A View from the Field- Part 3

Trek #3 out to New Milford for appraisal class. At least I only paid $2.99 a gallon for gas this week. Today I learned about 2 of the 3 different approaches to appraise different types of properties; the Sales Comparison Approach and the Cost Approach. Next week we’ll learn about the third approach, the Income Approach. Really fascinating stuff to the lay person, I know. But now I know that if I want to appraise

The Heating "Game"

Kyle and I have an annual tradition, a “game” of sorts. We try to see how long we can go without turning on the heat in our living quarters. This all started back in the ’90s when we lived outside of Boston. We were young and foolish, living on the top floor of a 4-family. We lived the high life with minimal wall insulation but newer windows, mooching heat off of the unit below us.

Regionalism in CT

This Sunday’s Courant contained an excellent editorial about regionalism as a possible strategy for addressing the financial challenges our numerous local governments face. It is a very helpful piece because it not only introduces & defines the idea, but also looks at pros & cons. Finally, the article cites other US metropolitan regions that are already making strides with this strategy and articulates first steps for Greater Hartford. Town finances impact all of us (even

Picture Perfect Day: ING's Hartford Marathon

Note: Non-real estate related post follows. A few months ago, I posted a plea for running partners to help me train for ING’s Hartford Half Marathon. My wish was granted and I met some very nice ladies that I’ve trained with over the past few weeks. Well, today was the big day. The weather was perfect and I was ready to go. And to make it an even better event, several of our grad school

A View from the Field- Part 2

Today was session 2 of my 30 hour appraisal class. Back out to New Milford I went. One concept we talked about that I found particularly interesting was the highest and best use for a property. In order for an appraiser to determine a final value conclusion for their appraisal report, they must understand the optimum use to which land or improved property can be put. To do this, they’ll look at 4 tests: 1.