Our "Before" Kitchen

Oh happy day, our kitchen remodel project begins in T-minus 3 weeks. So, what exactly are we getting rid of and what kind of space do we have to work with? Here are some pictures from when we first bought our home and what the kitchen looked like… I like to try to be positive, so let’s first start with the good things about our existing kitchen. It’s quite a large space (12×20) and has

The Offer Process

Recently I had a client ask me how long the offer process takes and then apologize for asking me what they considered a dumb question. First, I’d like to say that there really are no dumb questions in real estate, as with just about anything else in life. It’s only dumb to not ask the question in the first place. Unfortunately for HGTV watchers, the offer process is not really at all like how the

Buyers + ??? = Deals

We just got back from the Tuesday broker’s open house tour in West Hartford. It’s always fun to see the new listings and talk with the other agents about what is going on in the market. One of the common themes right now seems to be that there are more buyers actively looking for homes than there are sellers. Many agents reported having trouble finding homes that their buyer clients are interested in purchasing. We

Looking for a Past Owner

We’ve been getting a lot of calls to our home phone number in the last few months. We don’t really give out, or even use, our land line very much, so we’re always suspicious of who’s calling us when it rings. We typically think it’s a telemarketer, even though we’re on the Do Not Call list. But recently it’s not telemarketers on the line. It’s collections agencies. And the people calling us are looking for

Crappy New Construction

Many new buyers are intrigued by new or newer (say built since 1995) construction. Looking at older homes depresses them because they often need updating or don’t have more modern layouts with open floor plans and family rooms. Some buyers don’t want to take the time or have the money to put in updates immediately, so they lean towards newer construction in their search. I’ve even come across a few buyers that believe older homes