I’m not exactly sure where on Broad Street in Stratford this house is but I love it. I must have driven past it hundreds of times. How could I have missed this house?

You don’t see many home like this that are still in such great shape. This tudor has history, class, and charm all wrapped up into a neat little package.

Six fireplace! Are you kidding me! I would love that! I don’t think I have ever used so many exclamation marks in a paragraph before.

It looks like there may be a tin ceiling in the kitchen. Probably not original though as there is recessed lighting.

From the pictures it looks to me like there has been extensive renovations to restore this house. I think a lot of the original details are no longer there but the homeowner did a wonderful job restoring the home to honor the original construction.

Check it out for yourself. Here’s the link:

http://stratford.listingbook.com/?node=17-0-email_listings,567318222.abdabd9e&mlno=98409351

Enjoy,

Scott

Are you looking for a list of open houses this weekend? Are you frustrated that finding an accurate and current list of open houses in Stratford, Trumbull, Shelton, Fairfield, Milford, and the rest rest of Fairfield County CT can be difficult to find?

Maybe you don’t want to leave the house to get the paper. Not every Stratford CT open house is listed in there anyway. Most agents don’t list their open houses consistently on random internet websites that you might be looking for open houses on.

Here’s how to find open houses in Stratford and the rest of Fairfield County from the website that more agents visit to advertise homes for sale than any other website on the internet.

Instructions

1. Fill in the form below to enroll for access
2. Open your email and accept the invitation to enroll
3. On the left hand side of the screen click “upcoming open houses“

Enjoy,

Scott Jenkins

P.S. – It’s not unusual for there to be no open houses in the beginning of the week. Keep an eye on your email though. I’ll be sending them to your inbox as they show up on the site.

One of the most popular question I have been receiving regarding the 8000 dollar first time home buyers tax credit is:

Do I qualify as a first time home buyer?

With different housing stimulus packages the federal government has defined the first time home buyer differently. What’s important to you however is what is the criteria for a first time home buyer with the latest tax credit.

The answer is simple and a little bit more lax than just someone who has never owned a home before. You can actually have owned a home in the recent past and still qualify for the first time home buyers tax credit.

Here’s the straight answer:

A first time home buyer is defined as anyone whom has not owned a principal residence in the last three years.

So if you have sold your home and been renting for the last three years you will qualify as a first time home buyer.

One word of advice however. Always check with a tax professional before taking any advice about the 8000 dollar tax credit from the internet.

Happy Home Hunting,

Scott

Are you looking to find every property that is on the market here in Stratford CT? Are you searching on multiple websites hoping to see every single property that is available? You don’t have to do that. Nearly every website that you are searching for properties on gets those properties from the exact same place.

The name of the place that all of those site gets their property information from is the Greater Fairfield County Consolidated Multiple Listing Service. (GFC CMLS)

What I like about about the GFC CMLS is that you can access every single one of those properties all on your own through a back door.

Using this back door access to search properties for sale in Stratford you can see all that there is to see. THat is not a lie or an exaggeration. You can see:

• every property address
• every single picture
• school information
• recent property sales in the neighborhood
• and much much more

You can pretty much search like an agent by accessing the agents database of properties through the back door.

If you want to search properties like an agent I can set you up with access. That’s all I will do. I promise to give you the tools to search and leave you alone. I wont be calling you and harassing you. Heck, I don’t even need your phone number to hook you up with access. Just fill in the form below.

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Editors Note: This was written during one of the worst recessions in our countries history. We may not be in an extreme market downturn but the advice is timeless.

Of the sixty or so surveys that you guys sent to me a large majority of them dealt with fear. The fear that whatever you buy will be worth less money the very next day after you purchase the house.

This is a very valid concern. I completely understand where you are coming from.

When I bought my first home it was near the height of the real estate market here in Stratford CT. The year was 2004 I believe.

We were so excited to be getting an affordable home in a good neighborhood. Prices were rising so quickly and with every passing month it seemed like houses in Stratford were getting more expensive.

We could have waited to buy a home. There were plenty of nice places to rent here in Stratford at the time. But we weren’t buying a house as an investment. If we were than the absolute worst time to buy a home was when we did. Prices were sky high and of course they came tumbling back down.

Our house is now worth less than what we paid for it! But, so what. We live here in Stratford. We don’t make money or lose money because the value of our home is down. We still own a great home and have a mortgage that we can afford.

We are not moving anytime soon. Sure, out home is a little small for the four of us by todays standards. But that’s ok. We bought and house and have a house that we call a home here in Stratford. Who cares what the value of the home is.

I know many of you wont agree with me. I’m not sure that if I was looking for a home in Stratford right now I would agree with me. I might keep signing six month leases and shop homes for the next eighteen months before I buy.

It’s a scary real estate environment for investors but I truly do believe that buying in a market downturn is a great strategy when you are looking for a place to live. Barring any catastrophes there’s no way that in ten to fifteen years your home won’t be worth more than it is today.

Any questions? Use the contact form below. If I don’t have an answer I’ll put you in touch with someone that will.

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I just wanted to thank you all for submitting the survey that I posted the day before yesterday.

NOTE: If you have no idea what I am talking about you can check out the survey right here.

Nearly sixty of you have responded so far with more survey submissions still trickling in.

You have given me some great insight into what your biggest real estate related concerns are. Many of you shared the same concerns with one another. As a matter of fact most of you were either concerned most with either getting financing on a home or having a decrease in property value soon after you buy a house.

Both of these concerns are very valid ones and I intend to address both of them at length over the next few blog post. Some of your other concerns were the quality of the home, choosing the right documents to complete a real estate purhase, and the economy. I’ll address those concerns as well.

If you have any concerns you would like me to address personally than send me those questions using the contact form below. I’ll answer your questions for you to the best of my ability.

Happy Home Hunting,

Scott

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Grab 8000 Follars In Free Money!

The first time home buyers tax credit is a great opportunity, not just for Stratford CT home buyers but for home buyers across the country.

Not what you’re looking for? Try these.

How To Successfully Make An Offer On A Home

Three Easy Tricks To Slash Your Electric Bills

What makes the $8000 tax credit so great is that unlike the $7,500 tax credit done last year, the 8k credit does not need to ever be paid back. It’s totally free money!

Here are four more facts you should know about the 2009 home buyers tax credit that first time home buyers here in Stratford must take advantage of:

1. The credit is worth either 10% of the homes value or $8,000. You are entitled to the less of the two.
2. There is an income limit of $150k adjusted gross income for couples and half that for those single home buyers.
3. If you are married but file separately you can each file for half of the tax credit.
4. The 8000 dollar tax credit applies to purchases from January 1 to December 31.

If you have any other questions about the first time home buyers credit use the comment box below. I’ll answer all of your questions here on this page.

I’m available to help anyone looking for a house in Stratford and the surrounding areas. There’s also a second half to this blog post coming in the next few days where I will outline five more important facts about the $8000 tax credit.

Stay tuned and happy home hunting,

Scott

P.S. – I’m getting a lot of questions from you guys about the tax credit by email. I’ll be answering many of them in upcoming posts so don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed.

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Believe it or not, this is actually an easy question to answer.

Every house here in Stratford CT will sell for a different percentage of asking price. Trying to put a blanket, “You should offer 96% of asking price on every house in Stratford CT” just wont get the job done. It’s too vague of an answer.

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