The formal living room is a nice size and has a wood burning fireplace. The dining room features a classic built-in cabinet and connects to the remodeled kitchen with eat-in space. There is a half bathroom on the first floor and the basement is partially finished.

Upstairs you’ll find a large master bedroom with walk-up attic access, two additional bedrooms and a neat and clean full bathroom.

Outside there is a large deck and the yard offers plenty of space for play, relaxing or gardening. Park your car in the 1-car garage.

The home features new windows, driveway and exterior paint.

19 Greenhurst Road is offered at $289,900. If you’d like to see this home, please have your agent arrange a showing, stop by our open house Sunday 5/19 from 1:00pm-3:00pm or call me at 860-655-2125 to schedule a visit. More details and a photo tour are available.

I’ve been getting this line a lot recently from the male spouse in couples that are working with me to look for a home.

That’s not necessarily a rousing endorsement of a place. And I’ve been getting it from several different guys, not just one. Do you think a homeowner would like to get the feedback “The husband didn’t hate your house.” Probably not.

At times we do joke that it is the wife’s opinion of a place that matters most and the husband’s opinion is secondary. But really, I think I’d strive for a little more satisfaction than “I don’t hate it.” Also, I haven’t brought a buyer for any of the “I don’t hate it” houses I’ve showed, so I guess that means the husband’s opinion carries some weight.

The first picture is taken from Flatbush Avenue between the train tracks and New Park Avenue. The steel to support the roadway is up, and it’s now clear how the new bridge will meet up with the existing streets at each end.

Next we move east across the tracks to the intersection of Flatbush and Newfield. This picture is looking to the west along Flatbush Avenue towards West Hartford. The large black wall is the inside of the bridge – they have quite a bit of fill to add in order to make it a smooth transition back to ground level. In fact, it looks like the entire intersection of Flatbush and Newfield is going to be elevated when work is complete.

In the January update we were concerned about the future of the restaurant on the corner of Flatbush and Newfield. The construction crew has built what appears to be the edge of the roadway on that parcel. The good news is that the road will avoid the restaurant. The bad news is that the restaurant lost about half of its previous setback from Flatbush Avenue.

My apologies for the poor picture quality on that third shot. I was holding the camera above my head to get it over the fence and looking directly into the sun…

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The number of closed sales has at least equaled the 2012 total in every month. Overall, 19% more deals have closed this year compared to the first four months of 2012.

The number of closings over the past 12 months has increased in nearly every price band. The jump in the $400,000s has been especially impressive.

Demand for homes, as reflected in the properties currently under contract and waiting to close, is well distributed by price band.

Supply of homes is limited, averaging about 3.5 months of inventory. At price points below $500,000 the market has even less available for buyers.

What these charts don’t show is that prices are increasing in West Hartford. Because every property is different, and the mix of homes that sell in a given period of time is constantly changing, there is no easy metric that captures pricing accurately. But any (active) real estate agent can tell you that bidding wars are back, and that buyers need to have their act together in order to have a shot at getting an updated home in the middle and lower price bands.

The double door entry vestibule opens to the formal living room which has a wood burning fireplace and French doors leading to a side porch. A formal dining room with a built-in hutch connects to the kitchen and first floor family room. The remodeled kitchen features eat-in space, granite counters, access to a wraparound deck, as well as the original butler’s pantry. The oversized family room with a wood burning fireplace is great space to relax. A powder room completes the first floor.

Upstairs the second floor has four bedrooms and three full bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms. The third floor is a nicely finished room with plenty of storage space and could be used as an additional bedroom, office or media room.

Outside, the grounds are well landscaped. The open porch and a wraparound deck are perfect for outdoor entertaining.

The home has a newer roof, windows, driveway, updated electrical and an attached 2-car garage.

63 Van Buren Avenue is listed at $539,900. If you’d like to see this home, please have your agent arrange a showing or call me at 860-655-2125 to schedule a visit. More details and a photo tour are available.

Strong April performance helps support our view that the February result was an aberration. Both March and April finished with higher contract totals than any individual month since April 2010. Long time market observers will recall that the final Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit expired on April 30, 2010, so there was a huge push to get homes under contract that month, followed by the market flat-lining for the rest of the year.

The town by town table shows that inventory levels increased despite all the homes that went under contract. This time of year is the peak activity level, with both new listings appearing and deals coming together at a rapid pace. There continue to be towns with relatively few houses available for buyers, and very quick sales with bidding wars are common. On the other hand, there are also towns with lots of vacant properties and opportunities for buyers to get aggressive. Here are the stats for the individual towns.

Once upon a time we could load up bags of mulch at the Home Improvement Superstore and haul them home. We had sufficiently few gardens to make that a reasonable exercise. And we had a suitably large vehicle to carry it all. Both sides of the equation have changed and we now need to have a dump truck bring in the mulch.

This leads to the annual debate about how much mulch we need to buy. Mulch is sold in units of cubic yards – or “yards” for short. The challenge is to translate the mulch need into an appropriate number of “yards” so that we can speak the same language as the mulch people.

Fortunately, there are mulch calculators on the internet that will help you figure it out. Start with the number of square feet of gardens you wish to cover. Next decide how deep you want the mulch to be. It will tell you how many “yards” to order (or bags to buy).

Amy wanted the mulch to be three inches deep this year since last year we had gotten too little. But she quickly realized that three inches was too much. Needless to say, we have way more mulch than we need. Yet she somehow made it all disappear in the lot … I’m still not sure where it went.

A stunning paneled entry vestibule with marble floor, leaded glass and ornamental ceiling tile is sure to wow your visitors. The first floor powder room is tucked away in this space. Inside, a formal foyer opens to an oversized living room and dining room. An off-set fireplace allows this room to easily accommodate a formal sitting space and formal dining area. Ornate plaster ceiling and wall moldings add architectural interest. A cheerful sunroom with tiled floor and built-in bookshelves adjoins the living room . Beyond the dining room is a striking family room with more ornate plaster work, wainscoting, a fireplace and French doors which lead out to a covered porch with bricked arches. The first floor is completed with a kitchen with eat-in space, butler’s pantry, and mudroom with closet space.

Upstairs the second floor has five rooms. The master bedroom suite has a walk-in closet, full bathroom with exquisite floor-to-ceiling ceramic tile and plaster molding, and an attached office with built-in bookcases. There are two additional bedrooms and a large laundry room, which could be converted back to a bedroom, if needed. The hallway bathroom also has pristine floor-to-ceiling ceramic tile and unique plaster molding.

The third floor has two more bedrooms, a full bathroom, large cedar closet, a bonus room and plenty of closet space for storage.

Behind the home you’ll find a fully fenced backyard, 2-car garage, covered back porch with bricked arches, patio and gardens full of perennials.

52 Whitney Street is listed at $350,000. If you’d like to see this home, please have your agent arrange a showing or call me at 860-655-2125 to schedule a visit. More details and a photo tour are available.

The main level features a spacious combined living room and dining room that makes for a comfortable and cheerful home. A balcony off the living room is one of three private outdoor spaces in the condo. The kitchen has been fully updated, and has stainless steel appliances and an eat-in area. A powder room completes the first floor.

The living space continues downstairs in the fully finished walk-out lower level. A large family room can be adapted to any use, includes a wet bar, and has a slider out to the patio.

The upper level has a large master bedroom with private balcony and walk-in closet. The second bedroom is also a good size and a full bath rounds out the floor.

The condo has central air and a new hot water heater. The view off the balconies at all three levels is of trees, giving the unit a very private feel. Briar Court is also a convenient location within the community as a small cul-de-sac near one of the entrances.

9 Briar Court is listed at $133,000. If you’d like to see this home, please have your agent arrange a showing or call me at 860-655-2922 to schedule a visit. More details are available.