Advice and insight from Christopher
Practical advice for buyers and sellers, plus my take on the market and the industry. Written by me, based on what I see every day.
Sellers: Stop Making Buyers Take Off Their Shoes to View Your House
A small showing rule that can hurt your sale price, create liability and turn buyers off before they even step inside, plus better ways to protect your floors.
Read the article → Selling tipsDon't Renovate Before You Sell. Do This Instead.
Why a big kitchen or bath remodel rarely pays off before a sale, and the smaller, cheaper projects that actually help your home sell for more.
Read the article → Selling tipsSellers: Should You Be Home During Showings?
Why buyers need space when they tour your home, what can go wrong when sellers stay, and how to make showings easy for kids, pets and your schedule.
Read the article → Selling tipsSellers: Why the First Two Weeks on the Market Matter Most
Why buyer attention peaks in your first two weeks, how time on market changes the way buyers see your home, and how to launch it right from day one.
Read the article → Selling tipsWhy Your Zestimate Is Wrong
What online estimates like the Zestimate can't see about your home, why they can miss by tens of thousands of dollars, and how to find out what it's really worth.
Read the article → Buying tipsBuyers: Don't Panic About the Inspection Report
Why a long home inspection report is normal, how to tell real problems from routine maintenance, and how to focus your repair requests on what matters.
Read the article → Buying tipsBuyers: There's No Perfect House, and That's Okay
Why waiting for the perfect home can cost you the right one, and how to separate your must-haves from your nice-to-haves so you know it when you see it.
Read the article → Market updateIs the Seller's Market Slipping Away?
National prices are softening. A look at Fairfield County data for early signs of a shift, what's still holding steady, and what it means for sellers.
Read the article → Industry newsNAR Settlement Information
What the National Association of REALTORS® settlement changed about commissions and buyer agreements, and how it may affect you.
Read the article →The Home Systems Series
Plain-English guides to how a home works: what each system does, what your inspector looks for and what to do before you buy.
Private wells
How a private well system works, what your home inspector checks, why testing the water matters and the common solutions if something turns up.
Read the guide → Part 2Septic systems
How a septic system works, the common types in Connecticut, what a septic inspection covers and the records to review before you buy.
Read the guide → Part 3Radon
What radon is, how it can get into a home's air and well water, how it's tested during an inspection and how a simple mitigation system fixes it.
Read the guide → Part 4Oil heat and oil tanks
How oil-fired furnaces and boilers work with the oil tank, how oil delivery works, what your inspector checks and what to know about buried tanks.
Read the guide →