Katonah 2012 sales up 48% – Prices down 12% | RobReportBlog
Katonah NY Sales 2012 2011 64 Sales 43 48.83% UP $661,500.00 Median Price $753,500.00 12.20% DOWN $365,000.00 Low Price $333,500.00 $4,000,000.00 High Price $3,600,000.00 2721 Ave. Size 3052 $303.00 Ave. Price/foot $289.00 196 Ave. DOM 178 95.17% Ave. Sold/Ask 93.51% $846,804.00 Ave. Sold Price $919,470.00
David Bianco, Deutsche’s chief market strategist, is calling for a 1,575 target this year on the Standard & Poor’s 500 fueled by expansion in price-to-earnings multiples. That will be driven, he said, by a healing in the U.S. economy which he said “has passed its housing crisis.”
The recovery will be broad-based, according to the bullish calls, with commercial real estate especially poised to run higher.
Global real estate investment trusts provided returns of 24 percent last year, while U.S.-based REITS repaid investors with an 18 percent profit, said Marc R. Halle, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors.
“Real estate is a real simple business, it’s supply and demand,” Halle said at Prudential’s media event Tuesday. “It’s building up demand if there’s no new supply. Real estate seems to be in a pretty good position in that we’re not creating any new competition.”
Halle points to a 3 percent to 5 percent dividend yield on REITs and net operating income growth of 4 percent to show that the industry is on increasingly solid ground.
Prudential more broadly also is bullish on stocks, with an expectation of a 16 percent return on the S&P 500 that is predicated on housing-led growth in the U.S. as well as resurgent multinational companies.
“We are making progress on the confidence front in the U.S. The housing market has turned around,” said Ed Keon, managing director and portfolio manager at Prudential’s Quantitative Management Associates. “It seems to be that the economy is going to get some traction this year.”
Of course, such a big bet can backfire, and that’s probably why many of the strategists who think stock prices have every reason to surge higher aren’t going all-in with their market calls.
“What happens in Washington is always an issue,” said LaVorgna, who fears the debt ceiling talks ahead as well as the consequences of Federal Reserve monetary policy. “That’s my hedge.”
Indeed, Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Annuities, warned of “tremors” that foretell market problems ahead, while Keon conceded that while things are looking up, the coast is far from totally clear.
“There’s still plenty to go wrong,” he said. “My guess is that the worst of the financial crisis is behind us.”
What does it take for new agents to succeed? Some 277 broker-owners and managers from the Texas Association of Realtors shared their observations about the factors they have seen that contribute to new agent success.
More than 1.5 million people currently hold real estate licenses in the United States, but only a small percentage actually transition from being new agents into being successful experienced agents. Part 2 of this series outlined the first six factors that predict agent success. Here are the remaining eight factors cited by the survey participants.
7. Business owner vs. job mindset
A major distinguishing factor between agents who succeed and those who exit the business is their mindset. Many new agents enter the business expecting it to be a job with flexible hours and great pay. They not only lack sales skills, they also have no conception about what it takes to create and manage a successful business.
As Rick Brown, owner of Realty Executives San Antonio, put it: “Unfortunately, new agents don’t realize how long it takes for most of them to get up and running so that they can make a living. Unless they learn the mechanics of the business, how to convert leads, and how to generate their own stream of business, it is unlikely that they will be successful.”
8. Has written goals and a written business plan
The research consistently shows that real estate’s top-performing agents operate from a written business plan. The Texas Association of Realtors study revealed that teachers, managers, and people who had held corporate or other business related sales positions were the most likely to be hired once they completed their licensing training.Part of the reason is that these careers require the ability to create a plan and then to implement it. This is especially true for people who have held corporate sales positions where they not only had to create a business plan, but they had to meet sales quotas as well. (The top three categories that produced the most recent hires of new agents in Texas were sales professionals from outside real estate, teachers and business owners/employees.)
9. Has effective face-to-face and telephone communication skills
Many younger agents communicate almost exclusively via text messaging. As a result, they often lack the face-to-face and telephone communication skills required to succeed in real estate. Moreover, they shy away from the various types of negotiation situations including the confrontations that are a pivotal part of the real estate sales success. Agents that lack face-to-face skills and the ability to confront others when needed often find the business to be so stressful that they choose to leave.10. Customer-focused vs. commission-focused
The research shows that it takes approximately five times as much effort to generate business from a stranger as opposed to generating a lead from your past customers and sphere of influence. As a result, commission-focused agents often struggle to generate repeat and referral business. In contrast, the very best agents are client-focused. They build strong connections with their clients and maintain them after the transaction has closed.11. Emotionally resilient — handles conflict well
A 2006 study, “What Makes a Successful Rookie Realtor?” demonstrated that emotional resilience (the ability to bounce back from failures and adversity) is a key predictor of real estate sales success. The Texas Association of Realtors study supported the same conclusion. Real estate is filled with conflicts and rejections. Agents who are easily discouraged or who cannot handle conflict well usually leave the business.12. Technology enhances face-to-face interactions
Agents must combine two critical skills to succeed in today’s environment. First, they must be up-to-date on how to use core technology skills as well as social media. Second, they must have strong face-to-face skills.The challenge occurs when agents use the technology as a substitute for face-to-face interactions. Even when agents have strong technology skills, they are likely to fail if they cannot combine their technology skills with strong face-to-face skills.
13. Has consistent systems and processes
The most successful new agents are those who implement systems as early as possible in their business. This can be a written business plan, a customer relationship management (CRM) system, a paperless transaction system, an automated newsletter, or something as simple as taking a different route to the office daily to spot for-sale-by-owners. Those who fail to implement systems are much more likely to leave the business.14. Service orientation
“Billion Dollar Agent: Lessons Learned” illustrated the importance of having good contacts and being dedicated to serving others. More than 70 percent of the agents they interviewed who had sold more than $1 billion in real estate were actively involved in their communities. The Texas survey results reinforced the same finding: The new agents who did the best had good contacts and were community-oriented.While the feedback from the broker/owners and managers is important, equally important is what the new agents themselves had to say. See Part 4 to learn more.
What does it take for new agents to succeed? Some 277 broker-owners and managers from the Texas Association of Realtors shared their observations about the factors they have seen that contribute to new agent success.
More than 1.5 million people currently hold real estate licenses in the United States, but only a small percentage actually transition from being new agents into being successful experienced agents. Part 2 of this series outlined the first six factors that predict agent success. Here are the remaining eight factors cited by the survey participants.
7. Business owner vs. job mindset
A major distinguishing factor between agents who succeed and those who exit the business is their mindset. Many new agents enter the business expecting it to be a job with flexible hours and great pay. They not only lack sales skills, they also have no conception about what it takes to create and manage a successful business.
As Rick Brown, owner of Realty Executives San Antonio, put it: “Unfortunately, new agents don’t realize how long it takes for most of them to get up and running so that they can make a living. Unless they learn the mechanics of the business, how to convert leads, and how to generate their own stream of business, it is unlikely that they will be successful.”
8. Has written goals and a written business plan
The research consistently shows that real estate’s top-performing agents operate from a written business plan. The Texas Association of Realtors study revealed that teachers, managers, and people who had held corporate or other business related sales positions were the most likely to be hired once they completed their licensing training.Part of the reason is that these careers require the ability to create a plan and then to implement it. This is especially true for people who have held corporate sales positions where they not only had to create a business plan, but they had to meet sales quotas as well. (The top three categories that produced the most recent hires of new agents in Texas were sales professionals from outside real estate, teachers and business owners/employees.)
9. Has effective face-to-face and telephone communication skills
Many younger agents communicate almost exclusively via text messaging. As a result, they often lack the face-to-face and telephone communication skills required to succeed in real estate. Moreover, they shy away from the various types of negotiation situations including the confrontations that are a pivotal part of the real estate sales success. Agents that lack face-to-face skills and the ability to confront others when needed often find the business to be so stressful that they choose to leave.10. Customer-focused vs. commission-focused
The research shows that it takes approximately five times as much effort to generate business from a stranger as opposed to generating a lead from your past customers and sphere of influence. As a result, commission-focused agents often struggle to generate repeat and referral business. In contrast, the very best agents are client-focused. They build strong connections with their clients and maintain them after the transaction has closed.11. Emotionally resilient — handles conflict well
A 2006 study, “What Makes a Successful Rookie Realtor?” demonstrated that emotional resilience (the ability to bounce back from failures and adversity) is a key predictor of real estate sales success. The Texas Association of Realtors study supported the same conclusion. Real estate is filled with conflicts and rejections. Agents who are easily discouraged or who cannot handle conflict well usually leave the business.12. Technology enhances face-to-face interactions
Agents must combine two critical skills to succeed in today’s environment. First, they must be up-to-date on how to use core technology skills as well as social media. Second, they must have strong face-to-face skills.The challenge occurs when agents use the technology as a substitute for face-to-face interactions. Even when agents have strong technology skills, they are likely to fail if they cannot combine their technology skills with strong face-to-face skills.
13. Has consistent systems and processes
The most successful new agents are those who implement systems as early as possible in their business. This can be a written business plan, a customer relationship management (CRM) system, a paperless transaction system, an automated newsletter, or something as simple as taking a different route to the office daily to spot for-sale-by-owners. Those who fail to implement systems are much more likely to leave the business.14. Service orientation
“Billion Dollar Agent: Lessons Learned” illustrated the importance of having good contacts and being dedicated to serving others. More than 70 percent of the agents they interviewed who had sold more than $1 billion in real estate were actively involved in their communities. The Texas survey results reinforced the same finding: The new agents who did the best had good contacts and were community-oriented.While the feedback from the broker/owners and managers is important, equally important is what the new agents themselves had to say. See Part 4 to learn more.
One of the hottest specialty markets in home construction is benefitting from the boom in single family rentals that began as a way for entrepreneurs to provide from the flood of foreclosures that has reached 4 million properties since 2007.
However, instead of buying foreclosures and renovating, some home builders are designed and building homes from scratch to be rented out rather than sold, with the builder operating as property manager and well as retaining ownership.
Despite some recent ups and downs, the share of single-family homes built for rent has doubled. According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, the market share of single-family homes built for rent, as measured on a one-year moving average, stands at 5.1 percent for the third quarter of 2012. This is only slightly lower than the recent peak of 5.35 percent set at the beginning of 2011, and is considerably higher than the 20-year average of 2.7 percent.
With housing starts currently at 861,000 a year, the number of new built-for-rental properties is about 43,911 annually at the current market share. Only 27,000 homes started over the past year, according to the National Association of Home Builders
The built-for-rent share of single-family homes is considerably smaller than the single-family home portion of the rental housing stock, which is 27 percent according to the 2010 American Community Survey. As single-family homes age, they are more likely to transition from the owner-occupied to the rental housing stock.
A new entrant in the built-for-rent market is Jacksonville Wealth Builders,which had been buying foreclosed homes to sell to investors. So many investors are pursuing bank-owned homes to operate as rentals that it’s pushed prices as high as it would cost to build them.
With demand for single-family rentals on the rise, Jacksonville Wealth Builders has turned its attention to buying foreclosed residential lots, building rental homes to sell to investors, renting the homes and providing property management services.
“We’re starting to see prices go much higher [on foreclosed homes],” said Greg Cohen, Jacksonville Wealth Builders managing partner told the Jacksonville Business Journal. “We’ve basically bought 95 percent of our properties through [the Multiple Listing Service] and the connections we have, but those opportunities aren’t there as much.”
One option that turns renters into owners are rent-to-own programs that reduce carrying costs on unsold inventory and helps convert more homes to sales.
Some builders have a separate division to handle the rental side of their business, while others prefer to work with customers on a case-by-case basis. T&M Building Co. of Torrington, Conn., and Classic Communities Corp. of Harrisburg, Pa., are two examples.
Renters sign a use-and-occupancy agreement that allows them to live in the home until they can refinance it and take T&M out of the equation. In most cases, customers are able to purchase their home after renting for one year. Occasionally it takes two years. Ugalde says there have been no defaults or evictions. Customers can also elect to sign a conventional lease, but they always have the option to buy, he says.
