Free Energy Star Webinars for Homes. “Selling ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes under Version 3” is a free Webinars for Real Estate agents, builders, home owners and anyone interested in the EPA’s Energy Star program for homes. On Thursday March 22, 2012 learn the basics of what makes a home ENERGY STAR 2012 version 3 and how to qualify. Learn how to tell your customers the specification of an Energy Star home and how to implement tried and true sales strategies. This session is a great crash course for new sales staff and is beneficial for ENERGY STAR veterans as well. To learn about this Webinar and others click here. ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through ener... 03/15/2012

MARKETING YOUR ROWAYTON CONNECTICUT HOME Print advertising is dead.  Well, almost!  Newspaper circulation is down and newspapers are shutting their doors across the U.S.  In tracking my Return on Investment (ROI) in advertising, I have seen print advertising decrease in effectiveness and Internet marketing increase.  MARKETING VS. ADVERTISING Let's talk a bit about the difference between marketing and advertising.  Advertising is when you pay the media to announce details of your product or service, such as when your agent takes an ad out in The Real Estate Book, a publication that is distributed at grocery stores, gas stations, and other public places.  Marketing involves all other methods to bring attention to your home and encourage its sale.  Open Houses are one form of marketing, p... 03/13/2012

Village Creek – an Historical and Architectural Wonder in South Norwalk This past year Village Creek in South Norwalk was named to the Connecticut and National Registries of Historic Places. This exceptional honor happened not just because of the wonderful history surrounding Village Creek, but also because of the beautiful architecture and design of the community. Village Creek was not only created to ensure racial and religious equality in the midst of the 1950’s in America, but it was created to highlight the new modern Post World War II era in America. Many of the homes are inspired by the contemporary style of  Frank Llyod Wright (in fact Edgar Tafel, Wright’s student, was one of the architects). To live in Village Creek one must join the Village Creek Home Owner’s Association and ... 03/08/2012

 The New Marina at Village Creek - the Best Kept Secret of South Norwalk CT  Village Creek is one of Norwalk’s best kept secrets! It is a planned community envisioned by forward thinking individuals who wanted a safe haven from religious and racial discrimination in July of 1949. Village Creek was built on one of the last remaining undeveloped waterfront properties at the time. It is 67 acres large and today includes 67 individual homes on their own lots.   Village Creek is complete with 800 feet of private beach for Village Creek residents only. Recently they have also begun building a new marina. The marina has 49 slips with water and electricity, and can hold up to a 40 ft boat.  The draft is 5 ½ feet (great for sailboats!)   The price at the marina is only $48 a foot – a steal compa... 03/05/2012

STAGING YOUR ROWAYTON HOME You've seen HGTV. You know that staged homes sell faster and for more money, staging works, but it requires an outlay of money that you may not have. If you can't afford a stager, you can still apply some of the basic principles of staging to help your home sell faster. First thing you'll want to do is to walk through your house room by room with your listing agent. Your agent may not be able to give you the design advice of a stager, but he/she can give you advice about which room colors might cause a problem (e.g., a bright purple dining room) or furniture pieces that should be moved or rearranged. Don't make the mistake of painting the entire interior off-white on the premise that buyers can choose their own colors. Well-chosen wall and trim colors can make... 03/04/2012

STAGING YOUR NORWALK HOME You've seen HGTV. You know that staged homes sell faster and for more money, staging works, but it requires an outlay of money that you may not have. If you can't afford a stager, you can still apply some of the basic principles of staging to help your home sell faster. First thing you'll want to do is to walk through your house room by room with your listing agent. Your agent may not be able to give you the design advice of a stager, but he/she can give you advice about which room colors might cause a problem (e.g., a bright purple dining room) or furniture pieces that should be moved or rearranged. Don't make the mistake of painting the entire interior off-white on the premise that buyers can choose their own colors. Well-chosen wall and trim colors can make ... 03/04/2012

PRICING YOUR ROWAYTON CT HOME TO SELL This is the second article in a six-part series about Selling Your Rowayton CT Home in a Buyer's Market.  In the first article we described the characteristics of a buyer's market.  We will now talk about pricing your home to sell in today's buyer's market. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU The most important thing to understand about pricing a home to sell is that the market determines the price.  The market doesn't care how much you paid for the home or how much money you put into upgrades or repairs.  Your home will sell for the price that buyers will pay for comparable homes.  If you price your home too high, even if a buyer comes along who is willing to pay above market value for your home, the mortgage company will whittle the offer down to the market value ... 02/28/2012

PRICING YOUR NORWALK CT HOME TO SELL This is the second article in a six-part series about Selling Your Norwalk CT Home in a Buyer's Market.  In the first article we described the characteristics of a buyer's market.  We will now talk about pricing your home to sell in today's buyer's market. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU The most important thing to understand about pricing a home to sell is that the market determines the price.  The market doesn't care how much you paid for the home or how much money you put into upgrades or repairs.  Your home will sell for the price that buyers will pay for comparable homes.  If you price your home too high, even if a buyer comes along who is willing to pay above market value for your home, the mortgage company will whittle the offer down to the market value du... 02/28/2012

Village Creek - A Gem of a Community in South Norwalk CT Village Creek is one of Norwalk’s best kept secrets! It is a planned community envisioned by forward thinking individuals in July of 1949.  Village Creek was built on one of the last remaining undeveloped waterfront properties at the time. It is 37 acres large and today includes 67 individual homes on their own lots. One of the many perks at Village Creek is its 800 feet of private beach for Village Creek residents only. They also have tennis courts, and a new marina that is being built. The marina has 49 slips with water and electricity, can hold up to a 40 ft boat and the draft is 5 ½ feet (great for sailboats!) The price at the marina is only $48 a foot – a steal compared to others!  These pictures are of 17 Dock Road – one of ... 02/27/2012

OPEN HOUSE this Sunday!   66 Walter Avenue in Norwalk, CT 06851 (Feb. 26th, 2012) This 3 Bedroom, 1 1/2 bath gem will be open from 1 to 4 pm for public viewing - this Sunday the 26th of February. It has a full garage, 2 bedrooms upstairs and a Master Bedroom and full bath on the first floor!    Two steps to gain entry to this home, so it is perfect for the elderly.   Spread the word!   A great well maintained home in a wonderful neighborhood! 02/24/2012

1. INTRODUCTION   This is the first installment of a six-part series on Selling Your Norwalk Connecticut Home in a Buyer's Market.   What is a Buyer's Market?   A buyer's market is one in which there are more sellers than buyers. Nationwide we are in a real estate buyer's market, which means according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) that there is more than six month's worth of inventory (homes for sale). However, if you look at different locations, neighborhoods, price ranges, and even home styles, some niche markets are doing better than others. Low interest rates and FHA low down payment mortgages have encouraged sales at the low end, downsizers are spurring sales in the mid-range, and at the high end, there are buying niches, such as luxury, waterfront and water view ho... 02/22/2012

1. INTRODUCTION   This is the first installment of a six-part series on Selling Your Rowayton Connecticut Home in a Buyer's Market.   What is a Buyer's Market?   A buyer's market is one in which there are more sellers than buyers. Nationwide we are in a real estate buyer's market, which means according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) that there is more than six month's worth of inventory (homes for sale). However, if you look at different locations, neighborhoods, price ranges, and even home styles, some niche markets are doing better than others. Low interest rates and FHA low down payment mortgages have encouraged sales at the low end, downsizers are spurring sales in the mid-range, and at the high end, there are buying niches, such as luxury, waterfront and water view h... 02/22/2012

  ROWAYTON Market Trends Report January 2012   The Rowayton, Connecticut real estate market slowed down over the past 12 months. The latest 3 month comparison shows that both the number of sale and sale prices are are still on the decline, primarily due to fewer sales of high end homes.   Given the small number of sales, market statistics are dramatically affected by a few sales on the high end of the market. The amount of inventory that the market can absorb declined over the past 12 months.   We use the 12 month absorption rate instead of the 3 or 6 month rate to determine inventory absorption, which means that it would take about 11-12 months to sell every home currently on the market in Rowayton. Although it is still a Buyers Market in Rowayton, it is in line with many other Fairfi... 02/18/2012

  NORWALK Market Trends Report January 2012   The Norwalk, Connecticut real estate market is still slowing down. The slowdown earlier in the year can be attributed in part to the power outages that accompanied Tropical Storm Irene and the freak October snowstorm. However, the 3 and 6 month comparison shows that both the number of sale and prices prices are still decining.  The amount of inventory that the market can absorb continues to decline.   We use the 12 month absorption rate instead of the 3 or 6 month rate to determine inventory absorption, which means that it would take about 10-11 months to sell every home currently on the market in Norwalk. It is still a strong Buyers Market in Norwalk.  With low interest rates and an improving economy, we are expecting a good Spring market.... 02/18/2012

Real Trends ~Distressed Home Sales Taking Toll on Prices   When looking at real estate prices one must take into account the local economic aspects of the region more so than the national trends.  With this in mind it is still good to be aware of what is going on nationally. REAL Trends, Inc. is a communications and consulting company considered to be the leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage and housing industry. Real Trends National Real Estate News Update Feb 7th, 2012. Distressed Home Sales Taking Toll on Prices According to CoreLogic home prices fell about 5 percent from 2010 to 2011. But if distressed property sales are taken out of the equation the price decline falls to 0.9 percent. This likely doesn't surprise anyone in the housing market but c... 02/16/2012

Professional Women of Connecticut Networking Event:  Public Relations Meets Social Media - The intersection between PR & Social Media in 2012 February 27th6-9pmJoin us for a great night of networking and education! Guest Speaker: Kris Ruby of Ruby Media Group In today's fast paced media environment, Public Relations and Social Media must go hand in hand. In this interactive workshop, Kris Ruby of Public Relations Agency Ruby Media Group will discuss how social media and public relations fits into your overall media budget. Media planning and buying, traditional advertising vs. Facebook advertising, Social Media vs. Public Relations, will all be covered. By the end of the workshop, you will have a better understanding of where to best allocate your marketing dollars in 2012 to get the hi... 02/15/2012

Norwalk CT, Average Sold Price vs Average List Price and Total Sales 2005-2011     2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Average Sold Price 539,591 584,538 540,135 539,086 450,746 488,978 494,608 Average List Price 553,707 567,947 559,414 564,153 483,077 518,348 526,243 Total Sold 1,472 1,305 1,085 698 660 737 635  January real estate sales this year were hit hard as a consequence of the weather we had in Connecticut last fall.  We had Hurricane Irene in the beginning of September, and a very heavy wet huge snow storm in the beginning of November, both of them bringing down trees everywhere and providing the area with power outages for a week and more for most people.   Not very conducive to an active real estate market place, eh?   As you can see from the chart above, the sales did fall o... 02/15/2012

66 Walter Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851   Dagny Eason | Dagny's Real Estate LLC | (203) 858-4853 66 Walter Avenue, Norwalk, CT Beautiful 3 Bedroom Spacious Cape in sought after area 3BR/1+1BA Single Family House offered at $329,000 Year Built 1950 Sq Footage 1,360 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 1 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking 1 Car garage Lot Size 0.15 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Spacious 3 bedroom cape in desirable East Norwalk with a beautifully landscaped yard. Hardwood floors in almost every room, tile floor in kitchen, newer furnace and hot water heater, - this home has been well cared for. The patio in this large backyard make it an easy place to entertain. Located close to Norwalk High School and close to shopping. see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Central heat - ... 02/07/2012

Norwalk CT - January Sales 4 Year Comparison 2009-2012   Norwalk CT  Market Report January 2012 recap of Sales Total home sales: 32 Average days on the market: 141 Low value: $38,000 High value: $4,600,000 Average sold price: $ 528,931                                                                                        Median price: $ 342,500 Average list price: $ 565,777 Pending Sales: 29 I do find it interesting that Norwalk's sales were lagging after the vicious fall weather we had this year.    The power outages and huge snow damage in the end of October into the beginning of November caused buyers to stay away, and sellers to pull their homes off the market in all of the surrounding towns.   This should hopefully be a huge spring market for Norwalk! Stay tuned! Norwalk CT - Janua... 02/05/2012

Norwalk CT View of the City   - I just had to take this photo the other day while showing homes in Norwalk. This view was fabulous ...   the view of the harbor, the sound waayy off in the distance, and all of the city landmarks.   You can see the Norwalk Maritime Center, the train station, Sono, the Norwalk Harbor, and across the harbor is East Norwalk's  Cove Street. 01/23/2012