Super Bowl Sunday  Where's the Food?       Super Bowl XLVI is just hours away. A normal football game of 60 minutes, will take 3 hours to play, but Super Bowls take upwards of 4 ½ hours. An important part of a Super Bowl is the food and this should be no exception. The list is a compilation of facts based on previous years of Super Sundays. Take some inspiration from the following game day statistics to either follow the trends or to take the food path less traveled with healthy and gourmet game day snacks. Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving. 1,200 calories: Amount the average Super Bowl watcher will consume while snacking. Football fans are expected to eat an estimated 69.6 million pounds of avocados during this year’s Super Bowl, mostly... 02/05/2012

Groundhog Day, Feb 2, 2012, Six More Weeks of Winter   Today is Groundhog Day, the annual right of early spring when a known member of the rodent family, known as either Punxsutawney Phil, or Staten Island Chuck, or Sir Walter Wally, or General Beauregard Lee or Warton Willie and a host of others.     Punxsutawney Phil emerged to see his shadow before chilly revelers, meaning winter will last another six weeks. In other less attended areas, some of Phil’s cousins did not see their shadows. Phil may have been a little confused by the shadows created by all of the lights for those cameras Bill Murray’s crew had set up. German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is see... 02/02/2012

Prospect CT 2011 Real Estate Market Report     In 2011, 59 homes were sold in Prospect CT, with an average sale price of $270,740 and an average of 97 days on market. The homes that sold ranged from a 672 sq. ft. 2 bedroom ranch that sold for $22,000, to a 2350 sq. ft. 3 bedroom contemporary colonial that sold for $452,309.   The absorption rate for Prospect CT in 2011 was 4.92 homes sold per month. With an average of 57 homes on the market at any given time during 2011, that leaves Prospect CT with 11.58 months of inventory remaining.     2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Homes Sold 59 76 77 69 81 Av. Listing Price 262,704 279.533 267,544 298,900 325,355 Av. Sale Price 249,966 270,740 257,008 284,010 312,425 Av. DOM 97 103 86 109 90 SP/LP Ratio 94% 96% 96% 95% 96%   2011 was a good year for the... 01/31/2012

PROSPECT CT-REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT - JANUARY 2012   Prospect CT-Real Estate Market Report - January 2012 Sales prices jumped dramatically in Prospect in comparison to last month and last year. A look at the homes sold graph shows that most of the homes did net at least 90% of their asking price. Sellers, if you correctly price your home based on its condition, then buyers will definitely want not only to see the home, but to make an offer on it.     12/2011 11/2011 12/2010 Active Listings 58 73 49 New Listings 4 13 9 Av. Listing Price $306,517 $308,182 $329,879 Av. Sq. Ft. 2058 2088 2225 Av. DOM 185 154 184 Homes Sold 12 4 9 Av. LP – Homes Sold $258,354 $179,925 $222,744 Av. SP – Homes Sold $250,962 $163,450 $212,167 Av. DOM – Homes Sold 95 116 107 SP/LP Ratio 96% 88% 95% Absorption ... 01/31/2012

Avoiding Foreclosure In Connecticut Means doing More than Sitting and Waiting   In our current economy, many Central Connecticut home owners are underwater, especially if they either purchased or re-financed within the past 4-5 years. Home values have fallen back and in many areas have reached a stable range. The market is, however, affected by home owners that have just walked away and allowed the home to go into foreclosure, or have made an active choice to get their home sold by means of a short sale.   Short term solutions are available to home owners that have had some type of problems in their lives. For these owners, there is the possibility of getting their mortgage modified, to be easier to manage. This is the HAMP or Home Affordable Modification Program.  This program is desig... 01/28/2012

Weltanschauung . . The Guiding Principle By Which We all Get Along Together   A quick trip to Wikipedia, will come up with a description of the word as: ‘It is a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. Additionally, it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Within the framework of the ActiveRain Platform, it’s intent is to allow for a free exchange of information, as relates to real estate, with the understanding that it can come from anyone, and not just real estate agents. As a successful real estate transaction requires a sequence of events starting with and ending with the banks (pre-qualification to closing docs), with the input o... 01/22/2012

SEO, Let your Information be Heard.     SEO is Search Engine optimization. It's the quest to get our information positioned onto the Internet superhighway so it not only travels a long way, but will be noticed as well. If getting noticed on the Internet were simple, our business would be even more competitive. But it’s not, so with each bit of information we put to our web sites, blogs, etc a form and plan must be used and maintained. I have equated getting picked up by the search crawlers in the Internet to trying to get a fine string quartet to be heard in an auditorium filled with teenagers, the right music needs to be played to get their attention.   The same is true with getting our information noticed on the Internet. Keywords typical of those that a person may use, that represent... 01/20/2012

Hotchkiss Field, Prospect CT, Offering Recreation for All SeasonsLocated at the just off the center of Prospect on Waterbury Rd is Hotchkiss Field. This town managed recreation area was a gift of the Hotchkiss family, who donated a portion of their farm for the 'Public Good.'Here in good weather you can find people relaxing on the many fields. Others walk, or jog on the cindered track which runs for a full mile, although there are smaller loops for the less ambitious.  Just off the main entrance and parking lot are the basketball courts, where there is always somebody looking for a quick pick-up game.There are several soccer fields which are always loaded with ‘footballers’ of all ages on weekends.   With a grove of trees and tables positioned underneath, a warm picnic is a possibility ... 01/15/2012

2011 Year End Real Estate Market Update for Prospect CT   The average value for the homes sold in Prospect CT for the year was $246,864 with an average days on market of 97.  The current inventory of homes is equivalent to a 13 month inventory.   For the year 2011, the market sales or absorption rate in Prospect CT was 4.8 sales per month.   Market absorption trends show the rate that properties are selling compared with inventory which enables us to see if it is a sellers’ or buyers’ market. A 6 months worth of inventory is considered a balanced market.  Less than 6 months of invnetory is a sellers’ market and anything over 6 months is considered a buyers’ market.   The list price ratio to sales price ratio was 93%, which indicates sellers putting the homes on the market near to fair m... 01/10/2012

Prospect CT Real Estate Sales Report for December 2011       Currently in Prospect CT there are 59 active residential listings for sale, with 5 new listings being added in December. The homes for sale in Prospect CT range from an 840 square ft, 2-bedroom mobile home, listed at $20,000 to a 2,983 square ft, 4-bedroom colonial listed at $589,900. The average list price of the homes currently available for sale in Prospect CT is $314,317. The average days on market for these homes is 182 days.       There are 8 homes under contract in Prospect CT. The average list price for these homes is $284,575 with an average day on market of 127 days.    There were 13 home sales recorded in Prospect CT in December. They ranged from a 2,302 Sq ft 3-bedroom multi level home, which sold for $214,000 to a... 01/09/2012

Trust is Seldom Given, and Must be Earned!     Trust is a word spoken so often, and used to imply good faith, but is a difficult word to keep. As children we know that the people around us can be trusted. Our parents, siblings, close relatives, are people that we need to trust to feel protected. As we get older and become more involved with the people around us, we recognize that trust now has different meanings. We learn that there are degrees of trust just like there are many shades of gray.  We learn that some of the people we meet may not be concerned with what is good for us and may attempt to take advantage of our trust to benefit them. As working professionals, we do our jobs with trust as the key element to a relationship. We presume that at first contact we should try to trust ... 01/06/2012

Happy New Year 2012 As we go forward into the new year, I would like to wish all a Happy, Healthy and prosperous New Year!     For many, 2011 was a year of successes here in the Rain. There were also the occasional rants, but sometimes the frustrations of the business can lead to that. Hopefully as we get into the New year, the tone of the blog posts will continue to be upbeat, full of information and positive.   Happy New Year 2012 01/01/2012

Christmas Delights with a Middle Eastern Flair We are now in the season of ‘Know Better’, but for many of us the will power loses, and the eyes take over. What I am referring to is the temptations presented with all the Christmas goodies. As I looked at our desert table Christmas Day, I just knew there is going to be a lot of extra effort expended in January to atone for the eye issue. As my wife is of Lebanese decent, those deserts tend to dominate. We had the typical cheese cake, home-made cookies, apple pies but the table also had a sprinkling of names like baklawa, farina cake, and kataife.   Here‘s a glimpse as to the issues I’m dealing with: Baklawa:  In a recent post, Barbara Todaro also described an Armenian pastry called Paklava, and this would be the Lebanese version. It’s lay... 12/26/2011

Christmas 2011  . . . May your Day be filled with Happiness  Merry Christmas   For onto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. From our house to yours,    Merry Christmas     12/24/2011

Donations Sought for Prospect CT Funds for the Needy,  December’s Season of Celebrations   The Town of Prospect CT is looking for donations to their Food, Toy and Fuel Funds for the needy families in town looking for some Holiday assistance. There is always a need to help others, but as times have gotten tougher, residents are being asked to look a little deeper into their hearts and wallets to find a bit more. Anyone interested can bring a check, payable to the any of the funds: Prospect Toy FundProspect Food BankProspect Fuel Bank And either deliver them or mail them to the:  Prospect Town Hall36 Center St Prospect CT 06712 Any toy donations should be unused and unwrapped. Donations Sought for Prospect CT Funds for the Needy   12/18/2011

December 17 Christmas 2011 Challenge: Tending to Business, While Working the Business and Trying to be Festive Today was not a light day, but a day of family and friends. The work load was minimal but I did manage to talk to a potential client this morning that called because of a Localism post I did almost 2 years ago on condos. They are looking for a rental, and I was able to send them as couple of items to review. The rest of the morning was spent getting the house ready for our annual Christmas luncheon. It has grown considerably and the high-lite of the day is always the visit from Santa Claus. The gathering had 14 kids under the age of 10, and each received a present from Santa, and we even had a little one that prepped for 3 days preparing a special letter to Santa, with instruct... 12/17/2011

Meet-up in Connecticut, with some Holiday Cheer as Well Thursday evening, in Wilton CT, Dagny Eason opened up her home and hospitality for an ActiveRain Meet-up. How great to be able to meet fellow Rain members form the area without the structure of being in a restaurant. A truly social evening. It's always a fun time when family and friends get together, and this was no exception. The local ActiveRain family got together, all felt like friends, and a host of topics were discussed.  There was talk about blogging; SEO, there was a spirited discussion about a literary piece written about some invention by a man named John Crapper. There was food and drinks galore, topped off by someone's red velvet cake, with white icing, true Christmas colors. Somehow this group of ActiveRain members alw... 12/16/2011

Prospect CT Real Estate Sales Report for November 2011   Currently in Prospect CT there are 72 active residential listings for sale, with 13 new listings being added in November. The homes for sale in Prospect CT range from an 840 square ft, 2-bedroom mobile home, listed at $20,000 to a 5,000 square ft, 5-bedroom colonial listed at $775,000. The average list price of the homes currently available for sale in Prospect CT is $355.500. The average days on market for these homes is 155 days.  There are currently 7 homes under contract in Prospect CT. The average list price for these homes is $300,500 with an average day on market of 186 days.  There were 4 homes sold in Prospect CT in November. They ranged from a 2,302 Sq ft 3-bedroom multi level home, which sold for $214,000 to a 1,675 sq ... 12/09/2011

PROSPECT CT-REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT - DECEMBER 2011   Prospect CT- Real Estate Market Report - December 2011Sales prices continue to decline in Prospect in comparison to last month and last year. A look at the homes sold graph shows that most of the homes did net at least 90% of their asking price. Sellers , if you correctly price your home based on its condition, then buyers will definitely want not only to see the home, but to make an offer on it.     11/2011 10/2011 11/2010 Active Listings 73 65 58 New Listings 13 18 11 Av. Listing Price $308,182 $296,383 $313,254 Av. Sq. Ft. 2088 2020 2056 Av. DOM 154 178 172 Homes Sold 4 4 8 Av. LP – Homes Sold $179,925 $331,200 $274,588 Av. SP – Homes Sold $163,450 $312,875 $265,113 Av. DOM – Homes Sold 116 74 77 SP/LP Ratio 88% 95% 96% Absorpti... 12/07/2011

Keeping the Christmas Spirit while Tending to Business   Everybody loves attending inspections, and today I had my cheers as well. An inspection is always an interesting scenario, but it's even juicier when it's a short sale property and nobody wants to anticipate what the buyer will feel after the inspection has been finished. We have already sent the file forward to the bank, they did a preliminary appraisal after they got my BPO, and fortunately for me, it came in lower than I had determined. In the middle of all this, I did get a call from Santa Claus, letting me know he had received my request for a personal visit to our house for our Annual Christmas Luncheon for the kids. This will keep me in good graces for at least a few minutes with my wife. Keeping the Christmas Spirit While ... 12/05/2011