Daily Archives: December 9, 2014

Cultured Austin Home with Exquisite Gardens | #Waccabuc Real Estate

Exterior_Main_house.jpegPhotos by Zac Seewald

Location: Austin, Texas
Price: $4,500,000
The Skinny: One of the coolest residences in Austin is on the market. Built in 1979, the original structure was designed by architect Robert James Coot, and has since been transformed by additions from Paul Lamb in 1988 (the farmhouse style kitchen, outdoor dining area, and lower level guest suite) and Mell Lawrence in 2003 (the expanded master bedroom, the covered second-floor porch, and the first-floor bedroom suite). Broker Laura Gottesman describes the result as “eclectic but elegant,” and speaking of eclectic, as of 2007, it sits across from an almost Brutalist-looking, AIA Austin-approved concrete work studio, also designed by Lawrence. This swell hodgepodge has been listed for$4,500,000 by landscape architect James David, who has lived and worked on it for three decades with his partner, Gary Peese.

In the two acres of surrounding gardens, “terraces linked by limestone steps, landings and garden paths” sit alongside what’s essentially the showroom of David / Peese Design, the landscape architect firm the couple runs together. Their work here has been featured in House & Garden, Metropolitan Home,Garden Design, House Beautiful, and most importantly, for our purposes, Martha Stewart’s “field trip” series. Inside, the home has limestone and plaster finishings, and a diverse assemblage of furniture that a tasteful buyer should really try convincing them to part with, collected over the years by the couple behind Austin’s now-shuttered but fondly remembered home decor and gardening store, Gardens.

 

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http://curbed.com/archives/2014/12/09/-james-david-home-for-sale-austin.php

Insurance Tips for First-Time Home Buyers | South Salem Real Estate

Nothing can seem as exciting — and overwhelming — as buying your first home. Which do you do you first: look for the perfect property or chase the right mortgage? Where does a real-estate agent fit into the picture?

There’s so much to consider that many first-time buyers don’t think about home insurance — a factor that will be important when it comes to closing on their house.

You should factor the ongoing cost of home insurance into your home-buying budget, because it will probably show up in your monthly mortgage payment along with payments on your loan principal and interest and your property taxes. That means you should go into your search knowing the basics about insuring your house and what can drive up the cost of coverage.

Once you choose the house and negotiate an offer, it will be time to find an insurer. There are a few issues to take into consideration before settling on a provider — all policies are not created equal. Using these tips can help you save money and ensure that you have quality coverage to protect your largest investment.

Give yourself credit

You know credit matters when it comes to getting a favorable interest rate on your mortgage. But did you know it also matters for home insurance? That’s because home insurance providers use your credit report as part of the formula for assessing the risk you pose as a policyholder. Their models show that consumers with good credit are much less likely to file claims.

So before you get too far into the buying process, assess your credit and take steps to improve your score. At the very least, make sure to correct any errors. Improving your credit score can result in big savings on your mortgage and your home insurance premiums.

Shop around

The price of home insurance varies widely from carrier to carrier. That’s because each provider has a different algorithm for determining customer premiums. This is one reason why it’s a good idea to comparison shop. You could end up saving yourself hundreds of dollars simply by getting a few different quotes.

Don’t skimp on coverage

While you want to save money on home insurance, it’s important not to skimp on coverage. Standard home insurance policies typically offer protection from a variety of potential risks, ranging from liability to damage from weather-related perils. However, you may want to adjust or add coverage depending on your needs.

 

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http://www.zillow.com/blog/insurance-tips-first-time-buyers-165791/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

Renting Now Half as Affordable as Buying | Cross River Homes

As rent soars across the US, Zillow found that renting a home is half as affordable as buying one. In the third quarter of 2014, U.S. renters could expect to spend about 30 percent of their incomes on rent, while those buying homes could expect to spend just 15 percent of their monthly incomes on their mortgage payment.

The report reveals a big shift from the years before the real estate bubble, between 1985 and 2000, when rent was typically more affordable in major metros than buying.  Now, in most metros, those who can come up with a down payment are better off buying, in terms of affordability.

Even in the least affordable metros — like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston — renting was a more affordable option before the real estate market crash. But since then, rent has increased while the cost of buying a home has fallen in many places, so that renting is now the less affordable option — sometimes by a large margin.

Younger buyers making smaller down payments spend slightly more than other buyers on mortgage payments — a median of 17 percent of their incomes — but buying is still more affordable for them on a monthly basis.

“Despite rising home values, homeownership remains very accessible for buyers that can scrape together a down payment — even a relatively modest one — find a home to buy and secure financing,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

Humphries has said he expects 2015 to be a breakthrough year for younger buyers to enter the market, and many of those buyers will decide to buy because rent is so unaffordable. At the same time, some renters are spending so much on rent they will struggle to save for a down payment, even if they want to buy.

 

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http://www.zillow.com/blog/rent-half-as-affordable-as-buy-165842/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

 

November Chicago Real Estate Market Update | Katonah Real Estate

Once again, in about 2 weeks, the Illinois Association of Realtors is going to report that Chicago home sales declined in November – by about 12.3% – and once again I’m going to tell you that it’s not really that bad – depending upon your perspective. The Chicago real estate market is really doing OK when you look at non-distressed sales.

First of all the real decline in November home sales was more like 10.2% when calculated on a consistent basis. But more than 100% of the decline was attributable to a decline in distressed sales. In other words, when you just focus on non-distressed properties the Chicago real estate market actually saw a 6.7% increase in home sales.

But the headline number did drop and the graph below puts November into perspective vs. previous years with all the Novembers flagged with red squares. It looks like it was pretty much in the middle of the pack for the previous 7 years. And on the other side of the bubble you would have to go back to 1998 to find sales at this level.

Chicago monthly home sales

Chicago Home Contract Activity

Home sale contract activity remains on the light side, which is what is driving the low sales numbers ultimately. I’m currently estimating November contract activity at 9.1% below last year’s level. You can see the long term trend in this number in the graph below, which shows the numbers trending downward for several months now.

Chicago home sale contract activity

Pending Home Sales

The graph below tracks pending home sales, which is essentially the cumulative difference between contracts written and sales closed, in terms of months of supply. It’s an indicator of how many months of closings can be fed from properties that are already under contract. Although the numbers have been running lower than last year November popped back up to right around where it was last year at 2.2 months supply.

Chicago pending home sales

Distressed Home Sales

As I mentioned above the big story is the decline in distressed home sales, which is the main driver of lower home sales these days. Notice how this segment of the market is now down to only 20.2%, the lowest level by far since I’ve been tracking it. That’s down from 32.8% last year and a high for November of 43.8% in 2011.

 

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http://www.chicagonow.com/getting-real/2014/12/november-chicago-real-estate-market-update-home-sales-drop-err-not-really/