Dana Voelzke

Michael,
You need a buyers agent to help you with these questions. More than 50% of the people who live in this complex are renters so most mortgage companies will not finance it because it's not warrantable. This will be an issue for resale (your buyer pool may likely be investors only).

You may find the sellers name by looking at http://www.visionappraisal.com.

If you need further info or are interested in buyer representation you may contact me at (203) 733-9408.

Dana - Tue Oct 28 2008, 12:10

Hello,
I have had experience making offers on Countrywide REOs. Each transaction is a case by case basis and my clients have chosen to stick to their guns as far as pricing. Frequently we've missed out in multiple offer situations. So no successful closed transaction on a Countrywide REO but the commonalities have been:

1) always need a preapproval from a countrywide loan officer
2) in a multiple offer situation you often need to sign a disclosure form saying you're aware you're in a bidding war
3) always have come back to each offer asking for highest & best
4) so far it's been min. 2 weeks response time, more if there's a holiday
5) they have always stuck very close to their list price and offered no counter (the ones I have worked on).

I don't know the list to sale ratio because for countrywide reo's, but based on those I've worked on it's above 95%. I enjoy working with both educated buyers and investors (my background is investment analysis). Link to profile is below if you need contact info. Please call or email for references. - Thu Oct 2 2008, 17:41

Hi Courtney,
There are a number of nice homes in that price range. Some of the more upscale neighborhoods to look in Danbury (such as the King Street or Aunt Hack areas) may have homes that are a bit dated. What you need is a good buyer's agent who will be dedicated to helping you get familiar with the area so you can make an informed decision and also helping you pick the best property that will fit your needs (a lot more than number of bedrooms and year built). One resource we have is http://www.danburyrelocation.com, our company website that will help corporate transferees get a sense for what to expect when moving to Danbury. Hope it is helpful to you and good luck!! Please feel free to email me with questions or to schedule a buyer counselling session. - Dana - Sun Sep 14 2008, 17:21

Hi there,
My understanding of the situation at Rivington is that there is some price discounting happening, as you said, given current market conditions.

My suggestion to you would be to hire a local buyer broker so that person can show you what $340,000 will buy in terms of a condo in the greater Danbury area. Your buyer broker should also be able to supply you with recent comparable sales in the complex so that you can get better idea on how much to offer. As far as condos, there is currently about 11-12 months of inventory overall, and there is a large selection of properties in that price range available to you as a buyer. The market average list to sale price for the better townhouse condos is currently running at about 93%.

Good luck on finding the right property for the price you want! - Tue Aug 12 2008, 19:04

Also, you might want to try the following web resources: http://www.greatschools.net and also http://www.schooldigger.com will compare the different CT town school systems to each other for you. Having said that, the comparison is based on statistical measures including students per class and CMT scores. School comparisons is clearly more complex that that and other factors should be weighed such as gifted & talent programs, specific areas of interest, and the community as a whole. I know several people whose children attend middle & HS in Woodbury (one couple I know works in the Danbury school system themselves) and have never heard any complaints. - Mon Jul 28 2008, 23:01