Ed Silva CDPE, GRI, ABR, Real Estate Agent

In Connecticut, we had a very wet summer, which has paved the way for another fall filled with a brilliant array of color. We have some of the most diverse forests in all of New England with our hardwoods such as ash, hickory, and oak, all trees that tend to have large leaves that stay on the trees long.

Northwestern Connecticut is entering peak foliage season, with green leaves transforming into bright reds, yellows and even purple. As the temperatures change, the variation between the high temperatures and the low really kick the colors into action.

When chlorophyll in a typical green leaf breaks down, yellow and orange carotenoids are released. At the same time, other chemical changes occur to bring forth the brighter color pigments. Because of this our colors are here and they are spectacular. Here are a few photos I took while on my routine walk through the hills in Watertown.

This is Merriam Lake in Watertown. The same lake I had blogged about a couple weeks ago with Smoke on the Water. Here the smoke is still arisin' but the sun is starting to shine on the farthest hillside.

1909 FORD Model R

Show this to your children and/or grandchildren

THE YEAR 1909

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1909..
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :

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• The average life expectancy was 47 years.
• Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
• There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles Of paved roads.
• The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
• The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.
• The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
  A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
• Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '
• Sugar cost four cents a pound.
• Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
• Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!! !!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea Hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health' ( Shocking? DUH! )

Eighteen percent of households had at least One full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

I have to learn how to make scribefire work!

Took a quick 90 minute walk this morning and the colors in New England are starting to come, at least in Watertown. This was just too good to pass up. We have everla water holes arounf the course, and the reds come up quickly. We've had so much rain this year that some of the trees started to lose leaves early, even before the color change. Stay tunes, the best are yet to come.

A few weeks back I came across an article that detailed a new system in place with the credit companies to track the impact on credit scores crated by short sales, foreclosures and loan modifications.

This new scoring company created by the three national credit bureaus. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion has some numbers that should cause us to take notice. This new company is called VantageScore Solutions LLC, whoserisk prediction scores are now being used by some of the largest mortgage companies and banks has found that the way consumers handle their mortgage problems can have profound effects on their credit scores.

For example, some alternatives-- such as loan modifications that roll late payments and penalties into the principal debt owed on the house, actually can increase borrower's scores modestly. Refinancing of underwater, negative-equity mortgages may have little or no negative impact on the scores, even though the homeowners might have been tottering on the edge of serious delinquency before financing.

The Vantage score, the primary competitor to the long dominant FICO score, rates borrowers on a scale from 501, sub-prime, highest risk, yo 990, supre-prime, the lowest risk. Unlike FICO, where scores can vary by 50 to 100 points based on which bureau supplied the credit data, Vantage scores are approximately the same for each consumer.

When homeowners negotiate a short sale with lenders, they sometimes assume there will be relatively little impact on their scores. After all, the loan was paid off successfully and the lender voluntarily agreed to accept a lower balance than was owed. According to VantageScoreresearchers, short sales can trigger big drops in scores. An homeowner who may have had an excellent score of 862 could fall 120-130 points immediately as a result of a short sale. While it's true the lender may lose less money through a short sale compared with a foreclosure, it's still a negative event. The lender lost money, so scores should go down.

People who file for bankruptcy protection covering all their debts--mortgage, credit cards, auto loans, etc. --get hit with declines that are the scoring equivalent of a nuclear bomb: an average 355-365 point collapse on their scores. Plus bankruptcies will remain on borrowers' credit bureau files for 10 years.

The bottom-line good news about scores is that homeowners facing financial stress can experience minimal hits to their credit if they contact their loan servicer or lender early in the game, when they first realize they may have trouble making their monthly payments, and take the first steps toward a loan modification or refinancing. If borrowers wait and fall several payments behind before seeking a modification, they can lose 250-300 points on their scores and damage their ability to obtain credit, on anything, for years.

We're heading into the home stretch for first time buyers to be eligible for the $8000 tax credit. If the proeprty isn't under contract within the next 10 days, then chances are real good that it won't close on time.

One date that everybody has been looking at for months is Nov 30, , a Monday as the drop off date. Well take a look at the calender and see where that falls.

THANKSGIVING is Thursday, Nov 26. Many people in the banking system use this day as one of their 'floater' vacation days in order to get a long weekend, get a jump on Christmas shopping, which is signaled by Friday, Nov 27, or to enjoy a visit with friends and family out of the area. After all the Thanksgiving weekend is the most heavily traveled weekend of the year.

Think your lawyer's staff are going to be concerned about your purchase, especially after you've spent months trying to get something better than the last great deal you had before you? Think again. The only people that care about your purchase are you and your agent, to the rest of the system you're a number, and if your number isn't at the top of the pile, oh well.

I would anticipate that with the rash of closings that may be coming on that date, that the banks, lawyer's etc, might stay out there a little while longer, like the IRS does on April 15. But if not, too bad. Within the world of finance, unless you have connections on Wall street or higher, the everyday person doesn't catch that break.

So, if you want to get that credit, get serious. Time is running out, and you will have no one to blame but yourself.