A Toast to a Fantastic 2013 and a Great Beginning in Your New Home!

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Here it is, the year 2-0-1-3. And it is such a fantastic time for all of us! If you have been waiting and watching the market to find the perfect home, trust me this is the best time ever to get into it.

Sellers Eager to Close After the Holiday Season
Now that the Christmas lights are down, schools are about to re-open and business is back to usual – sellers are eager more than ever before to get their homes sold. When you have an eager seller, you have much more room to negotiate. If you have been sitting back while the holidays came and went by – now is definitely the time to jump back on the bandwagon and start up your home search again.

Interest Rates Holding Strong at Below 4%
With all this talk about the Fiscal Cliff, no one really knew where we were headed in the coming months or years. But now that we know a deal has been reached and consensus found, we can focus on enjoying the super low interest rates the Fed has elected to hold still for now. These are still historic low rates that one day, we’ll likely never see again. So it’s just smart to buy now, lock in these amazing rates and enjoy more house for the same monthly payment.

Pre-Spring Season Prices Still Low
One phenomenon we tend to see as more and more buyers appear on the market is the artificial inflation of prices.  What happens is that as multiple buyers express interest in one home, multiple offers and price wars become an issue. This artificial inflation of prices will temporarily impact the marketplace, so much so that you may not be able to get as good a deal as you would if buying now. As we move into the spring season, more buyers will be out wanting to lock in these rates.
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We invite you to get in touch with us; send a quick email, or call us to get started. One of our expert real estate advisors will be happy to help you find the perfect home of your dreams! And in the interim, here’s to another great year!

A Warm Holiday Greeting and Happy New Year From Carbutti & Company Realtors

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It’s hardly believable that we are at the cusp of yet another year – and it’s almost 2013! With a fantastic year behind us, we look ahead toward a great future in the coming months. I can’t tell you how much of a pleasure it has been serving our community members with the expert advice, one-on-one care and guidance with real estate endeavors in our communities.

Here’s a warm, resounding “Thank you!” to all our current and past clients. We believe you are more than just clients; you’re our friends and neighbors. We cherish that special relationship we have with each and every one of you.

Whether you have engaged in the purchase of a new home, sold a property or just needed advice and counsel on your real estate transactions – we have enjoyed being a part of the journey with you. In fact, we take so much pride in everything we do, that we take it into our communities and actively involve ourselves through charitable activities and donations. It’s just one of the ways we express our gratitude to you.

With Carbutti & Company Realtors, you will never find the mass-market approach to doing things. Instead, we manage each client, each transaction and each task with the utmost attention, skill and concentration necessary to get the job done and get it done optimally. As an independently owned real estate company, we strive to continue providing the most premium of quality service in the industry today.

Our premium quality comes from our expert team, support staff, administration group and extensive network of vendors and partners in the community. Here’s a shout out to them too!

Once again, thank you for trusting us with one of the most important aspects of your life and we wish you a warm, wonderful holiday season – with many happy times to come in the New Year and beyond!

Is Now the Time to Buy a Home or Should I Rent In Today’s Marketplace?

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It’s an age-old question and even in today’s largely buyer-centric marketplace the question still arises in many people’s minds “should I buy a home or should I rent?”

Truth be told, today’s interest rates are unprecedented. Mentioned time and again by such investment gurus as Warren Buffett and Donald Trump, not to mention countless industry analysts and experts, these historic lows give buyers so much more to work with.

With rates hovering in the low 3s and even lower for shorter term mortgages, buyers can afford so much more house these days with the same amount of payment. In terms of whether or not renting is a better choice there are several factors to consider.

Reasons to Buy a Home Instead of Rent

We’ve already covered interest rates but it’s more than just what your monthly payment is or how much house you can afford with the lower monthly payments. With the cost of borrowing so low, many times buyers can obtain an assumable loan making their home a very viable property for future sale.

Add to the very low cost of borrowing the fact that prices are lower than they have been in a long time, and it’s a win-win situation because in most cases the monthly expense is less than if you were to be renting.

The fact that equity building is rarely possible with rent situations, what better than to own your own home and build value? In fact, with today’s low prices and rates combined when we see appreciation, it will be noticeably significant.

One more factor that many renters love from the moment they take the plunge and decide to own their home – is the sense of autonomy. The home is yours and you can do with it whatever you want. You can have pets or not. You can hang window coverings that suit you without restrictions. There are fewer rules and regulations to worry about than in a leased home.

Why Renting Might Make More Sense

There are some reasons that renting is a better choice for some people. In light of our housing market challenges from just a few years ago many people are still working on rebuilding their credit and financial outlook. There may be uncertainty with job location and the looming potential of a transfer could contribute to house-buying apprehension. In the same way, you may not know exactly what your housing needs are; is there a family on the way and will there be enough space? What type of housing will work best for you and your family? Homeowners that prefer to avoid maintenance concerns and like the idea of someone else handling all of that may lean toward a leased home, though condos can take care of that issue. A lot of times people are afraid of the commitment itself that goes with buying a house. For them, perhaps waiting until they feel the time is right may be in order.

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With the housing market as it stands right now, the cost to rent is definitely higher than to buy a home these days. Many people shy away from the prospect of buying when the think of the down payment but the truth is that the majority of loan products nowadays require a minimal down payment, often very close to the amount you’d expect to pay when renting. The expense that goes into the first and last month’s rent plus security deposit, for an average single-family home that rents for about $1600 a month can easily be channeled into a purchase if all the other factors line up.

If you would like to explore your options, we invite you to contact us today. Our expert team will sit down with you and carefully consider all available alternatives so you can make an informed decision. We look forward to serving you!

Welcome to the Town Tours for Durham and Middlefield, Connecticut

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The most well loved characteristics of the perfect towns in New England tend to surround the sense of community and the people that make up the life of those towns. Middlefield and Durham are no exception. Today, we share with you some of the most beautiful rolling hills in a picturesque setting that will take your breath away.

Middlefield Home of a Generations’ Long Family Tradition

When you arrive in Middlefield, you will immediately be taken aback by just how serene the area is and the people’s genuine warmth. In fact, one of the most cherished aspects of this great town is Lyman Orchards – a place where family, friends and neighbors convene to do any number of activities together. You can enjoy fruit picking with the family, sample delicious bakery treats, enjoy a nice lunch at the farm’s deli and more.

Another great destination for residents and area visitors is Lake Beseck. The classic waterfront brings the perfect blend of relaxing backdrop to enjoy in great weather and allows you to use the lake for fishing or boating as well. Peckham Park is another fantastic place to spend time with your loved ones – with a host of things to do including outdoor skating in its unique skating area, picnicking in the pavilion or playing sports in the many fields. Younger children also enjoy their time at Peckham Park with a fantastic playing space designed to keep your youngsters very happy!

Historic Durham Brings Character and Charm to Your Life

Imagine walking into an area that stood strong centuries ago, rich with history of our ancestors and the solid past of our forefathers. Durham is exactly that place and as you find yourself going through town, you will immediately fall in love with the beauty and charm of this lovely New England town. Ripe with farm lands, both dairy and others, the small town environment is exactly what you need to keep your family close knit with others in the community while living on large, gorgeous stretches of land at the same time.

There are so many great things to do in Durham, including the area-renowned Durham Fair where the entire town is off to enjoy the festivities and activities lined up for everyone. And there is no shortage of warm, inviting neighbors to welcome you into the community and make you feel right at home. 

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In terms of homes, there is an eclectic mix of classic architecture built as many as three hundred years ago as well as a host of newer homes that had been constructed in the 80s, 90s and more recently. This is a great place where you will get a lot of value in whichever property you might choose to make your home. Homes with lots of land attached are available while at the same time you can find the perfect blend of small cottage charm with neighbors nearby.

There is much more to see and enjoy in both these fantastic towns and we welcome the opportunity to share more with you! Contact us today for a customized look at the areas you’d like to see!

FHA Renovation Loans Offer a Great Way to Purchase Heavily Discounted HUD Homes

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One of the unfortunate outcomes of the economic downturn our nation faced during the time immediately following 2007 has been the number of homes with the mortgage going into default. Sadly, try as much as we did collectively as a nation to avoid this, for many homeowners this was an inevitable and very painful fact of life.

But as they say, “every cloud has a silver lining” and the opportunity that lies in these same homes is for first-time buyers to be able to afford much more house in much less money. Take HUD Homes. When a federally insured home is defaulted on and repossessed by the government upon default, it will usually end up on a long list of available HUD homes.

As demonstrated in the video, all a prospective homebuyer needs to do is to visit www.HUDHomestore.com and start shopping. With weekly updates the inventory of these homes is fairly vast, providing a fair amount of selection in the same areas and same neighborhoods that you would find traditional MLS listings. As you browse through the properties you will find that each has a set of parameters, including the types of acceptable financing allowed on each property.

Keep in mind that there are many HUD homes that are insurable. In the example I pulled up to demonstrate the property was not insurable, therefore the only forms of financing available were either cash, conventional mortgage or a FHA 203k loan. Also called the “rehabilitation loan” the idea behind this type of financing is that the home being purchased will need some sort of rehabilitation or renovation. The government then insures one amount to cover the purchase price plus another additional amount that accommodates renovations/repairs that need to be done.

The beauty of this type of financing is that like any other FHA product you will only have to put down 3.5% on the loan and that includes the amount borrowed for rehabilitation too. There is one more aspect to HUD homes that many people don’t realize; these are usually open for owner occupants first before they open up to the remaining market. This gives you a much better chance at getting the property you want without having to compete with an investor that is out looking to get a great deal.

There is one small caveat to this unique type of home inventory – you must visit the property via an authorized HUD broker. Of course, Carbutti & Co. Realtors is a HUD broker and we have full access to HUD homes so all you have to do is give us a call or send us a quick email and we’ll get you right in to see the homes of your choosing. Also, in our extensive experience dealing with HUD homes, we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the home buying process with these properties. We look forward to hearing from you today!

Harness the Power of the Fall Season – List Your Home Now To Sell it Lightning Fast

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Many sellers are unsure whether or not to wait until next spring before listing their home. The confusion comes with a combination of age-old schools of thought that predict the spring season as being almost the only season for homes to sell successfully. Not true.

A lot of homeowners are under the impression that homes are not selling at all, whereas in our own experience, time and again we continue to see completely the opposite results. So much so, that we are defying the myths of never ending days on market statistics with many properties going under contract in approximately two weeks. Here’s why.

There are so many buyers in the marketplace right now that are eager to lock in the phenomenal interest rates and market conditions that continue to allow a very significant amount of buying power. The interesting thing is that while it is a strong buyers’ market in that sense, sellers are still enjoying an edge with the lower inventory that comes with it being this time of year.

Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, either way you look at it the market is strong. People are out there buying. If there are fewer homes available on the market, then that only means that there is less selling competition. This of course translates to top dollar and incredibly quick, hassle-free transactions in which everyone comes out a smiling winner.

So to answer one of the most frequently asked questions I am getting these days, it IS a great time to sell your home. Sure, you could wait till spring. But keep in mind that so will countless other sellers and by the time springtime blooms are back out, so will equally as many more “for sale” signs, competing with you.

By listing your home now, you can harness the power of the buyers that are striving to find that perfect property before the holidays kick in.

Contact us today if you’d like a custom, home valuation report detailing exactly what we expect your home will sell for in today’s marketplace. Our team looks forward to hearing from you and helping your real estate goals come to fruition.

Who Said Buying a Home in the Spring Is Better Than Buying in the Fall/Winter?

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Other than the age-old trend of people buying homes more so in the spring season as opposed to the fall and winter, there really is no reason that one might choose one season over the other. Sure, there may be more homes on the market – but equally there are as many more buyers circuiting the market too.

The question prospective buyers ought to be asking themselves is whether or not they would prefer buying a home that is right for them regardless of the time of year or does it just suit them more to buy when it’s warmer outside?

Spring Is In the Air – And So Is Much More Competition

Many buyers like to be out shopping for a new home at a time that they feel there are a lot more homes on the market. But one very important thing to consider is that there are equally as many other buyers out there also looking. And with a greater number of buyers at any given time, there’s a good chance you will come across more buyers looking for the same type of property that you are seeking.

So when the perfect home shows up on the market, in great condition and priced just right – you guessed it – more than one buyer will likely show up to make an offer on it. What does that do to your chances of securing the home of your dreams? Having multiple buyers vying for the same property dilutes your chances a good amount. Not only will you find a greater likelihood of competing against another buyers’ bid but you will also face the risk of multiple offers and ultimately a bidding war. Despite the low, low interest rates, the last thing any buyer wants is to deal with artificially inflated prices.

Real Estate Market in Fall and Winter Slows Down But Doesn’t Stop

Contrary to what many people believe, the real estate market does not stop during the cooler months of the year – rather it just slows down a little. But this can work in buyers’ favor when you consider that there is fewer buying competition to contend with. Yes there are fewer homes on the market since the same people that believe springtime is a better time for real estate also remove their homes from the market. However, with fewer sellers there are also fewer buyers which means that when you do find the perfect home there is a much better chance at successfully closing the deal – and without all the hoopla that goes along with multiple offers or bidding wars.

Consider also that by the time the holidays begin to roll around, many sellers have had their property on the market for one, two or even more months and they are eager to sell. This translates to their willingness to negotiate more than ever before.
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With today’s record setting low interest rates and with them the very low cost of borrowing money combined with increased buying power, it only makes sense to jump off the fence and embark on your home buying journey. We invite you to contact us today so we can begin helping you find your perfect home.