Estate settlement help in Connecticut. Vegetable gardens are a great green addition to showcase a home for sale. It is once again time to give a backyard crop report from the farms of Turning Point Estate Services. Let me say that we have been fortunate with the wind and the rain this year. There have been a few periods of dryness but, nothing a good sprinkling from the hose did not cure. I have been around enough this summer to see to it that nothing gets too dried out. We shall not ever again speak of the blight that decimated the entire garden the season before last. It is just too painful. The loss of established asparagus beds along with ALL the tomato crop, was devastating. Way too much rain in late spring and early summer was killer. The current crop of fresh basil is sweet, arom... 08/03/2011

Homes For Sale in Wilton CT 06897 With a Pool in August 2011We have had a very hot July here in Wilton CT 06897 this year, and many buyers are looking for homes for sale with a pool.    There are many homes in Wilton with a pool, so here is the help in locating them. Homes For Sale Under $1M in Wilton CT 06897 with Pool   These links are for the homes for sale in Wilton CT with pools as of the date August 1, 2011.   Obviously, this is time sensitive information.  In two months, some of these homes will be sold or withdrawn from the market, and others may be newly listed.   Homes For Sale $1M to $2M in Wilton CT 06897 with Pool And, last, but not least, the homes we love the most: Homes For Sale $2M and Over in Wilton CT 06897 With Pool If you should have any questions or wish to view an... 08/01/2011

Help for executors in Fairfield County CT. Repairing and preparing an estate property for sale. Sumps are something. I have written a bit about the importance of preparing an estate property for market. I have opined about the importance of the landscaping around the home, as well as specialty features such as adding a vegetable garden to enhance the green appeal that so many buyers are demanding these days. There is one item related to the repair and preparation of an estate that trumps mere aesthetic enhancements. WATER. if it is entering the home in an unwanted fashion, this will be a big problem for potential buyers. It can render huge swaths of otherwise functional storage space, utterly useless. I also creates a moldy, musty, uncomfortable area unsuitable for (most) human habitati... 07/26/2011

Thank you Dagny Eason, Ginny Gorman and Judy Klem - you've saved me a LOT of time. As many of you know, we had our litle Active Rain Power team Powwow on June 30th at Dagny Eason's house in Wilton CT. In attendance were: Dagny Eason - Wlton CT        Ginny Gorman - Kingstown RI         Judy Klem - Shelton CT    It was a fabulously fun and productive day.  We each brought different topics to teach and to ask about, and these guys each wrote some fun posts about it. Anyway, we were talking about my town by town blog posts for flooring and how that works for me.  They are really giving me strong SEO/placement  In addition to explaining how I do them, I then explained how I have learned to save time by cutting and pasting a template using the html. I do not understand html, but I do know ho... 07/15/2011

Into the great unknown. Estate settlement, estate liquidation and estate clean out in Fairfield County CT.No two estate settlements are alike. But, the overall goal is usually the same, get the financial picture in order, clear out and clean up the estate and repair and prepare it to be sold. Ah yes, but the getting there....half the fun? Not in this case. This is no scenic drive along the coast to Disney World. This is the the mysterious "ESTATE SETTLEMENT ZONE". When an executor or trustee gets the call that a loved one or client has passed away, they will soon be entering into the great unknown. Generally speaking, this is not their home, not their property and, not their accumulated possessions. Sure it may be a dad, mom or uncle's estate, but chances are, much time has passed since... 07/14/2011

Estate clean out in Greenwich, CT, Fairfield County CT. Why on earth would you pay me to do this?The other day a potential client responded to a proposal I had worked up for her. She told me that she could do the project for less than half of what I had proposed. My response to her was: By all means if you can do this yourself, why on earth would you pay me to do it? Good luck to you, though I believe when you sit down and crunch the numbers my proposal is closer to reality than what you are estimating. I pointed out to her that she had placed a value of zero on her time in the assessment she had done.  Perhaps she thought she had called "Crazy Estates". We're making estate clean out deals! Rock bottom prices!! Everything must go!!! It's insaaane!!!! Sorry but, NO... My time and experti... 07/11/2011

Another Home Sold by Dagny's Real Estate -52 Grumman Hill Village in Wilton CT 06897 52 Grumman Hill Village in  Wilton CT actually sold over a month ago, but the new owners just moved in!   This home is a condo/ single family home in a PUD, or planned urban development community.    It is an extremely attractive community, with 2-3 bedroom individual homes, in a very nice cul-de-sac area with speed bumps, so the children can safely play.   My clients met me at an Open House over a year ago.  We immediately connected, and had a great rapport building from the start.   They were watching the market and saving their money, - waiting for their perfect home to come on the market.   One day, I received a call from them stating that they wanted to see this 52 Grumman Hill Village home.    The... 07/06/2011

Dagny Eason, Debbie Gartner, Ginny Gorman, and Judy Klem Had a Great Rain Camp at Dagny's house in Wilton, CT 06897.  We spent the day from one pm working on lunch and our websites and blogs.   Such a diverse group - Realtor Broker Dagny Eason from Fairfield County, Realtor Ginny Gorman from North Kingston, Rhode Island, Debbie Gartner from Westchester ("The Flooring Girl"), and Judy Klem from Fairfield County in CT - The Transition Staging Gal.   We had different topics ready to learn and share with each other.   Linking, Google Plus One, Google Maps, Page Ranking were just a few of the things we touched on.    Ginny Gorman and Dagny each had video cameras, so there were videos taken.   We even tried to get a group picture.....What did we learn?    QR CodesGoogle Plus OneEmbedding vide... 07/04/2011

Dagny Eason, Ginny Gorman, Debbie Gartner, and Judy Klem had a Mimi Rain Camp!   Dagny Eason, Ginny Gorman, Debbie Gartner, and Judy Klem    gathered at Dagny's house in Wilton, CT 06897.  We spent the day from one pm working on lunch and our websites and blogs.   We had salads, fruit, chicken salad, and cookies!   Each of us tried to come armed with different topics for all to share and learn from each other.    It was different from a Rain Camp in that we actually spent time doing the exercise at the time, so if there were any questions at all, one of us could help out and teach what was missing.   All of us had our laptops and stayed plugged in.  Ginny Gorman and Dagny Eason each had video cameras, so there were videos taken.   We even tried to get a group picture  ..... What did we ... 07/01/2011

QR CODES - Should We Use Them For Video?   I have used them on business cards, signs, to link to my web site, but never used them to link to a video! We had a great Active Rain Mini Camp at my house today with   Dagny Eason, Ginny Gorman, Debbie Gartner, and Judy Klem.      We learned and accomplished a lot - and probably could have accomplished more!   Such a sharing and caring group!     We had originally driven to Atlantic City for that Rain Camp together, and had such fun learning that we decided many more were in order.  This time, I am taking a video that I took of us at our Mini Rain Camp, and trying to turn it into a QR Code.   We'll see if this works.  It should be a hoot just seeing us together again in one video - watch out you Active Rainers - you are in for a shock - all of... 06/30/2011

Preparing that back country Greenwich, CT., Fairfield County, CT. estate to go on the market. About that deer situation. One of the great joys about living here in the hills of southern New England is the wildlife. Having cast aside the agrarian roots of centuries past, most of the fields around here have reverted to forest many decades ago. Though, we do still put out a bumper crop of Bankers and Wall Street derivative guys. Booyah! From deep within the forested perimeter, countless eyes are constantly watching and waiting. The coyotes waiting to dine on the local Bishon Frise herd; The Greenwich, CT. Mountain Lion, eager to dine on anyone or anything; The raccoons standing their ground over garbage bags splayed out on the driveway, steadfastly refusing to leave. Even when whacked with... 06/29/2011

Help repairing and preparing estates for sale in Greenwich CT. and Fairfield County CT. The grounds and landscaping are important. Often, we at Turning Point Estate Services are called into situations where there is a great deal of neglect involved. For what ever the reason, be it financial, lack of enthusiasm or just plain loss of physical ability, the previous owners have let the place go downhill prior to or after their exit. We evaluate the current state of the entire property, recommend, implement and oversee whatever needs to be done to get the house and grounds looking presentable. One of the more frequent items on the list of neglected chores and upkeep tends to be the landscape surrounding the home. It makes sense from a financial and a physical ability standpoint. If money has... 06/28/2011

It Is So Frustrating ....... It is very frustrating to have a person send you a question in your email, and not be able to respond to them.   I had a question about a property in Silvermine Woods sent to me through my post on the Wilton Patch today, and tried to respond.    The response kept bouncing back "Mail Delivery Permanently Failed" - three different times.   I had just received the question at about 3:00 this afternoon, - it was about a property in Silvermine Woods, a great golfing community in Wilton - and by 6 pm, when I was back in my office it was bouncing!    It was an aol email address -  how does an email address work to send at 3 pm, and fail to receive at 6 pm?    I wish the person had included their name, phone, or address - I would then have tried another way.   Somet... 06/26/2011

Help moving to assisted living in Greenwich, CT. When is it time to go? I am a volunteer for a fine group called Stay at Home in Wilton, aka SAHW. The group is, as the name implies, dedicated to allowing our town's older citizens, the option of aging in place, remaining in their homes as the grow older. Through them we provide rides around town to shopping, doctor's appointments, social engagements etc... to those that can no longer drive. We also do small home handy tasks such as changing light bulbs and clearing walkways of ice and snow. Very often with just a little bit of assistance, seniors can remain in their own homes for many years. When does that arrangement become unrealistic? Yesterday, I met with a executor client in charge of a Greenwich, CT. estate. The elderly resident ha... 06/22/2011

Help repairing and preparing estates for sale in Greenwich CT. 1950's fixtures: All the rage or, all the age? Yesterday I had a meeting with an executor of an estate in Greenwich, CT. Her aunt had recently passed away and she was tasked with closing down and clearing out the estate. Dealing with the clutter and disrepair was quite overwhelming for her, so we got the call. The smallish mid-century home (by Greenwich CT. standards) was typical of what I see in my line of work. Cluttered rooms indicative of the semi hoarding behavior many seniors seem to exhibit as they age. There were dated, dingy, run-down interior spaces. Maintenance clearly had been neglected inside and out, for many, many years. Calling us in was the right thing to do. There was a great deal of work to be done to clea... 06/22/2011

Do You Use Your LinkedIn Recommendations the Way You Should? I just received this in my email- What a nice surprise!  ******************************************************** LinkedIn Recommendations Jack Boyles has endorsed your work as Agent/Broker at Dagny's Real Estate. Dear Dagny, I've written this recommendation of your work to share with other LinkedIn users. Have a great summer, JB Details of the Recommendation: "Dagny was one of my "valedictorian" students in the Appraisal I class that I teach from time to time. From the outset, her work ethic, attention to detail, and enthusiasm shown brightly. If these professional qualities were evident to me just in a classroom setting, imagine what she can do for her real world clients?!" ***************************************************... 06/19/2011

The BEST - Not Better, - BEST!  Mousetrap in the World! in Wilton CT 06897 Have you ever wondered why the sticky pad mouse traps were invented?    (Slow starvation for a mouse..)          Have you ever wondered why the little "container traps" were invented?     ( Same slow death - and the smell!) Even the traditional mouse trap that snaps leaves a mouse to slowly die and smell up your home until you find it was sprung ....          A carpenter friend of mine from Wilton showed me the BEST mousetrap in the world!  It is humane, clean, not smelly, easy to set up, and you don't need to look at it daily.  There are only two times it doesn't work well, - in the super cold, the water freezes, and in the extreme heat, - the peanut butter gets moldy and needs to be changed.  Here in Wilton CT ... 06/19/2011

Help preparing your home for sale in Fairfield County CT. "Green" features please potential buyers. Today is national eat your vegetable's day! I can think of no better way to celebrate this auspicious occasion than by providing an update on my own garden progress. You may recall a previous blog of mine: "Vegetable Gardening in Fairfield County CT."  In that blog I spoke of the harrowing tales of a pioneer family deep in the wilds of Wilton, CT.  Attempting to subsist by living off the good graces of mother nature, due to the great distance to salvation and civilization: A full four miles to the nearest Stop and Shop. Gasp!! (I know). People say: Surely you can't raise a family under such conditions. I reply: Don't call me Shirley, and fret not for we are of hearty stock. I can and I wi... 06/17/2011

Help for executors in Fairfield County, CT. - They found me on the Google, due to SEO. Great news my ActiveRain brethren! It appears that SEO via AR blogging does indeed work for companies like mine as well.  Today I received a call from an executrix (why this word has gender I do not know) of an estate in the Blackrock, CT. area. She is responsible for closing down and clearing out her aunt's estate. She asked me if we do that sort of thing. Guess what ?!?! WE DO INDEED DO THAT SORT OF THING !!! We handle whatever needs to be done. From dealing with all the contents of the house (packing, shipping, donations, estate sales etc...) , repairing deferred maintenance issues, giving the grounds a curb appeal face lift and cleaning and preparing the home to go on the market. We can do it all.... 06/16/2011

There are lions out there. Downsize from that back-country Greenwich, CT. estate and save yourselves.Far be it from me to tell you when you should give up the notion that staying forever in that way too large house in the Greenwich, CT. back-country is a viable option. BUT,  Lions have been seen roaming the Greenwich, CT. back woods. Now if that isn't some added incentive to reconsider your strategy, then I don't know what is. Years ago when it was you and the six kids, the big house and yard made perfect sense. Back then you didn't have to be able to out run a hungry lion, you just had to be able to out run one of the kids. I'm just saying, if you are swimming with sharks in the water, is it not a bit more comforting when there are lots of other people swimming around you? Give the car... 06/13/2011