Condos: Advantages and Disadvantages

We have previously noted that condos are different than other types of real estate without getting into the how or why. The main difference is that you, as the owner, do not have sole discretion over your property. Individual condominium units are part of a larger community. You have to follow its rules and pay a monthly homeowner association fee (HOA) to support the shared services and amenities. There are good reasons to choose a

The Condominium Opportunity

Condominiums are currently out of favor with buyers. The number of closed condo sales in Hartford County fell about 57% from its peak in 2005 to 2011. There are many reasons why the number of condo deals has fallen so dramatically. Much of the decline can be attributed to a change in buyer sentiment, which has also impacted other property types. In the mid-2000s everyone wanted to buy a home because real estate was all

Office Tower Conversions

Today’s question … what would it take to make a former office tower an interesting/hip/cool place to live? While walking through Downtown Hartford I was once again thinking about how interesting a neighborhood it is becoming. There has been a noticeable change since I moved to town in 2004, with the highlight being numerous projects filling previously underutilized sites with housing. There are plenty of underutilized sites that remain – many of them are office

Slower January for Condos

The number of condominiums that went under contract in Hartford County this January trailed 2010’s total by just over 20%. The drop in activity continues the post tax credit trend from last year. Since this month’s deal count was actually in line with the January 2009 numbers, it appears that the market is simply returning to a more realistic activity level after being goosed by last year’s tax credit. Buyers and sellers successfully negotiated contracts

2010 Condo Market Stats

Today we’re going to look at the Hartford County condo market for 2010. Like we’ve been doing with the single-family market, we’re going to focus on the contracts written so that we have a sense of when buyers and sellers are most active. The chart below shows the number of contracts written by month for each of the past two years, which will give a good baseline for what we will see in the coming