Monthly Archives: August 2013

Closing Costs Keep Pace with Prices | North Salem Real Estate

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Cash-strapped home buyers struggling with soaring home prices have an unpleasant surprise awaiting them at the closing table. Closing costs are rising nearly as quickly as home prices.

On average, mortgage closing costs rose 6 percent over 2012 to $2,402, according to Bankrate.com. Origination fees accounted for the bulk of the increase, rising 8 percent, while third-party fees for services like title and appraisals edged up 1 percent to $672.

Hawaii’s average closing costs of $2,919 are the highest in the nation. Alaska ($2,675), South Carolina ($2,658), California ($2,639) and New Mexico ($2,566) join the Aloha State in the top five.

Wisconsin ($2,119), Missouri ($2,188), Kansas ($2,193), Michigan ($2,203) and Washington State ($2,208) comprise the bottom five.

“It’s unlikely that you will move to Wisconsin solely to pay lower closing costs, but you should shop around and compare fees from different loan originators to make sure you get the best deal in your area,” said Polyana da Costa, senior mortgage analyst, Bankrate.com.

Closing costs
2013
rank

2012 rank†

State

Lender’s
origination fees

Third-party
fees

Origination plus
third-party fees

12Hawaii$1,970$949$2,919
24Alaska$1,925$750$2,675
36South Carolina$1,935$723$2,658
435California$1,977$662$2,639
543New Mexico$1,807$760$2,566
68North Carolina$1,840$718$2,558
718New Jersey$1,804$741$2,545
834Oklahoma$1,919$600$2,519
920Florida$1,798$719$2,517
107Delaware$1,742$760$2,502
1127Ohio$1,803$693$2,496
1211Georgia$1,816$674$2,490
133Texas$1,690$778$2,468
14*26Pennsylvania$1,920$540$2,460
14*13North Dakota$1,797$663$2,460
1624District of Columbia$1,826$623$2,449
1722Montana$1,767$680$2,446
1819Louisiana$1,782$662$2,443
1933Maryland$1,816$624$2,441
2031Tennessee$1,806$631$2,437
2121Connecticut$1,757$680$2,436
2236Maine$1,761$647$2,408
2349Idaho$1,767$641$2,407
2438Iowa$1,757$647$2,403
2541Arkansas$1,782$614$2,396
2628Indiana$1,732$656$2,387
2748Colorado$1,758$625$2,383
2817Kentucky$1,732$649$2,381
2937Arizona$1,752$621$2,372
3046Oregon$1,707$663$2,370
3123Virginia$1,718$650$2,369
3244South Dakota$1,732$617$2,349
3339Alabama$1,721$627$2,348
3415Rhode Island$1,686$660$2,347
3551Nevada$1,642$704$2,346
3610Nebraska$1,656$689$2,345
371New York$1,504$827$2,331
3840Mississippi$1,682$639$2,320
3945Utah$1,663$653$2,316
4050Wyoming$1,678$623$2,301
4114Massachusetts$1,601$699$2,300
4216West Virginia$1,578$705$2,283
4329Minnesota$1,641$612$2,253
4412New Hampshire$1,576$676$2,252
4542Vermont$1,578$667$2,245
469Illinois$1,591$647$2,238
4747Washington$1,603$605$2,208
4832Michigan$1,591$611$2,203
4930Kansas$1,558$635$2,193
5025Missouri$1,542$646$2,188
515Wisconsin$1,438$682$2,119
Average$1,730$672$2,402

*Denotes a tie

 

 

Closing Costs Keep Pace with Prices | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Ellen and Portia List $11M SoCal Ranch Featured in Elle Decor | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Hollywood power couple and prolific flippers Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have decided to part with yet another high-dollar property, just months after it was featured in an Elle Decor spread. The equestrian farm in Thousand Oaks, Calif. has been owned by DeGeneres and de Rossi since 2009 and undergone a complete renovation. The 26-acre compound, listed for close to$11M, includes eight cottages, an office, several barns, and a tennis court. Despite de Rossi’s passion for horses and love for the property, the couple seems to be moving on to assuage Ellen’s obsession with decorating. They are said to have purchased a $26M Montecito villa that has already received a pricey renovation from designer-to-the-stars John Saladino. Meanwhile, the couple has a much more modest Beverly Hills penthouse—perhaps housing for staff or family—on the market for a comparatively paltry $899K.

· Hidden Valley Farm [Sotheby’s International Realty]
· Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi List Thousand Oaks Ranch [Zillow Blog]

Ellen and Portia List $11M SoCal Ranch Featured in Elle Decor – Celebrity Real Estate – Curbed National.

Luxury Housing’s Latest Trend: ‘Limited-Edition’ Residences | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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When Louis Birdman and Gregg Covin decided to build a luxury condo tower on Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard, the developers won approval for a 750-unit tower rising 60 stories. They enlisted internationally acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid – it will be her first skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere — to design a $300 million concrete tower that will rise over Biscayne Bay.

 

But rather than carve out hundreds of studios and one-bedroom apartments, the Miami-based developers decided to try something less conventional: offer massive luxury spreads with enough square footage to rival standalone mansions. The resulting One Thousand Museum Tower plan consists of a mere 83 units spanning the full 60 stories.

 

“We are a very limited-edition building,” says Birdman of the project, which will break ground once a round of financing is complete. “We are not a small building, but we are small in terms of the number of units.”

 

One Thousand Museum Tower’s smallest units, half-floor apartments encompassing 4,600 square feet, start at around $4.9 million. Full-floor units will run up to $15 million and a duplex penthouse spreading across 11,000 square feet will likely have an asking price of $30 million. Units will have private balconies, 10- to 20-foot-high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and access to swanky building amenities like a rooftop helicopter pad, a spa, indoor and outdoor pools, valet parking and “security” concierges.

 

Multifamily construction has roared back to life across the U.S. But rather than build low- to mid-range housing for the lion’s share of the population, more developers are going boutique, rolling out ultra high-end condo buildings with extra spacious, amenity-laden units promising a high degree of exclusivity.

 

Call them “limited edition” residences. Developers like Birdman and Covin are targeting this niche market because it translates into significantly more money for their efforts. “It’s a trend we saw in the marketplace of downtown Miami,” explains Birdman. “Units over 3,000 square feet are bringing a premium of almost double [the price per square foot] over average-sized units of 1,100 square feet.”

 

Other developers in the Miami area have caught on. Boutique hotelier Ian Schrager is peddling The Residences at the Miami Beach Edition, a luxury hotel-condo hybrid in Miami Beach comprised of 26 “limited-edition” condos scattered across the top floors of the existing hotel and in a new neighboring tower. The residences, set to be unveiled next year, are designed by architect John Pawson and will boast “outdoor rooms” stocked with private pools, dining areas and pergolas.

 

Seven weeks after the sales office opened in January, more than half of the 26 condos – which had been priced 200% higher than the local market — had reportedly already found buyers, for an average of more than $3,000 per square foot. In March two side-by-side Edition penthouses totaling more than 16,000 square feet (including 9,843 square feet of interior space) went for $34 million in South Florida’s most expensive condo deal to date.

 

Luxury Housing’s Latest Trend: ‘Limited-Edition’ Residences – Forbes.

3 Unique Ways to Use Pinterest for Business | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Does your business have a clear Pinterest strategy?

Have you been struggling to figure out howPinterest could help market your business?

Pinterest represents a massive opportunity for both consumer-focused and business-to-business companies.

In this article, I’ll show you three ways to build a successful Pinterest presence for your business.

tips for a winning strategy

Strategy plays a vital role in success on Pinterest.

#1: Increase Your Brand Authority

Do you want to establish authority in your field? This is a common goal for many businesses on Pinterest.

Middle Sister Wines positions itself on Pinterest as an authority in the wine industry by creating several Pinterest boards that provide useful and educational informationto their followers while promoting their products in fun ways.

middle sister wines on pinterest

Middle Sister Wines.

You don’t have to create all the content that you pin on Pinterest. To help position yourself as an authority in your field, share from a carefully vetted combination of sources to ensure your boards contain the most accurate and useful information available.

Middle Sister’s Wine Tips and Tricks board contains videos from their YouTube account, alongside resources from other industry experts. The board addresses topics such as how to pair wine with food and what type of glass should be used to serve different kinds of wine.

Follow Middle Sister Wines’ lead and pin relevant and helpful resources. Your followers will come to think of your account as the go-to place for reliable information about your subject. And as you increase your authority, you’ll continue to build trust, which could lead to increased customer loyalty and referrals from brand advocates.

 

3 Unique Ways to Use Pinterest for Business | Social Media Examiner.

EPA sues Westchester for failure to comply with safe drinking water act | Waccabuc Homes

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The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a civil lawsuit against Westchester County Tuesday over the lack of ultraviolet treatment of drinking water for some towns in county Water District 1.

Lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s office had been pushing the county to enter into a consent decree settling the violations and gave the county a Friday deadline, but the county refused and urged the government to rethink the lawsuit.

“The federal Safe Drinking Water Act is designed to protect public health by requiring suppliers of water to take steps to prevent water-borne diseases from being transmitted to the public,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement. “Westchester’s prolonged failure to comply with treatment rules designed to prevent cryptosporidiosis is unacceptable.”

The lawsuit seeks compliance and fines of $37,500 for each day the county was in violation.

The ultraviolet treatment kills cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause gastrointestinal illness. The district serves Scarsdale, White Plains, North Castle, Mount Vernon and Yonkers. Most of Yonkers and Mount Vernon already get treated water and the county has been working on a fix for the other municipalities that could be in place by the spring. But, even then the treatment will be two years past the deadline.

 

 

EPA sues Westchester for failure to comply with safe drinking water act – Northern Westchester.

Soaring Rates Spook Sellers | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Nearly half of all sellers in a recent survey are worried that rising mortgage rates will tank buyer demand, a doubling of concern since the first quarter.

Some 47 percent of sellers now are concerned that rising rates would cause a decrease in buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the second quarter, though 32 percent said they had no major concerns about selling.

“Of course home sellers are worried about interest rates, but the reality is that many buyers believe that rates will continue to go up,” said Los Angeles real estate agent Eric Tan. “They know if they don’t move now, they might be kicking themselves all over again in three months.”

Despite increasing concerns over interest rates, 48 percent of sellers believe now is still a good time to sell, up from 45 percent in the second quarter. Interestingly, belief that now is a good time to buy was up one percent from last quarter. Although slight, this increase in buying confidence is the first in more than a year.

However, only 17 percent of respondents believe that home prices will rise “a lot” in their area in the next 12 months, up from 15 percent in the second quarter; 85 percent of respondents believe that home prices will rise in their area in the next 12 months, unchanged from last quarter.

“Results from our seller survey point to growing confidence in the US economy, and recognition that broad economic gains could erode sellers’ advantages in the housing market as mortgage rates rise,” explained Redfin economist Ellen Haberle.

The survey, by Redfin, was based on responses from 1,448 homeowners across the U.S. who had used Redfin in the last three months. Data was collected from July 19 through 21.

Nearly half of all sellers in a recent survey are worried that rising mortgage rates will tank buyer demand, a doubling of concern since the first quarter.

Some 47 percent of sellers now are concerned that rising rates would cause a decrease in buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the second quarter, though 32 percent said they had no major concerns about selling.

 

 

Soaring Rates Spook Sellers | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Six Ways to Grow a LinkedIn Group, Tips From the Pros | Cross River Realtor

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Are you part of a LinkedIn group that has stalled?

Do you want to create a LinkedIn group?

LinkedIn groups can be a great way to network with your customers, peers and other professionals in your industry.

But it can be challenging to grow your group and get the people you want to join and participate in the discussions.

We asked the pros to share their best tips to grow your LinkedIn groups.

Follow these tips and you’ll find it easier to create the type of community you’re looking for.

#1: Use Email to Send Invitations That Convert

viveka von rosen

Viveka Von Rosen

You’ll need to send out invitations to get your contacts to join your LinkedIn group and LinkedIn has a form for you to do this.

The default LinkedIn message that’s sent when you fill out the form below is: “Subject: Name invites you to join Group” and “Welcome Message: I would like to invite you to join my group on LinkedIn.” Unfortunately this has about 1% chance of getting someone to your group.

linkedin tweetchat participants

Standard LinkedIn group invitations can be boring. (Note the link field at the bottom gives you the link to your group. Copy this and create a custom URL for your group to use in your email invitations.)

Let’s face it. There’s enough noise out there. If you want to get someone to join your group, you need to give them a good reason. Instead of using the standard LinkedIn invitation, use email to craft the kind of message that will get your contacts to join your LinkedIn group.

In my opinion, the person who does this best is Jill Konrath. She has created a beautifully branded email that she sends out to her email list. It not only shares the link, but some of the reasons you might want to join her group, Fresh Sales Strategies.

 

Six Ways to Grow a LinkedIn Group, Tips From the Pros | Social Media Examiner.

HUD deputy secretary to discuss fair housing settlement | Armonk Real Estate

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Deputy Secretary Maurice Jones of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development discusses the fair housing settlement with Westchester County in an Editorial Spotlight interview at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

To view the session and join the live chat, go towww.lohud.com/editorialspotlight.

To make a comment in advance, reach us via Twitter

@lohudopinion or email Digital/Social Media Editor Brian Howard at bjhoward@lohud.com.

Also, read Westchester housing settlement monitor James Johnson’s report on fair housing in Westchester, and other key documents, on lohud.com or directly at http://lohud.us/19A2uvH.

 

Watch live: HUD deputy secretary to discuss fair housing settlement Wednesday at 2 – Northern Westchester.

Home-price growth near seven-year high | Katonah Real Estate

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Annual home-price growth in June was close to the fastest pace in seven years, as inventories of existing and new homes remained low, according to data released Tuesday.

Home prices, including distressed sales, rose 1.9% in June, and were up 11.88% from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic (NYSE:CLGX) , an Irvine, Calif.-based analysis firm. In May, prices were up 11.93% from the prior year, the fastest annual growth since February 2006.Excluding short sales and other distressed properties, prices rose 1.8% in June, and were up 10.97% from the year-earlier period, reaching the fastest annual pace since February 2006.

“The U.S. housing market experienced robust price appreciation during the first half of 2013 and our forecast calls for double-digit growth through July,” said Anand Nallathambi, CoreLogic’s chief executive. “Despite their rebound of late, home prices remain reasonable in a historical context, with most states near peak affordability levels.”

 

 

Home-price growth near seven-year high – Economic Report – MarketWatch.

North Salem sales up 11% – Median price up 14% | RobReportBlog

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North   Salem NY Real Estate ReportRobReportBlog
20136 months ending 8/72012
29Sales26
$548,000.00median sold price$477,500.00
$200,000.00low sold price$215,000.00
$8,900,000.00high sold price$2,600,000.00
2946average size2667
$258.00ave. price per foot$239.00
206ave days on market226
$889,137.00average sold price$656,150.00
95.31%ave sold to ask93.09%