Hartford Revaluation 2011 – Mill Rate Estimate

Thursday’s Hartford Courant contained an article and photo gallery projecting possible tax bills for a number of different properties in the City of Hartford. Their story contained just enough information to figure out what their model of the revaluation’s results say about the mill rate and residential assessment ratio. The Courant is projecting that the three property classes will have assessment ratios of 70% for commercial, 50% for apartments (which now includes four-family buildings) and

More on Demographics and Real Estate

Below is another article about demographics and other real estate trends that builds on the research of Arthur C. Nelson. It came to my attention after being posted by City of Hartford COO David Panagore. This continues on the themes of Mr. Condon’s piece from Sunday and our take on specific neighborhoods that may benefit from the market shifts. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t get through the whole thing in the first sitting, but when

Boomers Boomerang Back into Town

This Sunday’s Hartford Courant had an interesting piece by Tom Condon titled “Subdivisions On Way Out?” It is definitely worth a read if you were focused on other things yesterday, like spending time with your mother or enjoying the beautiful weather. The basic thesis is that a confluence of trends will lead to more large houses for sale in the suburbs than buyers who will be interested in purchasing them. Supply will come from the

Courant Companion: That Empty Feeling

The cover story of today’s real estate section features an article titled That Empty Feeling about the impact of vacant homes on a neighborhood. The wide-ranging piece provides a lot of interesting and important information about homes that are considered eyesores. A critical point in the overall thesis, and therefore a focal point of the article, is the example of a dilapidated property that actually hurts the value of neighboring homes. Unfortunately, a very poor

Courant Companion: A Refi Bonanza

Today’s front page Courant article gives another view of the refinancing opportunity. They highlight a homeowner who is moving from a 30 year to 15 year mortgage, illustrating the significant amount of interest they can save by knocking 8 years off the total term of the loan. The story provides another great example of the line of thinking and analysis we did when working through our refinancing process. And kudos to the homeowner for aspiring