Dave Jones Broker/Owner e-PRO Dave Jones Realty llc Prospect CT.

Summer 2011 Market Update
If you can qualify, now is an exceptional time to buy a home in Cheshire. Low rates with falling home prices makes a home purchase a great value! Call now for more information at 203-910-2638




Average Home Price

$400,000 - View Graph Trend







Average Price Compared to Last Year

Up 0-5%







Average Time on Market

More than 120 days







Best Selling Price Range

$300,000 - $349,000







Worst Selling Price Range

$1,000,000+







Prices As % of Asking Price

90-95%







Existing Home Prices for the past 90 days are?

No Change







Market Trend

Increasing







Buyers' or Sellers' Market

More sellers than buyers







Buyer Activity for the past 90 days in Cheshire is

Decreasing







Seller Activity for the past 90 days in Cheshire is?

Decreasing







Multiple Offers?

No







Multiple Offers Commentary

The homes in Cheshire that are priced correctly are seeing the most activity and often see multiple offers. There is a slow down of bank owned homes for the time being and that has helped with prices. This winter I believe we will see the foreclosures resume, and the prices will drop again.







What Percentage of the Current Housing Inventory are Foreclosures and/or Short Sales?

15-20%







Is Financing Available For Qualified Buyers?

Yes







Comments on Financing For Qualified Buyers

There are countless financing options for Cheshire CT home buyers.







Housing Inventory

Good supply - Some Prices







Inventory Comments

The have been far fewer sales through 9 months in 2011 than there were in the first 9 months of 2010. There have been 83 Closed/Sold properties in Cheshire through 9 months in 2011. that same period last year saw 149 properties close!







Greatest Activity

Repeat Buyers







Reason to Buy/Sell

Good economic news







Nearest Metro Area

New Haven







Housing Hot Spots

Most cities within the New Haven County area are considered 'Housing Hotspots'. These housing HOTSPOTS include Prospect CT, New Haven CT, Hamden CT, and Woodbury CT.







Average Sold Price

$400,000 - View Graph Trend

I wanted to take a little time and put something together to introduce a product we have started using in my office. A friend told me about a system that allows you to upload your entire address book and then pick out (or design your own) a custom greeting card. They have over 15,000 cards to choose from.

Now these aren't electronic or email cards, but rather REAL printed and mailed greeting cards! Most of our clients are like us, currently overwhelmed with spam and junk mail. They might not see your monthly newsletter, market update, or quick note you emailed them. I will tell you something...They can't miss these cards. I have sent out about 50 so far and the response has been crazy. I have had people said they put them on the fridge, on the mantle, etc. I have had two people ask me for the website so they can do it. I have even received a referral that was directly related to a card I sent.

Click play to see a brief video of some of the cards I have made.

I went through my address book and I added "anniversary dates" for all the clients I have already sold. When they pop up in my reminder, I send a custom card with photos of their house and all my contact info. They really could not stop talking about it. I use countless forms of marketing to stay in front of my Sphere of Influence.

I have subscriptions to sharperagent.com, toproducer8i, Market Snapshot (topmarketer.com), House Hunt, animoto, realestateshows, etc etc. When it comes to marketing I either use it, or have used it. (For HONEST reviews on any of those sites please feel free to contact me too).

The program is very straightforward, allows you to create a standard custom greeting card for about .60 cents. A custom card with your own photos is about .90 cents. Then they add a real US stamp (currently .44 cents) and ship it for you. You can even add in gift cards, cookies, brownies, etc. It is great. You can sign up for a standard account and just send cards, or you can treat it as a business and sign up as a distributor.

I have used this now for Anniversary cards for home sales, Expired marketing, FSBO Marketing. Short Sales, thank you for listing appointments,

You can have your own handwriting font installed and add your signatures. We sent one as a condolence card and the woman who received it brought it in to work to show everyone.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

Goto www.RealtorFollowUp.com or www.SendoutCards.com/davejones to send a card for FREE!

A few days back I posted a blog about the storm that ws just hitting New England. Well 5 days later, the power is back on for us.

Well here is Prospect about 70% of the town has power again but the news is filled with towns that are still experiencing 100% outage!

In the 5 days without Power / Water / Heat I have seen and done a lot of things.

I have shoveled water into a garbage can to have it melt in order to get water to flush the toilets.

I have waited 30 minutes in line for Gas, and 30 minutes for a coffee.

I was almost hit by a startled deer that was obviously confused by the crazy weather.

I stopped my car to move debris so it would be easier to pass.

I drove through 6 towns trying to find 5 gallon gas cans.

I saw a pushing match break out at Lowes over a generator. The employees broke it up quickly, it could have been a lot worse.

I took my kids "for a quick ride". It was really a ride just to warm up a bit since it was only 38 degrees in the house.

I drove around from Starbucks, to Dunkin to Panera Bread trying to find a wifi connection so I could modify the status of one of my listings. (There is only so much you can do from the new 4S iPhone I just bought.) It was funny to look around the parking lot I finally ended up in and see a row of cars with laptops on their dash! Crazy!

I threw away an entire restaurants food supply. My family owns a Restaurant and we had to throw EVERYTHING away. It makes you sick to your stomach knowing people are going hungry and we have to through away 60 Gallons of ice cream, 100lbs of Hamburgers, 50 lbs of Hotdogs, etc etc. We literally filled a Dumpster.

I had to go to the car every four hours to charge my cell phone.

We listened to the radio in our home. I don’t think I have ever done that.

Some good things have come from this whole disaster.

I have seen more neighbors helping neighbors than I ever have in my life. I believe this has made us all a little more resourceful. My neighbor suggested I hook my gutters up to a pale so when the snow melts I have water to flush the toilets, WOW!

I have seen some people being more understanding and sympathetic. Today alone I saw someone let an elderly lady buying batteries and a blanket go in front of him in line.

Since all the traffic lights were out, courtesy was needed to take turns at intersections.

We were more together as a family this week. My family spent the night at my wife's sister's house since they had heat. My kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. it was their first slumber party. We blew up air mattresses and camped out in their basement. We even had a family dinner, made popcorn and watched a movie. it is something that would have never have happened if it wasn’t for this storm.

We spent a lot of "family time" together since there was no TV, computers, and school. We played board games by candle light and read books by lanterns. We had a snowball fight, made snowmen, and really just got back to basics. If it wasn’t for the extreme temperatures, it would have been manageable.

I know there have been more and more storm related deaths reported every day. As this goes on and on, people are becoming more desperate. There was a family that brought a gas grill inside for heat and families with generators in their basement because they were afraid they would be stolen. These tragedies could have all been prevented. I thank god my family made it through with just some "inconveniences" and I pray for the 500,000 people here in our state that are still in the dark and the cold. I hope the worst is behind us,and better days are ahead.

New England gets hit with a Blizzard in October!

It was hard to believe when I first heard it... A big Nor' Easter was headed for New England, the weekend BEFORE Halloween!

I think I, like most just figured it was a lot of fuss over nothing. After all, it is OCTOBER. We are still playing Fall baseball here in Prospect. Well believe it or not, the Weather Men were RIGHT. If anything, they under estimated. The last time we checked on the porch it was 12+ inches.

Driving around town it is easy to see all the homes that still have their Air Conditioners in, lawn furniture out, etc.

I have a feeling it is going to be a long winter here in CT.

Just posted an update on this storm here.

A friend of mine and his wife have partnered with Spill the Beans in Prospect to create "Thanksgiving Angels"

They will be prepairing for pickup or delivery entire Thanksgiving Dinners including; Turkey, gravy, Stuffing Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Bread, Salad and Pie. The dinners will be fully cooked, and can just be heated and served!

If you know of a Prospect Family in need this Thanksgiving, nominate them. It is very discreet and it will help to make their Holiday a little brighter!

The Deadline for Entries is November 17th, 2011. The space is limited, so please get your entry in early. You can contact Colleen Farrell at 203-414-5385

You can nominate people in person at Spill the Beans 49 Waterbury Road Prospect Ct.

You can also pick up brochures for the event at local area businesses including Dave Jones realty's office at 16 waterbury Road, Prospect CT.