Giving Away Equity. How Much is Too Much?

A few weeks ago I was walking around my neighborhood in the West End of Hartford and saw a couple moving into a house. I welcomed them to the block and during our conversation they mentioned that they bought the house in a private sale. This is not uncommon for the West End. People fall in love with the architecture of certain homes and tell the owners that when they’re ready to move to give

Inventory's Up. How Do You Differentiate?

The Greater Hartford Association of Realtors recently released their statistics for July. For the year (and July), the number of listings is up and closed sales are down. Add to that the shrinking number of available buyers due to the mortgage industry troubles. So, to put your home sale in business terms, you now have more competition and fewer buyers. Time to differentiate! 1. Most importantly, price your house right. Be sure the agent listing

Doh! You Missed Out on a Great House…

If you are thinking about buying a house any time soon, please keep “speed” in mind. No, I am not talking about drugs. By “speed” I mean your ability to react quickly if you happen to come across the house of your dreams. Here are two perfect scenarios where you will almost always lose out: 1. You have a house to sell that is not yet on the market, and you can’t afford to carry

Great Idea! Let's Commit Mortgage Fraud!

I had an agent, “Pat,” contact me this week about one of my listings. Pat’s clients were interested in the house and considering putting in an offer. Pat proceed to ask me how “creative” my clients were. Being left-handed, I’m always open to creativity, so I asked for an explanation of what they had in mind. Pat gave me some details about how the contract would be structured and then mentioned that the buyers would