Ridgefield, CT and Redding, CT History

You know how when you travel to new places, you take in the history.  Like the Old North Church in Boston or the Tower of London.  Then you might make your way to the museum that chronicles the entire history of a city or region.  Most Fairfield County towns have a local historical society and maybe even a website.  Well, what I found are a couple of blockbuster websites that track the varied history of 2 of Connecticut’s most-loved towns: Ridgefield and Redding.  These are by far the best virtual museums in Fairfield County!

History of Redding will take you back before the revolutionary war and delight you with photos and stories of Georgetown, the great flood, and Mark Twain.  Brent Colley shepards a complete set of Redding history for historians, readers and browsers  alike.

Ridgefield’s own Jack Sanders provides netizens with another local history powerhouse of a website: Ridgefield Names.  Jack has compiled the history of hundreds of local names including roads and geographical features.  Mopus Bridge, Ketcham Road  and Wallis’ Hoghole to name a few.

• Ridgefield Names

• History of Redding

Patch Comes to Fairfield County

Patch has come to our Fairfield County towns!  Check it out.  It’s an online chronicle of local news, events, meetings and more.  Each Patch website is chock full of town-specific info, stuff that can’t wait for the weekly newspaper cycle.  There’s full time editorial staff and public participation is encouraged: post your pictures, high school sports videos, restaurant reviews and more.  Each Patch site has twitter feeds and email updates.  It’s so simple to use, you got to try it!

I write a regular real estate column for Ridgefield Patch and hope to get involved in the other towns as well.  Full disclosure: I don’t get paid and I have no financial interest in Patch.  However, I do see the need for folks to get accurate, insightful real estate information and advice.  So I contribute exclusive content twice a month along with various postings, comments and restaurant reviews.  Here are my 2 latest articles:

On Real Estate: Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!
On Real Estate: Save Money, Stay Warm

If you want to check out Patch for yourself (and I encourage everyone to participate!) here are the links:

Ridgefield Patch
Wilton Patch
Westport Patch
Brookfield Patch (coming soon)

2009 presented many challenges for sellers, agents and believe it or not, buyers too.  Check out the 2009 stats in the table below and you’ll see that in all the Fairfield County municipalities listed, prices fell about 11% on average.  Transaction volume, well that was off in the towns but not so much in the cities.  Stamford and Norwalk each posted about a 5% increase in the number of deals while Danbury showed a modest decline.

As prices fell throughout the year, the smart sellers made repairs, priced their house at market value and were able to sell quickly and painlessly.  Others found the market to be hostile.  Overpriced homes (probably 50% – 75% of the 2009 inventory) languished on the market, frustrating owners who did not believe that declining values hit THEIR property.  Those in denial paid in frustration, anguish and ultimately a lower price for their home because it was on the market longer as prices declined.

For buyers, 2009 was a year of good deals, great deals (foreclosures and short sales) and some difficult deals as personalities, attitudes and anger made made for many acrimonious negotiations.  For the most part, residential property values fell back to around 2003 levels.

Real estate agents found 2009 to be a challenge.  The good ones worked on developing the new skills that the market now demands.  For me, I can say that I worked harder than ever to make sure my clients’ worked out in their favor.  Negotiating last year’s deals and seeing them through to close required strict attention to all the details, patience and skill.

	2009 mean	Pct Chg from 2008	2009 median	Pct Chg from 2008	2009 #Trans	Pct Chg from 2008
Brookfield	417,420	-11.8%	384,000	-8.5%	125	-23.3%
Danbury	309,927	-13.9%	290,000	-12.1%	324	-3.0%
Newtown	428,668	-15.2%	420,000	-9.3%	212	-7.0%
Norwalk	529,423	-22.7%	440,000	-14.3%	439	5.5%
Redding	664,338	-7.4%	559,000	-12.0%	70	-6.7%
Ridgefield	759,494	-11.4%	645,000	-11.0%	220	-8.3%
Stamford	665,915	-13.0%	575,000	-10.2%	488	4.9%
Weston	936,173	-20.4%	825,000	-11.3%	92	-20.7%
Westport	1,419,436	-16.9%	1,188,500	-12.0%	250	-7.7%
Wilton	915,137	-12.9%	756,250	-10.7%	136	-16.6%

All data is from the CMLS and believed to be accurate and reliable.

The transaction price erosion we saw at the highest level is driven mainly by 2 factors: overall decline in market values and the shifting focus of buyers toward more modest dwellings.

Anyone care to make a prediction?  Will the high-end buyers be back in 2010?  Personally, I think we’ll see more attention on luxury homes in the coming year as pent up demand will bring more buyers to this market segement while at the same time, many are tiring of the selling process and will do “whatever it takes” to get their homes sold.

Northern Fairfield County’s Biggest Deals of 2009 list won’t make the Forbes World’s Most Expensive Homes list, but they are beautiful and luxurious.  Check out all the 2009 biggest deals below:

Biggest Residential Real Estate Deals of 2009

Since home values have fallen and mortgage rates are so low, I’m seeing many more 1st time home buyers looking to take advantage in towns that used to be a financial stretch.  Indirectly, the home buyer credit is enabling many trade-up buyers to act since they are now able to get their existing homes sold in a reasonable amount of time.

All in all, the credit is helping all home sellers no matter if you at the “starter home” end of the spectrum or have a 5 bedroom colonial you need to sell.

Take Ridgefield for example. In 2007 the Tax Assessor (Al Garzi), worked with a vendor to revalue every property in town. Based on actual sales, they objectively assign a dollar value to each parcel in order to fairly divide up Ridgefield’s tax burden. If a house has recently changed ownership, it is likely that that the new assessment will reflect this transaction price.

When I value a home for sale or purchase, I present my client with 4 different market valuation models based on several factors. The tax assessment is a major input to my valuation model for any individual home. Not only the assessment for that particular house, but the assessments for all the comparable houses that have recently sold and are currently on the market.

Contact me to learn more about how to accurately model the value of any home. Weather you’re buying, selling, or just tracking the value of you current home, it’s important to keep an accurate read on it’s market value.

Online Tax Assessments for Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton and other area towns in Fairfield County

• Ridgefield Tax Assessor
• Redding Tax Assessor
• Wilton Tax Assessor
• Danbury Tax Assessor
• Newtown Tax Assessor
• Bethel Tax Assessor
• Brookfield Tax Assessor
• New Fairfield Tax Assessor

Related Articles on Real Estate Chocolate:

• How One Ridgefielder Beat the Tax Man and You Can Too
• What Everybody Ought to Know About Ridgefield, Real Estate Taxes
• 16 Home Buying Secrets You Need to Know Before You Purchase

Craigslist – I use craigslist to sell mostly oversized or bulky items that are tough to ship. Price items to sell quickly, not to make a huge profit and they’ll be gone in a day or 2. Remember, your primary goal is to rid your house of all the stuff you no longer need or use. When moving last year, I sold a sleeper sofa, several old dressers, bikes and more on Craigslist. And the best part is, people show up, pay you and take your stuff away…. easy money!

Freecycle – Free/Recycle… “Freecycle”. It’s a national network of freecyclers with a growing local presence. I’ve been hearing more about Freecycle lately but haven’t yet tried it myself. The idea is if you’ve got something that’s still within it’s useful life but you need to get rid of it, say an old Laz-y-Boy, a washer/dryer or garden tools, there’s someone out there that will take it for their own use. This gets it out of your house and keeps it out of the landfill; very environmentally friendly. Although you get no cash for your stuff, you get it removed for free.

eBay – I use eBay mostly for things of relatively high value that are easy to ship. I’ve sold used mp3 players, cell phones, cameras and more on eBay with little effort and much success. You can set your own price or run an auction. Either way it helps you clear out your attic or basement of old video cameras, telescopes, toys, shoes, clothes and more.

Goodwill – Donate items at Goodwill. Goodwill Industries has convenient drop-off locations throughout the area and can even be called on to pick up furniture and other large items. Here’s a reliable way to donate items and they’ll also give you a receipt for your taxes.

The Dump – When all else fails, take it to the local transfer station. For a fee, you can drop most anything. The trouble is you do all the work and then pay for the privilege of filling a landfill with your old couch. This is usually my last option but they are always ready to take whatever I’m getting rid of.

• Ridgefield Transfer Station
• Wilton Transfer Station
• Redding Transfer Station

Remember, I am always available to help you use any of these websites. Together we can get your house de-cluttered and put some cash in your pocket!

Related Posts on Real Estate Chocolate:

• Now You Can Have Local Organic Food and Live Healthier in Ridgefield
• 4 Ways to Live Clean and Green in Ridgefield, CT
• Home Sellers: Don’t Make This Mistake!

Ridgefield CT 20th Century Quiz

In June, Ridgefield High School on East Ridge closes and in September, the new Ridgefield High School on North Salem Road opens.
a) 1964
b) 1978
c) 1972

Great Pond beach formally opens in June. More than 1,200 people are counted on the beach one hot Sunday.
a) 1937
b) 1954
c) 1969

The Ridgefield Library and Historical Association is chartered and begins building a new library.
a) 1936
b) 1901
c) 1919

Ridgefield’s population reaches 3,118.
a) 1910
b) 1945
c) 1962

After a four-day strike in April, the painters’ union agrees to a wage of $7 for eight hours of work. Painters had been getting $6 for seven hours.
a) 1922
b) 1935
c) 1960

A League of Women Voters survey finds the most common reason for not shopping in Ridgefield is “not enough choice,” followed by “prices” and “parking.” Danbury is the most popular shopping destination.
a) 1957
b) 1984
c) 1992

The Girolmetti family receives approval in February to build a 16-lane bowling alley on Danbury Road; the Ridge Bowl opens Nov. 9.
a) 1970
b) 1964
c) 1951

The last passenger train from Branchville arrives at Ridgefield station (now a Ridgefield Supply Company warehouse) on Aug. 8. The service, begun in 1870, is no longer profitable.
a) 1925
b) 1952
c) 1964

Click here for the Answers.

Learn more about 21st century Ridgefield by reading Real Estate Chocolate. We are always available to answer your Ridgefield questions and to provide the best real estate advice. Call anytime at 203-313-0414.

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