Solar Power Outside the Sunbelt | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
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Daily Archives: February 23, 2013
How to Lay a Foundation for a Passive Solar Home | Chappaqua Real Estate
It’s Time to Re-Invent Advertising | Mt Kisco Realtor
Real-Time Content Marketing: Fact or Fad? | North Salem Real Estate
Saving Money on Homeowners Insurance | Cross River Real Estate
Mortgage lenders require borrowers to carry homeowners insurance not because they are concerned about your home. They make you pay to protect the asset that guarantees your mortgage.
Homeowners insurance protects a homeowner against loss from fire and other hazards that may impair the value of their home. An estimate for the cost of homeowners insurance appears on the lender’s Good Faith Estimate when a borrower is approved for financing and the actual amount is shown on the HUD1, which is the closing document that lists all settlement costs.
However, homeowners don’t have to accept the insurance proposed by a lender and they’re well advised to shop around, because better deals often are available.
In an given state, there might be 100 companies writing homeowners insurance in Michigan are competing against the other companies to provide the lowest possible rates, broadest coverage, and best possible service. Competition works best, however, when homeowners take the time to shop for the rates and coverage that are best for them. Online sites like www.shophomeinsurance.net/home-insurance-quotes.html make it easy to compare coverage and rates.
Shopping for insurance is not as hard as it seems. There are two basic questions to ask any agent or company representative: what losses does your policy cover, and what losses are not covered by the policy? In addition to these questions, you should ask what additional coverage you might need given your situation. Most companies provide a number of additional coverages, often called “riders” or “endorsements”. Examples of additional coverage include such things as jewelry, furs, firearms, and backup of sewers and drains.
Most states allow companies to provide discounts on the cost of coverage. Most people will be eligible for one or more discounts with a company. Although agents and company representatives generally will tell you the discounts for which you are eligible, be certain to ask about them. They can save you money.
You should also ask about group discounts that might be available. Membership in some associations or groups might qualify you for a discounted group policy. You can also save money by insuring your car and your home with the same company
You could b eligible for a wide variety of coverages. Be certain to ask for the coverage that meets your specific needs. When you are deciding which type of policy suits your needs, consider what your house is worth, how much it would cost to replace it, and how much you can afford to spend for insurance.
The Power of Publicity for Real Estate Agent | Katonah Real Estate
Have you ever picked up the local newspaper to read an article quoting one of your competitors? Have you ever wondered why some real estate agents seem to get in the local newspaper or on local TV more than others?
There’s no reason you can’t be the subject of the next story. That publicity is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to your competitor. The newspaper story or television story reached tens of thousands of potential clients when it was published or aired. It will live on the Internet for years, where tens of thousands of buyers and sellers will come upon it when they are searching online for an agent and learn about him.
Let’s count the ways your competitor will get business from a single good news story. First, he will get cold, unsolicited calls from customers in the market to buy or sell. Second, he will reach tens of thousands more with the power of a third party (the newspaper) endorsement that supports the other marketing he is doing. Third, his article will live on the Internet, poised to pop up when a customer searches for local real estate agents on Google. Fourth, other real estate agents and brokers will see the story and be more likely to refer him business. Fifth, lenders and vendors he works with will see it, be more eager to work with him and refer him business. The list goes on.
How much money did you spend last year on prospecting and buying leads? Your competitor just accomplished more than you did and it cost him absolutely nothing. You are just as good a real estate professional. You know just as much about real estate and the local market and you would make as good an interview as anyone else in town. Except that you don’t know how to go about it.
You don’t need luck. You don’t need “media contacts.” You don’t need to advertise in the newspaper or on TV. You don’t need to be president of your local Realtor board or CEO of the biggest brokerage in town. You just need to learn how to get media coverage. Steve Cook and I (David Lereah) have written a guide to help real estate agents get local media coverage; it’s called: How to Get Media Coverage that Generates Referrals, Leads, and Income.
Over the next several weeks, we will publish selected excerpts from this guide so our readers can learn strategies and receive advice from one of the top media people in the real estate business – Steve Cook.
Investors Outspent Lenders and Homeowners to Rehab Foreclosures | Bedford Corners Real Estate
Expenditures on foreclosures and short sales drove the remodeling market in 2011, as investors spent more to rehabilitate each foreclosure they purchased to flip or rent than either lenders or owners who bought foreclosures to live in. However the rental share of overall spending on improvements has been shrinking since the housing bust.
A new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found that in 2011 lenders made improvements in about one third of the foreclosed properties prior to sale, with an average expenditure of about $6,500 per unit or $1.7 billion. About 60 percent of owner-occupant purchasers undertook improvements averaging $11,100, totaling $4.2 billion, while investors spent even more per unit, an average of$15,600, for a total of $3.9 billion.
In total, spending on distressed properties added almost $10 billion to home improvement expenditures for the more than a million distressed properties that came back onto the housing market in 2011, including 760,000 lender owned units and 300,000 short sales.
Renovating foreclosed or abandoned homes benefits the entire neighborhood. Joint Center research has shown that home prices in neighborhoods with higher levels of improvement spending appreciate more rapidly, explaining why investing in blighted neighborhoods has been a national priority in dealing with the foreclosure crisis, the report said.
Some 4.4 million formerly owner-occupied units were shifted to the rental market between 2007 and 2011. Another 4.6 million were vacant in 2011 and may (at least temporarily) become part of the rental stock as demand continues to grow.
Now, however, the quality of the rental stock is declining. Joint Center estimates show that the expanding supply of rental units in recent years seems to have more than offset increased demand, thereby limiting the incentive to raise improvement expenditures. Between 2001 and 2007, average inflation-adjusted spending on owner-occupied units increased by 40 percent while spending on rental units showed a slight decline. Then, during the housing bust from 2007 to 2011, spending on owner-occupied units fell more than 25 percent and spending on rental units nearly matched that drop.
The rental share of overall improvement and repair spending has therefore been shrinking. After averaging close to 25 percent of the market through the early part of the last decade, the rental share dipped to 16 percent at the peak of the housing boom and has only edged back up near 20 percent since then.
January Inventories Fell 25 Percent Below 2012 | Armonk Real Estate
How far can inventories fall? The latest existing home data suggests we have yet to find out because they are still in freefall just two months before the spring buying season nears. Will sellers warm up in time to populate the MLSs with enough listings to get buyers excited? Or will the inventory drought drive buyers away at the most important time of the year for housing markets?
Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 4.9 percent to 1.74 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 4.2-month supply 2 at the current sales pace, down from 4.5 months in December, and is the lowest housing supply since April 2005 when it was also 4.2 months, according to the National Association of Realtors’ existing home sales release.
Listed inventory is 25.3 percent below a year ago when there was a 6.2-month supply. Raw unsold inventory is at the lowest level since December 1999 when there were 1.71 million homes on the market.
“We expect a seasonal rise of inventory this spring, but it may be insufficient to avoid more frequent incidences of multiple bidding and faster-than-normal price growth,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
NAR reported that the national median existing-home price was $173,600 in January, up 12.3 percent from January 2012, which is the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases; that last occurred from July 2005 to May 2006. The January gain is the strongest since November 2005 when it was 12.9 percent above a year earlier.
Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales – accounted for 23 percent of January sales, down from 24 percent in December and 35 percent in January 2012. Fourteen percent of January sales were foreclosures and 9 percent were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 20 percent below market value in January, while short sales were discounted 12 percent.