Category Archives: Chappaqua

How borrowers can still get a mortgage below 3 percent | Chappaqua Real Estate

With the average mortgage interest rates well north of 4 percent and predicted to move toward 5 percent by the end of the year, it may surprise you to know that there are still ways to get a rate below 3 percent.

Yes, we said below 3 percent. And yes, on a house.

“It’s definitely possible to get a rate below 3 percent. It’s just going to be a unique product, and not for everyone,” says Nate Kuchera, a senior loan officer with Bank of Manhattan of Newport Beach, California.

But if it is for you, it will save you a lot of money, he says. Here are ways people are still locking in sub-3 percent rates.

Get a 10-Year Mortgage

If you’re looking for the lowest rate you can get on a fixed-rate mortgage, a 10-year term is your best bet, says Kuchera. He says it’s a rare product, but some people do choose it. And right now, he says you can likely find 10-year, fixed-rate mortgages at below 3 percent.

“This is good for people who are on the brink of retiring,” he says. “They’re on the tail end of their careers and want to pay off their mortgage quickly but don’t want to do it in one big lump sum. So they refinance to a 10-year.”

In addition to paying off their home for retirement, he says they also have the opportunity to save a lot of money in interest. That, of course, depends on their original mortgage, he says.

Still, to illustrate how much paying off a mortgage in a shorter time could save you, consider that the lifetime interest on a 30-year, fixed-rate,$300,000 mortgage with a rate of 4.41 percent is $241,460. The lifetime interest on a 10-year, fixed-rate $300,000 mortgage with a rate of 3 percent is $47,619. That’s a $193,841 difference.

There is one thing to keep in mind, however, says Kuchera. With a shorter term mortgage, your monthly payments will be higher.

“Yes, your rate may be better but you know how life is, things come up,” says Kuchera. “So make sure you’re comfortable with the higher payment. If you are, you’ll save a lot of money.”

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/how-to-get-a-rate-below-3-percent-182724351.html

Pending home sales plunge 9.2% in April | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Pending home sales for the month of April plummeted 9.2% compared to April 2013, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

Contracts signed to buy existing homes increased 0.4% in April compared to March 2014, but that’s coming off three months of flat sales blamed on cold weather.

The expectation had been for at least a 2% gain month-over-month.

Optimistic economists expected that there was a swathe of pent-up demand that would flood the market at the start of the spring buying season. That didn’t happen.

“Higher inventory levels are giving buyers more choices, and a slight decline in mortgage interest rates this spring is raising prospective homebuyers’ confidence,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “An uptrend in closed sales is expected, although some months will encounter a modest setback.”

Sales have arrested despite mortgage rates now being at a near nine-month low after five straight weeks of steady declines. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage this week was 4.12%. Even refinancings have dropped to 37% of all mortgage activity, meaning borrowers are staying away despite historic lows.

Which means it could get worse, as Yun projects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to trend up and average 5.5% next year.

“The extent to which higher mortgage interest rates will impact housing affordability and sales depends on income growth, ongoing improvement in the labor market and any change to mortgage underwriting conditions,” he said.

This comes as the economy is looking at more bad news.

The nation’s domestic economic output for the first quarter was revised downward Thursday, posting a contraction of -1.0% from a meager positive 0.1% initially reported.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30140-pending-home-sales-plunge-92-in-april

See a Concrete House With a $0 Energy Bill | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Damon Gray has spent 10 years building wood-frame homes. That’s exactly why he stayed away from wood framing when he built his own home. Wait, what?

“I got sick of renovating homes that were falling down,” explains Gray, who lives in Victoria, British Columbia. “In B.C., it’s a wet climate, which is great for mold and rot. So when it came to my house, I kept telling myself, ‘You’ve got to stop building these things that are going to last only 30 years.’”

Instead, Gray went with a concrete structure to create a home built on super-energy-efficient Passive House design principles.He hasn’t lived in the house a full year yet, but so far, with the help of solar panels, he’s expecting his energy bill for the year to be $0.

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Photos by Leanna Rathkelly

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Damon and Annie Gray and their boys, Kael (age 2½) and Ollie (11 months)
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Size: 3,000 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Cost: $280 per square foot ($840,000)

After Gray measured the sun’s path, the L-shaped design emerged as the most advantageous. Gray learned that the property got the most sun on that L-shaped pocket at 3 p.m., so he responded accordingly. “If I changed the angle of the house by 15 degrees, it lessened the energy performance by 25 percent,” he says.

Where Can You Really Afford to Buy a Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Owning a home has long been associated with success, stability, and work ethic. An investment in your future, purchasing a home is one of your more significant financial decisions. It’s a decision two out of every three Americans have made in recent years.

Interest rates, housing markets, community and school ratings, and crime statistics are only a few of the factors that may weigh into the decision to buy a home. This week, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.33 percent, and next week this rate will likely change.

While finding the right home that will earn you a decent return on your investment is essential, perhaps even more critical is the need to find a home you can afford. HSH recently published a report on the annual salary required to purchase a home in 27 different metropolitan areas. Based on this report and other supplemental data, let’s see where you can afford to buy at the median home price.

How to build a tiny house for $30,000 | Chappaqua Real Estate

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This is Alek Lisefski’s tiny home, which was built on a 8-by-12-foot flatbed trailer and inspired by his desire to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. The home measures 13 feet and 4 inches tall, 8 feet and 6 inches wide, and 20 feet long, and can be pulled behind a car

http://realestate.msn.com/how-to-build-a-tiny-house-for-dollar30000

Drop in rates spurs rise in mortgage refinancing | Chappaqua Homes

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Mortgage applications edged slightly higher last week, as rates fell to their lowest level since November.

Applications rose 3.6 percent on week. However, the move was entirely due to a 7 percent gain in refinances, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Meanwhile, applications to purchase a home fell less than one percent on week but dropped 12 percent on year.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.39 percent from 4.43 percent. Concerns over whether or not the European Central Bank (ECB) might undertake easing measures at its June policy meeting spooked equity markets last week. Lackluster retail sales this week didn’t help matters. As investors flee to the relative security of the bond market, yields fall, and interest rates loosely follow those moves.

“We always get some response to any move to periodic highs/lows in rates. Some magic percentage of mortgage holders are always needing or wanting to refinance, and some percentage of that percentage is flexible as to their lock time frame,” said Matthew Graham COO of Mortgage News Daily. “Those are the folks that make the applications numbers move the most. In general, they’re locking more as rates are hitting periodic lows.”

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/drop-rates-spurs-rise-mortgage-110000227.html

Big bargains for sale in the 10 best small towns | Chappaqua Real Estate

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The words “small town” conjure an array of mental images — quaint streets, neighbors helping neighbors and backyard barbecues.

Smithsonian Magazine recently released its look at the “20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2014,” which inspired us to see if those towns were worth more than just a visit. The magazine limited the list to towns of less than 15,000 residents, so if you are looking to avoid the madding crowds and embrace small-town living, these cities may fit your bill.

We picked a home from each of the top 10 visit-worthy towns. You’ll find an interesting mix of high and low price points, charming homes and a converted church to boot.

http://realestate.msn.com/big-bargains-for-sale-in-the-10-best-small-towns

Demi Moore Wants to Sell Her San Remo Triplex for $75M | Chappaqua Real Estate

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[Photo of Demi Moore via Getty]

Actress Demi Moore is looking to sell her home in the celeb-favored San Remo for a whopping $75 million. According to the Post, the price tag—which makes the home a contender for the most expensive co-op sale ever—include’s Moore’s “stunning” triplex, along with a ground-floor two-bedroom. Sadly, there is no official listing, and the Post has zero details about what the apartment looks like. The A-lister has listed in the Upper West Side building for awhile, and last year, the co-op was in the news because Moore wanted ex-husband Ashton Kutcher to pay her for renovations to the unit, which was reportedly valued at $25 million.

Another celeb recently sold a triplex in the building >>

Over the years, the building has housed dozens of celebrities, including Donna Karan, Steven Spielberg, Glenn Close, Tiger Woods, Diane Keaton, the late Steve Jobs, and Dustin Hoffman, who sold his triplex for $21 million earlier this year. Moore is asking more than three times that (yes, yes, her asking price does include a second unit), so we’re very curious to see what, if anything, makes it worth that much dough

Mortgage applications climb 5.3% for week | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Breaking two weeks of declines, mortgage applications increased 5.3% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 2, 2014.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 2% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9% from one week earlier to the highest level since January 2014.

“It is official: we are in a majority purchase market for the first time since 2009,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist. “A sizeable increase in purchase applications last week likely reflected the impact of somewhat lower mortgage rates as well as continued growth in the job market, as confirmed by Friday’s employment report from the BLS.”

Despite the strong increase in the purchase market last week, volume continues to run 16% behind last year’s pace.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29928-mortgage-applications-climb-53-for-week

Housing recovery divided | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at stories across the HousingWire news desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues.

As the first-quarter earnings season starts to come to a close, a new trend started to unfold in CEO letters to shareholders, according to an article in CNBC.

CEOs usually send the letters along with the company’s proxy statement in the spring because proxy statements are due within four months of every company’s fiscal year ending.

The article explained that most CEOs have a tendency to take this time to boast about their accomplishments.

But this year was a little different, with some CEOs taking the opportunity to rmark on recent, not-so-grand events. A full list of CEOs telling it like it is is available in the original USA Today article.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon dealt with a year filled billions of dollars of settlements, mostly related to mortgage securities.

“The bad news was bad,” he wrote. “The most painful, difficult and nerve-wracking experience that I have ever dealt with professionally was trying to resolve the legal issues we had this past year.”

However, Dimon stressed that despite all of the negative, JP Morgan came out strengthened. And, despite the loss, Dimon’s 2013 compensation package was raised to $20 million.

Thousands of homeowners will open their mailboxes to a pleasant surprise as Everbank Financial is prepared to write $1,050 checks to 25,389 of its customers, even though no errors were found in reviews of their foreclosure files, an article in The Washington Post explained.

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/29896-monday-morning-cup-of-coffee-jpmorgan-ceo-tells-all-housing-recovery-divided-across-nation

Buying Bedford Real Estate

Robert Paul Realtor buying Bedford real estate

Category Archives: Chappaqua

How borrowers can still get a mortgage below 3 percent | Chappaqua Real Estate

Get a 10-Year Mortgage

Pending home sales plunge 9.2% in April | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

See a Concrete House With a $0 Energy Bill | Chappaqua Real Estate

Where Can You Really Afford to Buy a Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

How to build a tiny house for $30,000 | Chappaqua Real Estate

Drop in rates spurs rise in mortgage refinancing | Chappaqua Homes

Big bargains for sale in the 10 best small towns | Chappaqua Real Estate

Demi Moore Wants to Sell Her San Remo Triplex for $75M | Chappaqua Real Estate

Mortgage applications climb 5.3% for week | Chappaqua Real Estate

Housing recovery divided | Chappaqua Real Estate