Daily Archives: August 7, 2011

South Salem NY Real Estate | Housing’s Next Leg Down

I realize everyone is glued to the stock ticker today, watching their personal net worth fall yet again; I know this because every time I wired up to do a live shot on CNBC today, my “hit” was “killed” at the last minute because the Dow dropped again.

But it is precisely on days like this that we have to focus on how it all affects housing; stocks may fill our 401K’s, but our homes are (or were) our single greatest investment.

The drop in the stock market was preceded by a huge drop in mortgage interest rates, and it will likely be followed by one as well. The overnight average last night on the 30-year fixed hit 4.35 percent on Bankrate.com. Economic uncertainty pushes Treasury yields down, which in turn pushes mortgage rates down. Tomorrow we get the jobs report, and my guess is that it won’t be particularly stellar either.

So I was all set to talk on TV today about how mortgage rates, even this low, won’t help the housing recovery significantly (sure, higher rates would hurt) because a) we’ve been at historically low rates for quite some time now, and b) rates are not the most important decision-making factor for consumers today. We had a great conversation about this yesterday on the blog, so I took it further to ask some mortgage professionals.

Bedford NY Real Estate | Tucson named “sickest” housing market in nation

Many local realtors disagreed with the results of a 24/7 Wall Street study that placed Tucson as number one, on a list of the “sickest” housing markets in the country.

The study looked at several factors, saying Tucson's homeowner vacancy rates, which stood at 6.8%, were the highest in the nation, and had doubled since last year.

It also considered rental vacancy rates, which stood at 16%, placing it 6th in the nation.  The total number of housing units, and unemployment numbers also factored into the decision.

Many local realtors called the study “flawed”.

“Our vacancy rate is inaccurate,” said Vicky Puchi-Saavedra, an Executive Council Member with Long Realty.

“A huge percentage of our vacancy rates are from snow birds that come in.  They only live here like 3 months of the year, yet they consider that a vacant home,” said Puchi-Saavedra.

Realtors said it was definitely a buyers market.  Low interest rates combined with a lot of choices, was good news for those looking for a home, but bad news for those trying to sell.

“This house was appraised for $2.2 Million back in 2007.  I tried to sell it then, now it is down to $1.2 Million,” said Ron Gollhofer, a commercial airline pilot, who was not so happy about selling his home at that price.

For those looking to invest, it was a great deal.  The home sat on 7-acres of land, had a private runway and hangar, in-home movie theater, wine cellar, and stellar mountain views.

In other parts of Tucson, housing prices were also down significantly.

In the Continental Ranch area, Realtor Lori Engle had listed a 4-bedroom home that was once appraised at $275,000.  Now it was on the market for about $174,000. 

Both Engle and Puchi-Saavedra said things had improved significantly, so they found it hard to believe Tucson was the “sickest” housing market in the nation.

“We're seeing vacation property purchasers from baby boomers coming in, they want to move into the sunbelt.  We're seeing first time home buyers, and we're seeing investors who want to put real estate in their portfolios,” said Engle.

Puchi-Saavedra also said they had sold 41% more homes since January of this year.

“We sold close to 800 homes in January.  In June we sold close to 1400 homes.  That's a 41% increase in sales in 6 months,” said Puchi-Saavedra.

Many realtors said, when it came to ranking the housing market, many factors had to be considered.

“Our time on the market is about five months now.  We're actually seeing multiple offers on properties that are priced well.  People want to snag them up,” said Engle.

It also depended on what study you chose to look at.

“We were rated as the 4th most desirable city in the nation to invest in real estate.  So, they're calling us the “sickest” market, but we're also rated the fourth most desirable,” said Puchi-Saavedra.

 

Pound Ridge NY Real Estate | Tiny Bubbles, Big Price: Don Ho’s House for Sale

Source: AOLTV.com

Hawaiian singer Don Ho’s house has just hit the Honolulu real estate market for $3 million. The iconic entertainer hit it big in the 1960s and ’70s with his 1966 hit “Tiny Bubbles.”

The Hawaiian local grew up on Oahu and dominated the Hawaiian entertainment industry and was considered to be the “undisputed king of Waikiki entertainers.” Ho made regular cameo appearances on “Batman,” “The Brady Bunch,” and other series. In the mid-’70s he had his own comedy-variety show from Honolulu: “The Don Ho Show.” Through that time and up to his death in 2007, Ho performed nightly at Duke’s night club in Waikiki as the headlining entertainer.

His home in the prestigious Diamond Head area is within walking distance of Kapiolani Park, beach and Waikiki. Median Diamond Head home values are presently $660,600.

Built in 1948, the home now stands empty. Ho purchased the home in 1984 for $400,000; he also owned a Waikiki apartment and estate in Lanikai. The Lanikai home sold in March 2008 to a California buyer for $6.05 million after being the center of a family dispute. The home first went into escrow in December 2007 but was delayed when one of Ho’s daughters made efforts to block the sale.

Ho’s Diamond Head home is the last of his properties to hit the market, and like the Lanikai home, is being sold as is. It appears from the listing that the home may need renovations.

The 4-bedroom, 4-bath home sits on a third of an acre with views of downtown Honolulu.

Based on a 30-year fixed mortgage at a rate of 4.07 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment, the monthly mortgage payment for this home is $11,573 per month, as quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

The listing is held by Patricia Choi of Choi International.

Bedford Corners NY Real Estate | How to Choose a Home Inspector

Would you call a retail store and ask “How much do you charge for a TV?” Probably not. You’d have to do research and decide what you want to buy before asking for prices.

One of the toughest calls that I get as a home inspector is “What do you charge for a home inspection?”

Home buyers often ask me this because they’re trying to find the inspector that offers the best deal. When buyers are only concerned with the price of a home inspection, they have already made an assumption that all home inspectors offer the same thing, and they assume they’re comparing apples to apples. This just isn’t true.

Here are a few key things to research before deciding on a home inspector, and to help make sure you’re making a fair comparison when it comes down to price. This is all information that home inspectors typically list on their web site (yes, I’m assuming they have a web site).

  • Find out how long they’ve been in business.
  • Read client testimonials. Are they from clients or real estate agents? Do they have testimonials from three delighted clients, or thirty?
  • Read about their qualifications and experience. Look out for clever wording like “10 years of industry experience.” This doesn’t equate to 10 years of “Home Inspection” experience.
  • Most importantly, view a sample inspection report. If there isn’t one available or you need to send the inspector an email to request one, it’s probably for good reason. Home Inspectors that are proud of their reports practically want to push the report in to your lap. Here’s an example of a home inspection report.

When reviewing a sample report, there is much more to look for than just photos and illustrations. Watch out for useless report writing that is designed to cover the home inspector’s butt, not yours. A bad report would contain a lot of phrases like “This was observed, recommend further evaluation and correction by a licensed blah blah blah”.  With this type of writing, you could easily have an inspection report that recommends a dozen additional inspections.   If further inspections are needed, that’s fine, but these recommendations should never be made lightly, because additional inspections require more time and money.

When I first started inspecting, I was told by a home inspection instructor that this was the best way to write a report. As I’ve written more and more reports over the years, I’ve come to realize that home inspection schools teach this style only to protect the inspector. This doesn’t provide a service for the client.  A good home inspection report will clearly state the problem, explain the significance of the problem if it’s not obvious, and will give a recommended course of action.

When picking out a home inspector, spend some time researching inspectors, even if you receive three different names of inspectors from your real estate agent. Many agents give out three names because they don’t want to assume liability if their client isn’t happy with the inspection, not because they have three companies that do great work. For more tips on finding an inspector online, read this post by one of my favorite bloggers: How Hard Can It Be to Find a Good Home Inspector?

After you’ve decided on an inspector, book the inspection. If you’ve narrowed it down to two inspectors and you need a tiebreaker, go with price.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections, Minneapolis, Minn., is a second-generation ASHI Certified Inspector whose experience with home remodeling and construction began at age four when he helped his father steam wallpaper. He has worked for Structure Tech since 1997 and joined ASHI in 2004. Visit his blog at www.structuretech1.com/blog/.