Liz Householder - TheSalemBlog

The Friends Of The Library in Salem, CT are presenting a program today that's always popular. The Gallaibh Ceilidh Band will be there at 2PM Saturday, March 7th - that's today - with a warm-up for St. Patrick's Day. Don't miss the chance to be there, tap your toes, and dance a jig all the way back home.

These days, more and more homes are coming on the MLS as a "short sale". What does that mean? It means the price the house is being offered at is less than what the owner owes his lender, thus it's short of the debt on the house.

A couple of things are different about short sales. For one, the bank or mortgage company has to agree to the price before the contract is considered accepted. This can take a long time, as in months, or it can be done fairly quickly. It depends on the lender and how fast they will respond to an offer.

Houses in a short sale are usually offered in "as is" condition. That means that if there are any problems that show up during the inspection, the buyer will have to fix them because the seller is already out of money and isn't going to agree to put any more money into the house in a short sale. These houses are usually priced accordingly, at a lower-than-expected price in order to sell as quickly as possible.

If the buyer has an inspection and doesn't want to fix the problems that crop up, the contracts in Connecticut allow the buyer to walk away. However, they must make that decision in a timely manner - usually within the confines of the standard inspection clause: Ten days after acceptance of the offer to have an inspection, and five days to respond to the results. Buyers can't expect the seller and the lender to allow an open-ended refusal period that allows the buyer to change his mind a week before closing and walk away.

If you understand - and accept - the rules of a short sale, including the possibility that you may have to wait longer than usual for an answer to the offer, and for a closing date, then short sales can be a great way to acquire a home at a reduced price. In the end, you could walk away when you sell the house with a nice profit in your pocket, and in the meantime be able to live in a house that is ultimately worth more than you could have afforded if it wasn't a distress sale.

Okay, so today is a sunny Sunday in Salem, Connecticut, and it's a traditional Open House day in these parts. If you're thinking about trying to buy your first house, this is the perfect day to venture out and dip your toe in the friendly-to-buyers ocean called House Hunting.

Here's what you should do at any open house: first, drive around the neighborhood. Not just down the street, but around the surrounding area. See what's one street over, what else might be for sale, write down the address and the phone number on the sign.

Then go and see the house. Don't be afraid to ask the realtor hosting the open house as many questions as you can think of! She or he is there to answer your questions, tell you about the house, and yes - hopefully interest you enough to enlist her as your realtor. You don't have to commit to that,. but you should at least take a few minutes to engage in some conversation and ask some general questions. You're entitled to do that, even if you don't think you have enough money or credit to qualify for the mortgage yet.

Bring pencil and paper, and take notes. First impressions are worth writing down, because you may forget them later. And remember not to let things like paint colors or decorating schemes deter you from seriously considering a house! Try to envision your own things in the house, and remember that during the course of your years in any house, you will probably repaint numerous times yourself, and more than likely if you're there longer than a couple of years, you will be doing some remodeling. Don't think that the house has to have everything already done for you in order to buy it. Most first-time buyers can't afford to buy their parents' house, but part of home-ownership is making it your own over time.

Whatever you do, don't wander wordlessly around the house, say nothing, wonder about lots of things but not ask about them, and leave without saying something to the realtor. We really aren't there to just hold up the kitchen counter, and pass out our cards. I, for one, like "just lookers" and am happy to talk to you, even if you're the neighbor who always wondered what the house looked like inside.

The Friends of Salem Library are at it again, with their new programs for the winter! Here's a sample of what's coming up soon, and ongoing through the winter. Check out their website for the full schedule, though.

Storytime Cooperative - every Friday at 10:30AM. Parents and caregivers help run the program, and is a great chance for pre-schoolers and their parents to meet other children and parents who your child may be in school with for the next 12 years! Crafts, music, stories - it's a great chance to enrich your child's day. Free, and open to all.

Friday, Feb. 6 , 7-9 PM - Foreign Film Night - "In The Mood For Love" About a man and woman in adjacent apartments who befriend each other based on mutual suspicion of their spouses' infidelity. Set in 1960's Hong Kong.

Saturday, Feb. 14, 1 PM - Mad Science - Dinosaurs - program aimed at younger children, class size limited to 25.

Saturday, Feb 21, 11 AM - Community Gardens - Interested in developing a community garden? Cordalie Benoit, President of CT Community Gardens Assoc., talks about her experiences starting and operating a public garden in New Haven.

This is just a short list of what's there - something for everyone's taste and open to the public.

What's up with The Reminder these days? Anyone else getting tired of picking up the plastic-wrapped paper that's now landing in the driveway? It used to be hung on a hook below the mailbox in a bag that had a hole in it for the hook. Now, it's wrapped in plastic with a rubber band (sometimes) that's supposed to keep it together.

Here's a newsflash for Reminder staff: it doesn't work! Every week (thank goodness it's only a weekly paper - imagine if we had daily deposits of dripping wet plastic bags with newspaper in them!) those bags don't stay together, and we have Reminder pages flying all over the street and the lawns. I try to pick ours up when I see them, but often drive over them the morning after they've been thrown there, and then they're pressed into the pavement and a crushed mess.

Any chance of going back to those bags that hang on the hooks? How about if everyone who is annoyed by this calls the Reminder and tells them how annoying this is??? Just a thought.