Date: Fri 02-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Realtor-of-the-Year-Linnell

Full Text:

Patricia Linnell Named Realtor of the Year

BY JAN HOWARD

Patricia A. Linnell has been named Realtor of the Year for 1998 by the Newtown

Board of Realtors .

Mrs Linnell, a member of the 110-member board and its current president, has

been a resident of Newtown for 20 years.

She was recognized for her outstanding service and contributions to the

community and to the real estate profession at the board's general meeting

last month.

"It's very exciting and an honor," Mrs Linnell said this week. "I hope I

continue to live up to it."

Mrs Linnell has been a realtor for ten years. She is a Certified Residential

Specialist (CRS), Graduate, Realtors Institute (GRI) and an Accredited Buyer

Representative (ABR).

She began to work full time as a realtor at a time when her husband had lost

his job, she said.

"I found I liked it, and that's why I'm still doing it," Mrs Linnell said.

Lynn Beatty of William Raveis Real Estate, who headed up a three-person

committee for the Realtor of the Year designation, said nominations are

requested from board members.

"They overwhelmingly nominated Pat with her credentials," she said.

She said selection is based on the nominee's real estate education and

contributions to the local board, state and national realtor associations and

the community.

The realtors' board of directors, which Mrs Linnell chairs, meets once a

month. It consists of nine members and two state directors. Its members are

elected by all realtors who belong to the board.

Mrs Linnell, who is associated with Curtiss & Crandon, served previously as

secretary and vice president of the board of directors and on various Board of

Realtors committees.

In her ten years as a realtor, Mrs Linnell has seen many changes in real

estate, both in Newtown and in legislation that oversees real estate

transactions.

She said the real estate industry "has changed drastically since the MLS

system became computerized." Mrs Linnell explained that prior to 1993 all

information was handled by update sheets that had to be picked up at the

board's office.

In 1993, MLS listings were computerized. A consolidated MLS now covers all of

Fairfield County and several other areas, she said.

"Now you can go to the computer to find out what is available, access the

information and see what's been deposited," she said.

The one time $125,000 limit for capital gains is gone as well as the

requirement that a seller must be 55, and real estate agents no longer

represent only the seller, she said, two other significant changes in the real

estate industry.

Prior to June of last year, all agents represented the seller, she said.

Because of this new legislation, the buyer has more of an advantage. The new

law, "makes an even playing field," Mrs Linnell noted.

A new landlord-tenant bill is more in favor of the landlord, she said.

Housing starts are on a par with last year, she said. "There are a lot of

things in the wings," she noted.

"Sales are definitely up," Mrs Linnell said. "My sales doubled over the last

year."

Residential deposits in Newtown, including transactions for in-town moves,

from April through August numbered 300, according to Mrs Linnell.

Mrs Linnell said realtors are experiencing multiple offers and houses under

deposit in a day.

"It's not 1986, but it's a little out of balance," she said. "We don't have

many choices for buyers."

She said most new construction is in the $400,000 range, though there are some

in the high $300,000s.

However, she said, there are few resales, and there are very few houses

available in the $250,000 and $300,000 range, "which is where most of the

buyers are."

"There just isn't enough out there," she said.

She said the trend for more expensive new homes is driven by land prices,

which are more expensive.

"Land price for a good two-acre building lot is about $120,000," she said.

She said Newtown is attractive to buyers because it has a wide range of

housing prices so it appeals to different segments of the working community.

"Newtown has the advantage of being broad based," she noted. "There are a lot

of homes for the first time home buyer" in the low to middle $100,000s.

"It keeps the town balanced," Mrs Linnell said. "It's not just a corporate

community."

She said home buyers are coming to Newtown for the rural atmosphere and its

excellent schools.

Mrs Linnell was born in England and raised in the US. She is a graduate of

Camden Catholic High School in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. She

is currently studying Fundamentals of Real Estate Appraisal at Naugatuck

Valley Community Technical College in preparation for her broker's license,

which she expects to receive in three to four months.

"I don't think you should ever stop learning. It is important to me that the

work I do is done right and is respected," she said.

She said real estate is an "intensely people oriented business. You become

part of people's lives."

Buying or selling a home is "definitely emotional. You have to be able to hold

hands and get them through the stress of the experience," she said.

Mrs Linnell and her husband, Jim, have been married for 24 years. They have

two sons, Matt, 20, who is attending Naugatuck Valley Community Technical

College, and Jason, 23, who is a musician in Atlanta, Ga.

Mrs Linnell has been active in community and school activities. She has served

in various posts at the United Methodist Church and in the schools.

She has served as president of Head O'Meadow PTA, cultural program chairman

for the middle school, contributing writer for the Council Crier and on

several ad hoc committees. She received the Parent Volunteer of the Year award

at Head O'Meadow and Newtown Middle schools.

She has been a library volunteer, taught computers to first and second graders

and chaired the American Cancer Crusade. She is a former alternate member of

the town's Planning and Zoning Commission.

She also conducts Time Management Workshops through Adult Continuing Education

and speaks on the subject to local organizations.

"It's a system that works," she said. "I've had people tell me it changed

their life."