Groton Real Estate Market Report For October 2018

Michael DelGrosso of Total Mortgage and Will Morrissey from the Bridget Morrissey Group brokered by eXp Realty discuss the findings for September 2018 in the Groton Real Estate Market.

Groton Open House Sunday October 28 from 1:00-3:00 at 95 Monument Street.

Groton Open House Sunday October 28 from 1:00-3:00 at 95 Monument Street. bmre.us/95 Beautiful Historic Home in Groton Bank District. 4 bedrooms with hardwood floors and 2 full baths upstairs. Living room, family room, dining room and kitchen on main level. Many built ins that lend to the charm of this beautiful home. 2 bay windows allow natural light to flow into the dining room and one of the bedrooms. Close to main highways, shopping, schools, Thames River, Electric Boat and Pfizer. 2 car detached garage with a private driveway for off street parking. Washington Park and Fort Griswold are within a few blocks of this property.

Charlestown RI Real Estate Market Report from Bridget Morrissey

The Charlestown Real Estate Market Report is a monthly statement of the average sales price for and number of 2 BR, 3 BR and 4 BR homes sold, the total number of sales, the number of active homes for sale and the average listing price of Charlestown homes for sale.

Median List Price

 

Median Price Per Square Foot

 

Average Days on Market

Charlestown is named after King Charles II, and was incorporated in 1738. The area was formerly part of the town of Westerly. Charlestown was in turn divided and the part north of the Pawcatuck River became the town of Richmond in 1747Burlingame State Park and Campground is located inside the town of Charlestown. The campground is 3,100 acres of rocky woodland that surrounds Watchaug Pond in Charlestown. Park activities include 755 campsites, fishing, swimming, picnicking, boating and hiking. The area north of Buckeye Brook Road, abutting the Pawcatuck River, is primarily a hunting area.

Ledyard Real Estate Market Report from Bridget Morrissey

The Ledyard Real Estate Market Report is a monthly statement of the average sales price for and number of  2 BR, 3 BR and 4 BR homes sold, the total number of sales, the number of active homes for sale and the average listing price of Ledyard homes for sale.

Median List Price

Median Price Per Square Foot

According to Wikipedia,the principal communities of Ledyard are Ledyard Center (also known as Ledyard Village) and the Gales Ferry section (including Christy Hill Estates, Devonshire Estates, Ferry View Heights, Glenwoods, Pheasant Run, Sherwood Forest, and Woodridge Estates).

Other minor communities and geographic areas are Aljen Heights, Barrett Park, Colonial Manor, Cranwood Homestead, Highlands, Lakeside, Lantern Hill, Long Pond, Parsonage Hill Manor, Presidential Estates, Quaker Town, and Stonehenge. The town also contains the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, in the northeastern corner of the town.



Ledyard Center is located at the crossroads of 2 state highways: routes 117 and 214. It is home to Ledyard Town Hall and is one of the main commercial areas in the town. Every year in September, the fairgrounds host the popular Ledyard Fair, bringing families to the area for the weekend to enjoy carnival rides, entertainment and agricultural competitions.

Gales Ferry is centered around Route 12 and is one of the main commercial corridors in the town. The area is largely residential and contains 2 national register historic districts, a post office and library. It does offer typical neighborhood commercial services.

Each year in June, the Yale-Harvard regatta brings rowing teams and spectators to the riverfront and life to each school’s boathouse, both of which are located in the village.

5 Things to Keep in Mind for your Vacation Home Purchase

Just imagine it! Waking up to the sound of sea and surf pounding the sand right outside your very own home. You don’t have to call ahead for reservations, you don’t need to ask anyone for a key or have a check-out time. It’s all yours to do with as you will, and you’re going take advantage of it constantly because now you own your very own vacation home.


Not to burst any vacation home-shaped bubbles, but before you get too lost in the fantasy, you need to consider some of the many pros and cons of owning a home away from home.
Vacation Homes Aren’t For Everybody


As the real estate market begins to respond to financial pressures from higher interest rates that are only set to increase further, as well as trade wars and tariffs with some of the country’s best trading partners, more people are just waiting for their favorite vacation spot to experience a market correction. If you’re one of them, don’t jump into the vacation home market without seriously considering what you’re doing.


Sure, it can be cool to have a vacation home. It can be the very best thing. But if you never use it or you never go anywhere else, it might be the wrong call. Consider these five points when buying a vacation home today or tomorrow:


1. What can you afford on your own?


It’s no secret that many vacation homes will go for several times what your personal home may be worth. Because of this, buyers like to try to pool their assets to pull off a vacation home purchase with friends or family. Don’t let your vacation home become a cautionary tale: buying a vacation home with anyone that you’re not married to could become a long term problem.


What if you and the friend or relative don’t like the same beach? What if you can’t agree on the property to purchase? Will you be resentful the rest of your life? Most importantly, perhaps, is what to do if your co-borrower has poor credit, can’t come up with their part of the downpayment or is otherwise creating a giant problem for your mortgage?


After you’ve actually bought the property, who pays for what repairs? Don’t buy with friends or family, but if you do, get a lawyer to draw up a maintenance and payment agreement that you both sign to get everything on paper and make it official.


2. Even if you do buy a vacation home on your own, it will be complicated.


This isn’t your momma’s FHA loan. When you buy a vacation home, you’re almost always going to use a conventional mortgage. You’ll need stellar credit, an excellent debt to income ratio and, most importantly, a lot of cash. Unlike primary homes, which rarely require reserves, being the lender on a secondary home feels awfully risky to the bank.


They may still lend to you, but they’ll want to see that you have anywhere from two to 12 months of reserves on hand. If you’ve not heard the term before, “reserves” are funds already in an account somewhere that are equal to a certain number of months’ worth of payments for both of your homes. This also includes anything wrapped into your payment due to escrow, like homeowners’ insurance and taxes.


3. Do you have a plan for off-season care and maintenance?


If a friend or relative lives nearby, you probably are set for someone to look in on your place, but if not, you’ve got to get this part figured out before you sign on the line. Just like an occupied home, your vacation home will develop problems over time. Wear and tear happens even when you’re not home and pipes love to freeze and burst when no one’s looking. You have to have a plan.


You should hire a handyman, property manager or other real estate expert to keep an eye out and call in help when necessary. That’s a cost you’ll have all year, so make sure you figure it into your budget. Since your property is a vacation home, it will also require more expensive insurance coverage, as well as specialty insurance if it’s in an area where floods, hurricanes or earthquakes are common.


4. Renting it out when you’re not using it makes your vacation home a rental, not a vacation home.


You absolutely can rent your vacation home from day one, provided that you purchased it as an investment home. Some buyers think this will save them a bunch of money, since someone else will take care of it part of the year, at least. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between a glorious rental partnership and a home that’s been burned to the ground. If your neighborhood, for example, won’t allow AirBnBs and their ilk, or has strict rules about maintenance, you are responsible for the rebound from missteps there, no matter how good your renters.


You will have to find the guy to mow the lawn, you’re paying for clean up every time renters move out, you’re paying for repairs and so forth. Did you want to be a long-distance landlord? A property manager can help ease the pain, but it will still cost plenty. If you do decide to proceed with a rental situation for your vacation home, make sure the house you buy is in a location that’s really hot, otherwise you may not be able to get enough rent to cover all the expenses.


5. Oh, hey, and selling can be difficult and costly.


For every one of the real estate experts who claim that buying a vacation home is a great way to make money, there are experts who realize that the market is unpredictable and you may find that you don’t love that vacation home as much as you thought in a few years.


After spending two years dealing with short term renters, you may decide it’s easier for you to go back to renting a nice hotel for your vacation stay, rather than owning a headache of a property. That’s all fine and good, until you find out that not only has the market bottomed out, you can’t even get enough money out of the place to cover the mortgage and your closing costs.


Remember, when you sell, you may also be on the hook for capital gains taxes, and you can’t take a capital loss if the property in question is classified as a second home.


If you still have the stomach for a second home after running through this list of things to consider, then proceed with caution. Don’t buy a project house unless you have someone else to do the work and even then, make sure that the only thing you do at that vacation home is relax. Going on vacation just to stress out about the lawn isn’t a fun kind of vacation, you know?
Your Vacation Home Support Team


Wondering where you’ll find all the people you need to help keep your vacation home in good shape, whether you’re renting it out or just visiting on the weekends? Ask your HomeKeepr family! A quick click and the community can recommend home pros in the area, from the best handyman around to a property manager who can keep your renters in line.

Connect with my favorite local pros

Sign Up

Already using HomeKeepr?

Sign In

South Kingstown Real Estate Market Report from Bridget Morrissey

The South Kingstown RI Real Estate Market Report is a monthly statement of the average sales price for and number of 2 BR, 3 BR and 4 BR homes sold, the total number of sales, the number of active homes for sale and the average listing price of South Kingstown homes for sale.

Median List Price

Median Price Per Square Foot

Median Days on Market

Why are home prices increasing?

There are many unsubstantiated theories about what is happening with home prices. From those who are worried that prices are falling (data shows this is untrue), to those who are concerned that prices are again approaching boom peaks because of “irrational exuberance” (this is also untrue as prices are not at peak levels when they are adjusted for inflation), there seems to be no shortage of opinion.

However, the increase in prices is easily explained by the theory of supply & demand. Whenever there is a limited supply of an item that is in high demand, prices increase. It is that simple. In real estate, it takes a six-month supply of existing salable inventory to maintain pricing stability. In most housing markets, anything less than six months will cause home values to appreciate and anything greater than seven months will cause prices to depreciate (see chart below).

According to the Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the monthly inventory of homes for sale has been below six months for the last five years (see chart below).

Bottom Line

If buyer demand continues to outpace the current supply of existing homes for sale, prices will continue to appreciate. Nothing nefarious is taking place. It is simply the theory of supply & demand working as it should.