Ed Silva CDPE, GRI, ABR, Real Estate Agent

We've had about 3 inches of rain within the past week and we have a promise of more. Not the best of times for outdoor activities, but I like showing houses in the rain. This, for me, is when all the little secrets get discovered. you can't hide the bad window seals, because the windows fog; the water around the chimney and skylights can't be disguised; the stains in the basements are easier to trace and discover just what "only a little seepage with heavy rains" actually means. Of course seeing the wet vacs out in the open is usually a good clue.

I find that with the rains come the results, and the buyers get a chance to make a better evaluation of the home. They can always come back when it's sunny for the second showing so that they feel good about writing the offer. Of course sending along a few photos of the wet stuff, when we send over the offer doesn't hurt either.

Does anybody else like showings in the rain?

In doing some reading over the weekend I ran across an article that although carried some optimistic news, also was a little confusing. The report offered the period from January home prices have seen a steady decline in value within the 20 hardest hit cities in this country. The decline over the first 4 months of 2009 show the slowest rate of decline during that period, which leads the ‘experts' to project that the worst may be over. I further goes on to offer that the stimulus packages within the government system, coupled with record low interest rates should continue to halt the slide in values. Unemployment means purchases are unlikely to rebound quickly. It also projects that with the decline in values slowing, that consumers are becoming more optimistic about the economy.

On the flip side, however, there were a record over 800,000 properties that went into default or were seized in the first quarter of 2009, which is the highest in the past 4 years. Job losses will keep prices down and force additional houses into foreclosure. The influx of foreclosure driven declines have increased home sales, but the inventory remains high enough in some areas that the resale of houses will be further delayed. Almost 50% of the sales in March alone were for distressed homes, with first time buyers accounting for the largest percentage of purchases. New homes did see some activity, and the inventory of new homes declined to a seven year low.

On the one hand we're told that the value decline is waning while at the same time we are about to be hit with the largest single volume of foreclosures in years. So is the stability really stabile, or just in a lull?

I didn't talk to anybody about buying or selling a home today, because today we baptized our 9-week old grandson, Raphael Michael Antonacci.

Sometimes you have to step back and smell the roses, (unless it's a full diaper). It creates all kinds of warm feelings inside, and it's amazing how you can start to feel emotions so stronger than any you have ever felt before.

It was his day, we hope he lives the life that represents the love we feel for him.

Life is good!

I gathered this from the local paper this morning. At least one local community is stepping up to assist it's residents. Only time will tell how successful it is.

The town of Naugatuck is offering a ‘no pressure' mortgage resource center for local homeowners who have problems with their mortgages, and are looking for assistance. With people not feeling that they can get the information they want without hassles, before they actually meet with their lawyers of lenders this may be an interim option.

The Town of Naugatuck, in conjunction with the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library will offer resource materials to help people find information they need to deal with economic problems. The resident economic resource initiative is organized by the library, mayor's office and the Naugatuck Social Services Network. Hopefully it will help people learn about foreclosures, resume and cover letter writing, and how to manage stress, ways to save for retirement; the rights people have when dealing with debt collectors, and more.

As many people feel uncomfortable about going to a Town Hall for information, the belief was that the library would be friendlier. The program will be active as long as necessary. Information will be replenished as needed at the resource center, which will be on the second floor of the library. Seminars will be held periodically on issues such as foreclosure and resume writing.

As kids we all had the set of dominos that we would set up all over the place just to see the trail when we started the action. Hours were expended trying to get just the right configuration so that when we were ready we would make the grand pronouncement and wait for the audience, usually our parents or friends, so that the first strike could be made.

If we had the right number of dominoes, the chain reaction would commence and depending on our imagination the trail would snake it's way around the room, up over obstacles, through a hoop, and then at last the final peg would fall. Sounds a lot like our real estate business.

I get email responses to my blogs from the readers in my database wanting to know why I talk so much about the opportunities in the larger towns and don't expend as much time and energy on the surrounding areas. Well the answer is very simple. We need to set up the dominoes before we can get the trail to start. The properties that have the best chance of getting sold in our area would be the ‘starter' homes in Waterbury, Naugatuck, Meriden and Bristol. Until we can get the buyers to make their commitments to the properties in the larger towns, which tend to be less expensive, we won't be able to get the higher valued properties sold in the ‘burbs'.

The suburban properties with their larger lots, larger homes and less dense neighborhoods need the buyers from the starter homes to get theirs sold in order to allow them to move on. It's exactly like a domino chain. This past year, I had a chain of four properties that were all linked together. The weakest link in the chain would have prevented all of them from falling together properly. Fortunately, we got them to completion, but not without some tension, especially at the final hour.

The domino chain for the suburbs needs the start of the chain in the larger towns to get started. The chain has it's complications because of the number of properties that need to get sold, where the competition is high with foreclosures, short sales and that rarest of all conventional sales needing to be completed. We line up the pegs and hope that there's enough of an audience to get the chain started so that everybody is happy in the end.