offer. The buyer signs to acknowledge it. |
| Buyer notification (RSA 477:4-a), for any property with a building | A standard notice about radon, arsenic, lead, PFAS and flood risk | Before the Purchase and Sales Agreement is signed. The buyer signs to acknowledge it. |
Sources: RSA 477:4-d and RSA 477:4-a, New Hampshire General Court, read November 10, 2026. The underground oil tank item took effect August 4, 2026.
My guide to oil tanks in New Hampshire homes covers what buyers ask about them.
If you do not know the details about your water supply, septic system or insulation, the law asks you to say so in writing. I ask sellers to fill in what they know from their records and mark the rest as unknown, never to guess.
Some homes come with additional disclosure requirements:
Homes built before 1978 come with a federal lead paint disclosure.
Condominiums and homes in an association mean the buyer will want the association's documents, rules and fees. My guide to HOA fees and rules for Valley condos explains what buyers look for in them.
Waterfront homes with a septic system are covered by a separate state evaluation rule. My septic systems guide covers it.
What stands out to me after all these years is how rarely a disclosure costs a seller the sale. Buyers here expect an older septic system or a well. What unsettles them is learning about a problem late, after they have already pictured themselves in the house.
Before the home is listed, we review all the paperwork, including the disclosure forms. For questions about what a particular answer means for you legally, a New Hampshire real estate attorney is the right person to ask.
Step 3: Listing, Showings and Selling From a Distance
Once the price is set and the home is ready, I hire a professional photographer, write the listing and enter it in the MLS, which sends it out to the real estate sites buyers use. From there the job is showings, feedback and adjusting if the market tells us something we did not expect. How this is handled is where a listing agent earns their keep. My guide to choosing a listing agent in North Conway and the Mt. Washington Valley shows what I do for my sellers and what you should expect.
Season matters here more than in most of New Hampshire. Buyers shop the Valley year-round, but what they are picturing changes with the calendar, and so does how a home shows. None of this is a reason to wait for a perfect month. It is a reason to plan the listing around how your particular home shows. I wrote about timing in my guide to the best time to sell a vacation home in Mount Washington Valley. I have also written about whether spring is a good time to sell and what matters most when selling a luxury home here.
If You Do Not Live Here
A large share of the homes I sell belong to people whose main home is somewhere else. Selling from a distance works well when a few things are settled at the start:
Access: A lockbox and a clear plan for who can let in inspectors, appraisers and contractors.
Winter care: Heat left on, the driveway plowed and walkways and decks cleared so the home can be shown safely.
Someone checking the house: A caretaker, neighbor or property manager who stops by between showings.
Rental calendar: If the home is rented short-term, a decision about which bookings to keep, since guests and showings compete for the same days.
Signatures: Listing paperwork and offers can be signed electronically.
Step 4: Offers and the Purchase and Sales Agreement
In New Hampshire a buyer makes an offer by submitting a written Purchase and Sales Agreement, usually called the P&S. It becomes a binding contract once you and the buyer have both signed the same version. Until then you can accept it, decline it, or send back a counteroffer that changes the price, the dates or the terms.
The highest price is not always the strongest offer. When I review an offer with a seller, we read the whole document, because the terms decide how likely the sale is to reach closing.
Questions to ask about every offer:
✅ Is the buyer paying cash or getting a mortgage, and how much are they putting down?
✅ How large is the deposit, and when is it due?
✅ Which contingencies are included, such as inspection, financing, or the sale of the buyer's current home?
✅ How long does the buyer have to complete inspections?
✅ Does the closing date work with your plans?
✅ What is the buyer asking you to leave, such as furniture, appliances or equipment?
That last question comes up often with vacation homes, where buyers frequently want the furnishings included. Anything staying with the house should be written into the agreement so nobody is relying on memory at closing.
Step 5: Inspections, Water and Septic Tests, and the Appraisal
After the agreement is signed, the buyer has a set number of days to inspect the property. In the Valley that usually means more than a general home inspection, because many homes here have a private well and a septic system.
| Inspection or test | What the buyer is checking | What helps to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| Home inspection | Structure, roof, heating, electrical and plumbing | Service records and receipts for recent repairs |
| Water test | The quality of the well water. See my well water testing guide | Your most recent water test |
| Radon test | Radon levels in the air, and sometimes in the water. See my radon guide | Records for any mitigation system |
| Septic evaluation | The condition of the tank and leach field. See my septic systems guide | Septic design and pumping receipts |
When the results come back, the buyer can move ahead, ask for repairs or a credit, or withdraw if the agreement allows it. An inspection finding is not the end of a sale. Most of the time it is the start of a short second negotiation, and the records you gathered before listing are what keep it short. A septic design on file, a recent pumping receipt or a clean water test answers a question before it turns into a request.
The most common thing that stalls a sale after an offer is accepted is an inspection item, when the buyer and seller cannot agree on whether a credit should be given at closing, or how much. Occasionally a buyer loses financing, or the appraisal comes in below the offer price and the two sides disagree on a new one.
NOTE: Inspectors need to run the water, the heat and the dishwasher and fill the tubs during an inspection. If the home has been closed up for the season, have everything turned back on beforehand.
The Appraisal
If the buyer is financing, the lender orders an appraisal to confirm the home supports the loan. When the appraised value comes in at or above the sale price, nothing changes. When it comes in lower, the buyer and seller decide together how to close the gap, whether through price, the buyer's down payment, or both. Cash sales usually skip this step, which is one reason they tend to close sooner.
Step 6: Closing Day
A New Hampshire closing is handled by a real estate attorney or a title company. For my sellers, it is usually a title company. In the weeks before, that office searches the title, orders the payoff figure for any mortgage you have, and prepares the documents. On closing day you sign the deed and the state's transfer tax form, the buyer signs their loan documents, the funds are exchanged and the deed is recorded at the Carroll County Registry of Deeds.
If you live away, you do not have to be in the room. I make sure you receive your documents in plenty of time, and I am happy to attend the closing on your behalf.
What Sellers Pay at Closing
New Hampshire's real estate transfer tax is $15 per $1,000 of the sale price, paid at closing and divided between the buyer and the seller.
These are the costs that typically come out of a seller's proceeds:
| Cost | How it is figured |
|---|---|
| Real estate transfer tax | $15 per $1,000 of the sale price, divided between buyer and seller. The seller's half on a $600,000 sale is $4,500. |
| Mortgage payoff | The balance your lender reports for the closing date |
| Real estate commission | Set in your listing agreement |
| Deed preparation and attorney fees | Billed by the office handling the closing |
| Property taxes | Your share through the closing date |
Source: New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, Real Estate Transfer Tax, read November 10, 2026.
If the home is a second home or has been a rental, taxes on the sale are a separate conversation to have with your accountant before you list. I put together the questions to bring to that meeting in Capital Gains Tax on a New Hampshire Vacation Home: Questions to Ask Before You List.
Why Selling in the Mt. Washington Valley Is Different
The steps above apply anywhere in New Hampshire. How they play out here is shaped by the kind of place the Valley is.
Many of our buyers are coming from Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and beyond, and a good number are buying a second home. They often have not owned a well, a septic system or a house on a private road before, so they ask more questions and lean harder on inspections.
Conway, North Conway, Bartlett, Jackson and Madison are not interchangeable either. Tax rates, zoning and short-term rental rules differ from town to town, and in places from one precinct to the next, and those differences affect who your likely buyer is. A home that can be rented short-term appeals to a different buyer than one in a neighborhood where rentals are restricted. My second-home buying guide explains how buyers weigh that.
Two things surprise sellers most. The first is that New Hampshire has no mandatory septic inspection when a home is sold, the way Massachusetts does under its Title 5 rules. The waterfront rule in Step 2 is the exception. The second is that open houses here can be hit or miss.
Knowing which of the details will matter for your home, and dealing with them before a buyer raises them, is the part of my job you will not see in a listing. It is what I have spent more than 26 years learning. My selling process page lays out how I work with sellers from our first conversation to closing.
Frequently Asked Questions
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There are six: prepare and price the home, complete the required disclosures, list it, accept an offer through a signed Purchase and Sales Agreement, get through the buyer's inspections and financing, and close with a real estate attorney or title company. Start by gathering your septic, well and heating records, since the disclosures and most buyer questions draw on them.
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It varies by town and by how the buyer is paying. In the Mt. Washington Valley right now, a typical sale takes three to four months: about 57 days from listing to an accepted offer, then about six weeks to close with a mortgage or three to four weeks with cash. Statewide averages do not reflect the Valley, so if you would like recent days-on-market figures for your own town, I am happy to pull them for you.
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Sellers of one-to-four-unit homes must give buyers written information about the private water supply, the septic system, insulation, flood hazard zone status and any underground heating oil tank before an offer is prepared. Buyers also receive a standard notice about radon, arsenic, lead, PFAS and flood risk before the agreement is signed. If you do not know an answer, say so in writing.
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A real estate attorney or a title company handles the closing. That office searches the title, prepares the documents and transfers the funds. If you have legal questions about your sale, ask a New Hampshire real estate attorney before you sign the agreement.
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Both sides do. The tax is $15 per $1,000 of the sale price, paid at closing and divided between the buyer and the seller, so each pays $7.50 per $1,000. Plan for it when you estimate what you will take away from the sale.
Thinking About Selling Your Home in the Mt. Washington Valley?
Every sale follows these steps, and no two go quite the same way. If you are trying to sort through what selling would look like for your home, I'd be happy to talk it through with you. We can meet in person, talk by phone, or set up a video chat, whatever feels easiest for you.
