Rick Schwartz: High Definition Real Estate

Depending who you are talking to about the price of a house you have to be clear what numbers you are using. If you’re not both referring to the same lingo, you could each walk away from the conversation thinking different things and not knowing it. Here are some definitions that may be helpful.

Appraised Value

The Appraised Value of a property is an opinion of the value of a home prepared by an Appraiser. His opinion is based on a number of factors or methods of determining the value. He will look at things such as recent sales of similar properties, replacement cost and his own knowledge of the local marketplace. Lending institutions will typically use the appraised value in determining the total amount of money they are willing to lend when the property buyer is applying for a mortgage.

Assessed Value

The Assessed Value of a home is the value determined by the tax assessor for the local city or town. This value is used by the municipality to determine the amount of tax that the property owner must pay. The Assessed value will often be multiplied by a mil (Millage) rate to determine the actual tax. In other words if the property has an assessed value of $100,000.00 and the mil rate is 5, the tax on the property would be 5 X 100 or $500.

Market Value

The Market Value of a home is the probable price that a house will sell for if it is put on the market. It is determined by an analysis of the market (usually by a Realtor). The analysis should include looking at similar properties that have sold within recent times as well as looking at similar prices for homes currently on the market. In addition, if done properly, the analysis should also include those homes that were put on the market but did NOT sell, and were withdrawn.

List Price

The List Price of a home is a number assigned by the seller when he puts his home on the market. It is essentially what he hopes to sell his property before. It has no formal mathematical relationship to the actual market value of the home. In determining the list price, any reputable Realtor will recommend that it be very close to the Market Value if the seller wishes to sell in a timely fashion.

Sale Price

The sale price of a home is the actual price that the home most recently sold for.

In our Danbury, CT metro area which includes Danbury, Brookfield, Bethel, Newtown, New Fairfield, Ridgefield - all in Fairfield County, as well as New Milford which is in Litchfield County, we have a lot of transplanted New Yorkers who work in New York City. 

Lots of folks also commute from this area to Southern Westchester towns such as White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle or Mount Vernon.

Many drive their cars to and from work, but many of them prefer to commute by rail using Metro North Railroad.

What is Metro North?

Metro North Railroad is part of the NY/NJ/CT Metropolitan Transportation Association (MTA) which operates a number of mass transit operations helping commuters in the tri-state area get to, from and around New York City.

The flagship and focal point for Metro North is Grand Central Terminal.  One of the most famous rail stations in the world, Grand Central (GCT) was first constructed in the 1870s in  mid-town Manhattan as an above ground train station where several different Railroad lines could provide access to their riders, eliminating the need for passengers to travel from one station to another by foot or wagon when changing lines for continued travel.

It went through several evolutions until the early 1900s when the platforms and tracks were moved underground allowing for the now familiar GCT building to be built above the platforms.

Some Grand Central Lore

GCT has been the backdrop for many memorable motion pictures throughout its history. Two of the most well known were in Alfred Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST - Grand Central was the starting point for Jimmy Stewart's character as he escaped New York City.

Also -who could forget Lex Luthor's lair in the secret tunnels underneath Grant Central in the first SUPERMAN movie starring Christohper Reeve with Gene Hackman as Luthor. It is true, BTW, that there are subterranean levels of GCT below what is accessible to the general public.

Currently there are 57 tracks and platforms operating in Grand Central.  They are about equally divided between the upper and lower level platfoms.  Originally the division in levels was determined by having the primary rail lines operate on the upper and commuter lines running on the lower.  In those days primary rail lines were the main mode of long distance transportation for Americans.

Coming out of GCT, the 57 tracks all merge into 4 feeder tracks which run beneath Park Avenue through Mid-Town, emerging into an elevated line just above 100th Street, which carries commuters north of the city. 

Where Do The Trains Go?

The three Metro North lines running on these tracks are the Hudson Line, Harlem Line and New Haven Line.  All three lines run together until the station at Fordham (The Bronx) where they split into three branches.  Hudson runs parallel to the river carrying passengers as far as Poughkeepsie.  For our purposes here we are going to look at the Harlem and New Haven lines.

If you are hoping to travel from Northern Fairfield County to Manhattan you have a number of options.

The New Haven line, which, oddly enough runs all the way to New Haven, has a few branches that split off along the way and turn in north, deviating from the line's general North East path.

The first branch, as you can see on the chart, splits from the main line at Stamford and continues north for 4 stops terminating in New Canaan.  New Canaan is a great community in the SW part of Connecticut.   The train station itself if located right in the main area of the village.  Some commuters from northern parts of Stamford prefer to come to this station as an alternative to driving into downtown Stamford.

The second branch splits off the line at South Norwalk and runs to stations in Branchville (Ridgefield), Redding, Bethel and Danbury.

The number of trains running on these branches each day is less than on the main lines so commuters have to plan their commuting appropriately.

The other option for folks in the Danbury Metro area is to drive west on I84 about 8 miles into NY State and take the Harlem Line from the Southeast station.   Southeast is a primary hub for trains into NYC and the ride is direct as opposed to the CT branches which mostly require a switch of trains where they connect.

Travelling by train from Southeast will become even easier soon for residents of Brookfield and New Milford CT when the extension of RTE 7 is completed in November.  This extension will give residents an opportunity to travel on a straight shot from the beginning of the highway, on the Brookfield/New Milford line all the way across to NY and the Southeast station.

If you need specific information on schedules, check the Metro North Website.  Generally speaking, though, the options are many based on exactly where you live.

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BELARDINELLI TIRE COMPANY, Bethel CT.

In 1961 Tulio Belardinelli opened the doors at Belardinelli Tire Company. 48 years later, he's still there. Which, by today's standards is really saying a lot.  Local residents have come to rely on Belardinelli Tire Company not just for their tires. People come to Belardinelli's for all their automotive repairs from oil changes and tune-ups to emissions inspections.

For Tulio, it's more than just a business - it's a family enterprise. Tulio's daughter, Lisa Belardinelli Taylor is the company's Business Manager working along side her husband Mike, who is General Manager.

Almost any time you drop by you'll see the members of the Belardinelli team either consulting with clients in the office or working in the bays doing the various maintenance and repairs that keep Bethel's cars running well.

Carrying on a family tradition

The third generation is also on board now with Tulio's Grandson Jared Matthews working as a Sales Associate.  This multi-generational idea is good news for Bethel drivers.  It means that Belardinelli Tire Company is going to be around for a while.

Belardinelli Tire Company is located at 7 Beach Street on the corner of Greenwood Avenue, just across from the Bethel Cinema.

They are open Mon - Fri from 7:30 to 5:30 and Saturday from 7:30 to 12:00.   Their phone number is (203)748-0889.