About Connie Strait

Experience

I have been fortunate to have sold and listed over 1,000 properties. I have sold to young people buying their first home, to seniors retiring and selling the family homestead and I have helped relocate many families to our area. I feel grateful everyday that clients have hired me to help with some of the biggest decisions of their life. For these reasons, I am so blessed and and this is why I love my job! After finishing college, I immediately went to work at Ethan Allen and was in charge of customer service for the Carriage House, their corporate owned retail store. I was enrolled in decorating school and just fell in love with the process of staging homes. I believe that is what peaked my interest in the entire home sale process. With this background and my thorough knowledge of the area I knew that Real Estate would be the perfect fit for a career. I can now look back after 35 plus years as a full time dedicated professional, and say it was definitely the right choice for me. Experience comes from investing, volunteering in many community programs and owning my own company, Bessel Realty, which after 16 years was sold to Coldwell Banker. After 14 years with Coldwell, I found a new home and I am now back with a large Family Owned Real Estate Company. A full circle for an exceptional, well rounded career experience in Real Estate.

Areas Covered

Having lived here my entire life, I have personal knowledge about all the towns I represent, from either living there, investing there or having family in that town. I cover the towns of Brookfield, Danbury, Ridgefield, New Fairfield, Redding, Bethel, along with all other Fairfield County, Litchfield and New Haven County towns. I also cover Cape Cod New Seabury Resort.

Community Involvement

Board of Directors Vineyard Reach Condominium Community Lakewood Terrace Candlewood Lake Garden Club of Brookfield, Chairperson Hospitality, Board of Directors Member of Parents Council of Georgetown University Chairperson Plans and Construction Prince of Peace Church Panelist New England Region of American Cancer Society Chairperson Odyssey of the Mind Fundraising Past PTO Director Brookfield Schools Girl Scouts, Area Cookie Chairperson Past Co-Chairperson Aids Project Greater Danbury New Seabury Women's Club New Seabury Women's Golf Association Co-Chair Women's 9 hole league

Professional Specialty

Marketing Director for the following Communities: Dairy Farm Estates in Brookfield Pruchnik Estates in New Milford Deer Trail Drive in Brookfield West Farms Estates in New Fairfield East Ball Pond in New Fairfield I thoroughly enjoy working with first time home buyers, transferees, lakefront and ocean communities, investors, builders and new construction, and buyers and sellers relocating within our community.

Achievements

Company Wide Award winner for Top Sales, Customer Service and Top Producer numerous months during the years 2022 Top Producing Agent closed units 2019, 2020, 2021 Chairman's Club top 9% of Realtors 2016,2017,2018,2019 President's Club 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022 Top Listing Agent Top 10% of company Top Agents many years Top Producing Agent for 1980 through 2023 in the Danbury area Recipient of the International President's Club Award Diamond Society Award Sterling Society Award Nominated Realtor of the Year

Education

Educated Danbury Public Schools. Graduated Western Connecticut State University; Cum Laude

Professional Association

Director Board of Realtors Northern Fairfield County Board of Directors Vineyard Reach Association Licensed Broker in CT, MA and New York GRI, I, II, III CRS Accreditation Member of Northern Fairfield County Association of Realtors, serving on Board of Directors most of my career Member of the Connecicut Association of Realtors Member of the National Association of Realtors Member of CMLS of Fairfield County Member of State CTMLS State Director Connecticut Association of Realtors

Personal

Married with three children. Children were past Emily Morey and Raymond Gates Scholarship winners. All three were Georgetown University graduates. Avid tennis player, and winner of the local Brookfield Pilot Pencil tournament. I enjoy gardening, skiing, walking, biking, college basketball and boating on Lake Candlewood and sailing in Cape Cod.

Niche Marketing

My approach to Real Estate: IF YOUR HEIRS WON’T FIGHT OVER IT, IS IT WORTH KEEPING? Tidy is the new buzz word, thanks in large part to the latest Netflix Series “Tidying Up” featuring Marie Kondo, the best selling author of “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” The tidying movement encourages homeowners to assess their belongings through the lens of what “sparks joy,” and then to discard all things that don’t. The problem that most homeowners encounter is that many things spark joy – mementos from our children’s early lives, old collections, gifts from loved ones, or things that have monetary value but that no longer have a function in our daily lives. Homeowners can struggle to separate their “stuff” from the memories they evoke. Others hold onto things with the hope that their heirs will cherish these belongings in the same way. But if our heirs won’t fight over it, is it worth keeping? Holding onto all of this “stuff” can contribute to a cluttered and sometimes non-functional home. And from my perspective as a realtor – a home that is very difficult if not impossible to sell. Tidying up is a trend, but is also a strategy I have been using for decades to help clients sell their homes quickly and profitably. My goal is to educate my sellers on the difference between treasure and trash and put their methods for organizing their life to work in their home. My buyers are always impressed by a clean, clutter-free home. Each room gives the illusion of being larger, and allows the buyer to imagine their own belongings and their own family living happily in the space. In my work with sellers, I take a comprehensive approach, from tidying to staging and ultimately selling your home for the highest value in the least amount of days possible – now that is true joy! Area Expertise: I have spent my entire life either living in a Candlewood Lake community or just enjoying this wonderful natural resource we have bordering five of the towns in our region. I have been the marketing Realtor for several new home subdivisions in Fairfield and Litchfield counties. As an Investor myself, I love sharing my knowledge of multi-families and the success I have had as a Landlord with my clients who are committed to investing or selling their Real Estate investments in our community. I find one of the most enjoyable parts of my career has been helping First time homebuyers purchase the home of their dreams. And last but certainly not least, my thorough knowledge of the area having lived here all my life has been a valuable asset to Relocation clients moving here.