Week 67: It’s Brutal Out There. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel Copy
“The Brutalist” is the hottest movie in the nation, with 10 Oscar nominations. It’s currently playing in New Canaan and has deep New Canaan roots. Why should New Canaan care and what does it mean that Brutalism is part of the conversation in 2025 (named by Zillow and Better Homes and Gardens to be the […]
Week 66: Inauguration Day Reflections. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Inauguration Day is a moment for looking forward, and for reflecting on the past. This is a look-back over the bigger ideas in this column, reexamining some, correcting others, knowing some points were better made the first time around. What did we learn? 65.2024 Review. Despite national downturns, Fairfield County’s real estate market remained robust […]
Week 65: Market Report for 2024. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
As the father of identical twins I get the question, “Are they different?” To me they are very different. To the casual observer not much. I feel that way about the end of year market report: Not much different from 2023. I find myself squinting hard to tease out some brilliant insight, some reason that […]
Week 64: Winter Light. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
It snowed here this week, so I want to talk about the impact of snow (and reflected light) on real estate sales. Traditional wisdom is, wait for the snow to melt then launch the listing with beautiful spring photos. Let’s rethink that. The problem with this approach is that when the trees leaf out and […]
Week 63: How Much Are Good Schools Really Worth? John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
“I’m fascinated by the art of decision-making, especially when it comes to where to live, where to go to college, and where to send your kids to school.” —Luke Skurman, Niche founder. Real estate values correlate highly with school quality in this area. We spend a lot of time thinking about real estate values and about […]