CTMLS Says Goodbye to the Hubbard Clause

New Appraisal Standards Complicate Real Estate Market

Central CT Real Estate Market in Review - Money Party Officially Over

5 Simple Reasons Your House Isn’t Selling
Back in school, I was always among the last picked for sports. Coordination has never been one of my qualities. So, I know how homeowners feel when their home isn’t selling and other homes seem to be. Why me? Why is the real estate market as cruel as the schoolyard these days? It’s often very simple. The real question is - can you change it? 1. Your Photos Are Terrible Have you actually seen the photos your Realtor took? If they look like they were taken by a five-year-old tilting his head while standing in the dark, then you have a problem. The photos should help to sell the home. And if the photos would scare away buyers, then it̵

It’s Getting Wild In Here
My husband mentioned to me over the weekend that he heard a report that Connecticut has more forest today than it did in the 1800s. It makes sense to me that despite our development of land for housing and commercial purposes, we have much less farmland now. It also makes sense to me that with more forest, we would have more wildlife. (I don’t need grant money to figure that one out.) Over the weekend, yet another Connecticut resident posted on this blog that he had seen a wolf in Waterford. Over the last year, five different people h

Making Home Affordable Program - Refinance and Loan Modification Options for Homeowners
If you have a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or now, FHA-insured mortgage (HUD recently announced that FHA-insured mortgages will also qualify, effective August 15, 2009), you may have the option of refinancing or modifying your loan through the Making Home Affordable program.

As the Market Turns…Here Come the Multiple Offers
With the first time home buyer credit set to expire, interest rates low and the feeling that maybe all this good stuff is about to come to an end (with inflation, higher taxes, e.g.), home buyers have a sense of urgency that they haven’t had in years. This is the stuff of a seller’s market. This is gettin’ while the gettin’s good. What’s my evidence? I called yesterday to set up a showing for an average home in Rocky Hill and it’s gone after two days on the market. Three offers, baby. I spoke to a listing agent yesterday about two of her listings in Wethersfield. Four offers between the two. Both on the market fo

Time Running Out for $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit. Or Is It?
The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  In it, Congress authorized a first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 for home buyers meeting certain qualifying criteria.  The program’s goal was to stimulate the real estate market and the evidence is that it’s worked. But time is running out for credit - it expires December 1, 2009. What that actually means is a buyer must have closed on their purchase by December 1