Daily Archives: August 27, 2013

Don’t Be Shy. Questions To Ask Your Contractor | Armonk Real Estate

When it comes to hiring a contractor, most folks think they do the right amount of due diligence. They search for reviews, they check with the Better Business Bureau, and they likely ask the prospective pro whether or not they’re licensed and insured. Doing your research is a good thing. It helps you avoid the mistake of hiring the wrong pro. However, many homeowners still feel intimidated when dealing with their contractor. So much so, that nearly 84 percent of homeowners we surveyed spent time researching their project before talking to their contractor in hopes of sounding like they knew what they were talking about!
Getting taken advantage of is a legitimate fear when hiring a pro to tackle a major home improvement project. One of the ways to prevent that from happening is by knowing how much others in your area are paying for similar projects. Our Cost Guide helps you get the pricing info you’re looking for so you can go into the budgeting process with the right information.
However, you’ll need more than pricing info to get the peace of mind you’re looking for. Thankfully, all it takes is the confidence to ask any and all questions you might have. Here are five must ask questions every homeowner should ask, as well as five questions you might not have thought to ask.

What you want to hear is that they’ve been in business long enough to establish a credible track record of successful work experience.

2. Are you licensed, insured, and/or bonded?

At the very least you want to know that they’re licensed (and it’s current) and carry worker’s comp and liability insurance to cover any accidents. Being bonded is not a universal requirement, so not all contractors are. Think of bonding as an insurance policy for the homeowner that protects you if the job heads south.

3. Do you guarantee your work in writing?

While a verbal guarantee is nice, it offers no guarantees that the contractor will actually stand behind their work. You want a written guarantee that states exactly what is and isn’t covered.

Thirdhand smoke harmful to home prices and people | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Homes that housed a regular smoker are worth, on average, 20 percent less than they would be otherwise, said a surveyed group of Ontario, Canada, real estate agents.

Not only that, but thirdhand smoke — smoke residue that has seeped into walls, carpets and the ventilation system of a home and become part of a home’s atmosphere — has been shown to be carcinogenic by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.inman.com/wire/thirdhand-smoke-harmful-to-home-prices-and-people/#sthash.LVOe035E.dpuf

FHA eases rules for some credit-impaired applicants | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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In a move designed to more fairly treat borrowers whose credit reports contain collections actions and disputed debt accounts, the Federal Housing Administration has eased previous rules that would have led to large numbers of application rejections.

The agency also released guidance to lenders instructing them on how to handle “extenuating circumstances” claimed by borrowers who experienced serious economic setbacks triggered by the recession, but who are now employed, paying their bills and seeking FHA financing.

On Friday, FHA issued two mortgagee letters spelling out its new approach to widespread credit issues affecting applicants for its low down payment loans. The guidance on collections and disputed accounts (ML 2013-24) replaces controversial rules the agency first issued in early 2012.

That guidance, which required payoffs of collections or disputed accounts totaling an aggregate $1,000 or more before applicants could go to closing on an FHA loan, triggered intense criticism from lenders and community groups.

FHA subsequently withdrew the rule in June 2012, promising a future policy that would constitute a “balanced yet flexible approach to promote access to affordable credit while protecting the insurance fund.”

Critics of the rescinded rules pointed out that many consumers have disputed accounts on their credit reports that were not caused by the consumers themselves, or where they had legitimate reasons for not paying the account in full.

Mortgage rates increase on speculation over bond-buying program | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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In advance of the release of minutes from a July Federal Reserve meeting that was expected to offer clues on the central bank’s timeline for its bond-buying program, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.58 percent with an average point of 0.8 percent for the week ending Aug. 22, up from 4.4 percent last week and 3.66 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Meanwhile, rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages edged up; rates on five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans slipped marginally; and rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs held steady.

Minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee released yesterday appeared to show general support for Ben Bernanke’s plan to scale back its bond-buying program this fall.

Source: Freddie Mac

http://www.inman.com/wire/mortgage-rates-increase/#sthash.Z1RH8VkB.dpuf

Bedford Farms Added to Westchester County Agriculture District | Bedford Homes

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Six farms, in North Salem, Lewisboro and Bedford, have been added to the county’s agricultural district.

The farms are SweetWater Farm in North Salem (13.30 acres), Gossett Brothers Nursery in Lewisboro (5.50 acres), Sun Raven Farm in Bedford, (4 acres), Canterwood Farm in North Salem (19.11 acres), 102 Titicus Road in North Salem (1.31 acres) and Mill Pond Farm in Bedford (24.79 acres).

Adding farms to the agricultural district allows the county to apply for state grants.

“This protects these parcels,” county Legislator Peter Hatckham said. The parcels are all in Harckham’s district.

Harckham said farming in Northern Westchester is becoming a big business, which is good for the county and the environment.

“Farms help lower obesity rates,” Harckham said. “We need to make more of an effort to harvest locally and give our kids fresh produce.”

Harckham said people in Westchester are beginning to realize how beneficial farms are, especially with tourism.

“In the fall people are always going up to farms picking apples, pumpkins and berries. It builds sales tax revenue,” Harckham said.

The properties are used mainly for farming crops, dairy production or raising horses. Agricultural land in Westchester, including family farms and homesteads passed from generation to generation, has been converted to other land uses in the past several decades. Therefore, agricultural property buyers might be interested in viewing these farms.

Existing-home sales not reflective of current market | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Existing-home sales flourished in July, with the median price continuing to see double-digit year-over-year increases, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Total existing-home sales — which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 6.5% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million units, up from a downwardly revised 5.06 million in June. Year-over-year, existing-home sales rose 17.2% from the 4.50 million-unit pace set in July 2012.

The impressive growth in existing-home sales would seem to suggest a continually improving housing market. But David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide, believes it may be premature to assume this report is directly correlated with the current housing market.

Existing-home sales data tends to lag what’s happening in the market to some extent because the data takes into account when a buyer actually closes on the home.

The lag time for existing-home sales is typically 60-90 days, said Berson, meaning the report on July sales is actually more reflective of the housing market between April and June, when mortgage rates were significantly lower than they are today.

Recovery Lags in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Rockford, Fresno, Stockton | Bedford Hills Homes

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Markets in northern Maryland, southeast Pennsylvania and downstate Illinois are lagging the furthest behind in the recovery while metro area markets in upstate New York, southwest Florida and the Bay Area of Northern California are leading the housing recovery, according to RealtyTrac’s Housing Market Recovery Index.

The market recovery index in Baltimore was lowest among the 100 major metro areas ranked in the report thanks to underperforming numbers for all factors except for underwater percentage and cash purchase percentage. Although home prices have risen 9 percent from the bottom in Baltimore, that is short of the 19 percent increase nationally. Similarly, foreclosure activity was down 26 percent from its peak in Baltimore, but that decrease is well below the 65 percent decrease nationally. The Maryland metro of Hagerstown-Martinsburg also posted one of the five lowest recovery index scores.

Two metros in southeastern Pennsylvania posted total index scores that were in the five lowest among the 100 major metro areas ranked in the report: Allentown and Philadelphia. Although both had below-average percentages of underwater homeowners and distressed sales, both also underperformed in the areas of home price increases, foreclosure decreases, institutional investor and cash purchases, and unemployment rate.

An 11 percent unemployment rate helped place Rockford, Ill., among the five lowest recovery index scores. The downstate Illinois metro area also underperformed in the areas of underwater homeowners, decrease in foreclosure activity, percentage of distressed sales and cash sales, and rebounding home prices.

Three California metros posted recovery index scores among the 20 lowest despite above-average increases in home prices: Fresno, Visalia-Porterville, and Stockton. Unemployment rates above 12 percent, along with above-average percentages of underwater homeowners and distressed sales, lowered the index scores in these Central Valley California cities.

Four Florida cities posted recovery index scores among the 20 lowest: Pensacola-Ferry Bass-Brent, Tallahassee, Ocala, and Port St. Lucie. All four cities had above-average percentages of underwater homeowners along with below-average participation by institutional investors.

Buying Bedford Real Estate

Robert Paul Realtor buying Bedford real estate

Daily Archives: August 27, 2013

Don’t Be Shy. Questions To Ask Your Contractor | Armonk Real Estate

Thirdhand smoke harmful to home prices and people | Chappaqua Real Estate

FHA eases rules for some credit-impaired applicants | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Mortgage rates increase on speculation over bond-buying program | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Bedford Farms Added to Westchester County Agriculture District | Bedford Homes

Existing-home sales not reflective of current market | Bedford NY Real Estate

Recovery Lags in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Rockford, Fresno, Stockton | Bedford Hills Homes