REAL ESTATE

INSIDE STORIES BEHIND AREA REAL ESTATE DEALS

Green Team
The Reserve at Poplar Plains in Westport is a green-minded collection of 13 homes. Carefully sited on 33 acres, it's adjacent to an additional 22 acres that were donated by developers ARS Partners to Earthplace, a local environmental nonprofit. The developed land has been landscaped with native vegetation and will be managed without the use of pesticides. The homes range in size between 3,700-4,200 square feet, and are built with natural materials like Connecticut fieldstone and cedar shingles. Inside, the kitchens are designed by Kitchens by Deane, with custom cabinetry and Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. Tours of open houses are now offered; call the sales office at 203-227-3303 or visit www.thereserveatpoplarplains.com.

Great Houses, Priced Right
The most important consideration when listing your home during these uncertain times? Starting at the right price. "Listings reach the greatest number of potential buyers during their few first weeks on the market," says Rebecca McCrae of William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty in Ridgefield. "If properties are dismissed as overpriced during this window of opportunity, fewer buyers show up. And those who do are much less likely to bid." An all-too-common outcome of overpricing is that the property's listing sheet will reflect an extended "time on market," which carries a negative correlation to prospective buyers. Then the sellers are forced to make price reductions, another factor that reflects poorly on even the nicest homes.

Local brokers report that homeowners who must sell quickly are receptive to the price-it-right mandate. So are empty nesters, who in many cases, bought decades ago and now own their homes outright. They stand to reap a tidy profit on their sale, even if the closing price comes in at 10 percent less than it would have a couple of years ago. As for the holdouts who insist on unrealistic asks? "I won't take them on," says a broker who preferred to go unnamed. "I already have listings that aren't selling. I don't need more of them."