Daily Archives: February 10, 2014

I Turned My Tiny, Dark, And Overpriced New York Apartment Into A ‘Smart Home’ For Just $300 | Cross River Homes

 

The SmartThings kit has all the basics you need to get started connecting your home.

My apartment gets almost no natural light.

That’s one of the problems with living in New York. I spend about a zillion dollars per month in rent, and still have a teeny tiny apartment that faces the back of a bunch of taller buildings that block the sun. My bedroom window faces some other guy’s bedroom window across a narrow, dark alley.

So no matter what time of day it is, I always have the lights on in my apartment.

For the last several weeks, my apartment has been programmed to light itself up. Whenever I enter my building, my apartment knows I’m home and switches on the lamp in my living room so I don’t have to fumble around in the dark. When I leave the room, the light shuts itself off.

That’s because I’ve been testing something called SmartThings. SmartThings isn’t just one gadget, but a Web-connected system of everyday objects that can control everything in your home from your lights to your coffee maker. I tested one of the SmartThings starter kits, which sell for $199 or $299.

How It Works

SmartThings starts with the hub, a small white plastic box that looks sort of like a WiFi router. The hub plugs into your router and talks to the rest of the connected objects in your home. Since the hub is connected to the Internet, you can control everything from a computer or the SmartThings app, even if you’re out of the house.

From there, you set up the objects you want connected. My starter kit came with two motion sensors, two multi sensors that can tell you when a door or window is open, two presence sensors that you clip to your keychain so the hub knows when you’re home (the app can also double as a presence sensor using your phone’s GPS), a smart outlet for controlling lamps or appliances, and a moisture sensor that goes under the sink to alert you in case of a leak.

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/turned-tiny-dark-overpriced-york-164004491.html

CoreLogic Projects January Prices up 10.2 Percent | Bedford NY Real Estate

Prices in the new year will pick up almost where last year left off, registering a 10.2 percent increase in January over a year ago according to CoreLogic.   However, the double digit increase is a slight decline from December’s 11 percent.  Is it a sign of softer prices to come?

Rising foreclosure and short sale prices helped December record the 22nd consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally, according to CoreLogic’s December CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI®) report.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that January 2014 home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase 10.2 percent year over year from January 2013. On a month-over-month basis, home prices are expected to dip 0.8 percent from December 2013 to January 2014.  Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 9.9 percent in December 2013 compared to December 2012 and 0.2 percent month over month compared to November 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

Excluding distressed sales, January 2014 home prices are poised to rise 9.7 percent year over year from January 2013 and 0.2 percent month over month from December 2013. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measures price changes for the most recent month.

“Last year, home prices rose 11 percent, the highest rate of annual increase since 2005, and ten states and the District of Columbia reached new all-time price peaks,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “We expect the rising prices to attract more sellers, unlocking this pent-up supply, which will have a moderating effect on prices in 2014.”

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/02/corelogic-projects-january-prices-up-10-2-percent/

 

Mortgage Delinquencies Now 1.5 Times Pre-Crisis Levels | Bedford Corners NY Homes

 

Black Knight, formerly LPS Financial Services, reports that 2013 marked the fourth consecutive year of significant, sustained improvement in the nation’s inventory of delinquent mortgages, and the second consecutive year of significant improvement for those in foreclosure. Delinquencies were just 1.5 times their pre-crisis average, with foreclosures down to 4.6 times their pre-crisis levels (declining from more than eight times the historical norm).

“In many ways, 2013 marked an abatement to crisis conditions in the U.S. mortgage market,” said Herb Blecher, senior vice president of Black Knight Financial Services’ Data & Analytics division. “Delinquencies neared pre-crisis levels, foreclosure inventory declined 30 percent over the year, new problem loan rates improved in both judicial and non-judicial foreclosure states, and foreclosure starts ended the year at the lowest level since April 2007. Despite a recent drop off, 2013 was also the best year for property sales since 2007, with totals through November outnumbering the full year totals for each of the prior three years. In addition, as we’ve noted before, due to stricter underwriting, 2013 originations have proven to be the best-performing loans on record.

“However, at the same time, higher interest rates and seasonality pushed monthly originations to the lowest level since 2008, and the current interest rate environment seems to have also brought an end to the refinancing wave we’ve observed for the last several years. In fact, refinance activity has remained low despite year-end declines in interest rates. With continued tapering anticipated by the market, opportunities for new originations will likely come from looser underwriting and/or home equity lending (which has shown a sizable increase in volume since last year).

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/02/mortgage-delinquencies-now-1-5-times-pre-crisis-levels/

How to sell a home, despite winter wonderland | Mt Kisco NY Real Estate

 

Inch upon inch of snow is piling up, and the desire to stay home curled up by the fire is becoming harder to turn away from: welcome to winter.

But despite continued snow flurries, home shopping is still growing.

According Zillow’s (Z) latest report, the online real estate marketplace reached a record number of unique users in January 2014, soaring to 70 million.

So how can real estate agents capitalize on this secret fountain of potential homeowners?

Zillow Real Estate Expert Brendon DeSimone outlined three tips for sellers and agents looking to sell a home during winter season.

One of the biggest points DeSimone emphasized was the need to have strong online photos of your house. Especially during the winter, buyers are shopping online all day.

“Nowadays, you only have one shot to make a good impression, which is your web appeal,” DeSimone explained.

Before, a seller would only have to worry about whether the house had good curb appeal.

“Now your first impression is on the web. Spend as much time and money for the photo shoot as you would for the first open house,” he said.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/28902-zillow-how-to-sell-a-home-despite-winter-wonderland

 

Housing Scorecard: America still healing from Great Recession | North Salem NY Real Estate

 

Despite positive trends in the housing market, officials caution that the economy is still healing from the Great Recession, the Obama Administration said in the November housing scorecard.

Home prices stayed relatively still according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index, which increased to 165.8 in December from 165.9 a month prior. Year-over-year the index is up from 145.8 in November 2012.

Existing homes sales climbed to 405,800 from 401,700 in November, just marginally down from 408,300 a year prior, the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors said.

The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that new home sales slightly fell to 34,500 in December from 37,100 in November, but is barely up from 33,000 from December 2012.

Additionally, the supply of existing-homes for sale posted little change from a year ago and ticked up to a 4.6-month supply in December from 4.5-month supply last year, but significantly down from a 5.1-month supply in November, NAR found.

Although foreclosure starts are up from 52,800 in November, coming in at 52,100 in December, starts are still drastically down from 72,500 in 2012, RealtyTrac recent report revealed.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28898-housing-scorecard-america-still-healing-from-great-recession

5 Essential Steps to Success in Social Media Marketing | Cross River Realtor

 

Social media accounts for 27 percent of all time spent online and has become a popular way for customers to discover and research brands, and for marketers to reach out to potential customers. 93 percent of marketers currently say they use social media for business, and in 2013 there was a surge in popularity of new networks like Pinterest, Vine, and Instagram. This year, expect more sites, specifically Google+, to gain additional traction and become a people’s daily lives. Before businesses jump into social media, here are the five essential steps to success in social media marketing.

1. Start with a Plan

1 in 4 small businesses have no strategy in place for social media marketing. If a business wants to be successful in driving sales and leads from social, they need to have a clear digital strategy that incorporates social media.

Each social network has different audience demographics, so businesses should strategically choose which outlets to utilize based on their target customers. Examples of demographic differences include:

  • 67 percent of people online use Facebook, making it the top social network
  • Facebook users are 60 percent female
  • The average Twitter user is a 28-year-old woman
  • Instagram users are most likely to be between 18 to 29
  • Pinterest skews heavily female, with 80 percent of users being women
  • Pinterest attracts women with more education and higher income

Think about your customer by outlining the personality types that are likely to purchase your product or service, including overall lifestyle, and add value for them online.

Once the appropriate social channels selected, take a look at what is working for competitors, and start to create a content calendar. This helps businesses organize, plan ahead and stick to a regular social content schedule.

2. Create Quality Content

Quality content engages audiences, is shared across multiple platforms, and garners more interest in a brand. It also makes a difference when it comes to SEO.

So what it quality content? It is:

  • Informative
  • Sharable
  • Actionable
  • Relevant to the target audience

Here is an example of quality social media content from Tic Tac.

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/02/10/5-essential-steps-to-success-in-social-media-marketing/#Rb7CM695FryTslY1.99

Surprise! The Gain on the Sale of Your Home May Be Taxable | Waccabuc Real Estate

 

Since 1998, most people haven’t had to worry about owing taxes when they sell their home, even if they clear a hefty profit when they do so. There’s no longer any need to buy another house to roll over any gain, and in many cases the taxpayers don’t even have to report the sale of their homes on their tax returns.

You can still owe tax on some or all of the gain from the sale of your home, however. Tax will be due if one or more of the following are true.

1. You didn’t own and live in the house for two of the last five years If you sell your home at a gain before two years are up and you don’t qualify for any of the exceptions, you pay tax on the gain.

Exceptions: If you have to move because of health, a job transfer, or other unforeseen circumstances, you may still be able to exclude your gain. The maximum amount you can exclude will be prorated.

For example, let’s say you were single and you owned and lived in a house for one year before you were transferred by your employer to another state. You met the requirements for 50% of the two-year time period. You can exclude up to $125,000 of gain from the sale ($250,000 times 50%.)

2. The house appreciated in value when you were not living in it Prior to 2008, you could have a vacation or investment home for years — decades, even — and watch it go up in value. So long as you moved into it for two years before you sold it, you could exclude up to the maximum amount of gain. That loophole has been closed. You cannot exclude gain from while you were not living in the house. For this purpose, the house is assumed to have gone up in value the same amount every year while you owned it.

3. The house went up in value more than the exclusion amount It’s not far-fetched, especially in some parts of the country. The amount of gain you can exclude from the sale of a home is $250,000 ($500,000 if filing jointly). A home can go up in value more than $250,000, or $500,000 if you are filing jointly. You’ll pay tax on the gain over that amount.

 

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/09/surprise-the-gain-on-the-sale-of-your-home-may-be.aspx

New home? Tips for getting to know the garden | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

 

Americans are a restless bunch. They change locations with a frequency that would tire a migrating songbird.

But there is more to moving day than unpacking boxes; there’s also learning to care for that garden inherited with the new home.

If you were thinking ahead, you asked for an inventory of the plants and accessories that came with the house.

“There’s no problem with asking owners for a list of landscape items and for an explanation about the plantings,” said Shirley French, an agent with the Woodstock, Va., office of Funkhouser Real Estate Group. “Usually, the owners are more than happy to give you a list. In fact, if they know the purchasers are interested, that will make for good feelings on both sides.”

Gardening priorities are determined mostly by the seasons. You won’t be mowing the lawn in February, although you might be combing the seed catalogs.

But where to start with a newly purchased property?

Michael Becker, president of Estate Gardeners Inc. in Omaha, Neb., suggests that putting safety first.

“Check out the dangers,” said Becker, a spokesman for Planet, the Professional Landcare Network that certifies green industry professionals. “Are the retaining walls stable? Are any trees leaning or diseased with dead branches?

 

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/home-tips-getting-know-garden-144102428.html

Obtaining a mortgage increasingly seen as ‘easy,’ survey says | Pound Ridge Homes

Even though new federal rules for mortgages kicked in this year, and lenders’ standards remain high, Americans are increasingly likely to think it’s “easy” to get a home loan, according to a report released Monday.

Last month 52% of respondents to a survey from federally controlled mortgage buyer Fannie Mae

/quotes/zigman/226360/delayed/quotes/nls/fnmaFNMA said they thought it would be “easy” to get a home mortgage today. That share was a record-high for the series, which goes back to mid-2010. Fannie’s survey polls 1,000 American adults each month.

January’s result should be good news for housing-market observers who have been concerned about the impact of new mortgage rules, along with rising rates, on demand. It seems that at least some would-be borrowers aren’t letting an evolving mortgage marketplace get them too down. Indeed, 70% of Fannie’s respondents said in January that they would buy a home if they were to move, matching a series high hit in October.

While Fannie’s results may be a bit surprising, recent data from the Federal Reserve signaled that some large banks are easing standards for prime home mortgages. Given the beating that lenders took from plunging refinancing applications last year, it makes sense that they are looking elsewhere to feed their hunger for mortgage revenue

 

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/02/10/obtaining-a-mortgage-increasingly-seen-as-easy-survey-says/

 

Is Now the Right Time to Sell Your Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

 

With the housing market on an upswing, is now the right time to put your house on the market?

A recent survey by Redfin found 38% of home sellers believe now is a good time to sell, up from 34% last quarter and an enormous improvement from 22% in the fourth quarter of last year.

It is no secret that a lot of homeowners who want to sell their homes have been waiting (for several years in some cases) for a better housing market before listing their house.  Mortgage rates are relatively low, inventories are at their lowest level in years, and confidence in the housing market is the highest it’s been since before the mortgage crisis.

Sounds like you should consider selling, right? The short answer is “maybe”, but there are several factors to consider in determining whether it is the right time to sell for you.

Location: What’s going on in your local market? Before deciding to put your home on the market, it is very important to contact a local realtor (or a few) in order to see what’s happening where you live.

Maybe smaller homes are selling but larger, more expensive homes are sitting on the market for six months or more.  Maybe there is a high amount of inventory of homes like yours on the market, which generally creates more pressure to lower the asking price. In many coastal areas, markets are at a standstill due to the ongoing drama regarding flood insurance.

On the other hand, maybe your particular type of home is very popular in the area you live in.  Maybe condos are in high demand where you live.  Maybe a new large employer opened up and homes nearby are in high demand.

The point is there is a tremendous variety of real estate markets in the United States, and there is no way to determine the level of demand for a particular property just by looking at national statistics

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/09/is-now-the-right-time-to-sell-your-home.aspx