Real Estate Sales & Modular Homes in Old Saybrook, Clinton, Essex, Westbrook, Old Lyme, Deep River, Chester Connecticut Real Estate.

Changing this up....Blog style! (You know, most recent stuff on top...)

1/21/2012 - It's 2012!!!! A new year, a clean slate. I always love the change to a New Year. You? We spent a nice weekend in Newport, RI with our son and celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on New Years Eve. It was relaxing and recharging, getting us ready for 2012. Here is a photo of the beautiful sunset that greeted us our first night in Newport.
We are now excited to move forward in 2012 but just to recap 2011, we had a pretty good year sales wise and helped 31 clients either sell or buy (or both). We sold $8,377,700.00 worth of real estate. We helped my neice and her husband and twin boys buy their first house, which was nice. We met so many nice new people, that we hope to now call friends. That is really the best part of this job. Were there challenges in 2011? Of course, there always are. The banking industry isn't helping matters. Granted, they needed to revise their policies of giving anyone who can fog a mirror a mortgage, but some of their current decisions are, well, lacking to put it nicely. Short sales are still happening, as you all know. They are difficult for everyone involved. Stressful for the seller. Anxiousness for the buyer who is waiting and waiting and waiting for the bank to get out of it's own way. Challenging for us, trying to keep the transaction moving and both parties calm.
We already have some great news to share in 2012. Brian has been named a 2012 Five Star Real Estate Agent. This is the second year in a row he has been given this prestigous award. Here is a recap of what this award is about: "The award is only awarded to real estate agents who have scored highest in client and industry peer based research conducted by a national independent research company under the direction of Crescendo Business Services. The award is awarded to just 7 percent of real estate agents in any market area. Real Estate agents are not able to "buy" their way onto the list, and the award is not based on sales volume, but solely on how consumers and industry peers have evaluated their experience in working with that agent. Each respondent was asked to evaluate only real estate agents whom they have worked with and evaluate them based upon nine criteria: customer service, integrity, market knowledge, communication, negotiation, closing preparation, finds the right home, marketing of home, and overall satisfaction. Check out the full article and list of winners in the March edition of Connecticut Magazine. Again...thank you to all the respondents who took the time to answer the surveys and phone calls that are involved in the research. We really appreciate it and will continue to provide the best service to our clients old and new and to look for ways to improve and do more for each everyone of them.
One goal this year, for me, is to do a better job at this blog. Of course continuing our education and finding new ways to help our clients is our large goal. We'll let you know how it's going. We'd love to hear from you too, so don't be shy!
10/17/2011 - Seven months later...It's been crazy and busy. We had a great thing happen in July. Our first Modular Build!!! Choice Modular Homes built a beautiful 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath home with 2 car attached garage and tons of great features right here in Old Saybrook. It was awesome! It was SO HOT! The poor set crew, I don't know how they did it. They worked non-stop, literally except for water and about 15 minutes for lunch, from about 7 a.m. to after 8 p.m., but then...there was a house! They next day they were back to finish "buttoning up" the house and then they were off. The owner then contracted to do the final finish work inside. Isn't it great! We are currently working on pricing out two more Modular projects and see if we can make everyone happy, get what they want, quickly and for a great cost! We'll let you know how it goes. We have always loved real estate and helping our clients find just the right home. Now if we can't find an existing home to meet their wants and needs, we can build them one!
Since then...we have been busy listing, listing and listing more properties for sale. Which is great! However, finding the buyers to buy them seems to be another story. With such amazingly low interest rates, you would think anyone with any kind of money to invest, great credit or especially first time home buyers would be jumping at the chance. We know the economy seems scary right now. We get how intimidating the whole mortgage process can seem at times. We know it's probably the largest financial decision of your lives, but people...money is CHEAP! That means you can "buy" (borrow) money at such a low interest rate it is mind-boggling! When these low interest rates rise, and they will, you will have missed out on historically the best time to buy real estate. We'll feel bad for you. But we might say "I told you so". We don't know when that will happen. And don't kid yourselves, neither do you. And when they start to move, you will not be able to move fast enough in a purchase to capture the lowest rate. Please....don't wait. Even if you work with another Realtor (although you'd be crazy to do that ) or buy a FSBO (if you don't know what that means, you should be working with a Realtor), we don't care. Just Do It!!! But seriously, call or email us. We want to help you take advantage of this market!

3/1/2011 - BIG NEWS!!! Brian has been named a 2011 FIVE STAR Real Estate Agent^SM.
The award is only awarded to real estate agents who have scored highest in client and industry peer based research conducted by a national independent research company under the direction of Crescendo Business Services. The award is awarded to just 7 percent of real estate agents in any market area. Real Estate agents are not able to "buy" their way onto the list, and the award is not based on sales volume, but solely on how consumers and industry peers have evaluated their experience in working with that agent. Each respondent was asked to evaluate only real estate agents whom they have worked with and evaluate them based upon nine criteria: customer service, integrity, market knowledge, communication, negotiation, closing preparation, finds the right home, marketing of home, and overall satisfaction. Check out the full article and list of winners in the March edition of Connecticut Magazine. To everyone who took time out of their busy lives to acknowledge the dedication, professionalism and expertise that Brian works hard to provide every day, Thank you. Your confidence and kind words are appreciated more than you know.

2/21/2011 - Presidents Day - Snowing - UGH! A good time to update our blog. Plus we have exciting news!!! One of the things we have been working on has finally begun. We are now selling modular homes!!! This has been in the works for some time now and we have officially opened the doors of Choice Modular Homes, LLC. We are working with a fantastic modular home company - Excel Homes. We are thrilled to make this dream of helping clients build their dream home come true. The innovative modular process saves construction time and costs while enabling high levels of customization. Many advantages of modular construction include flexibility, value and precise schedule that site-built construction can´t achieve. Excel homes are built in a state-of-the-art factory safe from the negative effects of weather. Their experienced craftsmen only use pre-measured jigs to avoid crooked angles or faulty measurements. They only use quality, national brands and because they build in several states, their materials always meet or exceed rigorous national standards. The Excel modular process brings a new level of efficiency to home building, saving on materials, labor and time without sacrificing quality. Their factory system allows them to buy material at bulk rates. And their standardized process maximizes labor productivity while eliminating material loss, weather delays and cost overruns. This why you can build an Excel home at a controlled cost, in a fraction of the time it takes to build a site-built house. With Excel, homeowners can choose from many features ranging from standard to premium. Excel's custom design process offers a variety of floor plans, upgrades and options for maximum flexibility and style. Clients can choose everything from siding and shutters to countertops and faucets. There are thousand of customization options on hundreds of single-family and multi-family homes. Anyway...enough sales pitch on modular homes. If you want more information on our Modular Home Building Options click here. We have built modular, visited the factory to see the process and now we are ready to help owners build their own special home. We are so excited it's hard to contain ourselves!!! We have more exciting news in the very near future so stay tuned!!
2011 has arrived! About 20 days ago, but who's counting. Let's see...so far we have had snow, snow, and more snow. Thinking about moving to Florida, like I do every year at this time. At least we have a new self-propelled snow blower thanks to my parents. They live on our street and we make sure their snow get's cleared, so they bought us a new snowblower for Christmas. Thanks Mom & Dad!! 2010 sort of drifted out of sight and we had a great year as far as business goes. We closed out the year with selling $13,912,400.00 and representing 46 "sides" of the transactions. (Sometimes one property sale results in representing two "sides" if you represent both the seller and buyer. Just FYI.) We had some tough transactions as several were short sales. The banks are slow and difficult and it is so stressful on the sellers and buyers to be going through that process. Luckily Brian is very proficient at the short sales process and also at keeping everyone involved informed and as calm as possible. We wish people were not being put in the situation to go through a short sale, but if they have to, we are grateful we can help them and ease the stress maybe just a bit. We had a great holiday season which starts for me on October 24th when "little" (5'9") Brian turned 13. Yup - officially a teenager. A great person and terrific son. Then of course Halloween, which was awesome this year because I don't like that holiday and Brian didn't go out to trick-or-treat, but had a friend over night and they gave out all the candy. Ya! Thanksgiving was wonderful and "big" Brian got to make his mother's stuffing recipe (giblet) and was happy with the results. Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday and it was a really nice day for our family. Christmas came and went and was a nice relaxed day. As the kids are older now, there isn't as much "stuff", wrappings, etc. which makes for an easier day and we get to enjoy each other more. Of course bigger kids, means more expensive wishes, but what can you do? We had family over for Christmas dinner in the evening and had a great time. New Years Eve is always special for us since it is our wedding anniversary. We celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss this year. People often comment to me that they couldn't work with their spouse, but we love it! We are really a very lucky and blessed couple and we know it. We rang in the New Year as always, in our jammies on the couch with a drink in hand and what I call "hors doevours" dinner - lots of little thing to munch on all evening. Of course our evening usually ends by 10 - too old, too tired for midnight. We are hoping 2011 will continue to be successful for our business and that we get to meet great new clients - or as we like to call them, friends - and be able to help them with their selling and buying needs. It is always great when you are at a closing and see the relief the seller has at achieving the sale of their property. Or when the buyer gets the keys to their new home. It is so fulfilling to help people in this way. We are working on some exciting stuff for 2011. I don't really want to go into it yet, but as soon as we get going there will be lots of new stuff on our website to view. We have no travel plans this year, but hope to try a cruise for the first time in 2012 (like I said "hope"). We plan on just working, working, working. Lucky for us we love our work. We'll keep you up to date on how things are going, and would love to hear from past and future clients!! Wait...I almost forgot to tell you the most exciting thing. We added to our family. Hollie Isis Jermainne is a yorkie-poo. When we got her she weighed in at a whopping 2.5 lbs. Now she is about 5 lbs. She is full of trouble and love to annoy Jack anytime she can. Here she is: This was when she first came home. This was about 2 weeks later, after digging in the mulch and moments before her bath.
2010 - UGH! I'm completely upset with myself. How could I have ignored updating this page for 18 months. I actually enjoy writing this part so how could I have overlooked, pushed aside, not thought about this page for so long? Beats me. So I will stop mentally whipping myself for the oversight and get to it. Lots to talk about. First 2009 - How did the year end up? Well...sales volume was...frightening for us. We ended the year at $7,516,514.00. We sold more than that our second year in the business (2001). Times were tough, for everyone. But we survived, a little beaten, a little bruised but still tough and hopeful. So then came 2010. The first few months were still a bit scary business-wise, and let´s face it...the weather and all the snow didn´t help. We don´t ski (anymore), snowboard, skate or sled even. We shovel and complain how cold it is. Ok, the morning you wake up and the first snowfall is upon us and everything looks cozy and sparkly and like it was just off the front of a beautiful Christmas Card, that´s nice. But after putting on the hats, coats, scarves, gloves, boots and then breaking out the shovels, snow blowers, brooms to sweep off the cars and clearing us out, we walk it down the street to clear out my parents house, their sidewalk and then Brian usually helps out the neighbors. A few hours later...the snow doesn´t look so pretty. Boy we´re getting old. Once the spring market hit though things picked up...a lot. And we´ve been very busy ever since. As of today 11/1/10 we have closed on $11,950,000.00 and we have more to close. Plus, we have lots of great properties to sell. But still the best part of each year is the people we get to help. When we can help anyone get through a transaction, especially in these times, and make it a bit easier and understandable that is great. When the property has closed, whether we helped the buyer or seller (or several times both), and they say "thank you, you made this happen. You made my worries less and explained everything, and took care of the problems. Thank you so much", well...that´s the best part. Personally this year we spent a lot of time around our home, which is our favorite place to be. We enjoyed our pool all summer and our fire pit with neighbors, friends and family. We took a field trip/vacation to Washington, D.C. and Alison, my sister joined us, which made it an extra special time. We took a day off (which means Brian still talks on the phone constantly, and checks his email with his Blackberry which he now doesn´t know how he lived without) to drive up to Deerfield, MA and see all the leaves at peak foliage time. It was a beautiful day. And now we´re looking forward to Thanksgiving, Brians favorite holiday. Can you see Brian's handsfree cell phone ear piece? It's there...always providing the best service for our clients! We are also once again, reviewing our website, advertising, technology and education to make sure we stay ahead the game so we can provide the best service possible, in the most economical way we can, to each and every new client and repeat offender ( I mean repeat client ;0). There is nothing we love more than helping someone more than once, achieve their current real estate goals. That is the ultimate compliment we could receive, repeat business...or a referral, those are great too! We have some exciting new things coming up. And I´m marking my calendar to make sure I update the end of this year in early 2011. No more slacking on my part! Also - follow us on facebook if you are so inclined at http://www.facebook.com/TeamJermainneRealEstate. That´s why I missed this update for so long...facebook. The new scapegoat. Ya, ya, that´s the ticket!
2009-Well here I am February 24^th and as I read above there is no update on 2008. So how did we do? Well, in case no one told you it was a tough year. For EVERYONE! $11,393,900.00 was the dollar volume of closed sales. We´re still feeling pretty good about that. We feel even better that we were able to help 38 clients with their buying and selling needs. That´s 38 more people we get to call friend. It was a tougher year, economy wise. People seemed scared, concerned, anxious. In about August, we joined them. What was going to happen? Who would become President and what would that mean. Well we said farewell to 2008 and started 2009 with a family dinner and new hopes for a new year. We knew who the President would be and watched television (Little Brian and I anyway, big Brian was helping clients) that Inauguration Day to witness history. Then it was over and we were back to work. It´s tense, it´s tight. People are more nervous, more scared, more concerned. So are we. But, there are some really, really bright spots, if you´re willing to look for them. Rates are LOW! I mean we are talking cheap money here. Great programs are being implemented. First time homebuyers (which by government terms means anyone who hasn´t owned a primary residence in the past three years) can get up to $8,500 dollars in tax rebates for purchasing. So now you have cheap money, tax incentives (beside the normal ones)and inventory is up! Yes, in case you haven´t been watching as you drive, there are For Sale signs everywhere. People still need to sell. What happens when inventory goes up? Basic economics here...prices go down. Now, you´ve got cheap money, nice tax incentive, lots of property to choose from and lower prices. So buy people, buy! Investors, flippers, first time homebuyers, people wanting to upgrade, people wanting to downsize. It is time! Remember a few years ago when everyone was wishing for prices to go down. I recently read an interesting quote by Winston Churchill that I think applies here. "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." So, we are optimists. Always have been, always will be. Times are tight, but we see this as an opportunity to refocus and redouble our efforts to help people with their real estate needs. It is an opportunity to reevaluate what we can do to offer the best, most personal and private service to each and every client of ours. It is an opportunity to remind us what is important, and for us it is our family, friends, our business, our community and each other. I hope you are all optimists and great opportunities find you this year. We´ll be in touch. I hope you will be too! Jackie Dog hard at work in Leslie's office
2008 - We're off to the races already. You know us...we LOVE a challenge, and excitement and good wine too! Off the subject already, well here's our big news. We are TEAMJERMAINNE again. We moved on from the merger and are in hot pursuit of just being, well...us. We missed being "just us". We like "just us". We're back and feeling pretty happy about it. We are looking forward to an exciting year in real estate, in our family and in our community. We have lots of new ideas for our new office - including putting an emphasis on "going Green" (environmentally speaking), and with our company colors too! We are moving to all recycled, post consumer paper products wherever possible. We're not sure if anywhere it is impossible, but we're learning. We are trying very hard to reduce, reuse and recycle. Less paper is our motto! Less ink too. That's why we love technology and the internet. Less is more they say, we believe them. Well, we'll let you know how we're doing. It's gonna be great, we can feel it!
2007 has come and gone - so quickly - what a surprise! Not really...time just seems to be getting shorter. What did we accomplish in 2007? We went to the CRS Convention in Las Vegas in January. Brian is a Certified Residential Specialist - a designation held by only about 4% of licensed real estate agents and brokers across the United States, impressive huh? He spent a lot of time in classes to earn the designation, along with showing his level of success in dollar volume of sales. He continues to take CRS courses above and beyond initial requirements to keep learning and advancing what he can offer our clients. This was our best year yet in dollar volume of sales $16,557,700.00 however we dropped just a bit in the number of people we were able to help (only 46 this year). What does that mean...well, prices are still rising in our area - but slightly (very slightly) less transactions are occuring. We still had a great time meeting many new faces we now get to call friends, and helping "old" friends in their real estate endeavors. We continued to pursue our love of technology. We purchased a new tablet pc for Brian just before Christmas (Merry Christmas honey!) and are excited by all it can do. Having clients sign paperwork right on the screen is a miracle! Ok, maybe not a miracle, but really cool anyway! We renewed our ad at the Westbrook movie theater and a new ad should be up and running by the end of January '08. On a personal note, we traveled to Williamsburg, VA for "little" Brian's birthday and a great week of homeschool history. Yes...we homeschool Brian. "Big" Brian's daughter Abby has moved in with us on a permanent basis and along with her and Brittany (who has been living back at home while pursuing her hairdressing career) came Joey! Miniature Italian Greyhound I'm told. Jack is adjusting...just barely. The house is full, business is great, we're having fun and looking forward to a great 2008! Hope we get to help you this year fulfill whatever your real estate goals might be. Ciao.
2006 is over - hard to believe. At the end of 2006 we had closed on 15,728,450.00 worth of real estate with our clients. Again we are averaging about a sale a week with a total of 51 sides represented. It was a fun and interesting year. We took a family trip to Florida in February for some fun in the sun. We wish we were there now! We continued to take in many seminars and improve our service and experience. We are refocused on our website and looking forward to helping the next generation of buyers and their love of technology. 2007 is shaping up to be a great year - as we are already busier than normal. The warm weather? Our great service? Not sure - but we love to help people sell and buy property!
2004 really couldn't have been better. We helped our clients close on just under 15.5 million dollars of real estate! Early in the year Brian and I took CRS204 class entitled "Creating Wealth through Residential Real Estate Investments". It was AMAZING! Changed our lives and hopefully we will be able to help others who wish to invest in real estate. Brian also earned is SRES designation. Seniors Real Estate Specialists are REALTORS qualified to meet the special needs and concerns of maturing Americans. By earning the SRES designation, Brian has demonstrated necessary knowledge and expertise to counsel senior clients through major financial and lifestyle transitions involved in relocating, refinancing, or selling the family home. He received special training, gets regular updates, and is prepared to offer the options and information needed in making life changing decisions. This year we moved our client center into our home office complete with conference room. We really always worked out of our home office, so why not finish it the way it should be and meet our clients here. This is our dog Jack. He is a Schnoodle (1/2 minature poodle, 1/2 miniature Schnauzer). Pretty cute, huh? He is a great dog, but he thinks he is a Rotweiller. Anyway, that was just a sideline. 2005 was another great year. We helped our customers buy and sell $14,838,250.00 of real estate. It was a bit more of a challenging year. Buyers seemed to be slowing down a bit and being a bit more cautious with their decision making. Seller's did not yet feel that, but we think 2006 will have them feeling a bit more of a pinch. During 2005 we took two more interesting continuing education classes. One in Biloxi, MS (in March before devasting Katrina wiped out that area) and one in Fort Collins, CO in October. Both were based on "The Group, Inc." real estate office in Colorado. "The Most Productive Company in the Country" as measured by transactions per associate. Very interesting way of conducting business, adding value and creating relationships. "Ninja Selling" as they call it is an enhanced focus for us as we enter 2006. We are anticipating this year to be an interesting and productive year for us and our clients. Update-As of May 1, 2006 we have merged Realty Executives Shoreline, LLC with another local office in Old Saybrook. We made this decision after careful consideration of our clients, friends, family and the future real estate market. We feel this is an exciting opportunity to provide superior service to our clients and to continue to grow with this exciting and expanding company.
2003 finished with a hurray and it was as great as we had hoped. We completed over 13.5 million dollars in sales! We did some exciting things this year. Brian earned his CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) designation. Only 4% of all Realtors acheive this prestigous designation. Brian and Leslie both earned their ePro designations from the National Association of Realtors. We also wrapped both our vans so we could increase our exposure. We advertised on cable television and also in the Westbrook movie theater. It was an exciting year in business for us.


A short history about TeamJermainne...just in case you're drooling to read more...LOL!
BRIAN JERMAINNE I was born and raised in Chester, Connecticut. Growing up in Chester was a wonderful time in my life. We lived on South Wig Hill which was a perfect place to be. We were able to ice skate on the pond at the top of the hill, play baseball and football in the numerous fields there, skate board down the hill, fish in the streams and explore in the wooded area behind my house. I have fond memories of riding my bike to the center of town after school for a hot fudge sundae at the local ice cream shop. I attended Chester Elementary School and Valley Regional High School. Next I moved onto the University of New Haven where I earned an associates degree in business. I was torn on whether to finish my bachelors degree or go to work for the family business. I chose the business and going to school at night. Within 2 years I had more than tripled the size of the family business. I continued working there for 5 more years when I received an opportunity to start a mail-order company with a business associate. I weighed the pros and cons and decided to do it. For the next 15 years I built this company from an empty warehouse into a nationwide mail-order house doing business with organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, the New York City Board of Education and the Federal Government. I also had two daughters, Brittany and Abby. During October of 1992 I had the luckiest day of my life. I interviewed and hired a very smart and efficient office administrator. Over the next 4 years Leslie became my best friend, confidant and my wife. We worked side by side at the mail-order house until August of 1999.
LESLIE JERMAINNE I have also lived my entire life in this area and I love it! Growing up on Grassy Hill in Lyme was wonderful. We had 16 acres, a big old Colonial and a pool! Tons of fun. My father owned and operated the Old Lyme Pharmacy and Gift Shop which was a lot of fun for me, and certainly provided me and my siblings with a great after school and summer jobs. It was fun being known as one of the "Woodstock's" as that was my maiden name. I attended Lyme Consolidated School until grade 4 when we moved all the way to Old Lyme and I attended Center School and then Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School and High School graduating in 1987. After a year at Bay Path College in Long Meadow Mass., I finished my Associates degree in Business Administration at Middlesex Community College. I moved home to Old Saybrook where my parents now also live, and began "work". I always wanted to be in Real Estate since I was a little girl. I just loved houses and would always look and comment on them all (just ask my Mom if you don't believe me.) I got my license in 1989 and worked (shortly) for Merrill Lynch where I did manage to sell two houses and list another, before needing a part time job to supplement my income. Being 20 and not extremely focused made it difficult to be my own boss. I worked a few odd jobs until finding a spot as an administrative assistant at a local real estate company. I loved it there and felt I was still working towards my goals. I stayed there for a while but needed a bit more money, and in late fall of 1992 went to work as the office manager at Creative Crafts International in Essex, CT. The president was Brian Jermainne. After working for Brian for three years, sparks started to fly. Brian and I were married on New Year's Eve 1996 and on October 24, 1997 our son Brian Ross was born. He was welcomed by his two half sisters- Brittany and Abby. Our family was complete! OUR START IN REAL ESTATE Leslie and I often talked of leaving Creative Crafts when the time was right to pursue our dream of real estate. Late August 1999 was the right time. We left CCI and took our real estate class, passed the state exam the next day and were licensed Realtors early November 1999. Our first sale closed February 29, 2000. Our first year was a very good year. We worked hard and closed on over $5,000,000.00 worth of homes. (Something our then broker told us would be an impossible goal!) Impossible just isn't in our vocabulary.