DOOLEY blog | Dooley Real Estate
23 South Main Street | Kent, CT 06757
TEL 860.927.3585 | FAX 860.927.3963

Online Valuation Don’t rest your head on Zillow We have written a lot in the past year about the importance of having a carefully derived estimate of value of your real property before listing it for sale. Pricing your house on the basis of the list prices of similar homes may seem rational, but if all of them are priced at levels that prevailed a year or more ago, you may simply be adding to the growing number of unsold homes that have grown stale.

Trends in Today's Market And what they mean when estimating market value It is generally recognized that the most reliable way to determine the value of one’s real estate holdings is to commission a formal appraisal. We, as brokers, are often asked to prepare valuation reports or CMA’s (comparative market analyses). The value estimated in either an appraisal or a CMA should be understood to be the value as of the date of the report. But what if the market is moving rapidly in one direction or the other?

HINDERING THE RECOVERY CT Increases Real Estate Conveyance Taxes In an apparent effort to find revenue sources to preserve State grants to municipalities, the Connecticut legislature has increased the conveyance taxes levied on the sellers of real estate, effective 1 July 2011 (Senate Bill 1239). It’s ironic while the federal government has attempted to stimulate the troubled housing market and encourage home ownership, Connecticut has turned to real estate transactions as a convenient source of ready money.

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER If you want or need to sell in today's market There is no number more slippery, or more important, than the actual current market value of your home. Whether you would simply like to sell and move on, or whether your financial circumstances are requiring you to sell, it’s critical that you have an accurate understanding of the current value of your property and list it accordingly.

New Lead Law Complicates Home Renovation Contractors put on the spot...Renovation costs likely to rise... New federal regulations concerning safe lead based paint practices went into effect, coincidentally or not, on Earth Day last week (April 22nd), complicating the lives of contractors and owners of homes built before 1978. New rules will require virtually all residential contractors be certified in and follow safe, and likely more costly, renovation practices...

Property Condition Disclosure Report The Law of Unintended Consequences It's been over ten years since the Connecticut legislature adopted a law (Sec. 20-327b-1) requiring sellers of residential property to provide what is known as a Property Condition Disclosure Report. Most of us in the business have assumed that sellers have very little liability in providing honest disclosure reports. That assumption has been called into question by a recent Superior Court case.

A Job Well Done Natural and Cultural Riches of Kent, CT The Kent Conservation Commission published the first edition of its Natural and Cultural Resources Inventory (NCRI) this week. We picked up a copy the other day and found ourselves mesmerized by the stories, old photographs and facts it contains about our town. The culmination of over five years of data collection, research, writing and editing, the book is a trove of interesting information.

St John's Peak at Kent Past and Present In the mid-1980’s, the 500-plus acre tract that eventually became the St. John’s Peak at Kent subdivision was a wild, seldom-visited place beyond the ends of two abandoned town roads. It was owned by two men from Bridgeport, Norman Parsells and Newman Marsilius, who bought it in 1958 for $21,000 to use as a hunting and camping retreat.

Connecticut's PA 490 Explained PA 490 was pushed by the Connecticut legislature and passed in 1963. The intent was to provide property tax relief for the owners of farms, forests, and open space. It was meant to prevent the owners from being forced to sell because of taxes. Does your land qualify and what are the savings?