John Queenan

Southbury

Recent discussions with many of my neighbors about how challenging it is to understand what their home might be worth in todays turbulent market prompted creation of this site just for Southbury, Connecticut home owners and those looking to move to Southbury.

If you’re wondering what your Southbury home may be worth and you are looking for an easy way to find out what homes like yours are selling for in today’s market, this is the place to go. Plus: Get a Free Report with up-to-the-minute statistics based on all the homes for sale and sold in Southbury over the last six months in all price ranges. To get your Free Report on Southbury Home Prices, just follow this link...

http://www.24hrhouseprices.com/Southbury

My wife and I had the pleasure of Father Peter Towsley's company for dinner this past Thursday evening, he reminded me that the Lobster Fest is only a few short weeks away.

St. Anne's Annual Lobster Fest is always a good time. What's better than a lobster fest with cold beer and wine overlooking the water with good friends. The Lobster Fest is happening Saturday, August 8th, 3 - 9 pm at the Norden Club on Seabright Avenue in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport

TICKETS: Adult Admission is $25 before August 4th and $30 after • Children $5 All tickets can be purchased at St. Ann’s rectory or Harborview Market.

Adult admission includes one lobster dinner and the choice of beer or wine. Child admission includes the choice of a hamburger or hotdog, and soda. FA C E PA I N T I N G • P I Ñ ATA • DJ

Since this is a fund raiser for St. Anne's, if you can't make it you can still purchase a ticket and support the cause.

It's been said that a picture tells a thousand words. Better make sure it is telling the story you want told.

If you are thinking of listing your home for sale, you should know that this is one of the most competitive markets in years for sellers. Here are some of the simplest things you can do to make your home photograph better and most are "free". They just require a little elbow grease. This is a brief look at our larger prep guide, which has been helpful for many clients selling their homes in this challenging market.

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the home. Prepare your kitchen by removing all small appliances, misc. items from the kitchen counters. Make sure the sink is empty and clean. Hang only solid neutral dishtowels or none at all. Empty counter space makes the kitchen look bigger and more inviting. This is especially true if you have expensive countertops, show them off! If you have a center island or peninsula, make sure there is nothing large blocking the camera's view of the room. The viewers eyes will gravitate towards your center piece, but you are selling the kitchen and the house.

Look at the windows around your home, are you hiding nice windows with drapes, curtains, blinds? Don't hide your windows! Raise or better yet remove any Venetian blinds, pull shades, etc. Pull back any curtains or tie them off. If they are old and discolored, remove them.

De-clutter the living areas that will be photographed. Start packing up all the chatka. You want potential buyers to see that your house has a lot of room to live and to grow in, so if you remove stacks of books & magazines, large decorations, etc… you can make your home appear more spacious in the pictures. If needed, select one room in the house where you can put all of the toys, or items that are taking up a lot of space and we will not take pictures of that room. Better yet, use the unfinished areas of the basement, the garage, and closets as we will not typically photograph these areas

This may seem obvious, but make the beds and clean the bedrooms. Buyers are looking for good- sized bedrooms. We want them to see that the home is well kept. Remove anything that identifies your kids, after all, these photos are going to be all over the internet.

Bathrooms: Remove all items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, tissue, etc…) from the countertops, Tubs, Showers in the bathroom and clear any items from the top of the toilet. Keep only neutral towels hanging in the bathrooms (i.e. white, beige or soft solid color towels) or none at all.

This is the one that might cost you a few dollars, but check first to see if you have spares and then replace any burnt out light bulbs. We will photograph with every light in the house on. If lights do not work, the subliminal message you send people is that you skimp on small items maintenance, so you probably skimp on large ones to.

If you are thinking of selling your home, email or call me for a free copy of our Photography and Virtual Tour Preperation Guide for Sellers, and a copy of our book "How to Sell Your Home For Top Dollar - Fast!"

John Queenan

See my interactive floorplans and virtual tours

Many "BPO" agents in Connecticut are unknowingly violating CT law by preforming BPOs for lenders for short sale situations.

Connecticut law is very clear about what constitutes appraisal practice and unlicensed appraisal practice. Regardless of whether it is called an appraisal, a BPO, whatever, in CT it is regulated as an appraisal if you get paid for it by someone who doesn't both own the property and have the ability to give you the listing at the time you do the BPO. The fact that the lender may later own the property and may sometime in the future give you the listing is irrelevant in our state. Your state laws will vary.

This discussion came up recently in a room full of seasoned Connecticut Realtors. There was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 years of experience in that room, in addition to a very prominent local attorney. I was shocked that NONE of them knew our state law on this.

To be clear about the legality of BPOs in your own state, you should contact your real estate state licensing authority, and the appraisal licensing authority as well.

One thing I've learned in speaking with our state regulatory agency, as well as agents and appraisers from across the country is that this is absolutely a state by state issue.

If you know what the laws pertaining to BPOs are in your state, I would be curious to hear from you.

John

I was asked to put this seminar/workshop together by one of our local Pastors who happens to be in one of the hardest hit CT neighborhoods in terms of foreclosure filings.

If someone you know is behind on their mortgage or has received a lis pendens/foreclosure filing, please share this with them immediately.

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Saint Anne’s Church in Black Rock is holding a free Foreclosure Avoidance Seminar on Thursday May 7th, 7 PM at Saint Anne’s Church, 481 Brewster Avenue, Black Rock Section of Bridgeport, CT.

Speakers will be local consumer advocates Attorney James Maye of Law Offices of James T. Maye LLC in Stamford and John Queenan of Nicholas H. Fingelly Real Estate in Fairfield.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly 10 percent of Americans are in foreclosure or in default on their mortgage, and that number is rising every month. According to RealtyTrac, Connecticut is now one of the top thirteen states in terms of foreclosures per capita. Seven out of 10 homeowners who go into foreclosure end up there without having received any professional help.

A licensed Realtor like John Queenan who has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation and an attorney like James Maye who is a loan modification and foreclosure specialist, are uniquely qualified to help homeowners in financial trouble.

This free seminar will address:

• What are the options for Homeowners facing foreclosure?

• Why you should do everything you can to avoid a foreclosure?

• What is a loan modification and how do you qualify?

• What is a short sale and Why it is better than a foreclosure?

• Why would a lender accept a loan modification or a short sale?

• What are the criteria for a short sale?

• Alternatives to foreclosure other than a short sale

Experienced foreclosure avoidance and short sale Attorneys and Realtors are:

• Familiar with local market conditions

• Well-versed in the loan modification and short sale process

• Knowledgeable about how to drive the loan modification and short sale process

• Adept at talking to lenders

• Great communicators & Problem solvers

• Decision-makers

• Educators

To register for the seminar, please call 1-888-456-8536 Ext. 2 or email jmqueenan@fingellyre.com