There is some really fascinating architecture on State Street in New London Connecticut.  The new booklet called Pride of Place: State Street, New London, CT provides information about the transformation of State Street from a residential to a commercial street.  There are many significant buildings on State Street designed by renowned architects of the 19th and 20th century.

The booklet is available from New London Landmarks, 49 Washington Street, New London, CT 06320 for $5.00.  Visit www.newlondonlandmarks.org or call (860) 442-0003 for more information.

What a great opportunity exists in the real estate market for homebuyers.   Rates continue to stay down.  Conventional rates are in the high 4's - low 5's for 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Loans.  CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority) offers their 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Loans at 4.625% with 1 point and in some cases even as low as 4.375% with 1 point.  

Home prices are much more affordable than 1 year ago and the tax credit program for homebuyers has been extended and expanded.   Up to $8,000.00 is available to most first time homebuyers and up to $6,500.00 is available for home buyers who have owned and enjoyed their present home as their primary residence for 5 of the last 8 years.   

The standard mortgage programs - VA, FHA, CHFA, Rural Development and Conventional are still readily available to prospective homebuyers. 

IT'S TIME to venture into the market to see what's available to you.  McCue Mortgage, a Connecticut based mortgage banking firm is more than willing to help you.

The Trolley Booth serves as the Visitor's Center in New London, Connecticut.  A rededication took place today to celebrate and thank the people who just helped redo the area around the Trolley Booth with new walkways, plantings, stairs and seating.  This was a joint effort of the New London Rotary Club, the New London Public Works Department, The Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, The Bodenwein Benevolent Foundation and The Chester Kitchings Family Foundation.

It looks great and inside there is a lot of great information about sights to see in the New London community.

This was just shared with me by a fellow New London Connecticut Rotarian, Steve Percy.  It is worth reading.

Know the Difference between a Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

The only way to stop the spread of the epidemic is to spread the awareness.

Please share this with as many people as possible.

Veterans Day will be celebrated by the New London Rotary Club at their November 12th meeting at the Radisson Hotel in New London.

The presentation of colors will take place at 12:50 PM.  The National Anthem will be sung and the US Coast Guard Academy cadets will sing a series of patriotic songs.  The Service Person of the Month will be recognized and the Coast Guard Choir will lead the singing of a military song medley and God Bless America.  A blessing, the playing of taps and and introduction by Rotarian Steve Percy will also take place.

If you will be in New London and want to join me at this Veterans Day Program please contact me by phone or e-mail.  The meeting starts at at 12:15 PM and finishes promptly at 1:30 PM.  Hope to see you there.

This is the latest that we have heard at McCue Mortgage Company:

Tax Credit Proposal Could Be Finalized Next week

The tax credit proposal has been included in the unemployment extension bill.  We understand that it will be considered by the Senate early next week.    The provision would still have to be passed by the House. 

Below are the details of the new tax credit program.

·        First-time homebuyers will continue at $8,000

·        Tax credit for "move up" purchasers will be up to $6,500

o   Must have used previous home as a principal residence for 5 of the 8 previous years.

·        Income limits increased and are the same for first-time and "move up" purchasers: $125,000 for single filers/$225,000 for joint filers

·        Limitation on eligible home prices has been increased to $800,000

·        Time Frame:    December 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010 plus 60 day extension if binding contract is in place by April 30, 2010

·        Anti-fraud measures have been added

As you can see, there is still a ways to go until this is official.  There have been a lot of rumors flying.

Hopefully we'll have more details soon.

The Steelers just beat the Browns a few minutes ago - good news for a gloomy afternoon in rainy Connecticut.

The University of Pittsburgh Panthers just moved up to 19th or 20th in national rankings depending on the poll you read.  They were not in the top 25 last week.

The Steelers won the last Super Bowl last winter

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup for 2009.

If you are a Pitsburgh fan it does not get much better than this.  (Maybe the Pirates will start winning also)

Let's keep it going !!!

My younger son lives out of state and recently ventured out to buy his first car.  He has done a lot of research into exactly which car he wants, colors, engine, make, model, year, everything.

He found the car on a dealer's website, obtained a car fax report, checked out on other websites what a fair price would be and contacted the dealer.  They were asking one price, agreed to accept a lower price and then my son asked for the final "drive away" price including everything.  The salesman gave him the figure, they agreed to that figure and my son made plans to go to the dealer (about 4 hours away) this weekend.  He had a cashier's check made out to himself, worked with the insurance company to make sure that he had coverage for the car and located the title for the car that he was driving and trading in.

On Friday, he called back to make sure that he was all set and of course the inevitable happened.  The salesman told him that the final figure would be higher.  The reason?  The dealer is in one state and the car will be registered in the state that my son lives in.  They didn't include the figures that would relate to the state that my son lives in because they didn't know what those figures would be.  There had been no discussion of this before and of course when my son asked for the "drive away" price he believed that he was given the accurate figure.

Needless to say, he will not be buying the car, will not do business with the dealer and will probably tell lots of friends and family about the bad experience that he just had.

What benefit is there to the dealer to do this?  Do they really think that a 24 year old with a graduate degree in engineering is not going to realize that he has just been lied to? Now another car dealer will eventually sell him a car and will make a profit on the sale.  The US economy is just starting to recover but the previous car dealer doesn't seem to see the benefit of dealing fair and square with someone who has the money in their hand and is ready to spend it.  Their loss is another dealer's gain.

They don't make it easy, do they?

The Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors (ECAR) released statistics recently that allow for a comparison of sales prices for each quarter this year for New London and Windham Counties

The average sales price for each quarter is:

Single Family Sales                                         Condominium Sales

1st Quarter  $246,710.00                                $163,987.00

2nd Quarter $246,703.00                                $164,000.00

3rd Quarter $245,575.00                                 $165,533.00

The median sales price for each quarter is:

1st Quarter  $199,950.00                                $165,000.00

2nd Quarter $210,000.00                                $164,000.00

3rd Quarter $212,000.00                                 $148,500.00

With the exception of the median sales price for condominiums we have seen a fairly stable year.  Compared to 2008, the averages are down (see my previous post) but since January 1st of this year these statistics show a market that is not dropping dramatically.

The Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors (ECAR) recently sent out third quarter statistics for New London and Windham Counties.

The information was made available for last year and this year.

Single Family Sales for the third quarter 2009 = 840 with a dollar volume of $206,283,312.00

Single Family Sales for the third quarter 2008 = 750 with a dollar volume of $212,134,560.00

Condominium Sales for the third quarter 2009 = 126 with a dollar volume of $20,857,132.00

Condominium Sales for the third quarter 2008 = 108 with a dollar volume of $20,700,550.00

2-4 Family Sales for the third quarter 2009 = 85 with a dollar voulme of $9,574,904.00

2-4 Family Sales for the third quarter 2008 = 42 with a dollar volume of $7,061,722.00

Every category showed increases in the number of sales. 

The average sales price dropped 13.18% for single family between 2008 and 2009 in the 3rd quarter.  The average sales price dropped 13.64% for condominiums between 2008 and 2009 in the 3rd quarter. The average sales price dropped 33% for 2-4 family homes between 2008 and 2009 in the third quarter.

As I have discussed with Realtors, sellers and buyers, it has been a very busy year as reflected in the number of home sales.  The combination of lower prices, lower interest rates and the up to $8,000.00 tax credit for most first time homebuyers has generated the good solid year for home sales.