New Milford CT Real Estate Happenings

Help your animals beat the heat!

I am "babysitting" my daughters cat, he is an old guy that has had a few health problems lately. Kidney failure (which seems to have reversed itself), only has one tooth left, and who knows what else, we think he is on his 8th life at least. But he is happy, and he has been a member of the family for a long, long time. This heat is really getting to him. Without AC in the house, and with no one home, the house is getting too warm for him.

I went over tonight to open the doors and windows and turn on the fans, hoping to pull the cooler air in the house. (and of course to sit with him and love him a bit) I recently read about freezing water in soda bottles to leave on the floors for a dog in the heat, and I figured perhaps I could do the same for him. I have bottles in the freezer as I write this. I found a large freezer pack in her freezer, wrapped it in a towel and put it on his favorite sleeping spot.

Guess where Spook is sleeping tonight? For those of you who don't have AC give it a try for your pets. Freeze some water in a soda bottle and put it where they sleep. Like our kittie, I am sure your pet will soon realize that the frozen bottle is a great thing to sleep against.

Now I am freezing a whole bunch of bottles for my big pooch!

New Milford CT Village Fair Days 2010

It's that time again, the New Milford CT town green is being transformed, the electrical wires are snaking the green, the tents are going up, The 43rd annual Village Fair Days are upon us! All sorts of arts and crafts, music, fun things for kids to do, great food, shopping, a great way for the town to celebrate our vibrant downtown center.

I love Village Fair Days, I have been attending for 30 years and looking forward to every one of them! Some things never change and New Milford, CT Village Fair Days is one of those things.

So come on down this Friday, July 30th from 10 am to 10 pm, and Saturday, July 31 from 10 am to 10 pm. Village Fair Days is sponsored by the Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce. Kudos to the Village Fair Days Committee who work so hard all year long to put this event together, and to all the volunteers who work at the fair, rain, shine, heat and more, thank you!

The Greater New Milford Board of Realtors® will have a booth, I will be there on Saturday night from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm. My friend, Attorney Ann Fisher, will be at the Fried Dough Booth (New Milford Rotary Club) on both Friday and Saturday evening, from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, stop by and get some fried dough from her and say hello.

Come on by, enjoy beautiful downtown New Milford at its best. See you there!

Clean it, paint it, fix it up, you just lost a buyer for your big, expensive home.

I have been showing higher end homes in Brookfield, CT, between 650,000 to 680,000 to a client. Although I think his mind is made up, something popped on the market that he just had to see. It was at the top end of what he wanted to spend, judging from the photos and description he was very excited about it. I would have previewed, time was not on my side however.

The house sits up, with sweeping views over the cul de sac and beyond. We knew the back yard was minimal, he was ok with that based on the interior photos. This home is fairly new, 5 years young. We expected something entirely different than what we saw. As we walked up the front walkway, surprise, surprise. The vinyl siding was covered in algea and what appeared to be mold on the columns. Strange indeed as their were no trees, the front of the house had a good amount of sun for a major portion of the day. As I arrived at double front doors I was shocked. The black doors were beaten up, chipped, banged up, dirty. Not the grand entrance one would have expected at all.ha

Once inside we were greeted with more of the same. The family lived hard in this house, there were young children, a large dog and a cat. But for this price I would have expected that they would have taken the time to get the house ready to go on the market. Almost every wall was dented, banged, had grimy hand prints. There were nail pops in almost every room. An obvious leak from the master bath into the kitchen had stained the ceiling and walls. Perhaps the leak was fixed but it sure scared my buyer.

The lower level was not finished but they still used it for a playroom and office. The first thing I noticed was the children had way to much fun with crayons on the sheetrock  going down the stairs. Wow! Next their were toys scattered everywhere on the floor, all over the place! It turned my client off completely. The gauge on the oil burner looked like it was growing a scientific experiment inside, I have never seen anything quite like it.

When we left my client said that he just couldn't do it, the cost to take care of everything that needs to be done was overwhelming for him. He asked me why, at that price range, the homeowner didn't do everything they could to make the house shine? I couldn't answer the question, and I couldn't agree with him more.

I would bet this one will sit for a while, until it goes to the relocation company. I wonder how they will feel about that when they take it over? Either that or the owner will take a significant hit on the price if he does get an offer.

Clean it up, paint it, get it ready to go on the market! Buyers have multiple choices, and they really do prefer the homes that are in great shape, or are priced according to condition. Make those buyers feel like you rolled out the red carpet for them!

You are taking the time to blog for business, you are trying to develop an online presence that will blow your clients and potential clients socks off.

BUT....

Are you using Realbird? When I first saw someone here using Realbird I just had to know what it was all about. The post was a market report, and at the bottom was a Realbird search tool. I loved it! I followed the links to Realbird and signed up for a free account. I was hooked.

I hit a snag, I can't remember exactly what it was. I called Realbird and spoke with Gabe. He was so helpful, he spent so much of his time helping me to resolve the issue I hung up and quickly signed up for a full Realbird account. Under a hundred bucks for the year, it was a no brainer. Anyone who would spend so much time helping me on the phone when I had a free account deserved my business.

And if you can't afford to spend LESS than 100 bucks on marketing both your listings AND yourself, then you need to rethink your choice of professions! I tell everyone I can about Realbird.

Check out what they are NOW doing for us with Facebook!!!! Realbird is the most effective marketing tool I have in my aresenal of weapons. I know my clients love the listing flyers that are produced at minimal effort on our part.

No, this is not a paid advertisement. This is a totally unsolicited blog, I am singing the praises of Realbird because.... REALBIRD ROCKS! Give them a try and you will understand why I love Realbird, Gabe and Zoltan!!!!

Why should the buyers agent get screwed? Hi Ho Silver, AWAY!

A few months back I wrote about "contract purchasers" with short sales. In other words, the short sale negotiator enters into an agreement with the lender to purchase the short sale at one price, the home continues to be marketed at a higher price. If and when an offer comes in the negotiator purchases the home at the lower price, then the same day or following day closes with the end buyer at a higher price. The offer to purchase is signed by the negotiator, all negotiations are done by the negotiator who does not yet own the house. He/she signs and negotiates as the "contract purchaser".

Many of you agreed with me, those that didn't agree with me certainly let me know how naive and foolish I was, why shouldn't the negotiator make this type of money? 20,000, 30,000, I have even seen 200,000 recently on one sale posted in the paper. Wow! That was a great day for someone.

A recent post by Lenn Harley brought this up again with me, so I just had to put on that lousy white hat of mine and race in to start another blood bath for myself I am sure. I think I was accused of wearing a white hat and being a do-gooder, but not in a nice way based on my comment. Although I think someone got my name wrong... or maybe they weren't talking about me.

When working as a buyers agent it is my job to get my buyers a home at the best possible price... hmmm. Let me explain that one to my buyers.

I have one last question on the matter. The offer of compensation that is out on the MLS is based on the listing contract the listing agent had with the owner of the home, not the contract purchaser. I have seen buyers agents walk away with $700 on a $250,000 purchase. Yes they could have gotten the balance from their buyers. I am playing that scenario in my head....

If the theory is... why should the negotiator and listing agent miss out on this fantastic opportunity to make really good money in the short sale game....

Why should the buyers agent get screwed? After all, without the buyer there would be no fat profit for these people.

And where is the protection for my piddling minuscule commission I will end up with? As far as I can see the offer for compensation might be worthless as my buyers won't be buying from the person who signed the listing contract in the first place. Or should we just write up something before we submit an offer that demands full commission at the closing, because sure as shootin' the short sale negotiator and listing agent are making money on these deals! And on the backs of our end buyers I might add. You expect me to get money from my buyer after they just overpaid on the home based on what the lender agreed to take?

Hi Ho Silver Away, I would really like to have this explained to me.

Emptying your bladder...

Yep, the bladder was emptied, and no one felt good about it. It was inspection time for my listing. (I hope my house inspector friends will chime in on this one.) I got that dreaded phone call from the home owner, they came home at the tail end of the 2 hour plus home inspection. The inspector informed them they had a problem with the well, there was grit all over the jet tub. And yes there was, the tub was full of "stuff".

My clients were more than upset. They assured the buyers and the inspector this never happened before, they have never had any problem with the water. This home is a large colonial 6 years young in beautiful shape. They called the best well guy around who immediately asked if the inspector was running all the water in the house for a long time, and if the jet tub faucets were also opened. Yes indeed, seems the inspector turned all the water on as soon as he came in and left them running the entire time he was working (2 hours). The well guy also said that the jet tub has a larger water pipe running to it, and if things weren't bad enough when the jets were turned on it created a surge which kicked up the sediment in the bladder. Sediment is normal, my client changed the filter after this little experience. The water was clear as a bell after a bit.

The well is fine, we have paper to prove it from one of the best well guys around. We are all comfortable with the results. But I am not comfortable with these type of tests. I went to the town sanitarian today and we discussed it in detail. She agreed with me and gave me documentation from the state of CT that outlines guidelines for a push test when doing a septic inspection.  50 gallons of water per bedroom only, done slowly and steady. But this type of test is to test a septic system! This was not the septic inspection. I understand this can put undue strain on a septic system and can cause what appears to be a failure because of the volume of water being pushed through it. Bad idea all the way around. Better idea to run water from an outside hose into the distribution box to see what happens with the fields, so I was told by the sanitarian.

I see it over and over again and get no clear answer as to why the water needs to be running wide open through the whole house through the entire home inspection. This is not a well yield test, those take hours, the well needs to be emptied, measurements taken. To get water samples you don't have to run water for an hour. I am always upset by this. As are the home owners when they realize what happened.

Cost my client $75 to be told that there was nothing wrong and that running the water like that is a bad idea.

My second gripe? We are in a drought. Why would anyone run water so irresponsibly in a drought situation? I'm just sayin... So, what say you? I am really hoping someone out there can enlighten me as to why this is a common practice and why I am wrong? (I don't think I am, but I am really looking for an explanation here!) I really don't understand the value of this type of test?

And please, don't empty my bladder!

Home sales in Washington, CT, June 2010, including Washington 06793, Washington Depot 06794 and New Preston 06777, CT.

Currently in Washington, Washington Depot, New Preston, CT, including Lake Waramaug in New Preston, there are 107 single family homes on the market. The average list price is $1,457,671. The average market time is 197 days.

The highest price home in Washington, CT is $7,500,000, this estate is considered to be one of Litchfield County’s finest estates on 130 acres. The home is 8,496 square feet and was built in 1997.

The lowest priced home for sale in Washington, CT is an antique located on Rt. 47, listed at $100,000 and is a short sale. The price is one that I believe is supposed to garner much interest and drive up the final sale price of the home.

Of the 107 single family homes active on the market in Washington, Washington Depot and New Preston, CT, 2 are under deposit. The average list price of these homes under deposit is $677,450, average market time is 166 days.

Currently there are 3 homes that are in the pending sale status. This is down 2 from last month. The average list price of these homes is $851,333.  The average market time for these homes is 286 days.

7 homes sold in June of 2010 in Washington, CT. The average list price was $889,700, average days on market 286 days.  the lowest priced sale was Bee Brook Rd. for $240,000. The highest priced sale, on Lower Churchill Rd. sold for $2,335,000. An upward trend from last month when only 2 homes closed!

(Data supplied by Greater Fairfield County CMLS. While date is considered to be reliable, it may not be necessarily accurate.)

Check out sales in Washington, CT for May 2010.

Litchfield County History, the Brick School House in Warren, CT has the distinct honor of being the longest continual operating one room school house in Connecticut history!

Built in 1784, the little red Brick School House, located on what is now Brick School Rd in Warren Connecticut was called North West School. At the time it was built there were 7 school districts in Warren. The last class to graduate from North West School was in 1924.

The building fell into disrepair over the years. In 1963 a Mr. Frank Reinhold purchased the school and donated it to the Warren Historical Society 5 years later, when it was lovingly restored.

I was in Warren yesterday looking at homes when I passed by the Brick School House. I couldn't help but stop and take a few photos, it really is a wonderful old building. I only wish I could have gotten inside, I could see a few desks in there, but couldn't get a photo through the glass. That will be photos for another day.

The countryside in Warren is so beautiful, so peaceful. The town of Warren is 27.6 square miles and has a population of 1,385 people. Nestled between Kent, Washington, Litchfield and Cornwall, CT, the rolling hillsides are a site to behold. There are wonderful estates, properties on Lake Waramaug, farms, homes of all sizes and prices.

If you are taking a drive through Litchfield County, make sure you take a drive through Warren, CT. If you have a day or two to spend, stay at the lovely Rooster Tail Inn, I understand it is fantastic! The rooms are wonderful, and the food is, as my friend says, worth the trip! A short trip down the road from the Rooster Tail Inn is Brick School Rd, you can certainly take a drive to see the Brick School House!

Search for a home in beautiful Warren, CT.

Buyers Market, What Does That Really Mean? Real Estate talk, New Milford CT.

According to Investorwords.com, a "buyers market" means "a market that has more sellers than buyers". You know, "supply over demand". But what does that really mean? Let me break that down for you....

In New Milford, CT there are currently 79 homes listed between $300,000 to $400,000. Wow, that's a lot of homes. Out of those 79 homes, 4 are under deposit. Uh oh.... that is just a bit over 5%, not so good. So now what? Remember the good ole days when those buyers were fighting like a pack of wild dogs over food scraps for your house? Well, reverse that. You are now in the pack of wild dogs, and that buyer is the food scrap you want, you need!

Make sure your home stands up against the real competition. You cannot price your home according to what you want to sell it for, or what you need to sell it for. If you want or need to sell, you must price your home to sell. No other way around it.

Example. I have clients very interested in a certain home. We have been back twice. The house is of a pleasing design to them, in a good location, but needs work. It is, in my opinion, overpriced by about... oh... maybe $60,000 to $70,000.

• The house needs a new roof.
• The house needs a new deck, which is large.
• The bathrooms have not been updated
• The entire upstairs needs new carpeting
• The basement is just that, a basement. It has not been finished.
• The entire chimney needs repointing, from the bottom to the top, and it is a tall chimney
• The hardwood floors are tired
• Some of the windows need attention, no one repainted the sills
• The house has electric heat, with all original baseboard heating
• Wallpaper and paint look as if they have not been touched since the house was built
• The house screams 1980's!!!!
  

Here is what I am being told.

They updated the kitchen... no, they replaced the countertop with granite, keeping the cabinets the same 1980's originals. They replaced the original 27 year old appliances recently, yes they did. There is central air, we do love this fact. There is an inground pool. Hmmm, in this area would you like to know what that pool is going to get you? Not money. As a matter of fact, many will run from a pool as they don't want the headache. And this pool is an older one, will need some work.

If you really want to sell this house, lighten and brighten the house, get real with your pricing. I have prepared my buyers with what has sold that is similar to this home, we have good comps. I have also prepared my buyers that they need to be very willing to walk away from this house. They have accepted this fact.

I did learn something else. The seller paid for an appraisal. The seller also refuses to tell the listing agent what the appraisal came in at. I am shaking my head on this one. This tells me that the appraisal came in at a number the seller doesn't want to accept!

So, if you are really ready to sell, if you have to sell your home, make sure you price your home according to the local real estate market. We are in a buyers market in the greater New Milford, CT area. That means stiff competition for you. And if you need to sell and you do not price it according to the market and the condition of your home, well, my guess is you won't be selling your home anytime soon.

How having your own pot can keep you cool.

It was hot today, I hear we broke a record. As I was driving past New Milford High School this afternoon the temperature read .... 110.... how could that be?

I took my grandson over to his aunties house to swim in the pool this evening. He had a great time, no fear at all. After pool time he made his own entertainment....

Off went the bathing suit and diaper ....

In to the pot full of water he went... in and out, in and out.... Don't ask me how he fit in there, he screwed himself right down inside. I had fears he might get stuck, I was running that phone call to 911 in my head.

Kids, you really gotta love 'em. I have to say, it reminded me of one of those... "you know you're a redneck when".... jokes.

Stay cool, stick your head in a bucket of water. Do whatever it takes! We have a few more scorchers on the way!