Weekend Plans: Apr 16th 2011

If you’re looking to spend some time outside this weekend, consider helping the Knox Parks Foundation. The Greater Hartford Green Team is working with Trees for Hartford Neighborhoods to plant over 50 new trees in the City. The event runs from 9am to 1pm on Saturday, 4/16. Everyone will meet at the Niles Street Garden, at 17 Niles Street, to get a brief demo and then head out to the different planting sites. Volunteers need

Are Real Estate Websites Your Friend?

Real estate websites came up in yesterday’s post. The basic question was, “Can buyers rely on public real estate websites during a home search?” I think we can all agree that they’re fun to look at, and they do a very nice job at presenting and consolidating data. But do they have a buyer’s (or seller’s) best interests in mind? I don’t think they do. Their goal is to make money. Basically all the sites

Buyers: Get Your Act Together

This past weekend I held an open house at 55 Grennan, in the heart of West Hartford Center. For those that don’t know, the West Hartford Center market is very active, and right now strongly favors sellers. Homes that are priced properly tend to sell very quickly because there are many buyers and agents on the lookout for opportunities. Our listing went under contract shortly before the open house. Since it’s virtually impossible to cancel

Weekend Plans: Apr 9th 2011

Wow, the weekend is almost here, what’s happening already?!? The big event is The Odd Ball at Real Art Ways, which is the ultimate costume party. Check out the pictures of previous years to see what I mean … amazing. Otherwise there is the usual assortment of interesting local events to keep everyone out of trouble. And if you really can’t think of anything to do, then get outside and enjoy the weather. Saturday is

March Contracts Lag: Cause for Concern?

Negotiated contracts on single-family homes in March 2011 were down about 24% from the year-previous monthly tally. Wait a minute … that sounds awfully familiar. For the second month in a row the market was only three-quarters as active as last year. Does this establish a trend? Is it cause for concern? Although we may be seeing the beginning of a trend, we don’t think it’s cause for concern. In fact, this looks like a