Monthly Archives: February 2014

Housing Scorecard: America still healing from Great Recession | North Salem NY Real Estate

Despite positive trends in the housing market, officials caution that the economy is still healing from the Great Recession, the Obama Administration said in the November housing scorecard.

Home prices stayed relatively still according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index, which increased to 165.8 in December from 165.9 a month prior. Year-over-year the index is up from 145.8 in November 2012.

Existing homes sales climbed to 405,800 from 401,700 in November, just marginally down from 408,300 a year prior, the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors said.

The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that new home sales slightly fell to 34,500 in December from 37,100 in November, but is barely up from 33,000 from December 2012.

Additionally, the supply of existing-homes for sale posted little change from a year ago and ticked up to a 4.6-month supply in December from 4.5-month supply last year, but significantly down from a 5.1-month supply in November, NAR found.

Although foreclosure starts are up from 52,800 in November, coming in at 52,100 in December, starts are still drastically down from 72,500 in 2012, RealtyTrac recent report revealed.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28898-housing-scorecard-america-still-healing-from-great-recession

5 Essential Steps to Success in Social Media Marketing | Cross River Realtor

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Social media accounts for 27 percent of all time spent online and has become a popular way for customers to discover and research brands, and for marketers to reach out to potential customers. 93 percent of marketers currently say they use social media for business, and in 2013 there was a surge in popularity of new networks like Pinterest, Vine, and Instagram. This year, expect more sites, specifically Google+, to gain additional traction and become a people’s daily lives. Before businesses jump into social media, here are the five essential steps to success in social media marketing.

1. Start with a Plan

1 in 4 small businesses have no strategy in place for social media marketing. If a business wants to be successful in driving sales and leads from social, they need to have a clear digital strategy that incorporates social media.

Each social network has different audience demographics, so businesses should strategically choose which outlets to utilize based on their target customers. Examples of demographic differences include:

67 percent of people online use Facebook, making it the top social network
Facebook users are 60 percent female
The average Twitter user is a 28-year-old woman
Instagram users are most likely to be between 18 to 29
Pinterest skews heavily female, with 80 percent of users being women
Pinterest attracts women with more education and higher income

Think about your customer by outlining the personality types that are likely to purchase your product or service, including overall lifestyle, and add value for them online.

Once the appropriate social channels selected, take a look at what is working for competitors, and start to create a content calendar. This helps businesses organize, plan ahead and stick to a regular social content schedule.

2. Create Quality Content

Quality content engages audiences, is shared across multiple platforms, and garners more interest in a brand. It also makes a difference when it comes to SEO.

So what it quality content? It is:

Informative
Sharable
Actionable
Relevant to the target audience

Here is an example of quality social media content from Tic Tac.

Surprise! The Gain on the Sale of Your Home May Be Taxable | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Since 1998, most people haven’t had to worry about owing taxes when they sell their home, even if they clear a hefty profit when they do so. There’s no longer any need to buy another house to roll over any gain, and in many cases the taxpayers don’t even have to report the sale of their homes on their tax returns.

You can still owe tax on some or all of the gain from the sale of your home, however. Tax will be due if one or more of the following are true.

1. You didn’t own and live in the house for two of the last five years If you sell your home at a gain before two years are up and you don’t qualify for any of the exceptions, you pay tax on the gain.

Exceptions: If you have to move because of health, a job transfer, or other unforeseen circumstances, you may still be able to exclude your gain. The maximum amount you can exclude will be prorated.

For example, let’s say you were single and you owned and lived in a house for one year before you were transferred by your employer to another state. You met the requirements for 50% of the two-year time period. You can exclude up to $125,000 of gain from the sale ($250,000 times 50%.)

2. The house appreciated in value when you were not living in it Prior to 2008, you could have a vacation or investment home for years — decades, even — and watch it go up in value. So long as you moved into it for two years before you sold it, you could exclude up to the maximum amount of gain. That loophole has been closed. You cannot exclude gain from while you were not living in the house. For this purpose, the house is assumed to have gone up in value the same amount every year while you owned it.

3. The house went up in value more than the exclusion amount It’s not far-fetched, especially in some parts of the country. The amount of gain you can exclude from the sale of a home is $250,000 ($500,000 if filing jointly). A home can go up in value more than $250,000, or $500,000 if you are filing jointly. You’ll pay tax on the gain over that amount.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/09/surprise-the-gain-on-the-sale-of-your-home-may-be.aspx

New home? Tips for getting to know the garden | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Americans are a restless bunch. They change locations with a frequency that would tire a migrating songbird.

But there is more to moving day than unpacking boxes; there’s also learning to care for that garden inherited with the new home.

If you were thinking ahead, you asked for an inventory of the plants and accessories that came with the house.

“There’s no problem with asking owners for a list of landscape items and for an explanation about the plantings,” said Shirley French, an agent with the Woodstock, Va., office of Funkhouser Real Estate Group. “Usually, the owners are more than happy to give you a list. In fact, if they know the purchasers are interested, that will make for good feelings on both sides.”

Gardening priorities are determined mostly by the seasons. You won’t be mowing the lawn in February, although you might be combing the seed catalogs.

But where to start with a newly purchased property?

Michael Becker, president of Estate Gardeners Inc. in Omaha, Neb., suggests that putting safety first.

“Check out the dangers,” said Becker, a spokesman for Planet, the Professional Landcare Network that certifies green industry professionals. “Are the retaining walls stable? Are any trees leaning or diseased with dead branches?

http://news.yahoo.com/home-tips-getting-know-garden-144102428.html

Obtaining a mortgage increasingly seen as ‘easy,’ survey says | Pound Ridge Homes

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Even though new federal rules for mortgages kicked in this year, and lenders’ standards remain high, Americans are increasingly likely to think it’s “easy” to get a home loan, according to a report released Monday.

Last month 52% of respondents to a survey from federally controlled mortgage buyer Fannie Mae

/quotes/zigman/226360/delayed/quotes/nls/fnmaFNMA said they thought it would be “easy” to get a home mortgage today. That share was a record-high for the series, which goes back to mid-2010. Fannie’s survey polls 1,000 American adults each month.

January’s result should be good news for housing-market observers who have been concerned about the impact of new mortgage rules, along with rising rates, on demand. It seems that at least some would-be borrowers aren’t letting an evolving mortgage marketplace get them too down. Indeed, 70% of Fannie’s respondents said in January that they would buy a home if they were to move, matching a series high hit in October.

While Fannie’s results may be a bit surprising, recent data from the Federal Reserve signaled that some large banks are easing standards for prime home mortgages. Given the beating that lenders took from plunging refinancing applications last year, it makes sense that they are looking elsewhere to feed their hunger for mortgage revenue

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/02/10/obtaining-a-mortgage-increasingly-seen-as-easy-survey-says/

Is Now the Right Time to Sell Your Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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With the housing market on an upswing, is now the right time to put your house on the market?

A recent survey by Redfin found 38% of home sellers believe now is a good time to sell, up from 34% last quarter and an enormous improvement from 22% in the fourth quarter of last year.

It is no secret that a lot of homeowners who want to sell their homes have been waiting (for several years in some cases) for a better housing market before listing their house. Mortgage rates are relatively low, inventories are at their lowest level in years, and confidence in the housing market is the highest it’s been since before the mortgage crisis.

Sounds like you should consider selling, right? The short answer is “maybe”, but there are several factors to consider in determining whether it is the right time to sell for you.

Location: What’s going on in your local market? Before deciding to put your home on the market, it is very important to contact a local realtor (or a few) in order to see what’s happening where you live.

Maybe smaller homes are selling but larger, more expensive homes are sitting on the market for six months or more. Maybe there is a high amount of inventory of homes like yours on the market, which generally creates more pressure to lower the asking price. In many coastal areas, markets are at a standstill due to the ongoing drama regarding flood insurance.

On the other hand, maybe your particular type of home is very popular in the area you live in. Maybe condos are in high demand where you live. Maybe a new large employer opened up and homes nearby are in high demand.

The point is there is a tremendous variety of real estate markets in the United States, and there is no way to determine the level of demand for a particular property just by looking at national statistics

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/09/is-now-the-right-time-to-sell-your-home.aspx