St Lawrence Properties' Blog: All Categories

Yes Sellers, times are tough! But Please, Don't go to jail over it!

The internet is filled with schemes to sell your house, but what they don’t tell you is that some of these, OK, most of these schemes are illegal. My local TV station had a nice story tonight about a home owner who is raffling off his 1.6 million dollar home for $50 Bucks. Yes, 1.6mil  for $50 bucks.   http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/raffled.off.home.2.1155130.html

They showed you the house, told you about the seller and even promised to return 98% of the entry fee if he fails to sell the 30,000 raffle tickets. But they never told you it was illegal. Since he sold 10,000 tickets so far through his PayPal account, he has earned $10,000 in fees! Not a bad investment for illegal gambling.…

Sunday, August 22, 2009

Larry Jensen, Principal Broker at St. Lawrence Properties, LLC for New York and Connecticut and motorcycle enthusiast participated in the 2009 Dream Ride on Sunday to help raise money for the Special Olympics. Close to 10,000 motorcyclists from 7 different states participated in the ride all meeting up in Farmington, CT for a Lunch Gala.

The mission of Dream Ride 2009 is to raise much-needed funds for the thousands of Special Olympics athletes; the funds generated in each state will remain in that state. As an organization, Special Olympics contributes to the lifelong development of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. For those individuals and their families, Special Olympics has become a symbol of hope. For…

WPMLS released their mid year results and the news is astonishing.

First to congratulate Larry Jensen for ranking in the Top 20% of over 7,500 agents in Year to Date Production.

Now onto the news. Out of over 7,500 active agents (down from more than 8,000 the year before) 5,000 agents had no production! 1,000 agents only did one transaction and 1,500 agents did two or more transactions.

So what does this mean? The reality is harsh, but not new. These stats are not a result of the economy or technology. These results are a tried and true principal...Pareto's Principal. So on the surface, a Buyer or Seller may look at the number...7,500 agents, ready willing and able(?) to help you buy or sell a home. The reality is there are 7,500 agents, but fewer…

Maybe you saw the new, read a blog, heard people talking about it.

On May 12, 2009 the following Press Release was issued:

Improvement Coming to Buyer Tax Credit?
Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the Federal Housing Administration is working on a plan that will permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

Previously, most buyers wouldn't receive the funds until after they filed their tax return, and that deterred some people from using the credit. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has been calling for the change.

“We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the…

Located in Southern New Milford, Ct. Prices from $599,994  (as shown $779,000)

Harvest View Estates is a Premier New Development features 11 Single Family Homes on a Cul de Sac all with Million Dollar views! Minutes to the New Milford Green, Shopping, Recreation and Commuting. Use our plans or bring your own 

The model home pictured above, is certain to be the jewel of this neighborhood and is currently offers an an unbelievable price of $779k. This 4250 sf Center Hall Colonial features 5 Bedrooms, an 1100 sq ft Master Bedroom Suite, Gourmet Kitchen, Architectural Moldings throughout and awe inspiring views.

If you are looking for new construction in or around New Milford, CT, you have found it. Certainly to be the best value in town.

Larry…

Two weeks ago I wrote about Home Sales heating up. As a Buyer's Agent, I was noticing a number of showings happening at the same time I was showing. I also noticed an increase in showings at my listings. The other indicator was the number of In Contract or Acceptable Offer status changes. Yet how many of you saw this reported in the news or in the papers?

There was a blip on the news a few days ago about New Home sales and I finally saw a Front Page report in a newspaper. However, that was only after I heard some guy on CNBC talking about Ground Zero for this Financial Mess being Wall Street. He made me so upset that I had to fire off an e-mail to him. Of course there was no response. Never is. They just go on TV and say what ever they feel, not backed by…

I just read an article on Wiki about the Great Depression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

Now I know Wiki can not be relied upon heavily, but I did find some very interesting facts in there. Some of the article talked about attributing the Depression to Corporate Greed. Take a look at the following and tell me if you can see any similarities? I saw too many!

"The depression had devastating effects in virtually every country, rich or poor. International trade plunged by half to two-thirds, as did personal income, tax revenue, prices and profits. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell…

So we know what Black Monday or Black Friday is, but how about Green Thursday?

Yes, we saw the Stock Market rally today, but why? What cause  this beautiful site. Well no one is really saying, but remarkably just two days ago I talked about a sudden surge of showing activity in the Real Estate Market.  Read Story Here

As I talked about two days ago, we would see a recovery on the street before we see it on Wall St. and sure enough, we saw a small up tick in the Real Estate Market and two days later its being reflected on Wall St. Don't get me wrong, I do not think this is a full blown rally, its a tick up! Just enough to let people know there is hope!

Let's remember everyone,nothing in excess is good. Let's keep a recovery a nice slow steady climb. If…