There are many great things I love about my home area of Storrs, Connecticut. Wonderful schools, wonderful family neighborhoods, and great day trips for amazing budget-friendly family entertainment. Now that it is finally getting cooler, all I can think about is enjoying the great outdoors. The Storrs, CT area offers abundant outdoor, active adventures, all within a day’s drive. (more…)

The Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension is Passed!

The Homebuyer Tax Credit extension has been passed into law.   The new extension has some additions to the original bill and is  going to open the  homebuyer tax credit to a larger pool of buyers in the following manner:

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First Time Home Buyer Extension Plus a Tax Credit for Everyone Who Has Owned Their Home For 5 Years

The new proposal extending the first time home buyer tax credit that is due to expire on November 30th  is still working it’s way through Washington, Senate leaders have agreed  to support extending the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit which will also offer a tax credit of up to $6500 to buyers who already own a home.  In order to qualify for the $6500 credit, repeat home buyers will need to have owned their current home for at least 5 years.  The new extension, if approved by the full Senate and then voted on and approved by the House,  will allow buyers to have until April 30th 2010 to get a signed purchase and sales contract on a home  and then they will have until June 30th to close.

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Coventry and Mansfield Ct MOMS Club

The MOMS Club of Coventry and Mansfield is a support group designed for the stay at home mom of today, this club also serves Storrs, Willimantic and Windham Ct.  The club is part of the International MOMS Club which was started in 1983 by a stay at home mom in  California who was tired of being at home alone and began looking for a way to connect with other stay at home moms, when she could not find an organization that met during the day she started the MOMS Club.  The MOMS (moms  offering moms support) Club offers support as well as organized play groups for children and is designed for moms who are interested in the world around them and want a variety of activities for themselves and their children

How to Help Families Find Support in a New Ct Community

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Storrs Ct Festival on the Green

Tom and I love the Mansfield Festival on the Green held in Storrs Ct every year, we get to see so many people we know, the atmosphere is great and we try to have a fun, vibrant booth.  As Realtors and life long residents in this wonderful community we look forward to being a part of many community events throughout the year and this is one of our favorites.

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Changes are about to occur with FHA in Connecticut and throughout the country, the conditions needing to be met for a condominium complex to be approved for FHA backed financing will change as of Oct. 1, 2009 . Currently, a complex can be on the FHA approval list with 50% of the units having mortgages insured by FHA.  Looking to reduce their risk as the number of loans they have insured in the last 2 years has soared, FHA will now only approve a condominium complex with no more than 30% of the units  having mortgages insured by FHA. 

The FHA website offers a “pre” Oct. 1st approval list and a “post” list – much to my surprise, there are currently no condominium complexes in Connecticut on the “post” list.  I assume that the transfer of information has not been completed yet, but it does give me pause to realize that if a complex was not approved by FHA within the last year, the complex will now have to reapply for approval and I am told that process will take a minimum of 4-6 weeks.

At a recent FHA seminar, the discussion was held that the current list of over 10,000 currently approved condominium complexes will be reduced to 400-500 approved complexes for the entire country.  This is only until the complexes area able to obtain a new approval, but given the new restriction on  30% or less of FHA mortgage insured units, many of these complexes will not be able to overcome that barrier for years to come. 

One of the Attorneys we work with closely has stated that the expectation at the FHA seminar was that only one in 200 currently approved complexes will retain their approved status.  We see many of our first time home buyers buying condominiums under $200,000 and up to $250,000 in the Storrs, Coventry, Glastonbury, Tolland, Manchester, South Windsor , Willington and Vernon areas with an FHA backed mortgage, so some creative challenges will be facing Realtors, sellers and buyers with these new changes.

FHA has become a central player in financing as a buyer can be approved for an FHA backed loan with as little as 3.5% downpayment.  Most banks and lenders are no longer approving loans with a 3.5% downpayment unless it is guaranteed by FHA.

These changes will take place as of October 1st and if you are a buyer or a Realtor with a client  involved in a condo transaction I would strongly encourage you to have the lender get the FHA case number on or before September 30th.

Cynthia Van Zelm, Executive Director of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, wanted to  invite everyone to the Festival on the Green planned for this weekend in Storrs, CT! Here’s the information:

Festival on the Green in Mansfield Storrs, CT

“The Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites everyone to “Celebrate Mansfield” at this year’s Festival on the Green which will be Sunday, September 13 from noon to 5:00 pm behind the Storrs Center commercial plazas.  In the event of rain, activities will move inside E.O. Smith High School.  (more…)

I love this upcoming weekend! We are one of the sponsors of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership’s  ”Festival on the Green”  which is taking place this Sunday, September 13th from noon to 5PM. 

Festival on the Green Weekend in Storrs, CT

The entire weekend is filled with activities in Storrs CT, and Tom and I will have a booth set up on Sunday at the festival. Look for our banner – “The Burns Real Estate Group”  as we will be  handing out free popcorn and holding a contest with a $100 gift certificate to the winner!  

The festival will be kicking off with a parade and the UConn marching band. Don’t you just love them? I grew up going to every UConn event imaginable and loved it when the UConn band played at  football games. How DO they play and march perfectly like that?  (more…)

We recently helped clients save $20,000 on their Mansfield CT home purchase!  After about 6 months of looking at homes for sale in Storrs Mansfield CT, they finally found the right home and they were ecstatic when the appraisal came in and the savings were confirmed: the appraisal was $20,000 higher than the price they were buying the house in Mansfield for! 

Is Saving Money for CT Home Buyers a Bad Thing?

Banks are difficult these days, but honestly…I did not expect that this would be a problem.  Really? They could not approve the loan because the house was worth so much more than the price they were paying for it. Does this make sense to you?  (more…)

How does the School of Engineering at UConn have a positive impact on Storrs Mansfield CT real estate as well as other Greater Hartford towns?  The answer is easy:  The School of Engineering is hiring new faculty members!   So…what  does this mean whan we look at the reports about  the real estate market – does it impact the news we see everyday? 

Just this morning one of our clients emailed me and said “I can’t take it anymore. We’re in a recession, we’re heading out of a recession, it will get worse, it’s getting better…it’s driving me crazy. I don’t know what to do anymore!” (more…)