Stone Cutters Coffee and Wine Cafe

Stone Cutters, the new coffee shop on the east side (Covenanter Drive) has just expanded their menu to include tapas and wine in the afternoons and evenings. The tapas menu is created by owner Greg Danielson and changes weekly. A sample of this past week's menu included:

• Brioch with Chai Tea Whipped Butter for $2...excellent!
• Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs with Marinara and a Parm Crisp for $7...delicious!
• A beautiful Cheese Plate with three different compotes and fresh bread for $8...super!
• Dim Sum of steamed Pot Stickers and Chix Spring Rolls for $6...lovely!

The wine list has several whites, reds and Prosecco. The Brancotte Sauvignon Blanc for $6 a glass was really lovely and others at the table enjoyed a split of Mionetto Il Prosecco for $14.50.

Stone Cutters plays great music all day and when the weather cools down just a bit, it'll be wonderful to sit outside and enjoy tapas and a glass of wine. All this at a great price and a super convenient location for many on the east side of Bloomington.

And for a bonus, the next two Fridays and Saturdays at Stone Cutters, they are offering Buy-one-get-one-free tapas from 5 till 7. Check it out!

Photo: Charlie Dupree enjoying a break at Stone Cutters this week.

Bloomington Board of Realtors is to Launch Their New MLS Soon

The Bloomington Board of Realtors will launch their new MLS system on September 30th of this year. This is a project that has been in the works for quite a while. Originally the board had planned to launch the new site mid summer. To find out more about the new system, follow this link:

http://www.marketlinx.com/demos/innovia/innovia.htm

This new system is from the company Market Linx and the system is InnoVia.

A Fabulous Mansion in the Middle of the Bay

A friend sent these photos to me of this amazing house perched on a rock in the middle of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. The 103 year old house is approachable by boat. These are such beautiful views through the windows. Thanks to fropki.com for the photos.

Important information about Chinese Produced Drywall

I was working with an out-of-town buyer two weeks ago and he mentioned the issue of Chinese produced drywall. He had an associate who had huge issues with this product in Florida. Today the National Association of Realtors forwarded this article via the Wall Street Journal:

Home owners in Florida, as well as other parts of the country, are claiming that drywall imported from China is making them sick and corroding the plumbing and HVAC systems in their homes.

An estimated 100,000 houses in the United States, most built in 2006 and 2007, may have some of the allegedly defective drywall, which is being investigated by a plethora of government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.

If these investigations result in a recall, it could be a costly proposition. Experts estimate that pulling out defective drywall and replacing corroded electrical wiring, plumbing and HVAC in an affected home could cost at least $100,000 per property.

Several class action lawsuits have been consolidated in federal court in New Orleans, but suing foreign-based manufacturers for liability is difficult and any judgment is almost impossible to enforce, experts say.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, M.P. McQueen (08/07/2009)

July Real Estate Sales for Bloomington - Condos and Townhouses

Unlike single family home sales for July, the numbers are up for last month's sales over the same time period in 2008. The total sales for the month in '09 are 38, up 18% from July of last year. Here are this July's numbers:

• Total sales: 38
• Average sales price: $124,107
• Average days on the market: 177
• Average price per square foot: $81
• Average square feet: 1529

The sales prices of these condos/town homes are also up. Comparing July '09 to July '08, the average sales price saw an increase of over 8%.

A Sample of Today's Interest Rates

Interest rates are rising and falling on a regular basis. This is an important time for anyone considering refinancing to check the rates on a daily basis and take advantage of the small windows when rates are low.

Here's a sample of today's rates from local lenders. As always on the b-town Report rates are for 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgages and rates are subject to change.

• Fifth Third Bank (www.53.com): 5.375%
• Monroe Bank (www.monroebank.com): 5.25% with .5 points
• Peoples State Bank (www.peoples-bank.com): 5.625%
• Premier Home Mortgage (www.premierhomemortgage.com): 5.375%
  
  

July Real Estate Sales for Bloomington - Single Family Homes

For the month of July in Bloomington, there were 127 single family home sales. The number of sales is down 11.8 % from 2008. The Average selling price also saw a decrease of 8% from the same time period in 2008. Here are the numbers for single family home sales for July 2009 in Bloomington:

• Average sales price: $175,368
• Average list price: $185,926
• Average day on the market: 103
• Average price per square foot: $93
• Percentage of sales price to list price: 94%

To look at the larger picture, home prices are up so far in 2009 from last year. The average selling price for single family homes in Bloomington for the first 7 months of this year was $191.962. The average selling price for the same period in 2008 was $187,386. This shows an increase in the average home price of 2.5% in the past 12 months.