This Is What Prepared Looks Like for a CT Buyer.

One client found a house in Branford he loved. We got it under contract and his parents came to the inspection — the first time they'd seen it. His dad walked through the front door, stopped, and said "What did you do?" My client was crushed. We found a way out of the contract. The next house, we included his dad from the beginning. My client lives there today.

In 2018, a couple told me prices were too high and would come down soon. I showed them the data — it pointed the other way. They decided to wait. Eight years later, the $250,000 homes they were considering are worth $437,000. That's nearly $200,000 in equity they walked away from while waiting for a drop that never came. The CT market doesn't care what you think it should do. It does what it does.

There is a right order. Understand your situation. Define your goals. Build your strategy. Then search. The big search sites send you straight to browsing. That benefits them. It doesn't benefit you.

One strategy many buyers never consider — renovation loans. In a market with low inventory and aging housing stock, a renovation loan lets you buy a home others walk past and make it exactly what you want. Dave's team closes them in 30 days. The industry average is 45 or more. For the right buyer, it changes everything.

I was meeting clients for showings on a Saturday. When we arrived at the first house, they told me they had stopped at an open house on a whim and loved the place. They needed it. We did the other showings and they still wanted that house. We put together an Overwhelming Offer and beat out an offer $26,000 higher. Both were above asking — but our offer gave the seller exactly what they wanted and made them confident the deal would close. The other offer was full of contingencies that made the sellers nervous.

One of my clients decided to use a lender I had never worked with. Everything went smoothly until a week before closing — the bank denied the loan. It had nothing to do with my clients. The bank made their decision based on information they'd had for over a month. I called the lender I had recommended from the beginning. He got my clients approved and closed in 12 days. The right team doesn't just make the process easier. It saves deals.

A client bought a house with an underground oil tank. The seller agreed to pay for the removal but the ground was frozen — it had to wait until spring. The attorneys held the seller's money at closing to make sure it got done. I followed up for four months until the tank was removed, the contamination testing was completed, and the money was released. That's what Beyond the Doorstep looks like.