Weighing the Competition

Tomorrow I’m being interviewed for a new listing. I know there are at least 3 other agents also interviewing for this listing opportunity. Despite the possibility of it working against me, I think it’s worthwhile for sellers to speak with a few agents. Particularly if the sellers do not have a working relationship with an agent that they trust to sell their house (which is different than an agent who is just a friend or

Growing Dinner at Home

With rising food prices, growing your own vegetables at home is a good way to reduce your expenses. Vegetable gardening is rewarding on many fronts, reducing your food bill is just one benefit. You’ll get to spend time outside in the fresh air, get some exercise, have better tasting food, and make the world a little greener. One of the downsides of vegetable gardening is that you may spend a lot of time loving and

Toasty Toes with a Pellet Stove

The question I’m getting more and more these days is “Does this house run on gas or oil?” Buyers never seemed to care much about heating fuel type before, but now sky high oil prices are pushing it to the front of everyone’s mind. But this winter is going to be a rough one for heating costs, no matter what type of fuel you use. The Courant recently had an interesting article regarding homeowners looking

A Glimpse at a Tough Real Estate Market

Last week I reported on real estate market statistics for the spring in a number towns in the Greater Hartford area. Most towns had seen a significant decline in the number of closed sales when comparing April through June of 2008 to 2007. While those statistics are troubling for sellers, they are also troubling for those who earn their living in the real estate industry; your local real estate agent, closing attorney, mortgage broker, home

The Incurables

I recently received showing feedback for one of my sellers. The buyer didn’t like the layout of the house. All I could conclude from the feedback was that the buyer didn’t like that very typical house style. There was nothing my seller could do to improve this objection for future showings. Which brings me to the subject of issues with a house that cannot be fixed. Some houses are cursed with in-cure-able conditions. Here are