Tracking the Continuing Progress of New Canaan's Sustainable Home

This is the second article in a series that I am writing for The New Canaan Advertiser Online published this week which features the construction of a fascinating "green home" in New Canaan using geothermal heat. The home is nearing completion and is going to receive a very high LEED platnium rating. Click on the title above to see more pictures.


Tracking the continuing progress of New Canaan’s sustainable homeWritten by Denise Gannalo
August 31, 2009



It has been several months since I last visited this celebrated home currently under construction in New Canaan. Nate and Etta Kantor are continuing to make remarkable progress on their home and plan to move in this fall, hopefully by the end of October. As you approach the property on Trinity Pass Rd in the pastoral north area of New Canaan, you see a remarkably well sized and proportioned residence on 4.6 acres with much available space surrounding it. The home is approximately 3500 sq ft with an additional 1500 square feet of living space in the walk out lower level. The exterior design is Adirondack style with a Mission/Arts and Craft influence. It has natural siding consisting of cedar shingles which are classified FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and the trim color is forest green. There are many overhangs over the windows which shade the home from the summer sun. The exterior front door is extremely handsome and is an antique door utilizing reclaimed wood that was found at United Housewreckers. The interior floors are now installed using antique oak. The walls are amazing. The first floor walls are American Clay. The other walls are painted in natural colors using Benjamin Moore Aura line of paints which is environmentally friendly and less toxic than conventional paints. All the windows are energy rated triple pane. The sensible size still lends itself to a striking great room consisting of kitchen/dining room/living room and fireplace, a first floor master suite, 3 bedrooms on the second floor plus 2 offices and a lower level with an exercise/ playroom, family room, fireplace, pool bath with steam shower and storage rooms. The flooring in the lower level is carpeted with floor tiles made from recycled natural materials. All the countertops in the kitchen (except the center island) and bathrooms are made of Ice Stone which is recycled glass and cement and is made locally in Brooklyn, NY. The center island of the kitchen will have an antique oak counter.

Being sensitive to the environment, The Kantors designed the house to be heated by solar power. There is a large tank in the basement which holds the water to heat the house and pool. The temperature of the water is 100 degrees. The concept of the design is that the home is self sufficient with little impact on the environment. The house is part of the power grid which means it can use electric power when needed because of cold or overcast weather conditions but it will sell back to the grid when there is excess and the electric meter will run in reverse. The goal here is to net zero. The water supply to the house for bathing, drinking water, laundry and cooking is from the well but a gray water system is used for toilets except for the master bathroom which will have a compost toilet. Underground cisterns will collect rainwater for irrigation of gardens and landscaping. In the rear of the property is a very generous garden about 30x130 feet to be used for organic gardening.

This home is expected to earn more than sufficient points to qualify for platinum LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a rating system from the US Green Building Council dedicated to the expansion of green building. It has emerged as the most important force in the accelerating market for green building by federal agencies.

I will continue to update the progress of this project as it gets closer to completion.

Denise Gannalo is a sales vice president at William Raveis Real Estate, located at 4 Elm Street. She has more than 26 years experience in the New Canaan real estate market. For more information, call Denise at 966-3555 or visit denisegannalo.raveis.com.

Bernie Madoff's Beach House in Long Island

Unbelievable but there are multiple bids on this house. It is a nice house but unfortunately it was at the expense of so many people. Greed does not pay off.
Click on the title to read the article and see a slide show of the house.

Newly Listed. Elegant Brick Colonial on Frogtown Rd

This spacious traditional Colonial has it all. Over 5,000 sq ft of living space on 2 private acres near town. Gorgeous landscaped property with private in ground pool.
Priced at $2,395,000

New Canaan Residential Activity August 2009

Although, it did seem very quiet around town in August, the real estate activity did certainly pick up from earlier this year. We see that trend in August as transactions hit the closing table.

This August, with 279 homes actively for sale on the market, we had 20 new listings but notably important was the 30 closings that took place in August. The average price of those August closings was $1,603,300 with a median price of $1,435,000. The average time it took to close was 155 days and the list to sale ratio was 91.09%

BRAND NEW LISTING IN LOST DISTRICT

Spacious 6 bedroom Colonial on 4+ acres with swimming pool and pond. Enjoy all that nature has to offer in this quiet setting where you can fish, swim, canoe, ice skate or birdwatch. Lovely private cul de sac location. $1,649,000

Housing Lifts Recovery Hopes from The Wall St Journal

A bit of positive news.
Click on the title to read the article

109 SAGAMORE TRAIL, NEW CANAAN. JUST REDUCED TO $1,499,000

What a fantastic buy. Almost 5,000 sq ft on West Side Cul de Sac.
Unbelievable Opportunity.

New Canaan Homeowners are paying their property taxes

More owners sent their property taxes in on time compared with 2008.

MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE IMPROVEMENT ACT

Consumers have another level of protection in choosing their mortgage plan under the passing of the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA).

In the past, consumers could be charged application and appraisal fees before seeing the details about the mortgage program they chose. No longer.

No monies may be collected from the borrower with the exception to a credit report fee until they receive the initial disclosures. This may cause a delay in when the appraisal is ordered, as we cannot order the appraisal without the signed disclosures.

Additionally, if the APR on a fixed-rate loan increases by more than 0.125%, new disclosures must be prepared and delivered to the borrower. There is now a three-day waiting period from delivery of disclosures until an appraisal report can be ordered. If re-disclosure is necessary, three more days of waiting follow before loan documentation can be signed. Also, the loan can never close fewer than seven days from the initial, accurate disclosure.

There are unintended consequences from this new rule. This means longer closing times for all types of mortgage loans. If inaccurate fees for any service provider (attorney, title insurance, appraiser, etc) are listed, re-disclosure means a longer wait.

Be sure to allow sufficient turn times in your purchase transactions, as three weeks for a mortgage contingency and the usual 30-day period for closing may now be insufficient.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Just thought I would give you all a reminder of the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit at a glance.



The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.
The credit is available for homes purchase on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.


Let me know if you have any questions.

New Canaan Real Estate activity thru August 9, 2009

142 Overlook Drive
Great Buy at $965,000
Sold and Closed in 71 Days
4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, 2361 sq ft. One level acre on cul de sac and updated condtion.

Also closed this week

18 Olmstead Court $715,000
321 Frogtown Rd $950,000
175 Woodland Rd $1,875,000
234 Indian Rock Rd $2,410,000

There are 32 homes in contract at this time and 262 houses actively on the market.

234 Indian Rock Road, New Canaan. CLOSED.

CLOSED TODAY
117 DAYS ON THE MARKET