Best Fairfield County CT Towns and Cities - Norwalk, Connecticut

The City of Norwalk CT
Incorporated in in 1651
36.3 Square Miles
80,800 Residents
31,700 Households
60% owner occupied
31.4% housing built prior to 1950

The City of Norwalk Connecticut is located along the coast of Long Island Sound in  Fairfield County. It is the sixth largest city in the state, and considered part of the New York City metropolitan area. The name "Norwalk" translates to "point of land"  from the Algonquian word "noyank".

Although the city is known primarily for oyster farming, Norwalk's 24 distinctive neighborhoods offer a variety of diversity.  Rowayton, Silvermine, Cranbury and SoNO to name a few. SoNo (South Norwalk) was originally a separate town and merged with the city in 1913. The area is known widely for its dedication to the arts,  varied nightlife, and array of restaurants. The Maritime Aquarium  and Imax theater are also located here, as well as the  Metro North train station.  The  New Haven and Danbury branch lines both run through Norwalk, which make this city an easy destination for anyone.

Rowayton is an upscale enclave, has its own train station as well, and hosts a few of the city's 15 marinas. At one time, Roton Point, Bayley Beach, and a part of the Wee Burn Country Club made up the Roton Point Amusement Park.  The city itself has 1800 berthing spots and 500 Harbor mooring locations, so many water enthusiasts choose to call Norwalk home.

The city also has a few museums, including the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. This  62-room mansion is thought to be one of the oldest surviving Second Empire style country houses ever built in the country, and received  National Historic Landmark  status 40+ years ago. 

Norwalk Hospital is an acute care teaching hospital and is known for its expert Gastroenterology,  Nutrition, and  Pulmonary care.

 Major transportation arteries, such as Interstate 95, the  Route 7 Interchange and one of Connecticut's scenic roads, Merritt Parkway (Route 15), offer convenience to all commuters.

TRIVIA: Birthplace of the first business computer.

If you are interested in selling your Norwalk CT home, contact Judy today!  or if you are looking to buy a Home in Norwalk, Judy can help you, with that too! Click here to get started

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Connecticut Mortgage Rates and Financing Update August 12, 2011

It's easy to be confused, or misled, with seemingly simple numbers. For example, you are saving for your child's college costs, expected be about $100,000.  You are 80 percent funded with $80,000 in your account. The next year, your investment account drops 25 percent in value, to $60,000. The year following year it bounces back 25 percent. Is the value back to where you started? No, because now you have $75,000 in your account. Assume college costs are rising 8 percent per year.  How close to paying for college are you? The answer: 64 percent, because you have $75,000 toward $117,000 of costs.  Even though your investments rose the same percentage as they fell, you're further from your goal than before. This is the same situation faced by pension funds.  This is why, if you are locking in a loan, at these historically low rates, you MUST think of your long term and short term financial plans. 

This week's News as it relates to the Mortgage Industry and You.

The Federal Reserve took the extraordinary step of announcing that it was minded to keep the federal funds rate close to zero for at least two more years. It also restated that it was "prepared to employ" a "range of policy tools" if the economy worsens, which some think might include a third round of bond-buying.  

As stock markets tumbled, the price of GOLD surged to trade above $1,800 a Troy Ounce, reaching parity with platinum prices for the first time since the end of 2008.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP (AIG) lodged a lawsuit against BANK OF AMERICA, claiming BofA sold it low-risk securities backed by "defective" mortgages given to low-income borrowers. It is one of the biggest claims so far to originate from the practices that led to the financial crisis; suits against other big banks are expected to follow.

Today's Mortgage Rates

30 year fixed - 4.125% + .0 points for rate
20 year fixed - 3.750% + .250  points for rate
15 year fixed - 3.250% + .250 points for rate
10 year fixed - 3.250%  + 1.125 lender credit  points for rate
5/1 ARM - 2.625% - 0 points for rate
7/1 ARM - 3.00%  + 0 points for rate

FHA/VA
30 year fixed - 3.874% +  .500 points for rate
5/1 ARM - 2.750 +  0 points for rate
7/1 ARM - 3.125 + .250 point for rate

Jumbo - over 625,500 - to 2,000,000 Fairfield County
30 year fixed - 4.750 % + 0  points  for rate
15 year fixed - 4.250% + 0   points for rate
5/1 ARM - 3.125 % + 0 points for rate
7/1 ARM - 3.625% + 0 points for rate

10/1 ARM -  4.250% + 0 points cost for rate

Jennifer Buchanan,  Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist at MetLife Loans is a seasoned veteran of the Mortgage, Banking and Broker Industry and specializes in mortgage loans throughout Fairfield County, Connecticut.
   Her attention to detail is unsurpassed, and her understanding of the marketplace makes it easy to find the right loan to fit her clients specific needs .  Jennifer's local processing and closing team are also known for their exemplary service.
   Understanding that the vast majority of mortgage brokers never discuss the long or short term  financial needs or goals with their clients, she set herself apart from the rest by obtaining the coveted CMPS  designation. (Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist)
    She is a member of the National Association of Responsible Loan Officers, and her commitment to ethics, understanding of the marketplace, and business acumen have earned her the respect of her peers and clients alike.

Jennifer Buchanan
Metlife Loans
203-341-6949

The Best Connecticut MLS Home Search. FREE - No Registration Required!

Our New Free MLS Search is Here!  We made it a point in our quest to find the easiest and best MLS Search engine that we possibly could, and the tough part was getting a good product and also making sure that  there was no registration required. That's high pressure sales tactics, we don't like that- and we don't work that way.

And we found what we were looking for! We have full home searches available for all property types- Single Family Homes, Condominiums, Multi-Family Homes, Land and Rentals. We even have a separate Open House Search that includes all scheduled properties by every real estate company, so you don't have to register on various sites to find Open Houses either.

You can create your own account if you like, however there absolutely is no registration required on TheCTrealtyBlog.com in order to view listings. We searched for months to find just the right interface to bring you the MLS in an easy to use format, and we're convinced that we have the answer. By the way, we are the first and ONLY Realtors in the entire state of Connecticut to bring you this exclusive brand of MLS search.

We hope you enjoy it, we would love your feedback, and if you find a property on our site that you would like to see or get more information on, just email us and we'll get right back to you, just like we always do!

....and just as an aside, We still offer Listingbook Accounts if you want them. Sign up for Listingbook is under the "Buyers" Tab.

Please give us your feedback!

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Sellers - The Importance of Staging the Outside of your Home.

First impressions do count.  I am sure that you have heard that over 95% of  people form an impression of you within seven seconds of your initial meeting, and form a judgement of you within the first minute. This is predominantly true in day to day life, very much so in business, and especially on target in real estate.

As for real estate- When you drive down a street, and see a majority of homes that appear to be very well kept, it is a good indication that the area is thriving, a good investment, and considered a nice neighborhood. If you pass through another neighborhood where there isn't that same amount of care given to the home and its property, you may not get the same  "warm and fuzzies", and your reaction is probably right on target. As a matter of fact, that also translates to each house on the street within that neighborhood

Remember when you first looked at homes, and drove up to that house that you wanted to see so badly, only to pull up to the home and see an overgrown lawn?  The feeling already started, didn't it?- and the inside wasn't any better, was it?  Or remember that house that was just about perfect  on the outside? The inside was very clean, too.Maybe that's the one you bought!

It is IMPERATIVE that you make sure that your home's exterior matches OR BEATS what the interior has to offer. It's a first impression, and will make or break a sale.

An interesting point:  Sometimes banks request BPO's (Broker Price Opinions) of real estate agents. The seller, or mortgagee, has no inkling that the bank requests this, nor is the agent at liberty to ever discuss this with the owner. That means that we have to formulate an opinion of value without even going inside , and  base our estimate of value upon the exterior appearance of the home. We call these "Drive By BPO's". The reason I mention this is that the outside appearance almost always resembles the inside condition. It's not a stretch to think that if someone does not tend to the home's exterior, that the interior may not be well cared for, either. Likewise, when you see a home that is absolutely impeccable in every way outside, the inside is probably well maintained, too. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and this is a general statement, but it holds true the vast majority of the time.

OUTSIDE- the lawn is nice, neat, and well manicured = INSIDE - clean, well cared for and maintained, and neat.
OUTSIDE- Older landscaping, not necessarily overgrown = INSIDE- may NOT be updated.
OUTSIDE- Needs a new roof, new windows, or siding = INSIDE- Mechanicals and Interior are probably NOT updated.
OUTSIDE- Garbage strewn about, even if it's only a small bit = INSIDE - House is not clean.
OUTSIDE- Lawn and shrubbery are overgrown =INSIDE-  In need or cosmetics and/or structural repairs.

I know these assessments may sound somewhat harsh, especially if I have described your home's exterior, and the inside is an exception to what the general rule is. If you are planning on putting your home on the market, it's important! Pay attention to the outside. This is also a part of staging your home, and a very big part, I might add. No one may ever want to go inside if the outside is not inviting enough. See other articles on staging.

I am happy to guide you through the process, and give you staging tips and strategies. When you are ready to sell your home, call me or contact me by email and I will  come out to your home, give you specifics on what needs to be done, if anything, to get your house ready for sale. My goal is to help you make your home appeal to the most buyers, and get a sale in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of hassle to you. That's my job, I do it well. Call me  when the time is right for you, and you need the best!

Find all of the open houses in Connecticut that are open on Sunday in one easy place!

Have you ever tried to plan a Sunday by looking at open houses? How do you generally find them? Look at a few newspapers? Go on various real estate websites? It really shouldn't be that difficult to find all of the open houses with just one click, and it has been -but it's not anymore!

We thought about how time consuming that could be for you and that's why we've just added Upcoming Open House Searches for all your favorite towns in Southwestern Connecticut.

Why go through all of that trouble when your full open house search is right here, up front and center? (okay, actually, to the left hand side bar of our website) The vast majority of real estate company websites only show their own Open Houses, or have an Open House search buried so deep in a place on their site that even figuring out where to look when you get there is difficult.

Instead of going through the bother of  logging on to an account that you've had to create with a number of different real estate companies, and logging in to each one separately just  to find out when that particular company's open houses are scheduled, or even just stumbling upon them by accident, we've just made it super-easy!  

We do that because we  realize that you just want to browse for now, and we won't require you to register prior to viewing any information. You are welcome to set up an account, but it's not mandatory. The only thing we ask ( if you are not under contract with an agency) is that if you have any interest in a property to contact us, and let us take you back to the property with a professional and exerienced eye, as well as perform multiple price analyses to make sure that you don't overpay. Important! Check out this article explaining why you should NOT work with the listing agent to purchase a property.

Come back and visit us often, and get some tips and advice. Find out what's going on in the specific area that you are interested in, and if you don't find your question answered here, send us an email, and we will get right back to you.When you are ready to work with an  agent, we are experienced and ready to serve AND just a phone call or an email away.

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