Do you live in Tolland, South Windsor, Simsbury, Cheshire or Portland? All five were named in CNN Money’s top 100 list of America’s best small towns to live in.

CNN Money describes Tolland, which is ranked No. 37, as a charming rural town that “has done a great job preserving its historic district, Tolland Green, which dates to the 1700s.” If this sounds like the place for you, the median price of a single-family home as of May was $221,000, according to The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record.

South Windsor comes in at No. 38. Its “wide variety of housing stock draws a diverse group of people to this town on the Connecticut River,” CNN Money said. A single-family home in this small town with high-ranking schools and low crime rate will cost you around $237,000. A condo fetches $175,000.

The “charming” and “fiscally conservative” No. 39, Simsbury, “attracts residents with its top-rated schools and vibrant downtown.”  Single-families here will cost you nearly $345,000 and condos run around $158,000.

Cheshire, which makes the list at No. 73, is perfect for biking enthusiasts. The town’s Rails-to-Trails program has converted abandoned tracks so that residents can bike from Cheshire to New Haven. A single-family home in this “garden-filled town” costs around $335,000 and condos fetch $167,000.

Portland, which was once famous for its brownstone quarries, made the list at No. 88. Single-families here run around $204,000 and condos cost $200,000.

Following in the footsteps of other organizations trying to woo homebuyers, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its very own mobile phone application, which has (big surprise) a mortgage calculator and even a glossary of mortgage terms for those of us not in the know.

While this isn’t the most awe-inducing phone app to ever come out, you have to give the MBA credit for not wanting to get left out of the game. And they say it’s all done in the name of better consumer education and protection. And I believe them since they’re offering the app for free.

So, if you or anyone you know are walking by a house for sale and are dying to know if it’s within your budget, you can pull up the MBA’s “Home Loan Toolkit” on your phone and figure it out. That is, after you first look up the home price on either Zillow or Trulia’s mobile app, which of course you were directed to after scanning the home’s QR code. Right?

Thanks to the recovering rental sector in the nation’s housing market, a “double dip” is unlikely to occur, according to a recent Freddie Mac report.

So, not only will renting continue to stay strong throughout the rest of the year, the Freddie Mac report projects that homes sales will also be anywhere between 3 percent to 5 percent more than those of 2010.

While this all sounds like good news, consumers still aren’t confident about their financial future, with many choosing not to purchase a home even though home prices and mortgage rates are low.

You can view Freddie Mac’s entire report here.

If you’re under 30, you can basically forget about owning your own home. At least that what a recent study from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute for Housing America is telling us.

At the height of the homebuying boom, it was this under-30 set that grew the fastest when it came to buying a home. Ah, the good ol’ days of loose credit conditions and not being afraid to risk it all. Well, as if it weren’t already evident, you can kiss all of that goodbye.

It’s hard enough for someone with an established and well-paying career to get a loan these days, let alone a recent graduate who can’t get a job, has student loan debt that won’t be paid off for 30 years and has resorted to falling back on plan C – going to law school.

Homeownership rates for all age groups fell from an all-time high of 69.2 percent in 2004 to 66.4 percent in the first quarter of this year. Researchers expect that number to get even lower, but say that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You see, that era of buying McMansions on a $50,000 annual salary was something people are referring to as an unsustainable lifestyle. Researchers think that once homeownership numbers fall even more they will reach historical averages – a place they should have been the whole time.

Right now, researchers are saying homeownership levels are around what they were in 2000, which they see as a good thing because then the rates are unlikely to fall any further if other patterns for that same time period follow suit. What other patterns? Stuff like socioeconomic and demographic traits of the population at that time. However, if those sorts of things begin to look more like they did 2009, well, expect homeownership rates to drop, again.

You can read the full report here.

How much does a neighborhood or community influence homebuying decisions? Enough to make some people move from their current residence, according to a recent survey.

One in five homeowners across the county have moved from their home or would like to move because their neighborhood or community wasn’t an ideal fit for their lifestyle, according to a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate survey. But does that really surprise you?

I know I wouldn’t even think about buying a home in a neighborhood that didn’t fit my specific lifestyle needs, so why would anyone else? I suppose some would say that affordability could influence a person to buy in a neighborhood that they didn’t find “ideal.” But if you’re just going to turn around put it back on the market, why even bother?

Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, said, “While the relation of price to features has become very favorable in many areas throughout the country, ultimately the surrounding community may determine how happy you are with your home purchase.”

The survey found the following lifestyle choices were key for homebuyers:

• 38% - Ease of commuting by car
• 34% - Access to health and safety services
• 33% - Family-friendly neighborhood
• 32% - Availability of retail stores
• 21% - Access to cultural activities
• 19% - Public transportation access
• 18% - Nightlife and restaurant access
• 6% - Golf-friendly area - access to golf courses

Less than a year after it was purchased for $35 million, the Connecticut mansion once owned by the late hotel and real estate magnates Harry and Leona Helmsley, has been put up for sale.

What’s the asking price? A whopping $42.9 million for the 40-acre estate, The Associated Press is reporting. The Greenwich property made heads turn last fall when the Helmsleys’ charitable trust sold it for $90 million less than the $125 million initial asking price.

The 22,000-square-foot manor house was built in 1918 and contains 28 rooms. The mansion includes a reception hall with an 86-foot-long gallery, a master suite with an onyx bath and a wine cellar with tasting room. And we mustn’t forget that the property also includes a koi pond with a waterfall, outdoor swimming pool, a cabana with kitchen and tennis court.

The Helmsleys bought the property for $11 million in 1983 and spent $8 million renovating it, including the addition of a $1 million dance floor, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Leona Helmsley, also known as the “Queen of Mean” for her less than flattering personality, was maybe best known for her 1989 conviction for evading federal taxes by billing her businesses for renovations to the mansion and other personal expenses. She served 21 months in prison.

I’ve heard of celebrity home tours and residential garden tours, but foreclosure bus tours?

Realtor Frank Hoinsky has decided that he would be the perfect guide for a bus tour highlighting foreclosures in every town from Milford to Beacon Falls.

According to a press release, those on the tour will receive an information package with direct foreclosure websites. There will also be a mortgage consultant and a licensed home inspector on the tour bus to answer any questions you may have.

Hoinsky promises that “you will also get first-hand information on new foreclosures and future trips.”
If you’re interested, the bus leaves Sunday, June 12, from Hoinsky’s Ansonia office at 685 Main St. It starts at 9 a.m. and lasts until noon.

Oh, and the best part perhaps - coffee and donuts will be available before the tour departs at 8:30.

Hugette Clark, one of the country’s wealthiest heiresses, died at the age of 104 and left behind a number of valuable properties, including one in New Canaan.

Clark, a recluse, spent most of her life living in a 42-room Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City. She also owned a California mansion valued at $100 million and a New Canaan estate that is on the market for $24 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Clark’s nearly 50-acre New Canaan estate consists of two structures built in 1937, according to records obtained from The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. The smaller, conventional-style building (likely a guest house) is 1,096 square feet and contains two bedrooms and one bathroom. The main colonial-style home is 14,266 square feet and has eight bedrooms, six full bathrooms and three half baths.

There are lots of theories on what the best way to sell a home is and the Australians just came up with one more that might actually work.

Today they launched the website iPostcodes, which is how the home’s owner can directly participate in the marketing of their property. In addition to having a real estate agent take care of all the usual stuff – i.e. what’s the square footage, etc. – the homeowner can post fun and relevant facts about their home that, according to iPostcodes, no one but them would think to share.

What exactly can the homeowner bring the table? Here are a couple of examples:

• What is there to do nearby? Tell potential buyers about that awesome Italian restaurant within walking distance, the dog park or even how the community center down the street hosts monthly swing dance parties.
• Recent renovations. Wax on about how the new windows installed throughout the house maximize sunlight, making your home feel warm and cozy.

This website is only for Australian properties…so far. But perhaps if it’s successful it will catch on in the U.S. and provide a little something extra to help move a house from one owner to the next.

The housing market isn’t all doom and gloom, folks. It turns out that U.S. property is extremely popular with foreign buyers.

For the year ending March 2011, total residential international sales in the U.S. totaled $82 billion, a $16 billion increase from 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). These sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners and recent immigrants.

Combined total domestic and international existing home sales in the U.S. were $1.07 trillion, NAR reported.

“The U.S. has always been a desirable place to own property and a profitable investment,” said NAR President Ron Phipps.

Why the nearly 20 percent increase in just one year? You guessed it! Low home prices coupled with tons of inventory.

According to NAR, foreign buyers have historically been attracted to property ownership in the U.S. for a number of reasons, which include:

• Homes are generally less expensive than comparable foreign properties.
• Homes in this country are viewed as a secure investment.
• The U.S. market offers rental opportunities and long-term appreciation potential.

New factors motivating foreign buyers (according to NAR) include:

• Foreign families are purchasing U.S. properties in college areas so their child (who’s attending a U.S. school) has a place to live.
• Some foreign executives temporarily working in the U.S. prefer to purchase a residence instead of renting.

It turns out that foreign buyers are also paying more on average ($315,000) for a U.S. home than the country’s national average ($218,000).

When actually deciding where to buy a U.S. home, three factors primarily make up the decision process: proximity to their home country; convenience of air transportation; and climate and location.