June 2022 Numbers are in! How did June compare to the previous month, and what sold?
What happened in the Fairfield housing market in June compared to the prior month?
Find out what happened in our local markets by downloading your free WHAT SOLD report with everything that sold in Fairfield and Westport in the previous month here. If you would like the report for another town, send me a request in the form below, and I will get it to you.
It’s a pleasure to work with my clients to achieve their goals and satisfaction.
We priced together based on current market data. We presented the property in its optimal state. We captured the beautiful home with professional digital photography. And then I amplified the images and property selling points to the largest possible audience on a 24/7 basis using the web, digital marketing, and social media.
We worked together in a collaborative way and achieved the desired result within the target timeframe!
Setting up for the newly added fundraising event by Near and Far Aid, Soiree of Summer! Near and Far Aid is changing lives and giving everyone in Fairfield County a fair shot by supporting programs that support successful households!
Setting the stage at Penfield Beach in Fairfield!
If you would like to volunteer to support successful homeownership and existing households in Fairfield County, reach out below.
Thank you to @nearandfaraid for a lovely luncheon at La Plage in Westport to thank the fundraising volunteers! Near and Far Aid is here to help change lives and give everyone in Fairfield County a fair shot by supporting programs that support Fairfield County families.
The newest fundraising event kicked off the summer at Fairfield beach’s Penfield Pavilion: Soirée of Summer with music, dancing, food and drinks!
If you would love life at Fairfield Beach or nearby, reach out, and let’s have a conversation.
In this intensely competitive buyer’s market, you need to be truly ready to buy and have the competitive edge of a committed agent on your side. If you’re like most, buying a home is a huge endeavor for you. You owe it to yourself to be fully committed and have a cohesive plan and expert advocate on your side. This is especially true if you are coordinating your purchase and your sale.
Consider these eight factors for successful home-buying in the current real estate market.
Make Sure You Are Truly Prepared. Ryan Raveis, Co-President of William Raveis, Inc. recently spoke at the Luxury Portfolio International Summit in Las Vegas and shared four recommendations from top real estate economist, Dr. Marci Rossell for being prepared: First, be financially ready. Second, be emotionally ready, and know what size, style and price home you want. Third, have a sense of urgency, because most of the competing buyers do. And forth, bring your desire to compete!
Have an Expert Guide Who Knows What You Want. You should hire a Realtor before you do anything else so that you will have a dedicated guide who understands your preferences, tastes, and priorities as you start your search. This will enable your agent to make your process focused and efficient.
Be the First to Know. There are numerous buyers looking to pursue the same listing you want in this market. Agents send listings to the clients who have hired them for their home search before sharing with buyers who sign a buyer agreement at the last minute on the way to a showing. These properties can be homes for sale privately in-house and coming soon that agents may learn of through their office, and network. Your agent can also reach out directly to owners of off-market homes that interest you.
Get Help Assembling Your Team. Your agent will help you assemble your extended team of professionals including your lender, attorney, and inspector.
Ensure Your Confidentiality Is Protected & Get the Inside Scoop. Enjoy confidentiality of the information you provide about your priorities and motivations, knowing it is protected from competitors. You may also benefit from learning inside information your agent hears about. Confidentiality and disclosure are reserved for clients that have a representation agreement in place.
Get Information You Need to Make Informed Decisions. When you find a property you want, your agent will provide you with information you need such as property disclosures, maps, fuel tank status, wetlands, improvements, flood information, sale history, and comparable sales so you feel comfortable making your choices.
Get In-depth Support From Start to Finish Line. Your agent will be your trusted guide during the entire process of your home purchase. This means,
Targeting your search so you don’t waste time or miss out on a home you like
Explaining your options for making an offer that is favorable to you and also most likely to be accepted by the seller
Negotiating for you during your offer and after inspections
Monitoring the critical steps once you have an accepted offer
Being there to answer your questions and calm emotions that often go with this monumental purchase
Enable Your Agent To Do the Best Job For You. Last, but not least, your Realtor is a professional with extensive training, experience, resources, and expertise who is investing significant time and passion into achieving your success. You want to work with them in a way that allows them to do the best job for you. Team-up with your Realtor for your home run!
You are now on the best path to your exciting new home!
Ifyour 2022 New Year’s resolution Includes more pickle ball, you’ll be glad to know that “pickle ball for all” was the most popular vote at this town meeting.
The Fairfield Parks and Recreation department hosted a town meeting at Fairfield Ludlowe High School at the end of November to ask residents for their input regarding what they would like to see regarding park facilities, recreation, ⚽️🏀🥎 and events. This input was part of the process of building a longterm plan.
There was a Strong Turnout and Professionally Facilitated Discussion
The meeting, facilitated by a professional team, had participants break into small groups to discuss and tally responses. Each small group discussion was led by a facilitating team member, and each small group shared their input with the full participation at the end of the meeting.
Many Great Ideas Were Discussed
There was discussion about adding cement walkways at the beaches, more bike lanes, more functioning restrooms in the winter, more dog parks, a large field house (possibly in the vacant lot along Grasmere Avenue, adding more basketball and pickle ball courts, and of course, my request for a clearer process for implementing flash mobs 💥 💃🕺🏻around town to further integrate the arts into the community 🙂 ! …So flash mobs didn’t get the most votes, but pickle ball courts did! 🤷♀️
This process contributed to the creation of a comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan to develop a vision reflecting the needs and priorities of the community and a roadmap for implementing that vision over the next ten years..
It can be fun to shop for gifts during the holidays and closing gifts for clients. But the experience is taken to a whole new level when shopping at Terrain in Westport, Connecticut.
The vibe is warm, festive, beautiful, and calming all at the same time. Enjoy the images below from my recent visit in search of the perfect gifts.
Click image for video clip of the garden water features
If your shopping spree works up an appetite, the garden cafe has you covered. Winter or summer, it is always a joy to stop in and browse. Maybe I will see you there soon!
For 17 years, our next door neighbors along with their two young daughters and their big dog were a steady presence on the street. We had seen Kelly’s parents come and visit fairly often and become familiar faces. We didn’t know until some time later, that this had been her parent’s house, and Kelly had grown up there.
They had made many improvements to the house over time- new kitchen, windows and doors, new siding, new covered front porch, new stone patio, etc. It never occurred to us that they might move some day. They never talked about the house not suiting their needs anymore.
We joined the neighborhood in 2004 just before I had become a Realtor after experiencing first-hand how emotionally charged making a move and buying a home could be- especially in a hot seller’s market! Steve and Kelly knew I was a Realtor.
But it seemed to come out of the blue the day Kelly called me and told me she had “never planned to stay in that little house so long” and that they wanted to make a move right away! Even more surprisingly though was that their oldest daughter was in college and the younger one was a senior in high school, and yet she said they wanted a bigger and newer home with a pool.
They “hit a wall” with the home they’d been in, and they couldn’t stand it another minute!
It was time to move on and get into that dream home that Kelly had planned to be in years ago but never got around to! They said that even though the girls wouldn’t be there all the time, they loved to have family visit, and they have a very big family.
Once she and Steve made that decision, it seemed like nothing about their current house worked for them any more. The four of them all shared one full bath, the only office they had was tiny, there was just the living room for company to hang out in, there was no AC, no garage, and the interior needed updating because most of the improvements they had done were on the outside.
With their timeline tight, I quickly crafted a plan to get them into their dream home within the shortest timeframe possible.
It was the end of March 2020, and the pandemic was just beginning to ramp up. Steve and Kelly wanted to purchase a home (with a mortgage) before selling their current home. The plan was to find their dream home and move in, so they wouldn’t have to worry about timing or dealing with showing their old house.
We got the pre-approval in place, and I set up a search to match the very specific criteria they were looking for: more space, more property, updated or new condition, a pool or room for a pool, in the same town, and possibly in the same neighborhood. We reviewed the options.
We looked at two top contenders, and they loved the second one, so we submitted a competitive offer right away. However, it had not been disclosed to us that the house had been tied up with seller issues, so the search continued. Very soon afterward, we looked at a gorgeous home that checked all the boxes and was even closer to the beach! That was the one, and the purchase went very smoothly.
Now happily settled into their exciting new home it was time to get the old one sold!
We did some minor staging, had the photos taken, and hit the market. Immediately there was interest from 10 prospects. Some were not local and couldn’t get there right away, some still had to sell their home before they could buy.
But one family had been looking for a long time, loved the neighborhood, and had a May deadline to move. They came to see the house but were unsure about it because they would need to add a master bath and finish the basement. They took a day to think it over and then made an offer. The negotiations went well, and we arrived at a deal. It turned out that this was the first buyer to see the house the first day it came on market!
Of course it couldn’t have gone that smoothly, right? Sure enough, all went well until the inspection. The inspector found an old pipe repair in the basement and decided to investigate further. He fed a camera through the pipe and discovered an underground sewer line repair that was not up to code.
This issue was unexpected, but in real estate, that’s what happens sometimes. It’s important to go in knowing that roadblocks occur. Nonetheless, I worked closely with the buyer’s agent to solve the unexpected issue so that we could reach the end goal for our clients. Steve and Kelly had the pipe repaired and the process was back on track. We sailed through a smooth final walk-through and closing.
One and Done!We sold their house in one day for 97% of asking.
They grew up there and then raised their own kids there. Generations of fond memories were there. And yet, one day, there was a driving force to move on. Stronger than the ties that kept them there was the urge for the excitement of a new chapter, a new space, new memories, a new castle , a new home.
Do you have a story you can share in the comments? Are you ready for your next chapter ? Let’s have a conversation, 203-912-4440.
How did I get Steve and Kelly out of their childhood home and into their dream home in record time?
With great care and understanding, a clear plan and strategy, creativity, technology, and abundant cutting-edge resources and solutions on hand, I guided them through the plan. I have managed many home sales for my clients in the last 16 years and was happy to include Steve and Kelly among them.
Selling a house is a big deal. It can feel daunting when you’re ready to let go of the family property and move to a home that’s more suitable for your current lifestyle. There are so many moving parts and potential roadblocks you can face on this journey, and you want to be prepared.
That’s why you deserve the guidance of a professional that can help you maximize your equity and sell in the least amount of time. A professional who can help you make informed decisions and avoid the common pitfalls of buying and selling. It’s my job to make this happen.
Thinking of selling in the next 12 months?
Call today to get started ==> 203-912-4440
We’ll discuss your goals and timeline, briefly cover how I work with clients, and if we seem like a match, we’ll discuss next steps from there.
When my clients and the markets bring new challenges to me, I want to be sure to respond by bringing new solutions and a compelling marketing strategy to the table. That’s why I work for a company that thinks out of the box and always supports me and my clients with cutting-edge innovation. We are not thinking in terms of black and white, (or even 50 shades of gray 😃), but with an exhilarating and vibrant focus on color and creativity!
William Raveis is about to make a big splash! This week, we will begin launching our new campaign, “Your Best Just Got Better” that highlights the individuality of Raveis agents and how our company empowers us to express our creative freedom to help our clients reach their goals. (Here’s a sneak preview of how some of the images will look on billboards, in magazines and newspapers, on TV, and online.)
Creativity is the key to our success! We don’t dream in boring black and white; we dream in color, and we dream BIG. The powerful paint splash represents the variety of creative programs and services our agents have to accomplish their clients’ home goals. The colors in our new campaign are expressions of all the resources we have as a company.
It’s truly revolutionary: Not only does our company have the resources to buy the home you want to sell (Raveis Purchase), we can also buy the home you want to buy so you can present an all-cash deal (Raveis CashBid™) and finance it later (William Raveis Mortgage). We also offer bridge financing to help bridge the gap between selling and buying. In addition to our stellar tech and local expertise, our financial resources truly provide an edge over our competition.
On that note, stay tuned for the new look and feel of William Raveis Mortgage and all of the exceptional products and services. The new look pays tribute to our company’s heritage, and it is purposeful, bold and as distinctive as the high-quality service we provide.
We are in the very unique position of being a mortgage company that understands real estate, and this gives our clients a competitive advantage. Our home-selling expertise means we can provide our clients the best financing advice, service, and insight to win competitive offers.
Do you have a challenge my team and I can solve for you?
and then raised their own kids 
there. Generations of fond memories were there. And yet, one day, there was a driving force 
to move on. Stronger than the ties that kept them there was the urge for the excitement 
of a new chapter, a new space, new memories, a new castle 
, a new home. 
? Let’s have a conversation, 203-912-4440.
Fairfield and Westport CT Real Estate Guide 