The Freddie Mac Multifamily Research Group today released its multifamily real estate market demand forecast for the next several years.  The paper forecasts a base case that entails slow economic growth with an additional 1.7 million new multifamily renter households between now and 2015. In addition, the paper forecasts that the multifamily market and demand for rental housing will remain solid and healthy during the same period of time.The forecast analyzes demographic trends, housing supply and economic data.  The scenario-based approach explores rental market conditions under different economic environments: slow growth, no growth and accelerated growth.Forecast Highlights:Recent declines in homeownership related to economic stress and high foreclosures in the single-family housing market have benefited the multifamily market.The homeownership rate will drop 1 to 2 percentage points if the current slow recovery continues.The single-family rental market, a growing and distinct market from multifamily, has expanded 16 percent (about 3 million units) since 2007.Multifamily market demand is expected to be strong through 2015 primarily due to demographic trends and a decreasing national homeownership rate.Rental demand will continue to grow faster than historical averages.Multifamily demand is likely to be 1.7 million new renter households between now and 2015 (slow growth prediction).  If the economic recovery accelerates, demand will be in 1 million new renter range; and if no recovery, then in the 1.6 million range for new renters.Quotes:Attributed to David Brickman, senior vice president of Freddie Mac Multifamily”The research supports the optimism that currently pervades the multifamily market. It confirms that multifamily is a bright spot in in the real estate market and the economy more broadly, and it will likely continue to shine for quite some time.””The economic data indicates that current rental markets are very strong with low vacancy rates, rising rents and solid demographic trends. What this research demonstrates is that these conditions are likely to remain in place for several years to come.” Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four homebuyers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. www.FreddieMac.com. Twitter:@FreddieMac

SOURCE Freddie Mac

For further information: Patti Boerger, +1-703-903-2445, Patricia_Boerger@FreddieMac.com

Home > Blogs > New York > Westchester County > Bedford > Patch: Fox Lane Campus has Electricity – Schools Open Tuesday |  Bedford Real Estate

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Robert Paul’s Blog

Bedford, Bedford Corners, Pound Ridge, Armonk, Katonah, Chappaqua

By Robert Paul, Prudential Douglas Elliman, 914-325-5758 | Agent in Bedford, NY

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Patch: Fox Lane Campus has Electricity – Schools Open Tuesday | Bedford Real Estate

Posted under: Home Buying in Bedford, Home Selling in Bedford, Property Q&A in Bedford  |  November 5, 2012 12:44 PM  |  1 view  |  No comments

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(Bedford Central finally has power restored to all seven of its schools roughly a week after Hurricane Sandy hit the region, according to a Monday morning announcement. As a result, Fox Lane High School and Fox Lane Middle School, the lone holdouts for closure on Monday, will reopen on Tuesday. Below is the district’s announcement):

We are pleased to report that power has been restored to the Fox Lane Middle and High School.

All seven Bedford Central School District Schools will be open on Tuesday, November 6th for students and staff.   As a reminder, these schools are: Bedford Village, Bedford Hills, Mount Kisco, Pound Ridge and West Patent Elementary Schools, and Fox Lane Middle and High School.

Transportation will be provided to these in-district schools. Buses will not be able to go into the small number of roads that are still closed or not passable

Out-of-District transportation will resume on Tuesday for those schools that are open.

Please be reminded that  Tuesday, November 6th has been changed to a student attendance day, the Superintendent’s Conference Day which was originally scheduled had been cancelled 

Thank you!

You can continue to follow updates:

By calling our telephone message machine at 241-6000

By checking our website at www.bcsdny.org 

By checking Twitter @bcsdnotes

Business confidence in the Bay State dipped two-tenths of a point last month to 51.1 as state employers await both election results and action to address the fiscal cliff of federal spending cuts and tax increases planned to go into effect in January, according to the latest index released by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

“The political polls have shown a closely divided national electorate, perhaps increasing concerns among our survey sample of deadlock in Congress just as congressional action becomes most urgent,” said Raymond G. Torto, global chief economist at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., and chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors, in a statement. “A year ago, in the aftermath of the debt ceiling crisis, poor ratings of national conditions brought our index even lower; at that time, however, Q3 domestic economic growth was a bit slower, and the European situation seemed more critical.”

The AIM index is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral, a reading above 50 as positive, and a reading below 50 as negative.

The U.S. index of national business conditions among respondents suffered the biggest drop — off 5.6 points at 39.4, according to the index.

“This is a very low number for an economy which is still growing, albeit slowly,” said Fred Breimyer, regional economist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and a BEA member. “It is the lowest reading of 2012; only 6 percent of survey respondents called national conditions ‘good,’ while 50 percent rated them ‘bad.’ ”

The Massachusetts index of conditions within the Commonwealth was off 1.5 points to 48.6, according to the index.

The current index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, shed a tenth of a point to 50.8, while the future index, which measures expectations for six months ahead, was off two-tenths to 51.5.

“Massachusetts employers are not experiencing a significant deterioration of conditions, and they still expect the business climate to improve somewhat in the coming months,” Breimyer said. “This looks like uncertainty about policy in the short-term, with hope for some resolution after the election.”

All three of the company-related sub-indices rose in October. The broad company index rose 2.1 points to 55.9, the sales index added 1.8 points to 54.4, and the employment index gained 3.4 points to 53.7.

Confidence remained higher among manufacturers at 52.8, a 0.3 point drop, than among other employers at 49.8, a 0.5 point rise, but the gap narrowed, according to the index.

AIM President and CEO Richard C. Lord said to some extent Massachusetts employers seem most concerned with what Congress will do between Election Day and Inauguration Day to head off a looming fiscal crisis.

“Right now, they don’t know what tax rates will be in two months, which makes planning difficult; and last year’s political deadlock which brought us to this situation was not a confidence-builder, to say the least,” he said. “And while a temporary fix may be necessary, it will not be sufficient — we need to see constructive agreement on a long-term solution, soon.”

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=92270806” target=”_blank”>Vote 2012</a> image via Shutterstock.” width=”225″ />Vote 2012 image via Shutterstock.

The last economic data to be released before the election has given no advantage to either candidate. We did pick up 171,000 jobs in October, a little better than forecast, and revised up another 84,000 in prior months.

However, the average workweek was unchanged for the fourth month in a row, and hourly earnings fell slightly, over the last year rising only 1.6 percent. “U-6” — the measure of unemployment including “involuntary part-time” — is still 14.6 percent.

On net a brighter sign than the jobs report: the ISM survey of manufacturing in October crawled 0.2 further into positive ground at 51.7.

Markets are flat, I think suppressed more by the election than anything, although stocks are clearly hurt by diminished earnings. Foreign action has also been muted and deferred by our election, especially in Europe.

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So, Wednesday morning — assuming we know the election results by then — how will events and markets break from months of unnatural quiet?

1. We’ll know by then. The 2000 election was a coin toss like this one, but the damned thing won’t land on its edge again … not twice in four tries.

2. Who? Obama has an Electoral College edge, but that edge has narrowed steadily. Iffy polling results this year seem to make even the pollsters queasy. This one may more resemble ’48 and the Chicago Tribune’s “Dewey Beats Truman!” — but either man could be Truman.

3. With no forecast to work with, markets can’t discount either outcome. Wednesday could be an explosive trading day, but maybe not. If it’s Obama, things are going to happen fast; if it’s Romney, no matter what he says after winning, he still won’t be in office for almost three months.

4. Fiscal cliff. If it’s Romney, then Obama and Congress will punt 90 days. If it’s Obama, markets will begin to trade rapidly on prospects for a deal. If Obama sticks with his ethereal hope that “Congress will reach a compromise,” find something big and solid to hide under.

In our system of government — intentionally designed so that it’s hard to get things done, and so that nothing at all gets done in a hurry –either the president leads, putting his reputation on the line and giving cover to legislators of his own party, or nothing of substance ever happens.

If we seem in for a replay of 2011, markets aren’t going to like it. If we get a deal — a real one — markets will like it no matter how tilted Left or Right.

5. No matter who gets elected, Tim Geithner will be gone from Treasury. He has wanted to leave for a year, and the White House has not explained why it begged him to stay. Anybody can do nothing. It’s been a challenge to annoy Right, Left, and Business Center, but the Prince of Procrastination has been up to it. Whoever replaces the Wizard of Waiting cannot do less.

6. Any pop the economy gets from an Obama resolution of the fiscal cliff will be smothered in its crib by runaway regulation. Romney might overdo regulation relief, but it would take many years to do harm: Really bad financial actors and practices are long gone. Even Vikram Pandit is gone. The link from regulation to the economy is finance. Somebody is going to have to decide, quickly, whether we want Dodd-Frank and Basel III risk-based bank capital rules, or want loans. A or B.

7. Housing. Finance is everything, and the most damaged by the “regulation bubble.” Edward J. DeMarco, czar of Fannie and Freddie, must be either removed or recalibrated. There will come a day to privatize these two, but squeezing the life out of them before a private supply exists makes a broad housing recovery impossible. Oh, by the way, the FHA needs a $50 billion to $100 billion bailout.

Housing’s benefit from the election? I don’t see any. Obama’s record is clear: nothing. However, Romney is fond of the privatizing nincompoops. Worse than nothing.

8. The new guy will nominate the next Fed chairman. There are many able candidates, but this is a tough stream in which to change horses.

Lou Barnes is a mortgage broker and nationally syndicated columnist based in Boulder, Colo. He can be reached at lbarnes@pmglending.com.

Contact Lou Barnes:
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Copyright 2012 Lou Barnes

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http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=82557193” target=”_blank”>Moderation</a> image via Shutterstock.” width=”225″ />Moderation image via Shutterstock.

You’ve possibly noticed that there’s an election afoot. And if you are one of the billion folks with a Facebook account, you might have noticed something else: the sometimes surprising political leanings, ideologies and even rantings of the people you thought you knew so well.

As much as most of us hate to be predictable, the fact is many of us do hold beliefs and values that fall more or less neatly into a political bucket, whether conservative, liberal or moderate.

As I see it, the recession had a similar effect with real estate. It revealed the real estate styles of each one of us much more than we even knew.

Though generalizations can be pitfall-prone, I’ve found that being conscious of your inherent philosophy on real estate can help you (a) take steps to do the research and create a decision-making process that dials back the undesirable effects of any extreme tendencies you know you have, and (b) account for the differences between your style and your mate’s in advance of big blow-ups and clashes that come up at the most inopportune times, if you let them.

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Here are some insights to help you figure out what type of real estate consumer you are:

Conservative homebuyer: Some of the most conservative real estate consumers I know are those who simply threw in the towel during the recession, avowing that they would simply rather remain renters-for-life than endure the ups and downs of the market. But that’s certainly the far right — for the most part, conservative real estate consumers are simply characterized by their aversion to financial risk and their relatively modest hopes and desires in terms of what they look for in a home.

These are the people who:

• Buy smaller, less expensive, less flashy homes than they can afford, according to conventional measures of affordability.

• Buy homes much less expensive than their lender says they are qualified for.

• Buy later than they really could, saving up longer before buying than they must.

• Put much larger down payment(s) into their homes upfront than they are required to in order to keep a very tight lid on their mortgage payments as a percentage of their monthly income.

• Take only 15- or 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, in any market.

• Pay their mortgages off early — sometimes years early — by making extra payments all along the way.

• Never borrow cash against their home’s equity for anything.

• Would just as soon poke their own eye out as pay more than the asking price or engage in a bidding war for a home — these are the folks who are willing to buy the home with an electric pole in the front yard or the home with condition “challenges” in order to benefit from the discount.

Course-corrections/things to watch out for: These folks generally don’t end up in bad positions, financially, on their homes, but they can end up costing themselves money in terms of missed opportunities from waiting so long for the bottom of the market that they end up buying only after prices start going up. They and their families also miss out, often, on the opportunity to enjoy their homes as much as they can and should, by placing the discount potential ahead of the actual characteristics of a given home.

Conservatives are susceptible to becoming obsessed with the market and fixating on interest rates, kicking themselves and further making themselves miserable if they don’t buy at the absolute bottom (which is nearly impossible) or lock their rates on the lowest day they can remember — even if the rate they do lock costs them only $2.35 more per month than the day they woulda, coulda or shoulda locked on.

These people should get clear on what they and their families truly want in terms of the lifestyle they want to be able to live in a home, and really revisit this list thoroughly before compromising based on price. They should also ask their agent for help staying focused on the comps: Sometimes an over-asking-offer price is still a good price compared to a home’s fair market value, if the sellers priced it low to start.

Liberal homebuyer: At the extreme end of the liberal real estate spectrum are those who saw the recession as an opportunity to double-down on their belief in the long-term viability of American real estate as an investment. These folks scraped up every spare cent they could lay hands on — credit card advances included! — to buy up foreclosures and hold them for the long term.

Less extreme liberal real estate consumers are the category that was most impacted in the real estate recession, because of their tendency to overextend themselves, buy the biggest and best house someone — anyone! — will give them the money for, and to jump on the bandwagon of the day, whatever that is (buy, sell, walk away, refi, etc.).

Liberal homebuyers tend to be characterized by the following sorts of actions:

• Buying at the very, very top of their price range.

• Buying the very biggest/best home they can afford — even if they can’t really, truly afford it.

• Borrowing money from others to come up with their down payment money.

• Putting the very smallest possible down payment into their home purchase.

• Taking adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) because that’s the only way to get the payment down to a point they can afford.

• Buying when pundits say buy, selling when they say sell.

• Pulling as much cash out of their homes via equity lines and loans as humanly possible, then spending the cash on things like vacations and cars.

• Overinvesting in real estate — and failing to save money to have a cash cushion or retirement funds or anything else, for that matter.

Course-corrections/things to watch out for: These folks are served well to get a financial planner involved in their money matters well in advance of trying to buy a home. They can use professional help in understanding the long-term financial impacts of their decisions, and in setting up personal discipline and good habits around saving, investing, spending and how they use credit before they even take the step of buying a home.

In some ways, these sorts of folks are served well by the relatively conservative post-recession lending climate we’re in — the fact that lenders require hefty cash reserves and are no longer making interest-only, short-term ARMs is actually a good thing for these folks.

Moderate homebuyer: Moderation in all things is an aspirational standard, and that applies to real estate just as it does to most other endeavors. With respect to real estate, moderates don’t have a super-predictable set of behaviors. Rather, real estate moderation is focused more on how they make their real estate decisions than on what real estate moves they make.

Moderates tend to do their own budgets, run the math, get a good basic sense for what they are looking for, talk to the relevant professionals (a list that, at various times, may include a real estate broker/agent, mortgage pro, accountant or other tax professional, financial planner and real estate or estate planning attorney(s)) — and then get out there and buy a home, no muss, no fuss.

No drama. No trauma. No paralysis of analysis. No frenzied rush into — or out of — the market based on the trend of the day. Of course, they take their home and their finances seriously, so moderates don’t make offers lightly or throw money at homes. But moderates tend to buy homes that they feel they can afford and enjoy without going into the poorhouse, but also without trying to get their mortgage payment lower than their electric bill.

Moderates do sometimes invest in real estate, but they also have other, non-real-estate-related assets in their savings and retirement portfolios.

Course-corrections/things to watch out for: Moderates tend to make their decisions about whether and when to buy based on their lifestyles, their families, their plans for the future and their personal finances — not based on what their mom wants them to do or what some television pundit or home price chart suggests they should do. And that’s a good guideline for the rest of us to course-correct to.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

                                                   

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Copyright 2012 Tara-Nicholle Nelson

All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.

Your business relies on your computer and your mobile device being up and running at all times. These tools are now an essential part of your day to day life and if one of these tools goes down, who do you turn to?

A lot of agents are a one man or woman team and do not have the security of having a CTO on hand to consult. That’s where My Computer Works lends a hand.  They are a US based company and most importantly, a US based helpdesk.

Need training on your new Android phone?  Computer running slow?  Need help with an application?  These are just a few of the reasons people use My Computer Works.  Below is a list of the most common reasons real estate agents seek the help of the MCW team.

Why Realtors call for tech support

o   Outlook setups or issues with Outlook

o   Wireless connectivity issues

o   Mailing lists/Mail merge

o   Printer install/support

o   Syncing Smart Phone with laptop

o   MLS assistance (resizing photos, zipping photos, etc)

o   Help managing, importing and manipulating pictures

o   Slow computer/virus

o   Adobe PDF problems

They can help with pretty much anything under the sun and their pricing is quite reasonable.

You know TSA had to hook you up with a discount though!  When you decide you are ready to hire their help desk, call  877-282-4307 and mention Tech Savvy Agent and get $50 off the activation fee of $69.95!

I added a few videos below that I thought might be helpful for you.  The first one is a quick interview with Taylor Scott.  In this interview she gives us a few “best practices” for our computers and also goes over the My Computer Works service in more detail.

The other videos I found on their YouTube page and I thought they would be helpful for you guys.

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-55912p1.html?cr=00&pl=edit-00“&g… Oparin</a> / <a href=”http://www.shutterstock.com/?cr=00&pl=edit-00″>Shutterstock.com</a>” width=”225″ />Hurricane Sandy cleanup in Brooklyn, N.Y. Anton Oparin / Shutterstock.com

Next week the National Association of Realtors opens its annual convention in Orlando, with thousands of its members’ homes underwater — or washed away completely.

Many Realtor members living in the northeastern U.S. will not make it for the first time in years. One out of four American families is in various stages of recovery from the incredible disruption of everyday life Hurricane Sandy delivered during a lumbering visit through the neighborhood.

In some cases, Sandy may have left a boat blocking their driveway. Or maybe they have a diabetic child who needs insulin, and even if a drug store is open somewhere there’s no gas in the car.

I was going to write a column about Sandy’s economic impacts, but after seeing television interviews of desperate young mothers and grandmothers staring into the camera begging for help, I realized they did not care about the impact this storm would have on the price of lumber or the potential surge in jobs.

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Standing in the cold where your home used to be will do that to a single mother of two standing on the spot where her kitchen used to be.

Through it all, we see families who face the devastation with resolve to come back stronger than ever. We see neighbors helping neighbors. And we wonder how the families of first responders cope with their fears and needs as their spouses rush to unknown risks that await them just around the corner or at the next bridge or tunnel.

We are reminded that the adage “You are either making progress or falling behind” is not true. Sometimes just staying off the rocks is enough progress in some storms.

Twenty-five percent of Americans are fighting to make this kind of progress right now, doing all they can to not emotionally crash, as they ramble through the rubble searching for their favorite family memories, or wait one more cold night for their electricity to come back on as they contemplate yet another ride to work that might be faster if they walked.

Recovery will start soon. Healing will take a lifetime, or the end of one.

We cannot replace memories, we can only try to remember them. That why we take pictures, shoot videos and save baby shoes.

It is why we see mothers and wives who lived years in a home they lost overnight rambling through the rubble looking for the teddy bear, a dead husband’s photograph, or baby shoe that helps them not to forget to remember the good days, as they go through their own personal storm.

As a Realtor, how do you start over when your business is washed away? Homes you listed, gone. Closings you had scheduled, canceled.

If there is one group in the country who understands their community and the people who make it go, it is you, the Realtor. You know more about schools, roads, taxes, and new industry coming or leaving town than anybody.

You help families buy, sell, settle in, move out, find their way. Your town is going to need your expertise like never before. And you will be the one your neighbors look to for news about your area.

Perhaps there has been no time in the history of your profession that your charitable assistance is needed at such a deep level to reassure, to encourage and to replace your neighbor’s pain with the hope and faith to believe that this too shall pass.

It is a high calling.

After all, faith, hope and charity are the foundation of America’s soul.

David Fletcher, a licensed real estate broker and lifetime achiever, is founder of EMentoru, a company dedicated to helping real estate agents and homebuilders help each other make sales. Contact him by phone or text at 407-234-2349, or by email at davidf@ementoru.com.

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