Jul. 30, 2008 - Norwalk Condo Listing of the Week

OK, I'll be up front and honest, as always, this week's pick for "Norwalk Condo Listing of the Week" was not a completely objective choice - it's my listing. So, yes, I am biased in thinking that this listing deserves special attention.

Here are the details:

Objectively, here are some reasons that make this a good value for a Norwalk Condo:

• Right now there are 16 similar condos for sale (2BR, 1.5 Baths, 1100 - 1300 sq ft) and the average list price of those properties is $334,147, so you're getting a lot for the price
• In the under $280,000 price range, there are only 6 other 2BR condos with more than 1,000 square feet of living space and 1.5 baths
• Common Charges are $300/month, which is competitive with other complexes
• The current owners have made many updates including appliances & the hot water heater
• The association replaced all of the roofs, decks, walkways and steps in 2007, so there aren't expected to be any major capital improvements that would require a special assessment or increase in common charges in the near future

With a 10% down payment, the monthly mortgage payment would be about $1,600, which is less than what you would pay to rent the same or a similar condo in town. We've already had a number of showings in the first few days on the market, so I'm optimistic that the right buyer will be coming along soon.

If this property doesn't interest you, sign up for a FREE Buyer's Account with ListingBook to view all of the properties for sale in the area and find your new home.

Jul. 28, 2008 - What Does the New Housing Bill Offer First-Time Buyers?

The top story in the news over the weekend was the rare Saturday session held by the Senate to vote on the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008".  Most of the talk was about the controversial "bail-out" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but there's much more to this bill than just making sure that these two large corporations stay fiscally sound.

Yesterday's New York Times had a great graphic outlining the provisions of the bill that was sent to President Bush for his signature. [UPDATE: President Bush signed the bill into law on July 30th]

For First-time Home Buyers, the most important features of the bill are:

1. Increased Conforming Loan Limits - the bill increases the conforming loan limits to 115% of the median home value of an area up to a maximum of $625,000 in high cost areas, such as Fairfield County (the previous limit was $417,000, but is temporarily increased to near $700,000 until the end of this year).  This means that buyers who need mortgage loans of up to $625,000 will be eligible for better rates than previously when they needed to get non-conforming "jumbo" loans.  If you're a first-time home buyers you probably aren't thinking of spending more than $417,000 on your first home, but the owners of the starter house or condo you want to buy might just be motivated to move up to a larger home knowing that than can do it without getting a "jumbo" mortgage.
2. First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit - First-time home buyers who buy their first home from April 9, 2008 to July 1, 2009 will be eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500.  The credit will need to be repaid over 15 years, but it's effectively a no-interest loan to use towards your home purchase.
3. Additional Property Tax Deduction - Now even taxpayers who don't itemize their income taxes will be able to take a Property Tax Deduction of up to $500 for individuals or $1,000 for families.  Taxpayers who itemize get to deduct more of their Property Taxes.
4. Clearer Mortgage Terms Disclosure & More Oversight of Mortgage Brokers - Some of the reasons that have been given for the current mortgage and foreclosure crisis are that consumers were forced into risky loans that they didn't completely understand by loan officers or mortgage brokers who had little training and experience.  To help alleviate some of those problems in the future, the bill requires that Mortgage contracts have more explanation of the terms of the loan in language that is easier for the consumer to understand.  And there will be new minimum standards set for people wishing to be licensed as mortgage brokers or bank loan officers.  Both of these provisions will give peace-of-mind to home buyers by making sure that the understand their mortgage and that they are receiving advice from an educated mortgage professional.

With additional measures to provide states and local communities with much-needed funding for affordable housing, pre-foreclosure counseling and redevelopment of abandoned & foreclosed properties this bill seems to finally be taking the steps to help get our housing market and overall economy back on track.  Hopefully this bit of good news will encourage the first-time buyers to jump in to the market, which will increase home sales and get the market moving again.  Now we just have to wait for the President to sign it into law and see what happens...

Jul. 17, 2008 - Too Good To Be True?

On Tuesday morning one of my buyer clients called me about one of the listings she had received in her morning email from my MLS search service.  "There has to be something wrong with this house," she said, "but I'm really curious to see it." 

The house she was speaking of is a 1,650 square foot raised ranch with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on a 1/4 acre in a lovely Stamford neighborhood.  The listing agent's remarks said,

"Unbelievable - Must See. Looking For Fast Sale! Prequal Required." 

Photos of the house's exterior showed some curb appeal and a large, level backyard with a big deck.  So far, so good.  But then the red flags starting popping up:

1. There were no pictures of the interior
2. A big red flag because the list price is $319,900 (Comparable homes have recently sold for an average of $616,000.) 

So the question became is there something really wrong with this house or is the kind of bargain they talk about on all of those late-night infomercials?

We made an appointment to go see the house on Wednesday evening.  In the meantime I did my homework to see if I could learn more about the house.  The tax records on the MLS showed that it's been bank-owned since 2005, not surprising.  A previous MLS listing from 2002 made me truly concerned because the remarks stated "Home Shifted When Settled.  Needs To Be Raised/New Foundation."  That's a significant issue - had it been fixed since 2002?  If not, why wasn't this mentioned in the new MLS listing?

When we went to the house last night, all of our questions were answered.  From the front steps you could tell that the whole house was tilted backwards.  The tilt got increasingly worse as you moved from the front to the back of the house.  It felt like we were in a fun house at a carnival or had gone through the looking glass with Alice.  And there were more problems...the kitchen appliances had all been ripped out, the deck was unfinished, a bedroom and bathroom had been built in half of the 1-car garage and more.  This house was a disaster and couldn't likely be lived in without a lot of work and money invested into fixing the problems.  The saddest part of the whole thing was that it was obvious that someone had put a lot of money into the house before it went into foreclosure - there were new cabinets in the kitchen, an expanded bathroom with a large jacuzzi tub, a stone patio, a brand new deck and other improvements. 

All I could think was that this house had been built in 1963 so when it last sold in 2002 it must have been just as tilted as it was when I saw it yesterday.  How could any real estate agent, home inspector or mortgage bank have allowed someone to buy a property with so many problems?  Did the last buyers intend to fix the structural problems and then find it was too expensive?  Or did they just decide they could live on a tilt?  Who knows?  It's just one of those things that boggles my mind.

Thankfully my clients have good senses of humor and we had a few good laughs at the house's expense.  They know that finding any house in their price range in Stamford is a real long shot so they wanted to be sure they weren't missing out on a real opportunity.  The best part of the meeting was that they had a chance to see first hand that more often than not, deals like this really are too good to be true.  

I'll be keeping an eye on this house to see what happens.  It will be interesting to see if they can actually get it sold.

Jul. 14, 2008 - June 2008 Market Update for Fairfield County

When you're thinking of buying or selling a home, you want to keep an eye on where the real estate market is going.  To keep you informed, I'll be publishing statistics on the Fairfield County real estate market each month and identify any trends in the local market that could affect your buying or selling decision.

Single Family Home Sales Statistics

June 2008 - All of Fairfield County*
Median Sales Price: $550,000
# of Homes Sold: 638
Average Time on Market: 101 days

June 2007 - All of Fairfield County
Median Sales Price: $606,250
# of Homes Sold: 1,002
Average Time on Market: 90 days

As the numbers clearly show, the overall Fairfield County market is not doing as well as it did in June 2007, but the news isn't all bad.  The overall Median Sales Price is down 9.3% and the number of homes sold is down by 36%, while the market time has increased by 11 days.  However, as you'll hear many REALTORS say, "All Real Estate is Local" and that's especially true for Fairfield County with the wide variety of towns and cities it encompasses. 

When you look at the towns individually, you see that 9 of the 23 towns have Median Home Sales Prices that have remained level or increased over the same period last year, which is good news.  And the overall Median Sales Price is 6% higher than it was last month.  To see how each town is doing, check out the chart at the end of this post.

Absorption Rate & Current Inventory

Looking at the Absorption Rate (average number of homes sold per month) and the current Inventory (number of homes actively for sale) is another way to determine which way the market is moving.  For the 1st half of this year, there have been an average of 414 houses sold each month (Absorption Rate) in Fairfield County.  As of today there are 5,751 houses for sale in the County, which means that based on the current Absorption Rate we have almost 14 months of inventory on the market.  Generally speaking it's a Buyer's Market when there is more than 6 months of inventory for sale.  So we're well within Buyer's Market territory.

What Does All of This Mean for the First-Time Buyer?

Well, if you've been contemplating buying your first home, but you've been waiting for the prices to drop more, you might not want to wait much longer.  For many of the towns in the County, the sales prices are starting to level off or even increase, which means that the market is getting back to a positive trend.  Inventory levels are also starting to level off or decrease, which means that homes are selling or sellers are considering staying put if they don't have to move.  Of course, there will continue to be more homeowners facing foreclosure as their adjustable rate mortgages increase over the next few months, so there will be more foreclosure or "distressed" properties coming on the market.  But the competition for those properties will be fierce and they don't always present a good value (more on that in a future post).  My best advice is that if your finances are in order and you're mentally ready to be a homeowner, then don't wait.  A home is a long-term investment and if you buy it at the right price for the property (and for you) you'll receive a solid return on your investment if you stay in the home for at least 5 years.  And don't forget - it's not just an investment, it's your home and the memories you make there will far outweigh any financial gains.

*Data compiled from listing information in the Greater Fairfield County CMLS entered as of 7/14/08.  Does not include private sales or sales listed in the Greenwich, Darien or New Canaan MLS services.  Always verify any information that is critical to your buying decision before acting.

Jul. 9, 2008 - My First-Time Home Buying Experience

As I mentioned in my first post, my husband and I bought our first home - a condo - six years ago in February 2002.  Here's our story...

Our original plan was to rent an apartment so we could get used to the area.  We didn't even think about buying until the first real estate agent we talked to asked us if we had been qualified for a mortgage.  Boy was she a smart one  - we got on the phone with the mortgage broker she recommended and were qualified for a mortgage right away just in case we saw something we wanted to buy.  Although we were qualified for up to $300,000 we told her we only wanted to spend about $150 - $200K to stay well within our budget.

1. We didn't even attempt to negotiate the builder's price, ask for upgrades or changes to the standard fixtures.  The builder's agent told us the price was what was listed and we believed him (we later learned that other buyers had negotiated lower prices and some upgrades).
2. We didn't do a Home Inspection - it was new, we thought, and the builder has to give us a 1 year warranty, so what could be wrong?  Even though nothing major has gone wrong in 6 years - a home inspection would have found some issues that we didn't find until well after the 1st year and would have taught us some valuable information about home maintenance.
3. We didn't really explore all of our options and we could have gotten more for less.
4. We had no idea how many things could change or go wrong with a new condo association.  Our common charges jumped up by $20/month as soon as the association was formed, we've had numerous increases since then totaling over $80/month along with paying almost an extra year's worth of common charges in special assessments for emergency repairs and budget shortfalls over the 6 years we've lived here.  There's no guarantee that things like that wouldn't have happened in a more established complex, but a long financial history gives more chance for things to remain stable.

Jul. 8, 2008 - Welcome to Fairfield County Connecticut

Thank you for coming to visit the part of the world that I call home - Fairfield County Connecticut.  Or, more specifically Norwalk, my home town (for now, but that's a story for another post).  For a first-time home buyer this can be an intimidating place - why?  Well, let's look at the numbers:

• The Median Home Sales Price in the County was $507,000 in the 1st quarter of 2008, which is almost double the Median Home Sales Price for the whole state of Connecticut
• Over 1/3 of the 23 towns & cities in Fairfield County have Median Home Sales Prices over $750K
• 7 of the top 10 "Least Affordable towns" in Connecticut are located in Fairfield County
• Only 36% of all homes sold were under $400K in Fairfield County in Q1 2008 (compared to 74% statewide)

Doesn't paint a great picture if you're a first-time home buyer with an average income who wants to live in this part of Connecticut.  But don't leave just yet..over the course of this blog I'm going to show you that there are many options - and good options, too - for home buyers at all price ranges who want to live in Fairfield County.  Consider me your own personal guide on the path to home ownership.  And why should you listen to what I have to say, well, let's just say that I know where you're coming from...

It was only six years ago that I bought my first home and made a lot of rookie mistakes.  Since deciding to make Real Estate my profession, I've made it my business to get educated on all aspects of the home buying and selling process so that I can pass that knowledge on to my clients.  Whether you're buying a home for $125,000 or $1.25 million (and I've helped clients buy and sell properties at both of those prices and everywhere in between), it's a huge investment that will affect not only your finances, but your overall quality of life and you should go into it feeling like you're making the best decision based on all of the facts available. 

It's my goal to help the people I work with do what's best for them, which may sometimes mean that they don't buy a home and that's OK.  Because if I've done my job and they are happy with their decision, then they will appreciate what I've done and tell others about it, which is a high compliment.  As Maya Angelou has said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  If my clients feel good about their new home, whether they own it or rent it, then I've done my job.