Jessica Beganski

Running some errands on the Berlin Turnpike this weekend?

Please consider a quick stop to my office at 2600 Berlin Turnpike to drop off unopened cans or bags of cat/kitten food. Your food will help Our Companions' volunteers who manage and feed feral cat colonies throughout Connecticut.

For details and directions, please visit my blog at CTRealEstateUnleashed.com.

I posted this last week on my other blog at CTRealEstateUnleashed.com but thought it was worth it to share with everyone on Active Rain.

Last year, I read From Baghdad With Love: A Marine, The War and a Dog Named Lava. It is a war memoir centered around a Marine's struggle to adopt a stray puppy he found in Iraq and bring it home to the US.

Since then, I've been following the stories of other soldiers who've rescued stray dogs in Iraq and then try to bring them home. Unfortunately, the military has a policy in place forbidding soldiers from keeping animals. Despite this, many soldiers have grown attached to pets they've found or saved from starvation and neglect. Their bond with these animals not only helps the pet but provides immeasurable comfort to soldiers who are far from home. Furthermore, the miltary makes it impossible for soldiers who rescue pets to transport them back home, which is where the SPCA has stepped in.

The SPCA has been working to help soldiers bring home pets from Iraq. Their Operation Baghdad Pups (the slogan is No Buddy Gets Left Behind) has successfuly helped rescue dozens of soldiers' pets and there is one more to report.

From the SPCA via the Furry Paws Chronicle,

"Yesterday, a U.S. soldier’s dog arrived in Connecticut after a long journey from Iraq. Wayne and Susan Szmyt welcomed their son’s dog, Kindi, to their Trumbull home this weekend. Kindi arrived in the U.S. at Dulles International Airport Saturday afternoon along with 3 other soldiers’ dogs thanks to SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups program. The Szmyt’s son, Derek, will be returning home from Iraq soon to be reunited with Kindi."

To read more of Kindi's story, click here.

The YouTube slideshow shows pictures of some of the pets rescued by soliders.

Mark Harrington, a mortgage lender with Horizon Home Mortgage in Windsor, shared this information with me recently:

The USDA provides 100% financing for mortgages on homes in "rural" areas, including many in Connecticut. Towns like Burlington, Avon, Granby, Canton, East Windsor and Suffield in Hartford County and towns such as Marlborough, Hebron, East Hampton, Colchester and Ellington in surrounding counties.

There are income limits - for Hartford County the current limit for a 2 person household is $73,150 and the program is only available for owner occupied, single family homes.

But there are also some significant benefits for qualifying properties and buyers:

-Seller may contribute closing costs.

-No down payment required.

-Competitive rates.

-No minimum credit score.

-No monthly mortgage insurance premium.

Looking for the perfect home for a USDA Rural Development Loan? This home at 124 Gates Road in Lebanon is located on 4 acres and qualifies for this program.

To check availability in your area, click on this link: USDA.

Do you dig real estate news, tips and advice? Sniffing around for pet-related information in Connecticut? Get Unleashed - the blog that's helping to find homes for people and pets.

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When is Actve not really actively on the market? This and your other burning questions about the data contained in listing sheets in Connecticut are answered.

Here is a sample listing sheet:

Status

ACT or Active - the house is for sale and is available to view. It is not yet under deposit but that doesn’t mean that offers have not been presented.

SHOW or Under Deposit/Continue to Show - The house is under deposit but the contract has contingencies that haven’t been met yet.

DEPOS or Under Deposit - The house is under deposit and is no longer available to be seen by other buyers.

HUBRD - The house in question has a hubbard clause on it, meaning that a buyer has a contract on the property but it is subject to the sale of their own home. If the seller receives another offer on the house, the original buyer may either release the hubbard clause and buy the house or the seller may cancel the contract and accept the offer of the second buyer.

EXP or Expired - The listing agreement with the brokerage has expired and has not yet been renewed.

WITH or Withdrawn - The house has been withdrawn from the market and is probably not available for showing. The seller may let the listing expire or may put the house back on the market.

CANCL or Cancelled - The listing agreement was cancelled and the house is no longer “officially” on the market.

TEMP or Temporarily off the Market - This one is funny. An agent has taken a listing and for some reason, the agent or seller doesn’t want the house shown for a period of time - a few days, a week, etc. Now, in a heavy sellers market, I used to see homes come on the market TEMP status and then two or three days later, go under deposit. The house “went on the market” but not really - it was probably sold to a client the agent had already lined up or was sold “in house.”

Square Feet

2000/Town - This means the town has the square footage of the property at 2000 sf.

2000/Agent - The agent took the measurements, possibly because the town is inaccurate or because the seller feels that the square footage in the basement should also be included.

2000/Owner - The seller says its 2000 square feet and there will be no arguments.

Agent Comments

Cozy - small rooms.

EIK - Eat-in-kitchen.

As-is - the owner is making no representations about the home so “buyer beware.” Before putting in an offer, be sure to carefully examine the home and get an inspection, although the seller may very likely not make any repairs you ask for.

Bank owned - Known as an REO or real estate owned property, bank owned properties have been taken over by a lender for some reason such as foreclosure. Special addenda are required with bank owned properties.

Short sale - The seller owes more on the property than they can expect to sell it for. The bank and the buyer both have to agree to any offer you submit which will probably take longer.

Clean - if that’s best that can be said, then the house probably needs some other things like updates to kitchen and baths.

Must see inside - the outside is a mess, so don’t judge a book by its cover.

Priced to sell/motivated sellers - the seller or agent is desperate to move the house but that doesn’t always mean they’ll sell it for a bargain.

Just reduced - this doesn’t necessarily mean the house is priced accurately. Nor is it always 100% truthful. I just saw a listing where the price started at $269,900 in the summer, went up to $274,900 and then was reduced again to $269,900 - Just reduced!

Dates

Listing Date - This is the date the listing went on the market - with this MLS number. It’s not always the date the house originally went on the market. Your agent should do a check in property history in the MLS as well as do an address search for all occasions the listing may have been on the market under another MLS number.

Days on Market - Same thing here. The Days on Market is the number of days the listing has been on the market with a particular MLS number.

Tax Information

Assessment - This is the value on which the town bases property taxes. It is supposed to be 70% of the town's appraisal. Towns are mandated to do revaluations every 5 years so the assessed value and the appraisal may not be anywhere near the market value.

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