Daily Archives: September 9, 2012

Santa Monica Seller Alert: The Market Has Shifted | Cross River Real Estate

For several months, the Westside real estate market has experienced a steady recovery with both average list and sales prices increasing by more than 4 percent.

The inventory level of homes available has dropped significantly over the past year, resulting in increasing frustration for buyers who are well qualified but unable to find a suitable home.

As a result, there has been a steady building up of pent up demand over the last several months.

In addition, there is a fairly large inventory of homes that have been leased since they were not able to be sold over the past few years. The owners of these homes are actually prospective sellers who are open to negotiating with well-qualified buyers even while they still have tenants in place.

Some of the consequences of this market are interesting to observe. Due to the obvious supply-demand imbalance, multiple offers have become more common, especially in the lower-priced ranges. In addition, many buyers have become both anxious and frenetic in their pursuit of a home that will meet their needs.

To add to the mix, an increasing number of homes are being sold without or before being made available in the usual public multiple listing process.

In fact, it is reported that one Westside company has had more than 25 percent of their sales over the past year transacted in this way.

Contributing to this development is the fact that many homeowners would like to sell but don’t believe that the market is strong enough to list in the usual way.

Instead, they have often encouraged agents to bring prospective buyers to their homes and to present an offer if one is made. This has resulted in the unusual situation of a “shadow inventory” with a fair amount of people who really do want to sell, but don’t realize that the market is much healthier than it has been for the past few years.

Owners who do sell in this manner without the usual high-exposure in the open market place will never know how much more successful the sale might have been.

When normal marketing does occur in the current market climate, far more well-qualified buyers have the opportunity to see the home and the potential of multiple offers increases.

More interest in the home often leads to a far greater sales value.

For example, we recently put a local home on the market with vigorous advertising and high energy Internet exposure, and advised agents and their prospective buyers that offers would be responded to after one week.

The result of this process was that the seller received nine offers, and the eventual winning bidder was 12 percent higher than the initial listing price.

Obviously every situation is unique and many sellers have understandable reasons to allow their home to be sold without vigorous exposure. However, they need to be aware that they may have left value on the table by agreeing to limited exposure in this heated up market climate.

Four Regional Banks Discuss Settlement Over Foreclosures | Waccabuc Real Estate

U.S. state attorneys general are pressing four banks to accept a legal settlement over botched foreclosures similar to a deal reached with larger competitors this year, according to three people briefed on the matter.

U.S. Bancorp (SFBC), PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) Inc., SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) and HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) have held talks with state and federal officials who investigated claims that loan servicers mishandled foreclosure documents, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Enlarge image U.S. Bancorp Said to Join PNC in Talks on Mortgage Settlement

U.S. Bancorp Said to Join PNC in Talks on Mortgage Settlement

U.S. Bancorp Said to Join PNC in Talks on Mortgage Settlement

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg

Mortgage servicers typically handle billing and collections, as well as foreclosures when borrowers fail to pay.

Mortgage servicers typically handle billing and collections, as well as foreclosures when borrowers fail to pay. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg

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Neil Brazil, a spokesman for HSBC’s North America unit, said in an e-mail that the London-based lender has conducted “preliminary discussions with its bank regulators and other governmental agencies” and that “the timing of any settlement is not presently known.”

State attorneys general led by Tom Miller, a Democrat from Iowa, began an investigation of mortgage servicers in October 2010 after reports that practices including “robo-signing” had led to improper foreclosures. The probe led to a settlement in February among the five biggest servicers — JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Bank of America Corp. and Ally Financial Inc. — and 49 states and the federal government.

Michael McCoy, a spokesman for Atlanta-based SunTrust, declined to comment, as did Frederick Solomon, a spokesman for Pittsburgh-based PNC and Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Minneapolis- based U.S. Bancorp.

Repurchase Reserves

The effects of the housing market collapse continue to be felt by these and other banks, not only on mortgage servicing. SunTrust said today it would set aside $375 million to repurchase faulty loans it may have originated, following PNC, which set aside $350 million in June.

The deal with the five largest mortgage servicers is valued at $25 billion, including $5 billion in payments to states and $20 billion that banks will use to compensate borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosures, forgive debt, give payment forbearances, arrange short sales and refinance mortgages at lower rates. It also specified new standards for fair servicing of mortgages. In return, the banks received limited protection from state litigation.

“The jury is still out on whether this gets fixed or whether the attorneys general will have to go after them,” Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, said in an interview.

Settlement Resisted

The attorneys general made efforts to get the four smaller banks to join the February agreement — with proportionally smaller payments — before striking the deal with only the big five, one of the people briefed on the talks said.

In the last few months, the AGs have resumed the pressure on the smaller banks. In early August, they met in Washington with federal officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 12 state attorneys general including Miller.

Mortgage servicers typically handle billing and collections, as well as foreclosures when borrowers fail to pay. The four regional banks, whose mortgage portfolios are far smaller than those of the five larger banks, say the states have yet to demonstrate that a settlement would be more beneficial than letting banks handle customers’ problems individually, according to the people briefed on the talks.

Review of homeowners insurance a wise move | Mount Kisco Real Estate

Thanks to the Waldo Canyon fire, people who might otherwise never have done so have been trying to read their homeowners insurance policies. This can be a daunting task, but despite what you might initially think, these policies are reasonably well organized and use terms that are actually meant to be understood. Here are a few thoughts that might help you understand your policy.

Homeowners insurance has two basic parts — liability insurance and casualty insurance.  Liability insurance comes into play when you are sued (or threatened with suit) for an alleged legal wrong.  Casualty insurance comes into play when your home and/or the contents of your home suffer some unhappy fate.

When attempting to read your policy, a good place to start is the summary disclosure form that comes with the policy. Although this summary isn’t a part of the policy, it will help you understand what the policy itself is talking about. Then, before reading the detailed terms of the policy, take some time to study how the policy is organized. You might even want to make an outline of the section and subsection headings.

Next, work through the definitions. These are critical to an understanding of the policy.

Finally, read the policy one section at a time (taking frequent breaks for fresh air, exercise, heavily caffeinated beverages, etc.) When reading your policy, pay particular attention to language describing exclusions and limitations, since that’s where you’ll find the minefield.

On the liability side of the policy, for example, you will see that suits brought against you for intentional acts are not covered, nor are suits related to your business. Also, in the absence of a special endorsement, suits against you for legal wrongs not involving bodily injury or property damage, such as libel and slander, won’t be covered.On the casualty side of the policy, typical exclusions include losses caused by war, faulty design, movement of the earth, flood, sewer backups, ground water intrusion, power failures or your children. Damage to your home or its contents caused by your pets is not covered (nor are the pets themselves covered). Damage caused by vermin is similarly excluded. In addition to outright exclusions, your policy will have coverage amount limits for such things as jewelry and computers.

Some of the risks otherwise excluded in your policy can be covered with an endorsement and the payment of an additional premium. Earthquake and sewer backup are good examples. Other risks, however, cannot be insured against, no matter what. The biggest such risks are structural problems resulting from expansive soils, mine shaft subsidence or poor foundation drainage.  

You can also increase the amount of coverage for important personal property items such as jewelry, computers, silverware, baseball card collections, etc. by paying an additional premium. 

Even after you have read and think you understand your policy, a review of your coverage with a knowledgeable insurance agent will likely be time well spent.

U.S. Housing Market is the Most Awesome Opportunity in American History | Bedford Corners Real Estate

I’m talking about the housing market.

Real estate investor Jason Hartman interviewed me this week on his radio show (available soon at www.JasonHartman.com). And I made my case.

My points were simple:

1. Housing prices have fallen more than they ever have in our lifetimes – by far. Today, houses are selling for well below replacement cost.

2. Meanwhile… housing prices are up for five-straight months. It sure seems like they’ve bottomed.

3. Mortgage rates are at record-lows – around 3.5% today. With low home prices and low interest rates, houses are more affordable than ever.

But the story gets better…

You have a huge “tailwind” for rising prices, courtesy of the government.

First, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will not raise rates for years.

You see, he will only raise interest rates when inflation gets too high or when the economy is booming (specifically, when the unemployment rate falls too far). We are not in danger of either of those things happening right now – and we won’t be in danger for a couple years.

So interest rates will stay low for longer than anyone can imagine… And these record-low interest rates should be like lighter fluid on a fire. It’s taken a while to get started… But with higher home prices over the last five months, the fire is now lit.

Second, I can’t think of an asset that has more government incentives than the home you live in.

Let me show you what I mean…

You can deduct the interest on your mortgage off your taxes. You get to keep up to $500,000 in capital gains on your home without having to pay any capital gains taxes. And on roughly 90% of home loans, the government has literally made those loans possible (through government-sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

In short, the government wants you to own a home… This is simply adding more fuel to the fire.

And for most regular folks, your home is a much better use of your savings than stashing your money in stocks…

Buy what you understand. When you own a home, you know what you’ve got – the earth under your feet isn’t going out of business. But you could easily buy shares of a company that goes out of business. So today, I suggest putting your savings into your primary residence.

In sum, I believe that starting today, single-family home prices will soar higher than anyone can imagine in the next couple years.

The gains in housing prices will surprise everyone – and you certainly haven’t missed it yet. This trend is just beginning. And it will last for years to come.

I believe we have the most awesome opportunity in American history in single-family homes – right now. Do your best to take advantage of it…

Happy at Last | Real Estate in Chappaqua New York

Nothing’s wreaked quite the havoc on the U.S. economy, and indeed the national psyche, as the six-year slide in home prices. It wiped out some $7 trillion in household wealth, savaged bank balance sheets, and induced the Great Recession and the tepid recovery.

Yet there are unimpeachable signs that this national nightmare is now over. Home prices are starting to rise, if somewhat haltingly, in most areas of the country. And a number of forecasters predict home-price increases around 10% or so nationally over the next three years, with some metropolitan statistical areas, such as Midland, Texas, and Bismarck, N.D., likely riding the energy-exploration boom to better than 20% jumps in residential-real-estate prices. The turnaround, in fact, appears to be arriving exactly on the schedule that Barron’s laid out this year in a March 19 cover story entitled “Ready to Rebound.”

Of greatest moment, perhaps, was the release two weeks ago of the S&P/Case Shiller Composite 20-City Index that showed a jump in home prices of 2.3% in June over May. Likewise the Case-Shiller National Index in the second quarter rose 6.9% over the first-quarter level, before any seasonal adjustment. And for the first time since the summer of 2010, the National Index actually nosed ahead of the year-earlier quarter’s reading, if only by 1.2%.

Scott Pollack for Barron’s

“This increase in home prices, unlike the one that occurred in 2009-2010 as a result of the temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers, looks to be for real,” says David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “We probably won’t see a V-shaped recovery in housing, with prices overall going up 20% in the next year. But this rally has legs, and prices will definitely be higher next year.”

The recent strength seems to have continued in July and August, according to home-price indexes compiled by CoreLogic. Like Case-Shiller, the consumer, mortgage and property research firm tabulates prices based on repeat sales of the same properties, but it releases the data more quickly. CoreLogic said last week that, year over year, home prices nationally had jumped 3.8% in July and an even stronger 4.6% in August. The latter number was based on its pending, rather than completed, home-sale price index.

“It has been six years since the housing market last experienced the gains we saw in the July numbers, with indications that the summer will finish up on a strong note,” says CoreLogic CEO Anand Nallathambi. “Although we expect some slowing in price gains over the balance of 2012, we are clearly seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel.”

TO BE SURE, any sustained recovery in prices faces some formidable obstacles. The “shadow inventory” of residences that are in some stage of foreclosure or whose owners are at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgages stands at 3.1 million–6% of the 50 million home loans in the U.S. In a normally functioning market, the total of distressed properties would be more like 2%.

Likewise, some 13 million homeowners are under water — meaning that their mortgages are larger than the value of their houses or condos. Although the vast majority of these people are current on their mortgage payments, many may be tempted to resort to a “strategic default.” This is particularly true in the event of a job loss or some other economic vicissitude.

And finally, the collapse in housing prices was so severe — nationally, residential real estate fell by over one third in value, peak-to-trough — that it would take at least a 50% jump just to restore prices to the nutty levels they achieved in 2006. Unfortunately, those were the prices at which many homes were purchased. So, for many, hope will be difficult to maintain in the years ahead.

Just look at Phoenix (see table below). Through June, it had enjoyed a 14.4% price recovery, but that rise only reduced the 55.9% decline from its peak to a 49.6% loss. Some areas like the Central Valley of California may take decades to return to the heady levels of peak valuation, when even folks who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time could get home loans.

Hong Kong Housing Prices Won’t Go Down Despite Chief Executive’s Plan | Armonk Real Estate

The rabid rise in home prices in Hong Kong is leading to a standoff between buyers and sellers, as buyers, seeing the potential in rocketing prices, are holding off selling, while buyers, already scoffing at the prices, are refusing to pay more than what they intended. The result is a standoff between the two sides, with deals slowing down to a halt. 

The South China Morning Post profiled a woman by the name of Winnie Cheung, whose housing estate in the Taikoo district of Hong Kong has seen a price increase of 55 percent to HK$7 million (less than $1 million US) in the past two years. 

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Sensing further increase, she has backed off her previous goal of trying to sell the place. 

“The rapid rise in home prices is a bit crazy,” Cheung told the SCMP. 

Cheung and her husband bought a 662 square foot apartment in Taikoo for HK$4.5 million, or HK$6,790 per square foot, in May 2009. She believes the prices will continue to rise, even though the Hong Kong government has recently implemented a move to try to increase supply of apartments in the city. 

The plan was announced by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, last week. 

Leung is in the hot seat himself the past week over Hong Kong citizen’s protests over the implementation of a “national education” course in schools, which citizens believe is nothing more than Mainland Chinese propaganda. Over 120,000 Hong Kong citizens protested last week — most dressed in black — forcing the Leung to back off his plans to back Beijing’s takeover of Hong Kong.

Leung’s housing plan, anyway, includes the sale early next year of 830 Home Ownership Scheme apartments in Tin Shui Wai, a less developed area of Hong Kong, that were put on hold because of a construction problems in 2000; selling 1,000 apartments in the neighborhood near the airport under the My Home Purchase Plan to families earning less median income at a discount; and converting the Chai Wan Factory Estate into public housing to create 180 apartments.

The plan was seen by many as a ploy to draw attention from the hugely negative buzz surrounding Leung.

As a result, no one is listening to his plan much, as homeowners like Cheung are in no hurry to sell or refuse to lower their asking prices because they don’t expect the Leung’s plan to do what Leung claims it will do: make property more affordable in Hong Kong.

This conflicting interests has led to a standoff between both sides, slowing sales to a crawl.

Data from Hong Kong’s property agents shows that sales in the 50 estates that it monitors dropped 14 percent to 297 deals during the week of August 27 to September 2, compared to 344 a week earlier.

“That is a seven-week low. The government measures have cooled market sentiment but owners’ high asking prices are also killing buyer interest,” said Ricacorp director David Chan, to the Post. 

Hong Kong’s skyhigh property prices was, arguably, Hong Kong’s biggest problem the past few years. But now, with a Chief Executive that seems to have Beijing’s interests in mind, Hong Kong citizens are not so worried about housing prices anymore, for a bigger threat looms: A communist takeover. 

The Decline of Myspace: Future of Social Media | Cross River Real Estate

In July of 2012, Myspace had 25 million unique visitors from the United States. This may seem like a large number, but let’s make some comparisons to other social media websites. Facebook has over 800 million users. Twitter has over 500 million users. Linkedin has over 100 million users. Even the newest social media site Google+ has around 60 million users. So why did Myspace drop off the social networking scene?

Myspace Origins

myspace 300x100 The Decline of Myspace: Future of Social MediaMyspace was founded in 2003 and it exploded in popularity on the Internet. It was purchased by New Corporation in July 2005 for around $580 million. From 2005 until 2008, Myspace was the most popular social networking site in the world. Also, in 2006 Myspace became the most visted website in the world, even over Google. They reached over 100 million users in August of 2006. At its peak, Myspace was valued at around $12 billion.

Emergence of Facebook

2096973949 fb45de8257 300x112 The Decline of Myspace: Future of Social MediaFacebook began as a social media website for college students primarily. It was barely considered competition with Myspace when it began, but in April of 2008, Facebook surpassed Myspace in Alexa rankings. Since the creation of Facebook, Myspace has been on a steady decline in user membership and page visits.

There are many reasons of the decline of Myspace as compared to the rise of other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and tumblr. Perhaps the most significant reason is the lack of innovation and new abilities to improve the user’s social networking sites. All Myspace offered was user to user interaction through wall posts and friend requests. In addition, they added a music feature where users could publish their music to Myspace and share it with friends and other users. Facebook offered games, quizzes, music, friends, and other interactions to keep their clients entertained and constantly using their website. Even Twitter allows users to connect with famous celebrities and users without using friend requests. Twitter keeps users up to date with current events because of its real time updating.

The Brief Rise Google+

5936990473 bc92c99597 1 300x298 The Decline of Myspace: Future of Social MediaGoogle+ launched in July of 2011, and as of June of 2012, the social media site gained over 250 millioin followers. It began as an invitation only website, meaning that new users would have to have received an invite from other current users to gain access to the site. By the end of December 2011, the site reported to have around 625,000 new users a day, and they estimated to have around 400 million users by the end of 2012, compared to the 800 million of Facebook.

Google+ appeared to be the best competitor to the social media powerhouse Facebook. However, statistics did not support this, stating that users were spending 3.3 minutes monthly on the website. This is nothing compared to Facebook users, who spent, on a monthly average, of 7.5 hours on the site. Also, the dominant age bracket for the site was users between 24-35 years old, which contrasts to that of Facebook which is a much younger bracket.

Googe+  may be a successful case study to prove that top social media websites like Facebook and Twitter cannot be competed with. But the only remaining question is whether or not Facebook will remain popular witht the changing times. Will Facebook become the next Myspace? Will another website take over the social media world? Only time will tell.

The DON’Ts Of Blogging | South Salem NY Real Estate

Blogging can be a very useful tool for online marketing. It is a way to interact with your audience and potential customers, become better known in your specialist field and attract additional traffic to your website. But many first-time bloggers make serious mistakes, which only alienate their audiences and make it more difficult to build a good reputation.
Today I wanted to focus on a few things to avoid when starting out with your blog in order to achieve the best results.

DON’T over-advertise

Many people who start a blog in the interests of promoting their product/service/company see it as a perfect opportunity to push said product through various forms of overt advertising. This is to be avoided at all costs! A blog reader does not want to see millions of adverts on your blog—the want to read interesting and relevant information on the areas you specialise in. Your blog is there to connect with your customers and build a solid, long-term network, not to make a quick sale. Of course, feel free to discreetly put in a link to your website where appropriate, but don’t overload your audience with sales pitches.

DON’T over-complicate the design and layout

ID 10076253 300x199 The DON’Ts Of BloggingMaking your blog too colourful and the design too bright is completely unnecessary. It will only detract attention from what you’re trying to say and will probably give some of your readers a headache. Consider the following factors when deciding on the blog post outline template:
– Colours – avoid neons and go for a simple colour scheme, three colours at most
– Theme – make the theme look professional but interesting; use one bright colour to make your blog a bit more fun, if you wish
– Font size – although readers can choose their own font size on a web-page, you don’t want to make your page look too cramped. Go for 14 pt and a font that is easy to read, such as Arial or Tahoma. It may seem like an exciting option to go for a twisty font, but this will only put your readers off.

DON’T ignore your readers

sots2 300x273 The DON’Ts Of BloggingOr other bloggers. The community is very important and it is essential to build up the relationships with your potential customers through blogs and make yourself known in your chosen field. Whatever area you specialise in, visit other blogs that cover the same topic and participate in discussions. It is completely acceptable to share links to your website, as long as the owner of the blog is OK with it. Make sure you also respond to the comments made on your blog—the worst thing for your reputation is ignoring your readers.

DON’T go for auto-play

Don’t ever have music or videos on auto-play. Many of your readers will be visiting your blog page as a break from work in the middle of office-hours, so the last thing they want is the latest hit blaring from the speakers. In any case, it’s impossible to satisfy the tastes of all readers, so you will automatically be alienating some of them.

How to Plan an Effective Social Media Strategy for Business | Katonah Real Estate

This post gives advice to businesses on planning an effective social media strategy.

Both Feet First

Why do many businesses fail when it comes to social media? The answer is simple, really, it is because they just sign up to various social networking sites without putting any thought or logic into it. In short, they fail to plan effectively.

It does sound somewhat ludicrous that some of the most successful businesses on the planet have proven ineffective at planning a basic social media strategy, but such is the quirkiness of the world we live in that it should not really be that much of a surprise.

Unlike many things in business, social media should not be approached with a pragmatic attitude, as by the time you have worked out what to do your ship may well have already sailed. How a business approaches social media will depend on many things, including the brand message and how they are viewed globally, however there a number of points that should be common factors within any social media plan.

Who Does It?

ID 10032700 300x199 How to Plan an Effective Social Media Strategy for BusinessOf course, you could just let every employee in the company have access to the company’s feed, and then watch as all hell breaks loose over who does the best tweets, not to mention the investigation you have to carry out when someone makes an ill-judged comment. For small businesses, it is often best to have one person in charge of social media output so that the message is consistent at all times.

Larger companies might have several accounts across each department, or individual accounts for executives or notable individuals.

Content Planning

It is vital that you know what you are going to post on your social media feeds. Are you just going to post links back to the company website, or are you going to produce independent but relevant content to spark debate? Will you use one social media site or another, which ones will be most important to you?

Top 10 Markets for Permit Growth | Bedford NY Real Estate

  • The sharp decline in inventory experienced this spring in most housing markets around the country has paid dividends for local economies. Permits issued by local governments for new single family home construction in the first six months of 2012 compared to the same time period in 2011 were up in 124 of the 159 markets reporting data or 78%.
  • The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that each new home built sustains 3 jobs, which in turn generate spending in the local economy.
  • While new construction is up sharply from last year, it remains well below the initial six month average for each year from 2003 through 2009. For instance, permits in Boise, Idaho jumped by 79.5% compared to last year, but the 1,312 permits for new single family construction during the first six months of 2012 is well below the 3,812 average for the same 6-month time frame in each year from 2003 to 2009.
  • Builders remain pensive and financing is tight, while many builders have exited the market altogether. The low level of supply will help to fuel price growth that will reduce the number of underwater owners nationally and help to generate demand necessary to absorb distressed sales as they grow as a share of the market this fall.