Two Whole Years - Wow

My goodness how time escapes us when no one is looking. A lot has changed and for the better I must say. Although our market came tumbling down, the adjustment was long over due. Every ten years the real estate market needs a good shaking and this time our bubble was stretched to it's thinnest lining before bursting. This makes for an extra loud burst and a major shaking up. Sorry for all the analogies but this is the wall street lingo used to describe market crashing and this one is a doozy. As we all hope, the market will be a better place to do business after the shake up. All the over stuffed mortgages will be gone. The foreclosures will come back down to a normal inventory. Prices will adjust and the agents who have survived this will be better people for it.
In my opinion now being back in the front lines, the market feels as if it is trying to stabilize. Since October 1st of this year sales in our office have been plentiful and brisk. November as well and December has not slowed us yet.
My subdivision in Branford, Riverwalk Luxury Homes, is doing very well and it has for last six months. In spite of this market, the people are tired of waiting to see what is going to happen. People will only put their lives on hold for so long.
I'd love to hear your opinions. Please leave your comments and let me know if it would be OK to post. Thanks and I hope to see you all soon. -Mike

So Far So Great...Follow me!

In spite of all the doom and gloom reports regarding real estate, sales in our area have remained brisk. Level one of the short sale foreclosures seem to have gone through as evidenced by the "cheap homes" are already under contract and pending. My estimate is you have about 24 hours to 4 days at best to get those properties under contract. The very best deals don't even get to the open market. Most people are signed up for VIP type email lists where your property description and criteria will be sent to you as it is listed in the local multiple listing service. (If you don't have that yet contact me at mikepappa1@gmail.com And I will set you up) This gets the property out to some before the home ever hits conventional marketing. (newspapers, mags etc...) aka the antiquated paper media.

In short, if you are tired of all the negativity, call me I will give you the best perception that I can give you and help you get through this cyclical, routine, the government is in denial,
"recession "and help point you to the light at the end of the tunnel.

As investors, you have to wait 10 years for markets as good as this. If you ever wanted to become an investor,(see Robert Allen, Carlton Sheets, Russ Whitney and many many more...)
this is the very best market you can ask for. Prices are as low as they were in 1986 in some markets. The interest rates are as low as they ever have been and rumored still to even go lower. Please, if you need help getting started, get in touch with me. I will help you get there.

My contact points are: 860-886-8900 x11 office - 860-949-3636 cell
My websites are: http://www.capitalproperty.com/ and http://www.capitaldesignbuild.com/ for the new stuff.

Remember sitting on the couch and reading this on you laptop is one thing but actually rolling your cursor over to my email address or reaching for your phone is actually taking your first step. How easy can life get? Go ahead, take the plunge and make yourself happy. You deserve it!

Peace!
Mike

Kick off CTMLXchange MLS system. Rate it.

As of January 31st, old faithful, ARIS has been shut down and the new "CTMLXchange" has become our primary mls system. Well guys, what do you think? The feedback I'm getting is overall good. Especially after you have taken the class. But that was the hype I'm guessing here. There has been a few items pointed out to me that currently do make sense as far as some of the function of the system goes. For instance, and to let you know I haven't tried this myself yet, I've been told by a reliable techie in our office that the remark section is way too short compared to what we are use to. In order to get get more in we have to use another page which can not attach to the original print out and has to be merged manually by you in the office or sent as two separate emails as two separate files. This may not seem like alot of work but, when you are counting keystrokes in our busy world every extra nuisance counts. Other issues are to be expected. The program is huge and I believe after some time we will all grow to love it. It's versatility and extremely far reach will make our business flourish. I feel it has already started to do that within its first 30 days of use. The customized templates will "level the playing field" so to speak, as every sized company has access to the same materials and level of visual professionalism. Personally, although I too have given in to the uncomfortable feelings of change, have to say that this system is great and I am very excited about it. I hope you will all grasp it, embrace it like your long lost puppy and make it your own. Please email me your comments, experiences and success stories with the new program as feedback is what makes the world go round. Its all good. Have a wonderful day !
Michael J.

Periodic lessons from one of my mentors. Enjoy!!!

Capital Property Investments Real Estate Sales and Services

Our 2006-07 Commercial playing before movies in our local Eastern Connecticut theatres. Real estate sales and services in Eastern CT and RI. Homes, Land, Commercial, Office, Industrial and Developing residential subdivisions and condo projects. Probate liquidation, bank foreclosures, divorce real estate settlements.

XMAS Party

Today we had our office Christmas party in our newest office in Norwichtown, CT. About 40 people showed up throughout the day. We had fun and lots of food. The highlight was the "Guess That Baby!!!? Game contest we played. Candy Barnes won First Prize by matching the most baby pictures to our agents. She guessed 10 out of 14. Great job Candy. Second prize went to Steve Douglas for cutest baby. "Way to go Steve" 3rd prize went to Bernie Martilla of the BSmart Team with his creative caption paired to Dawn Sullivan's picture. Kudos to everyone we had some great laughs.

One of our honored guests was Bernie Laizer dressed in his 22 year old Santa hat for christmas but to also symbolize his wedding anniversary, also 22 years. Congrats to Bernie and his wife. Our CPA Ed Muenzner was on hand for some christmas cheer along with all of our agents and staff.

Tim Robishaw and Chris Pappa were on hand as their first official visits to meet the company. Both are student interns. Welcome aboard Tim and Chris looking forward to your licensing and practicing with the crew.

Secret Santa was on hand as I gave out alot of great gifts. Kim and I would like to thank all of our agents and staff for all their help and also the great gifts we received.

I want to Thank Diana for coming today who is very pregnant and is due with her 3rd son this coming month. We love her to death and wish her the best with her delivery. Hope to see you back at work as soon as possible Di, we all miss you terribly.

Next staff meeting for everyone is January 9th in the Norwich office. Guest speaker will be Rick Turner of GMAC and the main topic will be CHFA and the pairing of the upcoming market with the right mortgages. Hope to see you all their. Should be very informative and lucrative. "Knowledge is power, get as much as you can squeeze in"

Have a happy Holiday and I will see you all on the other end.