Daily Archives: March 13, 2014

25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes | Bedford Hills Real Estate

HGTV has brought together some of the top real estate experts to compile the definitive list of the biggest mistakes we all make when buying and selling our homes.

25. Buying a House for Its Decor Remember that you are buying the house, not the things inside it, so make sure you see beyond the decorations and look at the bones of the home. Focus on the floor plan and the square footage. You also might want to measure the dimensions and graph out how that’s going to work with your belongings.

24. Not Providing Easy Access for Showings Make your house easily accessible to potential buyers. If there’s nowhere to park or it’s difficult to get into, buyers may just skip it and look at someone else’s property. 23. Not Researching the Neighborhood It’s absolutely critical that you research the neighborhood before you buy. Check out the area, amenities and the school system to be sure that your address corresponds with the correct school district. Also attend a community meeting, if possible. You’re not just buying a house, you’re buying a piece of that real estate and the land around it.

22. Losing Money With Auctions While the starting bidding price for a house on auction might be a good deal, it doesn’t mean the final price will be. Make sure that you are very strict with your budget when you are bidding; do not go over your final price because you got wrapped up in the excitement of a bidding war. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you buy a property at auction, you aren’t able to get any of the warrantees or guarantees, and you are not able to do a home inspection. Find out if the auctioneer is going to add those charges on top of the sale price as well as if there are any liens on the property. You could be responsible for paying the property taxes on that house you just bought, which could make what looks like a good deal into a really bad deal. 21. Trying to Make the “Hard Sell” While Showing If you are selling your house, you really shouldn’t be around at the open house. You might want to try to sell the place on all the reasons you think the house is great, but that might not translate to the buyer. If you leave, you allow the buyers to give unbiased objective feedback to the agent, which is only going to help you in the end. 20. Waiting Until Spring to Sell Your House Spring is the busiest real estate activity period, but that does not mean that people don’t buy houses 365 days of the year. That doesn’t mean you can’t emphasize your home’s seasonal amenities.

When the real estate market is really hot and is appreciating really fast, people tend to look at it like it’s the stock market. But playing real estate is nothing like the stock market; when you invest in real estate, you really need to take a long-term approach.

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/25-biggest-real-estate-mistakes-avoid-them-202100124.html

 

7 Facebook Marketing “Tips” and “Tricks” That Don’t Actually Work | Chappaqua Realtor

 

People will go to all sorts of lengths to get attention from a small subset of Facebook’s 1.23 billion monthly active users. Sometimes it’s good — people focus on creating more compelling content or integrating Facebook with the rest of their marketing strategy. Though it takes more time, their Facebook Page grows steadily and actually delivers results. Continue reading

Morgage Rates Average 4.37% | Armonk Real Estate

 

Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates edging up following a week with little new economic and housing news.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.37 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending March 13, 2014, up from last week when it averaged 4.28 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.63 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.38 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.32 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.79 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.09 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.03 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.61 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.48 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.52 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.64 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates edged up amid a week of light economic reports. Of the few releases, the economy added 175,000 jobs in February, which was above the market consensus forecast and followed an upward revision of 25,000 jobs for the prior two months. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate nudged up to 6.7 percent, the first rate increase in over a year.”

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. For more information please visit www.FreddieMac.com and Twitter: @FreddieMac.