<![CDATA[Brooke Buccieri, Renee Terenzio, Antonette Terenzio's Blog]]><![CDATA[Short Sale, Foreclosure and Market Value]]>The Buyer Client specifies they want to focus in on the short sale and foreclosure market. At this point any Realtor worth their salt should say "do you understand the difference between a short sale, a foreclosure and a property at market value"? The truth is, short sales and foreclosures are not a new concept, but they are a newer concept to lower Fairfield County Connecticut. If you are interested, the following is a brief, user friendly overview of what the heck is happening out there.

Short Sales are properties whose value in today's market has dropped below what is owed on the property and whose owner can no longer afford to make the payments on the property and whose owner must sell the property for a variety of reasons including but not limited to: Divorce, Job Loss, or Medical reasons. Short Sales must be approved by the lender of record. Most lenders in today's market have thousands of short sale approvals they are working on, and a finite number of people to work on them. This means that the approval period can be quite long (there is no average approval period for us to quote you here). Most property owner's who can no longer pay the lender, also stop paying for improvements and repairs to the property. What all this means to the Buyer is that when they make a purchase offer that a) there is no guarantee that the offer they made will be accepted, and b) there is no way for a Realtor to tell you when or if your offer will translate into a closing. In addition, the Realtor you are working with as a Buyer Client (see our previous blog about CT Laws of Agency) is going to ask you the Buyer to protect their commission (how a Realtor gets paid for the work they do) by agreeing that if the Realtor can not collect the commission from the Selling side of the transaction, that the commission is to come out of the Buying side of the transaction (out of your pocket) as most lenders who agree to accept less than what is owed on the property want the Realtors representing the Buyer and Seller to decrease their commission, sometimes down to $1.

Foreclosures are properties that did not sell on the open market that the bank has taken back after the owner failed to pay what was owed on the property after a specified period of time. They are now owned by the bank. In this market banks have a good amount of foreclosure inventory already on their books. In this situation (as in the situation of the short sale above) there can be multiple liens on the property in addition to what is owed to the bank including but not limited to: property tax liens for back taxes and mechanics liens for work performed by a trade’s person that was not paid for by the previous owner. In a foreclosure auction, the lender will typically provide the first bid to ensure they are able to recoup their losses. Additional bids if they are not sufficient to cover the additional liens will continue to be encumbered by them and will become the responsibility of the new owner. Translation, the Buyer, or their Attorney must perform a title search to discover all encumbrances prior to presenting offers at auction to ensure the Buyer protects themselves. The properties presented at auction will typically also be in AS IS condition with all necessary repairs being the responsibility of the new owner. Generally speaking at a foreclosure auction, Buyers must register and present a bank draft for a deposit prior to being allowed to bid. The Buyer with the accepted bid will be expected to close within a short period of time, making it imperative in this market that the Buyer know their financing is lined up and unless they have cash to close the transaction, that the bid they present will appraise for their lender. Word to the wise, Buyers MUST do their homework about foreclosure properties.

Market Value properties in this market are properties whose owner's want to sell (possibly because their job is transferring them elsewhere etc.), that because of the affect of Short Sales and Foreclosures on the Market are priced competitively against both the Short Sale and the Foreclosure. They are properties whose owner's are paying what is owed on the property, and are paying for improvements and repairs. These properties in this market offer several benefits including: a) the owner's willingness and ability to negotiate and accept in short fashion a reasonable purchase offer personally, b) the properties have the ability to move to a successful closing in a reasonable (normal) amount of time, and c) the owner of the property is generally willing to make repairs to the property if they are necessary to close the deal.

Buyers need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of the Short Sale and the Foreclosure so they can make educated decisions about property purchases. While they can present an opportunity, they can also present many challenges for the Buyer.

If you are in need of an experienced team of Realtors to guide you through this process in these market conditions, we would love the opportunity to represent you. You can find out more about us at www.CTLuxuryGroup.com

Best regards,

Brooke Buccieri, Lic. Real Estate Broker
CTLuxuryGroup, William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty

]]><![CDATA[Short Sale, Foreclosure and Market Value]]>The Buyer Client specifies they want to focus in on the short sale and foreclosure market. At this point any Realtor worth their salt should say "do you understand the difference between a short sale, a foreclosure and a property at market value"? The truth is, short sales and foreclosures are not a new concept, but they are a newer concept to lower Fairfield County Connecticut. If you are interested, the following is a brief, user friendly overview of what the heck is happening out there.

Short Sales are properties whose value in today's market has dropped below what is owed on the property and whose owner can no longer afford to make the payments on the property and whose owner must sell the property for a variety of reasons including but not limited to: Divorce, Job Loss, or Medical reasons. Short Sales must be approved by the lender of record. Most lenders in today's market have thousands of short sale approvals they are working on, and a finite number of people to work on them. This means that the approval period can be quite long (there is no average approval period for us to quote you here). Most property owner's who can no longer pay the lender, also stop paying for improvements and repairs to the property. What all this means to the Buyer is that when they make a purchase offer that a) there is no guarantee that the offer they made will be accepted, and b) there is no way for a Realtor to tell you when or if your offer will translate into a closing. In addition, the Realtor you are working with as a Buyer Client (see our previous blog about CT Laws of Agency) is going to ask you the Buyer to protect their commission (how a Realtor gets paid for the work they do) by agreeing that if the Realtor can not collect the commission from the Selling side of the transaction, that the commission is to come out of the Buying side of the transaction (out of your pocket) as most lenders who agree to accept less than what is owed on the property want the Realtors representing the Buyer and Seller to decrease their commission, sometimes down to $1.

Foreclosures are properties that did not sell on the open market that the bank has taken back after the owner failed to pay what was owed on the property after a specified period of time. They are now owned by the bank. In this market banks have a good amount of foreclosure inventory already on their books. In this situation (as in the situation of the short sale above) there can be multiple liens on the property in addition to what is owed to the bank including but not limited to: property tax liens for back taxes and mechanics liens for work performed by a trade’s person that was not paid for by the previous owner. In a foreclosure auction, the lender will typically provide the first bid to ensure they are able to recoup their losses. Additional bids if they are not sufficient to cover the additional liens will continue to be encumbered by them and will become the responsibility of the new owner. Translation, the Buyer, or their Attorney must perform a title search to discover all encumbrances prior to presenting offers at auction to ensure the Buyer protects themselves. The properties presented at auction will typically also be in AS IS condition with all necessary repairs being the responsibility of the new owner. Generally speaking at a foreclosure auction, Buyers must register and present a bank draft for a deposit prior to being allowed to bid. The Buyer with the accepted bid will be expected to close within a short period of time, making it imperative in this market that the Buyer know their financing is lined up and unless they have cash to close the transaction, that the bid they present will appraise for their lender. Word to the wise, Buyers MUST do their homework about foreclosure properties.

Market Value properties in this market are properties whose owner's want to sell (possibly because their job is transferring them elsewhere etc.), that because of the affect of Short Sales and Foreclosures on the Market are priced competitively against both the Short Sale and the Foreclosure. They are properties whose owner's are paying what is owed on the property, and are paying for improvements and repairs. These properties in this market offer several benefits including: a) the owner's willingness and ability to negotiate and accept in short fashion a reasonable purchase offer personally, b) the properties have the ability to move to a successful closing in a reasonable (normal) amount of time, and c) the owner of the property is generally willing to make repairs to the property if they are necessary to close the deal.

Buyers need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of the Short Sale and the Foreclosure so they can make educated decisions about property purchases. While they can present an opportunity, they can also present many challenges for the Buyer.

If you are in need of an experienced team of Realtors to guide you through this process in these market conditions, we would love the opportunity to represent you. You can find out more about us at www.CTLuxuryGroup.com

Best regards,

Brooke Buccieri, Lic. Real Estate Broker
CTLuxuryGroup, William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty

]]><![CDATA[CT Laws of Agency - Created to protect you the consumer - or - why you should sign that Agency Relationship contract.]]>Some days I find the best part of being a Realtor is the opportunity it provides me to educate, inform or enlighten. That is certainly not to say I have all of the answers, just that I like to share valuable information and appreciate it when others do the same for me.

Toward that end I was sitting here thinking today of all of the times I have asked the question of a new customer "has anyone taken the time to explain the CT Laws of Agency to you"? Invariably, the individual looks back at me bewildered. Hence, the subject matter for this afternoon's blog.

CT Real Estate Law governs all Licensed Realtors the same way. The law does not allow for us to engage in the business of Real Estate in any other than an ethical and honest fashion. We might have different "approaches" but we all must make the same effort to ensure that you the consumer are ultimately protected. 

We must all, at first point of contact, ask you the consumer "are you currently working with another Realtor"? - this allows us to make sure you the consumer are not going to sign a contract with more than one of us and potentially owe a commission to more than one of us at a time. It also helps us to not step on each other's toes.

We also must, at first point of contact, explainthe CT Laws of Agency to you. We do this to protect you. I tend to think of it as the "Merandising" of the potential Client.You do have the right to remain silent and you need to exercise that right to not share the "who, what, when, where and why" of your personal information, until you have decided to work with a Realtor as either a Buyer's Agent, a Seller's Agent, or in some cases, as a Dual Agent. Once you make that decision, the Agent owes you fiduciary duties as described below, not the least of which is confidentiality. For your reading pleasure, the following is a brief overview of CT Agency Law:

SELLER AGENCY 

Definition:   A Seller's Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary capacity for the seller and/or lessor in a real estate transaction.

 

When a seller or lessor enters into an agreement for representation with a seller's agent, the seller or lessor becomes the seller's agent's client. The seller or lessor may authorize the seller's agent to contact other brokers, including associates of other real estate firms, to represent the seller or lessor in marketing their property as seller's agents. This means both the seller's agent and these other brokers represent the seller or lessor. The seller's agent owes the seller or lessor undivided fiduciary obligations, such as: obedience to lawful instruction, loyalty, full disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable skill and care. The seller's agent must put the seller's or lessor's interest first and negotiate for the best terms and conditions for the seller's agent's client.

BUYER AGENCY

 

Definition:    A Buyer's Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary capacity for the buyer and/or lessee in a real estate transaction.

 

   When a buyer or lessee enters into an agreement for representation with a buyer's agent, the buyer or lessee becomes the buyer's agent's client. The buyer or lessee may authorize the buyer's agent to contact other brokers, including associates of other real estate firms, to represent the buyer or lessee in locating property as buyer's agents. This means both the buyer's agent and these other brokers represent the buyer or lessee. The buyer's agent owes the buyer or lessee undivided fiduciary obligations, such as: obedience to lawful instruction, loyalty, full disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable skill and care. The buyer's agent must put the buyer's or lessee's interest first and negotiate for the best terms and conditions for the buyer's agent's client.

DUAL AGENCY

 

Definition:   A Dual Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary  capacity for both the seller and buyer or lessor and lessee.  

 

A dual agent may represent both the buyer and seller or lessor and lessee provided such dual agent obtains the informed consent of the parties. The dual agent is then considered a disclosed dual agent.  The dual agent owes the buyer and seller or lessor a duty to deal with them fairly and honestly.  In this type of agency relationship, the dual agent does not represent either the buyer and seller or lessor and lessee exclusively and the parties cannot except the dual agent's undivided loyalty.  The dual agent may not reveal any confidential information which would provide a negotiating advantage to either party except as authorized by either party or required by law.


If you are a Buyer, it is important to note that without a Buyer Agency contract, according to CT law, a Realtor can only show you a home offered for sale by their brokerage house. This means in order for you to see everything that a marketplace has to offer, you would literally have to go from brokerage house to brokerage house to see what it is they have to offer. This is not only a huge waste of your time and energy, it can be very confusing. Pick a Realtor and work with him or her.

You do have the right to be an unrepresented person in a Real Estate transaction. As an unrepresented person, the Agent you are talking to is the Fiduciary of someone else, and not representing your best interests. Why in the world would you want to be unrepresented? You want someone who knows what they are doing out there working for you! It will pay off in the end for you to choose a Realtor to work with and let him or her really work for you.

It does make a difference who you work with. Take the time to get to know the person. You should be comfortable with them...after all, you will be spending a good deal of time with them. Ask them questions, interview them for the job. This is important stuff, the family home to this day constitutes the majority of most people's personal wealth. Who do you want to assist you in making this kind of investment?

If you are in need of an experienced team of Realtors, we would love the opportunity to represent you. You can find out more about us at www.CTLuxuryGroup.com.

Best regards,

Brooke Buccieri, Lic. Real Estate Broker
CTLuxuryGroup

]]><![CDATA[CT Laws of Agency - created to protect you the consumer or why you should sign that Buyer or Seller Agency Agreement.]]>Some days I find the best part of being a Realtor is the opportunity it provides me to educate, inform or enlighten. That is certainly not to say I have all of the answers, just that I like to "share the wealth" so to speak of knowledge and appreciate it when others do the same for me.

Toward that end I was sitting here thinking today of all of the times I have asked the question of a new customer "has anyone taken the time to explain the CT Laws of Agency to you"? Invariably, the individual looks back at me bewildered. Hence, the subject matter for this afternoon's blog.

CT Real Estate Law governs all Licensed Realtors the same way. The law does not allow for us to engage in the business of Real Estate in any other than an ethical and honest fashion. We might have different "approaches" but we all must make the same effort to ensure that you the consumer are ultimately protected. 

We must all, at first point of contact, ask you the consumer "are you currently working with another Realtor"? - this allows us to make sure you the consumer are not going to sign a contract with more than one of us and potentially owe a commission to more than one of us at a time. It also helps us to not step on each other's toes.

We also must, at first point of contact, explain the CT Laws of Agency to you. We do this to protect you. I tend to think of it as the Merandising of the potential Client.You do have the right to remain silent and you need to exercise that right to not share the "who, what, when, where and why" of your personal information, until you have decided to work with a Realtor as either a Buyer's Agent, a Seller's Agent, or in some cases, as a Dual Agent. Once you make that decision, the Agent owes you fiduciary duties as described below, not the least of which is confidentiality. For your reading pleasure, the following is a brief overview of CT Agency Law:

SELLER AGENCY 

Definition:   A Seller's Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary capacity for the seller and/or lessor in a real estate transaction.

 

When a seller or lessor enters into an agreement for representation with a seller's agent, the seller or lessor becomes the seller's agent's client. The seller or lessor may authorize the seller's agent to contact other brokers, including associates of other real estate firms, to represent the seller or lessor in marketing their property as seller's agents. This means both the seller's agent and these other brokers represent the seller or lessor. The seller's agent owes the seller or lessor undivided fiduciary obligations, such as: obedience to lawful instruction, loyalty, full disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable skill and care. The seller's agent must put the seller's or lessor's interest first and negotiate for the best terms and conditions for the seller's agent's client.

BUYER AGENCY

 

Definition:    A Buyer's Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary capacity for the buyer and/or lessee in a real estate transaction.

 

       When a buyer or lessee enters into an agreement for representation with a buyer's agent, the buyer or lessee becomes the buyer's agent's client. The buyer or lessee may authorize the buyer's agent to contact other brokers, including associates of other real estate firms, to represent the buyer or lessee in locating property as buyer's agents. This means both the buyer's agent and these other brokers represent the buyer or lessee. The buyer's agent owes the buyer or lessee undivided fiduciary obligations, such as: obedience to lawful instruction, loyalty, full disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable skill and care. The buyer's agent must put the buyer's or lessee's interest first and negotiate for the best terms and conditions for the buyer's agent's client.

DUAL AGENCY

 

Definition:   A Dual Agent means a real estate broker or real estate salesperson who acts in a fiduciary  capacity for both the seller and buyer or lessor and lessee.      

 

A dual agent may represent both the buyer and seller or lessor and lessee provided such dual agent obtains the informed consent of the parties. The dual agent is then considered a disclosed dual agent.  The dual agent owes the buyer and seller or lessor a duty to deal with them fairly and honestly.  In this type of agency relationship, the dual agent does not represent either the buyer and seller or lessor and lessee exclusively and the parties cannot except the dual agent's undivided loyalty.  The dual agent may not reveal any confidential information which would provide a negotiating advantage to either party except as authorized by either party or required by law.


You do have the right to be an unrepresented person in a Real Estate transaction. As an unrepresented person, the Agent you are talking to is the Fiduciary of someone else, and not representing your best interests. Why in the world would you want to be unrepresented? You want someone who knows what they are doing out there working for you! It will pay off in the end for you to choose a Realtor to work with and let him or her really work for you.

It does make a difference who you work with. Take the time to get to know the person. You should be comfortable with them...after all, you will be spending a good deal of time with them. Ask them questions, interview them for the job. This is important stuff, the family home to this day constitutes the majority of most people's personal wealth. Who do you want to assist you in making this kind of investment?

If you are in need of an experienced team of Realtors, we would love the opportunity to represent you. You can find out more about us at www.CTLuxuryGroup.com.

Best regards,

Brooke Buccieri, Lic. Real Estate Broker
CTLuxuryGroup

]]><![CDATA[Search the MLS just like we do!]]>Have you ever wanted to look at the Multiple Listing System from the comfort of your own home, just like a Realtor does? Well, now you can!

The Greater Fairfield County CMLS has enabled it's participating Realtors to give their clients and customers access to it's listings via a program called Listingbook. This is a service that we have elected to provide all of our clients, Buyers and Sellers alike. This will give you access to the same database that we use in the real estate business and you can access it 24/7 from any computer. It will provide you with up-to-the-minute data on all the properties that are on the market that matter to you.


If you are not already contractually obligated to work with another Realtor we would be happy to provide you with this service as well. By clicking on the following link: http://ctluxurygroup.listingbook.com/?node=3-3  you will be asked to provide your name and email address. Providing your telephone number is optional. Your account is free and loaded with powerful and helpful tools you will not find in any other service. It is extremely easy to use.

 

With Listingbook you can easily:

 

·         Find any home in the Multiple Listing Service- just like we do!

·         Make an informed decision and find your dream home quickly.

·         Receive automatic notification of price reductions and new listings.


You will get an email from Listingbook Messenger to activate your user code and

password. Please make sure to WRITE THEM DOWN! To make sure the Listingbook email isn't sent to a SPAM folder by mistake, please add mailservice@listingbook.com to your address book or contacts.


Remember, no computer program can replace the valuable advice your Buyer's Agent or Seller's Agent can provide you with. If you find you have questions and would like to work with us, once you give us the opportunity to present ourselves and explain CT laws of agency to you, we will be happy to help you in any way we can.


Our past clients have raved about the power of Listingbook and we are very proud to be able to offer it to you.

 

We look forward to the opportunity to work closely with you.

 

Best wishes,

 

 

Brooke Buccieri and Renee Terenzio

Broker - Realtors

CT Luxury Group

William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty

ctluxurygroup@wpsir.com

www.CTLuxuryGroup.com

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