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The Chocolate Diamonds and Champagne fundraiser is THE event of the year here in The Farmington Valley. My committee at the Greater Hartford Assocation of Realtors puts so much effort and energy into putting the Valentine’s event together and this year was no exception. With it being our 5th year, we wanted to make it special….

CLICK HERE to watch me on Fox 61 news describing the event!

I’m happy to say that we raised over $9,000 for our charity, Gifts of Love!! It feels so good to give back to the community

Michele Pellegatto
http://www.centralctrealestate.com/

Welcome to December! Can you believe we are almost through with 2011? I think it’s a good thing – as we proceed into 2012 I think the market is going to turn a bit more optimistic here in Central CT. Maybe not on January 1st, but I do think that there are some amazing opportunities out there that are only going to get better. But since we still have another month in 2011, many people want to know if it’s a BAD time of year to list their home and if their home is currently listed, they want to know if they should pull it off until spring. The choice is yours, but there are some good things about selling your home this time of year.

One good thing about December is it’s the holiday season so there will be Christmas lights and decorations everywhere and excitement in the air. Houses show exceptionally well all decorated and give a cozy feeling of home. People tend to keep their houses cleaner for parties as well. Think of how great the curb appeal is on a home with sparkling white lights glowing as you approach. Just try to look beyond the giant blown up Santas….my goodness are they gaudy.

Another great thing about selling in December is there is not a lot of competition on the market. As a listing, your home is compared to others on the market, so if there is less inventory, you have a better chance of standing out compared to the rest. Of course, there is no hiding an overpriced listing, so be sure to price the property well. Since the pool of buyers is less than other times of the year, you don’t want to discourage any buyer from looking at your home because it is overpriced. Price your home accordingly and keep an eye on your competition.

Which leads me to my final point; December buyers are SERIOUS buyers. Companies in December have finished their budgeting for the following year and if they are hiring they are going to bring people on right after the holidays. Which makes December an important time of year for those people relocating to the area. Needless to say, any showing is a good showing. It only takes ONE buyer.

So if you are hesitant about listing your home in December, try to look at the positive. Decorate your home for the season, price your home aggressively, and don’t turn down any showings during this time of year because the buyers that are shopping in December are serious buyers.

Happy Holidays!!

Michele Pellegatto –
www.centralctrealestate.com

I’m so excited to be featured on the cover of the Canton newspaper! I don’t usually talk much about what I do outside of real estate; but on August 27th, 2011 I made my Professional debut as a Figure competitor (similar to bodybuilding but without an emphasis on mass, more of an emphasis on total package) and placed runner up in the WORLD at the WBFF World Championships. The owner of my gym, Snap Fitness in Avon CT, was so excited about my win, he reached out to local writers to see if they were interested in hearing my story.

To read my story, you can find it online here:

Why this is relevant for my real estate website is because I was able to accomplish achieving professional status while working full time in real estate. Health and fitness are a part of my lifestyle and my dedication to my health is the same dedication I put forth in real estate. In fact, the owner of Snap recently hired me for a real estate transaction because he knew the effort I put into training would be the same effort I would provide him. For more information you can go to my website

I’ve heard many times from people who say that they would like to get into real estate “part time.” I write this blog to address (ok let’s be real – vent) about how real estate requires professionalism, full time commitment, and the willingness to think on your feet.

I am a real estate PROFESSIONAL. I take pride in what I do and work 7 days a week. Yes, I might have an afternoon to myself, but I’m sitting here at my desk at 9:13pm writing a blog entry so as you can see my work hours vary. And the industry demands that you are a self-motivator because sitting home watching the Today’s Show isn’t going to bring you business. Often times new people come into the industry with the dream of making a ton of money. Let’s face it, if it’s too good to be true…it’s not true. You have to actually put some effort into this business for people to trust you with what is potentially the most expensive transaction of their life. Can you blame them for wanting a professional that they can trust to watch their money and protect them from what they don’t know? I sure can’t. I wouldn’t want some deadbeat and you shouldn’t either.

Real estate really is a full time job. If you can’t commit to working weekends, you picked the wrong field, my friend. Transactions are not smooth – especially in today’s market. Many issues come up with inspections, mortgages, life surprises that will make a real estate transaction difficult. You work for your client ALL the time and if you take vacation often times if something goes wrong they want to hear directly from you – because they trust you and your judgment. Availbilty is sooooo important – if you are too busy, someone else is happy to be available. Remember, you only make a living if you close on a house so treat your clients right. My goal is to do the absolute best job for my clients so they will want to refer me to their friends and family.

Finally, real estate requires you to think on your feet. If the agent on the other end isn’t responding, you can’t just sit back and say “oh well.” Remember, your clients are counting on you to help them so find a way. Often decisions will need to be made that are difficult decisions, so be truthful and look at the transaction and ask yourself “what is in the best interest of my client?” and you will do fine

So remember, real estate is not part-time, it a full time career managed by a professional (you). Enjoy the ride!

Visit me at www.centralctrealestate.com for more info on me and my areas of expertise!

Michele Pellegatto
William Raveis
www.centralctrealestate.com

2010 was a profitable year, but a very emotional one as well and I’m happy to have 2011 so far being a more smooth ride. I’ve hired a business coach, Brian Buffini, and am working hard to get back in touch with the past clients that have just slipped away through no fault of theirs. My relationships with my clients are so important because it is they who keep me in business. I’m so grateful for many of them that have become more like family, even best friends who root for you every step of the way as you make moves or have mini successes in the business. Some people you don’t connect as well with and will call you only if they need something, but then there are others, such as the clients I just closed on a house with, that literally at the closing table told me that their children are going to refer to me as “Aunt Michele.” I can’t tell you how wonderful that made me feel. I felt like I was walking on air for the rest of the afternoon.

Don’t get me wrong, real estate is not an easy business by any means. I recently helped clients find a home in the area not because they wanted to, but because they HAD to….for very personal and difficult reasons. Part of me felt guilty benefiting financially from their pain, so I had to remind myself that I am helping them and that they couldn’t do this on their own. It was a very hard transaction to be involved with but at the end of it, I was happy it was me helping them and could offer the compassion and friendship they needed during their difficult time.

You just never know who you are going to meet. My most recent clients are a wonderful young couple that know exactly what they are looking for so when I line up 13 homes for 1 day, we power through the day and end up with 1 or 2 favorites. The relationship I am developing with them is both fun and appreciative. I appreciate them working with me and make sure they have refreshments as we look at 13 homes back to back; and they surprise me with a gift card to Starbucks to thank me for working with them.

It’s these relationships that make me love what I do. They make me want to work hard and be the very best at what I do. They carry me through the difficult transactions and keep me feeling positive when I might be feeling like giving up. We all have those days, but with gratitude I’m still plugging away as I work my way into the second quarter 2011.

My next post will be actual statistics on some of the towns and their performance in 1st quarter 2011. You will be surprised so stay tuned Also please visit my website www.centralctrealestate.com for local town infomation along with my private database of all listings in CT

Michele

I’ve been a Realtor for almost 6 years now and am excited to announce that I am now an agent with William Raveis Real Estate. I started off my career with a company based out of Massachusetts and managed the CT sales with the office’s top producting Realtor. When my mentor left the business it only made sense for me to bring my business into the Farmington Valley area where I live. Now it’s time for another change and I’m excited for my real estate business to now be based out of Avon CT as I continue to cover the Farmington Valley and all the fabulous towns that surround it.

The good news is I, personally, am not changing and my way of doing business will remain the same. Now I have more to offer with Raveis being the 9th largest real estate company in the country and part of the largest relocation network in the country. The website is the most widely used website in the area which is great for listings – and – the support center is open 7 days a week for online lookers. So the service my clients love won’t change; instead, I will be able to provide even MORE tools to make my service even better.

I still have to change my logo, but you can shop for homes for learn about selling your home and how I can help you by visiting me at www.centralctrealestate.com

Thank you for sticking with me

I spend a lot of time talking about buyers so today I’m going to dedicate my post to the Seller statistics, trends, and demographics. There is so much information on the internet about buying and most real estate professionals have a website that caters to buyers, property listings, and the buying process. But what about Sellers? Do you have any idea what is going on the market? You might see the house across the street sell, but do you REALLY know how it compares to your house, the motives of the seller, the reason the buyer chose the house across the street rather than the other houses in inventory? Websites like zillow might give you an idea what your house is worth, but most likely not even close to the market value. There are so many variables in a home sale, questions about what you should and should not do before selling, and questions on how to attract the right buyer. So I’m going to provide some cool 2011 statistics that might help you better understand the market from the seller’s perspective.

Crazy enough, sellers typically move about 18 miles from their previous home after having lived in their home for about 8 years. 50% of sellers trade up; 28% bought a comparably sized home; and 21% traded down. And seller motivation ranges from 21% because the current home is too small and 15% due to a job relocation. And at the end of the day, the typical home sold for 96% of the final listing price. The most notable statistic is that 89% of buyers search on the internet for their next home. So most people looking for a home today have owned before, are ready for an upgrade, and will search on the internet to find it.

So what should you do to prepare your home to attract that buyer that knows what they want? What home improvement projects profide the best return on investment? Number 1 is CLEANING AND DECLUTTERING. You’ve probably watched over and over again on HGTV the programs on staging. Well, guess what? STAGING WORKS. You don’t have to go out and purchase a stager if you hire the right real estate professional (shameless self plug here — I will help you stage). The estimated return on investment for cleaning and de-cluttering is 586%. Remember what I said above about how 21% of sellers moved because their current house was too small? Well, there you go – make yourhome look as spacious and clean as possible so the buyer can envision the space being better than what they have now.

The number 2 home improvement project with the best return on investment is LIGHTENING & BRIGHTENING with an average return on investment of 313%. If the house looks dark, it looks small and quite frankly creepy and dirty (sorry, if you ask I will tell…). So brighten up the space and make someone want to stick around.

The number 3, 4, and 5 home improvemet projects with the best return on investment are HOME STAGING, which I touched on before with cleaning and de-cluttering; LANDSCAPING, which is the FIRST thing thing a buyer notices as they pull up to the house; and finally REPAIRING ELECTRICAL OR PLUMBING. Electrical issues are fire/safety issues so GET IT FIXED. No one wants leaks because they will wonder what else is wrong with the house so GET IT FIXED. The return on investment for electrical/plumbing is 181% so – did I say it enough? GET IT FIXED.

So if you are thinking about selling your house and you live in The Farmington Valley, West Hartford, Central CT, or even the eastern part of Litchfield County in towns like New Hartford and Barkhamsted, I do it all. Give me a call and I’d be happy to stop by and chat with you. You can email me at Michelep@centralctrealestate.com or visit my website www.centralctrealestate.com.

I’ve received this question many times from a seller who isn’t sure which scenario, leasing or selling, is best for them. There are pros and cons to both.

You first need to decide if you CAN sell. This will depend on how much you owe on the house and the market value of your home. Calling a Realtor for a market analysis is a great idea since sites such as Zillow are flawed. Your Realtor will also give you an idea of your closing costs so you can then determine if you have enough money from the closing to walk away. If you are profiting, good for you! Those who are not profiting, you have to decide if you have enough money to bring to the table to close the deal. You can’t just assume that you will be able to do a short sale because the bank doesn’t have to agree – especially when you are not in default of your loan and do not have a “hardship” (with a short sale you submit a package to the bank which includes an offer from a buyer and ask the bank to release title to the property by accepting less than what is owed on the house – email me at michelep@centralctrealestate.com if you want more thorough explanation).

So you’ve decided that you can sell, but aren’t profiting as much as you would like, so you are thinking of leasing out the house to “wait out” the market. This can be tricky, because you have to look at the big picture. Leasing your house means you will have strangers living in it. No one takes care of your house like you do and excessive wear and tear can bring your property value down. So choose wisely by having interested parties fill out applications with recommendations and be sure to perform credit checks. The last thing you want is a tenant in default since the eviction process is costly. You can hire a Realtor to help you with choosing a tenant.

Note with leasing you are now also a property manager and if anything goes wrong with the house, as the owner/landlord, you are responsible for fixing it. So if the hot water heater goes at 3am, you are going to be fielding calls. So please take note that you are still going to be involved with the house. It will be up to you and what you negotiate with the tenant who pays for the lawn/snow/trash removal. Remember, you still own the house so any taxes, water/sewer bills, etc. will be your responsibility.

So the bottom line is you need to decide if you are ready to walk away from the house or not. Leasing means you are involved, but if the house pays for itself, it can be an investment. Selling can help you walk away from the house especially if you are profiting. Even if you aren’t profiting as much as you had hoped, remember on the buying side that it’s been 48 years since both prices and rates have been low so take advantage, take advantage, take advantage.

If you are interested in a market analysis and live in Central CT, The Farmington Valley, or the Northeast Corner along Hartford County, I’m happy to meet with you. You can email me at MicheleP@CentralCTRealEstate.com or visit my website at: at www.centralctrealestate.com

Yesterday was a huge success as almost 800 Realtors, myself included, attended our annual Realtors at the Capitol event. Attendance this year was so important because there are some key budget proposals that will greatly affect recovery of the real estate market. In fact, according to CAR, of the $85 milllion in “revenue diversification” enhancements to municipalities, $53 million is taken out of increased real estate taxes. We feel there should be no added taxation on the real estate transaction, particularly when the Federal government is relying on the housing sector to lead an economic recovery with measures like the first-time tax credit.

One specific issue is the proposal to not only make the temporary conveyance tax on real estate transactions permanent, but to also DOUBLE the municipal conveyance tax rate in every town (except the 18 targeted investment communities which already have higher rates). These “temporary” taxes on property sellers have been extended annually since their original 2004 sunset date. We strongly oppose this tax and expressed yesterday our strong position and the consequences of increasing these taxes.

Another cost associated with the new budget is the removal of the $500 middle class property tax credit. This will cost CT property owners $365 million per year. $500 doesn’t sound like a lot, but it adds up and every dollar counts these days. Many homeowners are selling not because it’s a fabulous market and they will make a killing on the sale; many homeowners are selling because they HAVE to and need every dollar at the closing table. This is not the time to remove the middle class property tax credit.

As a Director on the GHAR Board of Directors I am very much involved in what is going on in real estate. I work hands on in the market and see how these taxes affect people at the individual level and will continue to support actions that will encourage the market to grow. Feel free to drop me a line should you have any questions or comments on the proposed budget or visit my website, www.centralctrealestate.com to search all properties on the market.

Regards,
Michele

The spring market is here. Despite what Joe Furey or Bob Maxon said on the news today about another expected 5 to potentially 10 inches of snow here in Central CT….it’s here. I’d like to find that groundhog and give him a piece of my mind though. But that’s another blog…

Anyways, I was thinking today about a conversation I had with a store clerk a couple weeks ago. She said to me that her friend is putting their home on the market with an agent who gave her a great price for her house. I left thinking, “the AGENT gave her a great price?” I was thinking about it all day because it’s not the AGENT that buys his/her home, it’s the BUYER or The Market. Choosing an agent that reaches for the stars with their pricing isn’t going to make a buyer come along any sooner. Plus, we are in a complicated market – NOT a bad market – it’s just a different market from the high we were on a few years ago and it requires extreme care when selling and buying a house. So to think that a buyer is going to pay more than the market value of your home is a really bad idea. Think about it from the buying perspective; put yourself in the buyer’s shoes: would you want to overspend on your next purchase because the seller wanted to clear a certain number? Most likely no. Wouldn’t you want someone to “tell it like it is” and not give you an inflated price that will (1) cause your home to be on the market longer; (2) potentially result in a LOWER sales price after chasing the market with price reductions; and, (3) waste your time when you could have moved on to your next home??

Not all agents inflate home prices and no, I’m not perfect. But what I can recommend you do when looking for a list price for your home is to work with an agent who understands the market, and tells you how it is, not what you want to hear.

To contact me for a listing appointment (without the annoying hard sell), go to www.centralctrealestate.com

You can also view all properties for sale in CT (minus Fairfield County), save your favorites, receive daily alerts, etc in your own private online database by going to Click Here

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