Economic Scene - As Markets Fizzle, Buying May Cost Less Than Renting - NYTimes.com

Economic Scene - As Markets Fizzle, Buying May Cost Less Than Renting - NYTimes.com

Buying vs Renting. Compare using the ratio chart.

2009 William Raveis Awards

As surprised as I was to hear this news, I recently received some pretty nice awards for my work in 2009. At a luncheon held a Bill Raveis's home and hosted by Bill and his lovely wife Candy, Bill presented the top 10 agents in the company with some honors and some nice jewelry.  Even though 2009 was a dismal year all around for real estate, I was the #2 Top Producing Agent in the State of Connecticut and the #3 Top Producing Agent in the Company spanning New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. What a nice surprise. I also received some other awards such as Top Producer in our New Canaan office, Top Listing Agent New Canaan office, Top Closed Units New Canaan office, Top Producing Associate Exceptional Properties Division New Canaan and Chairman's Elite Club.  By clicking on the title above, it will bring you to my William Raveis webpage featuring the awards.  However, the highlight of the day was the beautiful gardens at Bill and Candy Raveis's in Southport featuring spectacular gardens, an apple orchard and a putting green. I have attached a few of the photos I took.

New Canaan Real Estate in April. Moving Forward One Step at a Time

Cherry Trees in bloom at Mead Park in New Canaan

As April has come to a close, it is a good time to compare this year's activity against last year.  The good news is that there are 35 properties that are pending in New Canaan right now including 3 of my listings (12 Ludlowe Rd, 109 Sagamore Trial and 599 North Wilton Rd, which means 35 soon to be closings. The homes that are pending range from a low of $749,000 to a high of $8,195,000 with a median price of $1,465,000.  Interesting to note that the $8,195,000 listing was only on the market for a little over one month before it went pending. It is a fabulous property listed by Brotherhood and Higley with over 10,000 square feet of living space and over 6 acres of waterviews looking over the reservior. The home was custom built in 1995 by Hobbs and it is really spectacular. But even more interesting is that it bindered so quickly, which means that there are still some very high end buyers out there.

There were 12 sales in April ranging from $500,000 to $2,550,000 with an average sales price of $1,491,633. These homes were on the market for an average of 221 days and sold for 94.3% of asking price. If these statistics don't seem too impressive, they look a lot better that April 2009 where there were only 6 sales with an average price of $1,309,000 which took an average of 271 days to sell.

Currently there are 262 homes on the market ranging from $550,000 to $24,000,000. We will see what activity May will bring.

Indian Cooking Class with Suman Govindan

I had the pleasure of participating in an Indian Cooking class taught by one of my clients Suman Govindan. Suman is an accomplished cook and instructor who prepared a complete meal from appetizers to dessert.

She uses a terrific stainless steel container for her spices such as coriander, cumin etc with a cover which lets you easily access your most used spices. I am going to try to find a container like it.  Suman purchases her spices and fresh vegetables at Spices of Asia in Norwalk and the final result of the meal was absolutely terrific. On the menu was Pekoras, which is similar to Tempora with vegetables dipped in spiced batter and fried.

The main course was Butter Chicken served with stir fried yard long green beans and cumin rice. Dessert was a ricotta based dish with confectioners sugar, vanilla and pistachios.  Delicious and many thanks to Suman for a wonderful lesson.

GRAND OPENING THIS SUNDAY IN NEW CANAAN. DON'T MISS THIS OPEN HOUSE

Never Before On Market

Built by Dinyar Wadia with recent additions by Frank Palmer, this extraordinary Contemporary is in a class by itself. Stop by on Sunday and take a look.

34 Wardwell Drive

1-3PM

$2,395,000

Maria Bartiromo comes to New Canaan

Maria Bartiromo came to the New Canaan Library yesterday to promote the new book she has just written called The 10 Laws of Enduring Sucess.  Maria is a veteran business journalist and is well known as the anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" (M-F, 3-5pm) and host of the nationally syndicated show "Wall St Journal with Maria Bartiromo".  She spoke before a crowded Lamb Room audience and while she takes a middle of the road position, she is a very competent and intelligent speaker.  Growing up in Brooklyn and attending Catholic Schools like myself, she has interviewed  many noted celebrities, powerful business figures etc, and  regards the #1 rule of enduring success is having a passion for what you do. Those who love their work and can't wait to jump into it every day, reach not only success but a high level of satisfaction which is measured on many levels not only financial. I can truly relate to this concept as my degree of satisfaction with my choice of work is really high.

Her thoughts about her industry are not as strong as she avoids the extremes of opinion. "At the heart of everything on Wall St. has to be Integrity. I am outraged to see some of these executives walk away with giant pay packages. I am a firm believer in pay for performance, but some of them are just ridiculous. However, I also believe that an across-the-board, blanket statement that all business is "bad" is just not true."

As a result of what we've just been through, Bartiromo believes this is a great time for women to advance...and to garner equal pay. "Women are soaring. Sixty percent of higher degrees are going to women. Women are the CEO's of their households. The elephant in the room is that they are still making 20% less than men. Women are in a great position to take leadership positions."

Open House Sunday April 18, 2010 1-4pm Eco Friendly New Construction

New Canaan Newest Green Home

Located at 274 Mariomi Road, this beautiful newly constructed home is environmentally conscious and eco friendly. With over 9000 sq ft on 3 hilltop acres, it incorporates the latest green technology. Stop by for a visit. Recently reduced to $3,495,000

Luxury Baths – Your Personal Retreat

Luxury Baths – Your Personal Retreat

This is a recent post by Angela Thelin, Director of William Raveis Exceptional Properties referring to luxury trends in bathrooms.

Posted using ShareThis

Lake Murray, Columbia, SC. It's not New Canaan but it is a nice place to visit

I spent the weekend visiting family in Chapin, South Carolina.  They live on Lake Murray which is a large and picturesque lake which is actively used for recreational activities.  If you are thinking of visiting, the temperature was 49 degrees at night and 75 during the daytime with dry sunny conditions. Delightful. Chapin is a small town of about 12,000 residents located 20 minutes from downtown Columbia. It is accessed by a small easily accessable airport.. While the average adjusted gross income is less than New Canaan at $78,442,  the cost of living is 88% below the national average so it is quite affordable and the median price home is $297,772. The home next door just sold in September 2009 for $680,000. It sold for above the median price because these homes are waterfront. It has a glorious view of the lake and is a large 4300 sq ft brick Colonial home with 5 bedrooms 4 1/2 baths and private dock. This home is under renovation by its new owners and is just being finished.

New Canaan rated one of the Ten Best School Systems in the Nation

In a recent study rating public schools, New Canaan, with a score of 94.97 was rated one of the best. Click on the title to read more........

What a perfect rental in New Canaan

Just Listed for $4500 per month, this immaculate 4 bedroom Colonial with many upgrades available soon for yearly lease.

This New Canaan Home has Never Been on the Market. I will be hosting a Public Grand Opening Soon

For Sale: 5BR/6+1BA Single Family House in New Canaan, CT, $2,395,000