GEENA Becker

AN ACTIVERAIN COLLEGUE EMAILED ME ASKING ME TO WRITE SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT BLOOMFIELD. THIS GOT MY MIND STIRRING VERY QUICKLY BECAUSE I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF SEVERAL REASONS WHY I LOVE LIVING IN THIS TOWN.

WE HAVE WITHIN A 2 MILE RADIUS OF WHERE I LIVE 6 GOLF COURSES AND THEY ARE:

TUMBLEBROOK CC, HARTFORD GC.WAMPANOAG CC, WINTONBURY, GILLETTE RIDGE, TOWER RIDGE.

THE CENTER OF BLOOMFIELD IS ONE OF THE COZIEST TOWN GREENS YOU WILL SEE. IN THE SUMMER THEY HAVE A LIVE MUSIC ON THE LAWN WHICH IS NICE FOR THE COMMUNITY.

I CAN BE ON 3 DIFFERENT MAJOR HIGHWAYS IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES. BRADLEY AIRPORT IN LESS THAN 15 MINUTES EASILY EVEN DURING RUSH HOUR!

THE CENTER HAS TWO GREAT SPECIALITY RESTAURANTS - GINZA THAT IS A FANTASTIC SUSHI/HIBACHI RESTAURANT. GINZA IS THE MOTHER MONEY SHIP FOR FENG IN HARTFORD WHICH IS A 5 STAR ASIAN FINE DINING SPOT. THE ITALIAN PASTRY SHOP NEXT DOOR TO GINZA IS MOUTH WATERING. DRIVE JUST 4 MILES AND YOU CAN BE AT WHOLE FOODS FOR YOUR REGULAR SHOPPING.

NOW, TALKING ABOUT REAL ESTATE. WE ARE THE GO TO TOWN FOR EMPTY NESTER'S. WE HAVE LUXURY CONDO'S OF ALL SIZES. FAMILIES THAT DOWNSIZE DO NOT WANT TO DOWNSIZE INTO A SHOE BOX CONDO SO WE HAVE LOTS OF FREE STANDING STYLE CONDO'S THAT ARE FAIRLY NEW. WE ALSO HAVE LOTS OF ATTACHED UNITS OF ALL SIZES. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THEY CAN BE 1800 TO 5000 SQUARE FEET AND MAYBE LARGER OFFERING LOADS OF EXTRAS IN THE INTERIOR.

THE OTHER ASPECT OF BLOOMFIELD'S REAL ESTATE IS THAT YEARS AGO OR "BACK IN THE DAY" AETNA/CIGNA HAD A LOT OF EXECUTIVES THAT LIVED IN BLOOMFIELD AND THEY HAD BUILT BEAUTIFUL CUSTOM HOMES. WE HAVE SOME BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE FOR SURE. HERE'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE:

THIS HOUSE ON 551 BLOOMFIELD AVE IS A 5 BEDROOM, 3 1/2 BATH, 2 FIREPLACES, UPDATED GRANITE KITCHEN, HARDWOOD FLOORS THROUGHOUT, PATIO WITH FIREPLACE ON THE 7TH GREEN AT GILLETTE RIDGE. WE HAVE THIS ON THE MARKET FOR $347,900. IF THIS HOME WERE IN SIMSBURY OR AVON - WE WOULD HAVE IT OWN FOR $499,900 IN THIS MARKET.

ANOTHER PERK, UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD IS ONLY 4 MILES FROM MY HOUSE. WE HAVE PARENTS THAT ARE BUYING PROPERTIES FOR THEIR KIDS TO HOUSE. WE ALSO HAVE LUXURY APARTMENTS THAT ARE $2000 AN UP A MONTH THAT FILLED UP INSTANTLY NEAR THE COLLEGE WITH PROFESSIONALS AND SOME STUDENTS. SOME RELOCATING EMPLOYEES ALSO RENT IN THESE APARTMENTS UNTIL THEIR HOUSE SELLS AND THEIR FAMILY ARRIVES.

BLOOMFIELD IS A QUIET, NICE SIZE OF 20,000 PEOPLE, OH I ALMOST FORGOT WE HAVE A STARBUCKS IN BLOOMFIELD AND IF YOU DRIVE TO WHOLE FOODS YOU WILL PASS A STARBUCKS ON THE WAY IN WEST HARTFORD. TO ADD WE ARE ONLY MAYBE 6 MILES FROM WEST HARTFORD CENTER AND BLUE BACK SQUARE.

I CAN BE IN GRANBY, EAST GRANBY, SIMSBURY AND AVON, WEST HARTFORD IN LESS THAN 2,3 or 4 MINUTES.

WE HAVE A NICE DRIVE THRU DUNKIN DONUTS IN TOWN JUST PAST THE CVS. IF YOU WANT A SUPER STOP - NO PROBLEM. IF YOU WANT A SMALL GROCERY STORE - GEISSLERS IS RIGHT IN TOWN FOR A QUICKIE.

EVERGREEN MALL AND BUCKLAND MALL ARE ONLY 20 MINUTES AS IS WEST FARMS MALL. CINCHY DRIVES.

DOWNTOWN HARTFORD - 8 MILES FROM MY DOOR TO THE GOLD BUILDING MAIN ENTRANCE.

SO, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE YOUR TYPICAL TOWN TAX ISSUES WHICH EVERY TOWN IN CONNECTICUT HAS ESPECIALLY NOW. NOBODY WANTS THEIR TOWN RAISING TAXES AND INCREASING EVERYONE'S SALARY IN TOWNHALL'S WHILE TAXPAYERS ARE STRUGGLING AT HOME WITH INCREASES IN ALL COSTS TO OPERATE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.

SO, I HOPE THAT TWEEKED YOUR INTEREST JUST A LITTLE.

YOU TOO COULD LIVE IN ....BLOOMFIELD!

To set the tone of where I am going with this...I was so unnerved by the town budget meeting last night I had dreams of being in this room debating with the town council. I have lived in this town the first go around for almost 7 years and then came back and have been here for 11 1/2 years. We have the best luxury condo's and apartments in Hartford County and we also have gorgeous custom built estate homes that are the perfect size for empty-nester's. Gillette Ridge Golf Course was built 3 years ago and we have built luxury free standing houses all around the golf course and other locations near the golf course. Bloomfield is only 6 miles from downtown Hartford and 5 to 8 minutes to I-91 and I-84 and less than 15 min to Bradley International Airport.

I printed the 205 page Budget proposal on-line and reviewed every page over the weekend only to find out that 5 key pages were missing and one of the town council members was polite enough to let us look at his copy.

Revenues in town are $73,031,428 - which $61,864,885 come from property taxes.

They want to spend $73,031,428 for this year. This is where I get madder than a hornet.

We have 33 police officers in this tiny town - Fixed Budget of $6,885,081.

Last night I hear our 15 year old police department roof is leaking and we have lots of light bulbs out in the parking lots at our schools. Okay what are they doing with the $2,386,932 that we pay in for public works? Do you think we have salaried employees in this town that are like dogs on welfare? They are not getting in their trucks and actually doing their job. No one is accountable to anyone in this town.

Our education budget for 2400 students - are you tranquilized right now? $39,055,093 is our proposed budget number. That is almost $17,000 per student. This is why we are the empty nester town... get ready.... In Connecticut in our population size of 15,000 to 25,000 of 30 towns - guess what? According to "Connecticut Magazine" Issue November of 2006. Bloomfield ranked #29 as "the" worst education in CT. I was chuckling when one town council member last night wanted to throw in an additional $50,000 to our already $139,000 Economic Development Commission budget to promote Bloomfield to the world. Excuse me? One of the biggest draws to any town are RESALE values. Bloomfield's rankings are such that no one wants to buy in town if they know they have sell in 3 to 5 years. Schools drive the economic engine of towns. Just go to www.raveis.com/geena and click on "NEIGHBORHOOD MAPPING" and then go to "LOCAL HOUSING DATE" and compare the educations and values in all of the towns in CT and see for yourself.

Bloomfield population is approximately 20,000 - Setting of the room last night for a 7:00 p.m. meeting is a small conference room - 1/3 of it had food enough to feed an army that was catered. I arrive at 7:15. Everyone's belly is full. The room is about 100 degrees. The conference table is in the middle filled with the town council members and our town manager and finance director (11 people). There are chairs set up all around the walls of this room and they are filled - my associate from my company Michael Voutsas saved me a seat. I am already shocked that we are not in one of our large conference rooms complete with video cameras so this can be shown on our local Channel 5. As I sit I realize that all of the people in the chairs around the room are EMPLOYEES of the town. I can't wait to find out at the next meeting how many of these salaried employees actually live in Bloomfield! I do know that one of our top positions in town our town planner does not live in Bloomfield. Shock! That will be my next blog believe me.

In this one hour meeting these people through around $500,000 like it was paper-towels. They were spending my money and the air was so cavalier. They were numb and half conscious throughout the entire one hour. Rubbing their eyes - ready for naps. If we were in China burping I'm sure would have been added. Who wouldn't after the feast they just had. All that was needed at this meeting - coke's, coffee and cookies to keep this group alive and also to save money!

Okay here it comes... "quote of the week"

2008-2009 - First Budget hearing for Bloomfield. Drum roll........ One of our town council members stated towards the end of the meeting at 8:05 discussing a huge dredging cost of a very small pond that we use for skating in the winter in the center of town which could cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars says... "we need to spend the money like it was our own"....

Whattttttttt?????? It is our money!

Oh Little Town of Burlington...

Burlington, Connecticut, a nice village, convenient to shopping and to Hartford, Rte 8 if you need to get to the NYC and yet totally private. I have some town statistics for you with comparisons from 2005 to December of 2007. This is the best time to buy a house especially in Burlington because of the inventory and interest rates. What a difference two years makes?????

Single Family Sales for Burlington in December of 2007 were 16. June of 2007 were the highest reports sales of 25 Single Family Properties. December of 2005 reported 8 sales that month.

The town has a lot of new construction so these next flow of numbers will demonstrate to you how it looks.

33.6% of the sales in Burlington last year were in the price range of $400,000 to $599,000

13.1% of the sales were in the price range of $600,000 to $999,000. That is almost 1/2 of the town!

Inventory levels in December of 2005 were at 34 houses where December of 2007 were at 75. Burlington does have a lot of new communities with a few spec houses that have been sitting for a much longer time than the builders are used to.

The Median Sales price for December 2007 was 275,000 versus December of 2005 was $238,000.

Sale to List Price Ratio for December 2007 is 95.00% whereas in December of 2005 it was 94.75%. Not too much difference. The highest Ratio for the last two years was in June of 2007 which was 98.59%.

Market time to get houses sold for December 2007 was 132 days. December of 2005 was 115 days. The lowest in the last 2 years was August of 2007 of 38 days.

So, sellers are getting antsy in Burlington and I would recommend that buyers take a look. 2008 will be the best year to ever buy a house because of this great cocktail mix.

The photo is one of my listings in Highwood Crossing in Burlington that we orginally listed at $799,900 and we have reduced to $699,900. Builder wants to sell! We are doing Saturday and Sunday Open Houses to get it sold. Needs 30 days to for completetion. We are waiting for buyers choices before completetion.

I am offering to my buyers this year a fully paid home inspection upon signing for full representation.

This is a BUY!

The state had 23,470 foreclosure filings last year, which RealtyTrac says represented 0.83 percent of all households. But the Census Bureau says the state has 1.43 million "housing units," so the actual rate is 0.16 percent. Furthermore, filings do not mean eviction is imminent, and not all filings involve subprime loans. Meanwhile, Countrywide Mortgage's Soft Market Index says the highest-risk counties for foreclosures are in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. Fairfield, New London and New Haven counties are considered moderately low risks, and Hartford, Middlesex and Tolland low. Litchfield and Windham didn't even make the index. In Connecticut at least, this has all the earmarks of a contrived crisis.

To further add for my area which is Hartford, Litchfield,Middlesex and Tolland counties, inventories are low even though prices of houses are still correcting gently. Properties that have been on the market for a minimum of six months need to make a price adjustment right now of 10 to 12% to sell. Sellers still have a mind set that they can get what they want on the sell side and our finding out it is just not so. Sellers must adjust price downward - get the house sold and then go play ball with what they want to buy and at the same time take advantage of the low interest rates. And if a buyer signs with me to represent them in their purchase I will pay for their home inspection. It's a win win win!

Geena- 860-983-4446 or email Geena@Geena.biz