Special offer

Middletown, CT Real Estate News

By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
As many of you know from some of my older blogs I love sports, especially baseball.  I am also a huge Yankee Fan, and have been so since I was 8 years old. One of the great things about living in New England for those of us who love sports is the great rivalry amongst our sport teams and fans.  Among these rivalries the biggest ones are between Boston and New York Fans.  We have the rivalries between the Celtics and Knicks, Bruins and Ranger, Patriots and Jets, and the biggest one of all Red Sox and Yankees. This past week was not a good time for those like me that are Yankee Fans.  Our boys in pin strips lost the 8th straight game to the Red Sox on Thursday.  The worst part is that it will be about two months before they play each other again so we get to listen to the Red Sox Fans rub...
Comments 8
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
It was all over the news yesterday and on the news again today, it was even one of the lead stories on Yahoo Tech News this morning, Analog TV is now a part of history.  After months and months of announcements, warnings, and delays, it is still expected that more than 1 million households will be without TV service, because they did not convert over to digital. The analog signal has been around for about 60 years, t is what most of us grew up with.  I still remember watching TV on a little black and white screen, and we were lucky if we could pull in more than two stations.  Today we have been spoiled by a multitude of TV stations (even with just analog), but when those million or so households turn on their TV today and there is no signal it will be as if the world has come to an end....
Comments 12
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
  ****************************************************************************************************************** Info about the author: George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments 18
By Valerie Osterhoudt, ABR, Cromwell, CT Real Estate ~ 860.883.8889
(Johnson Real Estate, Inc.)
 THIRD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 94 MINER STREET MIDDLETOWN, CT  06457 Strawberry Shortcake Festival Thursday, June 11th from 11:30am to 4:00pm   The Third Congregational Church on 94 Miner Street in Middletown, CT is holding its annual Strawberry Shortcake Festival, tomorrow, Thursday, June 11th from 11:30am to 4:00pm. This festival has been going on for over 120 years.. yes, you heard me correctly 120 years.  People in the area look forward to this event every year.  The strawberries are native to the area and picked fresh.  Now picture this on top of a homemade biscuit, and REAL HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM.  My mouth is salvating already. If you haven't been by, tomorrow is your opportunity to partake.. and I bet you'll be hooked for next year.  I'm thinking of going twice once around noon an...
Comments 12
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
It should not came as any surprise to those of us in the Real Estate Business, that the interest rates have been climbing for almost two weeks now.  Even though they went down slightly today, the feeling seems to be that they might go up some more.  Of course one person's guess is as good as another when it comes to interest rates.  If anyone could predict them accurately, they could retire in a very short period of time. We can look at the increase in interest rates negatively or we can look at them positively.  The first and natural reactions is to react negatively, and expect business to slow down because of the increase in interest rates.  But in my opinion I think that it should actually increase sales, especially when it comes to those Buyers that were waiting around for the inter...
Comments 17
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Last week I Posted a blog about what a great day last Sunday was for Open Houses "Great Day For Open Houses".  The weather was perfect and the Buyers were out, I even got to do a Pre-Appoval for one of the Buyers. Well as good as last Sunday was, this Sunday was even better. We were having our Annual Church Picnic right after Church, but there were two Realtors that I wanted to talk to, and they were both doing Open Houses.  So I stopped by their Open House, and each of them had Buyers at them.  Now this is not unusual, but to only stop at two Open Houses, and walk away with two Borrowers who need to be Pre-Approved is. I have already Pre-Approved one of them, and the other will be calling me in the middle of the week.  To get good qualified Borrowers two weeks in a row is very unusual....
Comments 4
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
  ****************************************************************************************************************** Info about the author: George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments 18
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
This morning Kim Neilson our Executive Vice President at McCue Mortgage sent out an e-mail to all our Loan Originators explaining why we have been experiencing an increase in the mortgage interest rates over the last week. For those of you who have not heard, last Wednesday the mortgage rate increased significantly, and have continued to slightly increase since then. In her e-mail Kim announced that the mortgage market had opened down again today because of news that Job loss claims came in @ 345,000 versus the prediction of 520,000.  She also stated that even though unemployment rate is at a 26-year high of 9.4%, many economists are hopeful that January's job losses were the peak since the last 3 months have shown signs of improvement for jobless claims. Another interesting fact that s...
Comments 6
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
    ****************************************************************************************************************** Info about the author: George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments 22
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
A couple of years ago we at McCue Mortgage started offering what we call a Mortgage Inspection. In the Real Estate Industry, we don't think twice about recommending to a Buyer that they should have a Home Inspection done.  So why not also  suggest a Mortgage Inspection to make sure that they are truly qualified for the amount that they have been told. The Buyer does not have to the loan with the Loan Officer who does the Mortgage Inspection, but just like with the Home Inspection it can provide peace of mine for everyone during the home search process, especially if the Pre-Approval letter that they have is from a Lender that the Realtor does not know.  Time is too valuable to waste, so why take a chance on a Pre-Approval Letter that you have doubts about. It only takes a few minutes fo...
Comments 13
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Today was a perfect day for Open Houses, the weather was perfect, and the Buyers were out.  I stopped by four Open Houses and all were busy except one, because of the type of property. The Buyers that I saw at the Open Houses were mainly First Time Homebuyers, and all of them excited about the possibility of purchasing their first property.  Each of them had a lot of questions for the Realtors that were holding the Open Houses. It is unusual for me to pick up a new Borrower when I stop an Open Houses, but today was the exception.  I stop by an Open House that I gave a Pre-Approval Letter to the Realtor for one of her Buyers yesterday.  When I stopped by she filled me in on how the offer was going, and while we were talking a young couple came in.  The Realtor introduced me to them, and ...
Comments 14
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Yesterday I wrote a blog on the new policy that was just announced by HUD for the $8,000 Tax Credit, in their latest Mortgagee Letter "MORTGAGEE LETTER 2009-1.  In it I advised everyone to read it for themselves and become familiar with it.  What I did not do in my blog yesterday was to further advise everyone to caution their clients about the SCAMS that will most likely emerge as a result of this latest change. We have seen SCAMS pop up for everything prior to this, and I have no doubt that new SCAMS will pop up with creative ways to take advantage of those who do not follow sound advice, and would rather listen to those who will tell them what they want to hear instead. We have seen SCAMS devised to take advantage of those who are trying to refinance out of high interest loans.  We h...
Comments 38
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
FHA issued MORTGAGEE LETTER 2009-15 today, once again making a provision or provisions for the $8,000 Tax Credit (Gift) to be received before the Closing on a property. Now before anyone gets to excited about this, like many did before, you really NEED to read the entire Mortgagee Letter, once you do, you will most likely not be as excited about this provision.  There are several catches, and I really don't know if eligible lenders are going to get on board with this. The new provision while allowing for the $8,000 to be received in advance, does not permit it to be used for the initial 3.5% downpayment.  It can be use as an addition to the 3.5% downpayment and or Closing Costs.  I personally do not see this as any advantage, and certainly not worth the extra paper work and liability th...
Comments 8
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
In the beginning of the month I wrote a blog "Appraisal Issues Continue To Be Big Problems!!!".  In the blog I gave an example of a loan that I was presently working on, and the appraisal issues that I was have with it.  It was one of those loans that the Buyer was not the problem, they had excellent credit an income, but the property had major issues. I closed the blog by saying that I would report back on the outcome.  Well I am happy to report that the loan closed yesterday, and I now have two extremely happy Borrowers. We were able to get the house changed to a single family residence, witch allowed it to be able to comp out for the sales price the the Sellers needed to be able to sell for, or they would have been upside down on the property.  And my Borrowers were able to get a pro...
Comments 5
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Most will associate the term "Be Prepared" with the Boy Scouts, and it is a term that I am very familiar with since both my sons are Eagle Scouts.  But these days this term has taken on a new meaning for me with all of the changes and challenges that we are facing in the Real Estate Industry.  These days we in the Real Estate Industry need to adopt this term for ourselves as well.  In some regards we have always had to "Be Prepared" in Real Estate, because of the possibility of last minute things popping up, but lately the need to "Be Prepared" has increased significantly. With the constant changes in loan program guidelines, appraisal issues, and PMI requirements we have to not only be ready to act immediately, but to also anticipate any and everything that could developer during a tra...
Comments 14
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Yesterday I commented on a blog that Donna Bigda wrote on Condominiums, and she suggested that I add a couple of links for Buyers to have as a resource. The comment that I made was that most Condo Loans that I do are for First Time Homebuyer, and that FHA and Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) are the two main loan programs that I use for them, because most First Time Homebuyers do not have much money to put down on a house or condo.  I also suggested that if a Realtor is working with a Buyer that will be using one of these two loan programs, that they need to make sure that the Condo Complex is on the Approved Condo List for FHA and/or CHFA.  This is very important step in purchasing a Condo with either of these two loan programs, because if the Condo Complex is not on their ...
Comments 15
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
Most of us who have been in this business for a while, and plan on being around for a lot longer, pride ourselves in providing our Clients with great service.  Up until a couple of years ago I thought that providing great service was good, that is until I read a little book by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles "Raving Fans". As I was reading this book it became very clear to me that just providing great service is not good enough.  That if I wanted to set myself apart from everyone else that also provides great service, that I had to create "Raving Fans" Creating "Raving Fans" is not easy, but if you do people will seek you out because of it.  Creating "Raving Fans" is not about price or rate, in fact if you create "Raving Fans" price and rate become a very minor consideration, it it is ...
Comments 13
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
  ****************************************************************************************************************** Info about the author: George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments 18
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
I don't know about everyone else but for the last two months I have been busier than I have been for a long time.  In fact the month of April was one of the best months that I have ever had.  I have been so busy that it has been hard to keep up with all of the Pre-Approvals, and Loans that I have doing, and I have had very little time to do other things that I know I need to do. When times are busy like this it is is easy to begin to take for granted that it will continue, and get comfortable with just waiting for the phone to ring.  But in reality it is when times are busy like this that we should be most concerned, and do what we need to do to keep the phone ringing, and not take for granted that it will continue to ring by its self. This leads me to the title of my Post "Who Moved My...
Comments 23
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages)
  ****************************************************************************************************************** Info about the author: George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments 11