Category Archives: Mount Kisco

Mt Kisco NY Homes | Use tiles to cover popcorn ceilings? | Inman News

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Use tiles to cover popcorn ceilings?

Grid system is key to avoiding disaster

Flickr image courtesy of <a href=

Q: My house was built in the 1960s and has popcorn ceilings. I read your article regarding drywalling over it, but I’m wondering if I can use ceiling tiles to do this? Also, since I don’t have a grid system, would it be OK to apply them directly onto the popcorn? Would this work, or would they just fall down?

A: This is a really bad idea. Try it and you’ll end up with a job rough as a cob, or worse.

There’s no way you’ll be able to set all the tiles so they lie flat and uniform. You’ll have more lumps and bumps than a country road.

The best thing that could happen is the glue won’t stick and the ceiling tiles will eventually fall off with a little of the textured ceiling attached. Worse will be if the glue sticks to the ceiling texture, but does not adhere to the drywall beneath. Sooner or later the tiles will loosen and fall, taking big patches of popcorn with them. At that point you’ve got a big mess, and a big problem.

A popcorn ceiling in a tract home built in the 1960s almost certainly contains asbestos. Textured ceilings were installed for several reasons, one of which was the aesthetics. People thought they looked modern.

Two more practical reasons drove the movement. First, it was cost-effective for the builder. Spraying popcorn texture on ceilings was cheaper than having the drywall fully taped, textured and painted. The builder could get by with two coats of joint compound on the seams of the drywall and none of the painting.

The other selling point was fire resistance, hence adding asbestos to the mix. Asbestos acted as both a fire retardant and a binder. The asbestos fibers held the mix together.

So with asbestos a virtual certainty, you’ve got three choices: Paint it, scrape it or rock over it.

Painting is the least expensive alternative, but you’ll still be left with the stippled popcorn look. We recommend renting an airless sprayer for the job. It’s a do-it-yourself project. Make sure to mask everything off you don’t want to paint, use plenty of drop cloths and run a 2-foot-wide length of painter’s paper along the walls from where they meet the ceiling.

Also dress appropriately — long pants, long-sleeved shirt, latex gloves, a hat, and, most important, a respirator rated for painting.

If you want to get rid of the corn, we think your best bet is to put drywall over it. A pro drywaller coupled with a pro taper should be in and out in a couple of days. While this can be a do-it-yourself job, the learning curve is pretty steep. If this is your first “rodeo,” hire professionals.

Scraping entails testing, and probably asbestos abatement, which is much more expensive than either painting or drywalling. Also, a job best left to professionals.

There is a fourth choice. If your heart is set on ceiling tiles, you must install a grid system. If you glue tiles to the existing ceiling, you’ll just be opening a big can of ugly.

via inman.com

Mt Kisco NY Real Estate | 5 Signs a Foreclosure is a Good Deal

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If you want to take advantage of the market and try to pick up a great deal on a foreclosure, and yes, you have enough credit or cash, there are few things you should know before making a purchase.

First of all, what is a foreclosure? It’s a bank-owned property, commonly called real estate owned (REO). For whatever reason, the original owner stopped paying their mortgage so the lender (e.g., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, etc.) legally repossessed the property and took ownership.

Next, it will be listed for sale by a local real estate sales professional in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) along with listings of traditional sales and short sales. We are not talking about properties sold via a foreclosure auction at the county courthouse; those make up a very very small percentage of bona fide real estate sales to third-party buyers like you. Plus, they are extremely high risk, so let’s leave those to the pros who take huge risks.

When Foreclosure is Not a Good Deal

Let’s first talk about what foreclosure is not a great deal. A great deal is not necessarily the lowest-priced property on the block. Or, if it is the lowest priced, it’s because it needs lots of repairs. A great deal won’t be a property where there are several other properties for sale, or many vacant properties in the area. And a good deal on a foreclosure won’t be a home that is really run-down — unless you’re a professional — or a condo or house in a new subdivision that is only half sold out or one that can only be purchased by “cash” buyers because no bank will finance the purchase.

The fact is there are many things that can go wrong with a real estate purchase. You may think you are going to get some unbelievable deal, but the truth is there is usually a reason for a property to be really low priced. Most often, you won’t figure out that reason until after you close escrow, and at that point it’s too late.

What Makes a Foreclosure a Good Deal

When you are about to purchase a foreclosure, consider these 5 things:

1.    “I love the property” is what you say after you’ve viewed it, driven the neighborhood, and investigated the property fundamentals. You love it because it is very close to exactly what you were hoping for in becoming a homeowner, or rental property owner.
2.    “I plan to own it a long time” is what you say when asked. Regardless of how great a deal you think you are getting, the break-even point in ownership is really about five years. If you aren’t going to own it that long, you are most likely better off staying a renter. Remember the three most important words in real estate: long-term ownership
3.    “It’s in pretty good shape” is what you say when your friends ask about the physical condition of the property. The vast majority of buyers have wildly low expectations of how much it costs to renovate a property. Renovations usually cost a lot more and take a lot longer than one believes, so let the contractors buy the fixer-uppers.
4.    “The price is in line with comparable recent sales in the neighborhood” is what you find out when you do a comparable market analysis of nearby properties. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
5.    “Most of the nearby houses are occupied” by owners, or at least renters in the area. Neighborhoods with many empty houses can go into downward spirals that can become very bad areas with very low home values. Avoid that type of risk.

Confirm Your Suspicions

To further help you ascertain and confirm that the foreclosure is a “great deal,”  you need to do the proper due diligence during your buying process. This is especially true since bank-owned properties generally do not come with the traditional seller disclosures of any material issues wrong with the property.

Before you sign, review comparable market sales, get contractor estimates, compare mortgage rates, and view at least 10 other properties so you know what the market has to offer. You should also review the HOA financial and legal condition and your title insurance policy for any issues as well as keep the proper amount and type of dwelling and liability insurance in place.

Taking those steps to reduce your risk is key to making sure what you bought was really a “good deal.”

Overall, when buying a foreclosure (or short sale, or even traditional sale for that matter), the first order of business is to buy a good quality property in a good area that you will own for a long time and will make you happy. It’s better to pay more for a better quality, lower risk property. This is the largest and riskiest purchase you will ever make, so make a smart purchase.

Finally, the prices these days on residential real estate are generally very fair, as is the financing, so it truly is a good time to buy – subject to the above due diligence tasks. But avoid the “I’m going to get the steal of a lifetime deal” mentality. Go for something that fits what you want, for all the right reasons, and for the long term, all of which are vastly more important issues than price.

Leonard Baron, MBA, CPA, is a San Diego State University Lecturer, the author of “Real Estate Ownership, Investment and Due Diligence 101 – A Smarter Way to Buy Real Estate”, and loves kicking the tires of a good piece of dirt! See more at ProfessorBaron.com.

via zillow.com

Mount Kisco NY Homes | Connecticut Mountain Lion Traveled from South Dakota – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch

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In what’s being called the longest journey a mountain lion has ever taken in the United States, a cougar killed in Milford, CT, six weeks ago—believed by some to be the same cougar sighted June 5 in Greenwich, CT—traveled 1,100 miles from South Dakota to get to New England, Connecticut officials said Tuesday.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, collected analyst data shows that the feline known in South Dakota known as the “St. Croix Cougar” journeyed from that state’s Black Hills, through Minnesota and Wisconsin (see attached map) and across the Midwest—likely southern Ontario, Canada—eventually to Greenwich, where it met its end after colliding with a SUV on the Wilbur Cross parkway in Milford.

“This is an incredible journey, nearly double that of any mountain lion [ever recorded],” Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Dan Esty said during a press briefing.

Though the first confirmed sighting occurred in Minnesota, officials believe the mountain lion likely was born in South Dakota, meaning a total distance traveled of closer to 1,800 miles is possible.

Scat samples, including those found in Greenwich, as well as sightings across the nation dating back as far as Dec. 2009, snow tracks, photos from trail cameras, tissues collected for genetic testing and the young male’s unmanicured condition, led analysts—including in a lab in Rocky Hill, CT—to the conclusion mountain lion had not been held in captivity, according to Paul Rego, a supervising wildlife biologist with the DEEP.

Esty touted the cougar’s ability to traverse so far in the wild as a testament to efforts from conservationists and environmental protection groups.

“Although this is the story of the first recorded example of a mountain lion sighting in Connecticut in more than 100 years, there is no evidence of a mountain lion [in Connecticut] beyond this single individual,” Esty said.

The findings mark the latest chapter in a story that’s captured the attention and imagination of residents throughout Fairfield County and Connecticut—the gregarious “Greenwich Mountain Lion” on Facebook last week notched her 3,000th friend—as a species said to be extinct in the Nutmeg State appeared to have reemerged.

Within days of the mountain lion’s death on a highway in Milford (see photo), state DEEP officials launched an investigation into whether that cougar had been held in captivity illegally.

In Greenwich and throughout the state, the dual sightings sparked debate over whether mountain lions were present in greater numbers than state officials had acknowledged. In Fairfield, police were given the green light to kill mountain lions that couldn’t be contained.

As investigators searched for answers, including in neighboring states, residents in Greenwich and other Connecticut towns, including Fairfield, began reporting sightings of their own, at least one of which was found to be inaccurate.

[Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect distances traveled from confirmed sightings versus scientifically believed points of origin.]

via bedford.patch.com

Mt Kisco NY Homes | NY real estate pros fear interest spike in debt ceiling fight | The Real Deal

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    • NY real estate pros fear interest spike in debt ceiling fight

    July 28, 2011 12:00PM By David Jones

    alternate text
    From left: Steven Spinola, president of the REBNY; Eric Anton, executive managing director at Eastern Consolidated; Debra Shultz, managing director at Manhattan Mortgage; David Heiden, a principal at W Financial and Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group

    As the debt ceiling debate nears a critical juncture in Washington D.C., real estate executives in New York are concerned that absent a final resolution, the fragile recovery will be short-circuited by a sudden spike in interest rates.

    Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, the 12,000-member trade organization, said the industry’s main concern is the impact a debt ceiling default could have on projects financed with tax exempt bonds.

    “If there is no agreement and our credit rating goes down, what will that do to interest rates?” Spinola said.

    He said many landlords have multi-family apartment buildings financed with 30-year loans that would face a potential interest rate spike with a credit downgrade. He noted if that happened, lenders might force those landlords to put more equity into a deal to keep the loan in balance because there is a limit to how much additional income they could derive from existing rents.

    Spinola said he did speak with Sen. Charles Schumer’s office about the debt ceiling debate, but REBNY has not sent any official policy positions on the debt ceiling fight. Spinola fears that both sides are locked into such a fierce ideological battle that an organization like REBNY will have limited impact this late in the game.

    “I hope there will be a compromise,” Spinola said.

    Schumer’s office did not return calls seeking comment.

    Robert Knakal, chairman of commercial real estate brokerage Massey Knakal Realty Services, said he has reached out to two of out-of-state U.S. senators.

    “They are really exasperated with the breakdown in communications,” Knakal said. The two senators, whom he declined to name, “have said the partisanship is the most significant it has been during the course of their careers.”

    Knakal agreed that the biggest concern is about the impact of higher interest rates, which would put downward pressure on property values. He said at the end of the day, such a decrease could threaten the viability of certain projects, as lenders would have to change their assumptions about the ability of borrowers to pay off existing loans.

    Eric Anton, executive managing director at Manhattan-based commercial real estate brokerage Eastern Consolidated, said the bottom line is that the country spends too much money, and the resulting downgrade could hurt interest rates over the long-term.

    “It’s not about where we are now, it’s where we’re headed,” he said. “There may not be enough money on the planet to pay interest on this debt.”

    On the residential side, there has been little change thus far due to the debt debate, but a downgrade that affects interest rates could change all that.

    “If rates climb, mortgages would be more expensive for buyers, which could slow down sales,” said Debra Shultz, managing director at Manhattan Mortgage, the largest residential mortgage brokerage in New York, “and higher rates would also slow down refis.”

    Fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.55 percent nationwide on a 30-year loan, according to data released today by Freddie Mac.

    David Heiden, a principal at W Financial, a Manhattan-based lender that specializes in bridge loans and mezzanine financing, said that he currently has a half-dozen deals on the table, and nobody has mentioned the debt ceiling to him as having any impact on their transactions.

    Kathy Braddock, co-founder of Manhattan-based residential brokerage Rutenberg Realty, said the assumption remains that once the screaming stops, there will be a resolution.

    “Most people are just passively assuming this will work itself out,” Braddock said. “Interest rates could tick up. But they are so historically low, borrowing money is still the buy of the century.”

    Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, a Greenwich, Conn.-based real estate fund, said it it’s unclear what immediate impact that a default would have, but he’s stunned nevertheless that Washington has allowed the debate to sink to the level it has.

    “It’s inconceivable to me that this couldn’t be worked out over time,” he said. “Maybe they shouldn’t pay the politicians, and that would balance the budget.” Tags: REBNY Robert Knakal barry sternlicht charles schumer david heiden debra shultz
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    • Comments

    Anonymous

    Knakal has influence with out of state senators ? W

    Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    The situation is simple, the GOP is going to fold and Obama is going to be president again and then we can all continue paying higher taxes and have our money mismanaged so we could have homeless shelters in the middle of Chelsea.

    Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    The fact that Knakal has out of town juice is a testament to his stature as a thought leader of national repute

    Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    I agreewith Barry Sterlicht,they shouldn’t pay the Politicans,that would balance the budget for a few years…

    Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    organization like REBNY ?? What a JOKE

    Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    Nice these chaps finally woke-up. Whether default or downgrade, you’re going to see mortgages freeze (again), prices go down and people who want to buy won’t be qualified at higher interest rates. All of this could have been avoided by Congress. Raise the debt ceiling to at least 2012 and take the “several months” the credit agencies have given to go in and get a real deal and reduction of deficit. They’d probably have til mid-October to devise and to Nov. 15th to pass both chambers. The world markets would quiet down PLUS American citizens might get a plan that’s well written. They have this option and they’re not taking it. Just amazing!

    Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    #2 are you serious “continue paying higher taxes” ? You realize taxes are at the lowest levels in something like 30 years and that the United States has the lowest tax rates of all western industrialized countries. Look at the tax levels from the mid 1990’s compared to today, today’s tax rates on the Federal level are anywhere from 20 to 25% LOWER than what they were in 1996, 96, 97 etc. Know your facts.

    Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    Knakal spoke with Senator Blutarsky

    Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    UrbanDigs

    Here’s how it endgame will go down. The perception of US debt as a AAA investment will degrade. Who knows about the actual rating, its all about the markets perception, and trust in the asset class. More often than not the markets will force the hand. As treasury sells bonds, the markets will determine the right yield that justifies the perceived risks – whether a default actually occurs or not is another story. If rates do surge, we will see QE3 talks heat up and the fed will think, thats the key, think that they must buy treasury securities to stimulate the economy and lower rates. if equities and HY and other risk assets do selloff, the usual safe haven of treasuries may not be perceived as safe anymore. Thats when gold flies.

    Comment #9 Posted By: UrbanDigs 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    In defense of Robt. Knackal,- An increase in interest rates would hurt all of us in R. E., so if Mr. Knackal is catching the ear of some Senator you can trust it should help ALL of us in Real Estate.

    Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    Knakal for congress !

    Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 07/28/11

    Anonymous

    REBNY is a worthless entity that will have no bearing on any choices.

    Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/11

    Anonymous

    Anton’s right – there is absolutely NO ROOM for any increase in interest rates because just a 100 bp increase in treasury rates will cost us $145B extra in debt service. Any serious debt reduction in a rising interest rate environment is virtually impossible. While I’m rooting for a compromise in DC over this mess, the fiscal conservatives are absolutely right in trying to fix this mess NOW.

    Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 07/29/11

    The Real Deal reserves the right to delete any comment it finds to be rude, obscene, racist, sexist, bigoted, irrelevant or repetitive, as well as inappropriate comments about anyone’s personal appearance or advertisements. The Real Deal does not endorse any comments posted on its website nor does it verify the veracity of comments or the identity of posters.

    via therealdeal.com

    Mount Kisco NY Real Estate | How to save the housing market: Realtors have a few ideas

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    Caption this cartoon

    Scott Stantis contest: Caption this cartoon

    Here’s your chance to be a cartoonist without having to deal with all of that annoying drawing. Chicago Tribune Editorial Cartoonist Scott Stantis draws the cartoon and you provide the caption. Just send your submission to: ctc-captions@tribune.com. The winner will be announced in Friday’s Chicago Tribune. To see the runners-up check them out at chicagotribune.com/Stantis.

    The winning entry will receive a signed print with your caption on it signed by Scott Stantis.

    So what are you waiting for? Get writing!

    via chicagotribune.com

    Mt Kisco NY Real Estate | Housing market remains weak, data show – The Washington Post

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    Video

    July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas Shapiro, founder, president and chief investment officer of GTIS Partners, talks about the outlook for the U.S. housing market. Shapiro speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." Daniel Arbess, partner and co-founder of Perella Weinberg Partners LP and manager of the Xerion fund, also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

    July 26 (Bloomberg) — Thomas Shapiro, founder, president and chief investment officer of GTIS Partners, talks about the outlook for the U.S. housing market. Shapiro speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s "InsideTrack." Daniel Arbess, partner and co-founder of Perella Weinberg Partners LP and manager of the Xerion fund, also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

    Graphic

    Real estate trends over the past 10 years in the D.C. metropolitan area.

    Real estate trends over the past 10 years in the D.C. metropolitan area.

    via washingtonpost.com

    Mt Kisco NY Homes | Demystifying HOA Fees and the Risk of Special Assessments

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    If the property you’re looking to buy has home owners association (HOA) fees, it’s essential that you understand where those fees are coming from, as well as their risk of increasing every year before you buy.

    Formulation of the Fees

    Every year, a home owners association (HOA) board of directors (BOD) prepares a community budget. That budget includes what the BOD will set as the current year total HOA fee per month, per unit. The composition of that fee is the first thing you’ll need to comprehend before you better understand fees increasing each year as well as the much loathed “special assessment.”

    The monthly HOA fee has two parts to it, so for the sake of this exercise, let’s assume the total HOA fee is $300 per month per unit for a 100-unit community. Here are the calculations:

    Current Year Operations Portion – $200 per month

    The HOA collects fees from each of its units to pay for all the current year operations such as gardening, water, insurance, property management. The BOD forecasts forward that this year it will cost $240,000 to pay for all current year operating expenses. Since there are 100 units, we divide the $240,000 by 100 units to get $2,400 per year per unit or $200 per unit per month for operations.

    Current Year Reserves Portion for Long Capital Items – $100 per month

    The HOA also has to save money over time for long-term repairs and replacements, such as roofs, roads and parking lots. To understand how much they have to save, they have, or should have, an outside expert do a “reserve study.” The reserve study expert makes a 20-year +/- schedule of when HOA assets will need to be repaired and how much they will cost.

    The reserve expert calculates an annual amount needed for those long-term repairs. Therefore, through the HOA fee, owners are putting money away each year to pay for those repairs. This money accumulates into “reserves” so that the HOA can pay cash for large-item repairs when they come due. This helps avoid special assessments because the HOA has the money on hand to pay for these capital items.

    In our example, the reserve study specialist determined that owners should be putting away an additional $120,000 per year going forward or $1,200 per unit per year or $100 per month per unit owner.

    Thus, $200 for current year operations and $100 to put away additional funds, totaling the $300 HOA fee per month, per unit. 

    As long as the HOA board makes perfect predictions, and the reserve study expert’s estimates are 100 percent accurate, the HOA will pay all the current year bills and be in great shape for paying for long term capital item repairs. However, this rarely happens.

    Not an exact science

    Calculating unfortunate budgeting expenses, long-term reserves, and unanticipated repairs is not an exact science. Usually, operating expenses are higher than budgeted, or some people do not pay their HOA fees, and the HOA gets drained of cash covering expense overruns. If the BOD spends extra on operations, they won’t be able to save the recommended cash for long-term repairs. Thus, the BOD increases HOA fees next year to catch up the amount they should have saved this year for their reserves.

    If they don’t increase fees to make up for that balance, perhaps because owners protested higher HOA fees, when they need $240,000 to paint the building, the BOD uses a special assessment — an additional fee levied at homeowners— so the HOA can pay for the needed repairs.

    The main takeaway…

    At the end of the day, all the bills — current year, capital repairs and replacements — will have to be paid by you and the other owners in the community one way or another.

    The BOD usually does their best to financially manage the community well, but due to a number of factors above, it is a challenging assignment. All the owners have to live within the HOA finances, but note, it’s better to increase fees as you go to avoid special assessments.

    Leonard Baron, MBA, CPA, is a San Diego State University Lecturer, a guest blogger on Zillow.com, the author of “Real Estate Ownership, Investment and Due Diligence 101 – A Smarter Way to Buy Real Estate”, and loves kicking the tires of a good piece of dirt! See more at ProfessorBaron.com.

    via zillow.com

    Mount Kisco NY Real Estate | 7 qualities of a top listing agent | Inman News

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    7 qualities of a top listing agent

    REThink Real Estate

    Q: I’m preparing to list my home, and am starting to research listing agents to represent me. Besides being comfortable with my broker, what is the most important quality I need from them: negotiating skills or marketing skills? Both are very important to me. Frankly, I’m afraid of being “roughed up” by aggressive buyers in this market. –Michelle

    A: You’re spot on, Michelle. Both marketing and negotiating will be uber-important to have in the broker or agent you choose to list your home and get it sold.

    Some might see marketing as the most important because, to put it plainly, if your home is not exposed widely and aggressively to prospective buyers, you’ll never have the buyer viewings and offer(s) that must come in for you to even be faced with the high-class problem of negotiating the price and terms of a sale.

    However, I don’t see marketing skills as the requirement so much as your listing agent having a clear, comprehensive marketing plan that she is able to present to you with case studies or specimens of marketing she’s done for recent properties somewhat similar to yours. It’s critical that an agent’s marketing plan for your home include details such as:

    • how she would help you prepare or stage your property for sale;
    • what her plans are for listing the property on the local multiple listing service(s) and publicizing it to other brokers;
    • what onsite marketing she would recommend (i.e., yard signage and/or open houses); and
    • how and where she would place your home’s listing online, down to which sites she’d list it on and how many pictures she would include.

    All essential.

    But negotiating is essential too — especially if you’re very concerned about being bullied or taken advantage of.

    Ultimately, though, when it comes to negotiations, you’re going to be faced with making the ultimate decisions about what your bottom-line price and other terms are, including whether you’re able to offer incentives like closing-cost credits or whether you can afford to contribute to any repairs the buyer’s inspectors require.

    What I suspect you want is to feel like you’re protected, which will come from having an agent you trust who’s “got your back,” but also has the experience and knowledge of local standard negotiating practices and buyer psychology that comes only with experience — and I mean recent experience getting homes sold in today’s market climate.

    I cannot emphasize enough that one efficient method of finding such a listing agent is to get referrals! Look to any family members, friends, work colleagues and neighbors whose homes are on the market now and ask them if they would strongly recommend their agent, and why.

    If it’s tough to get referrals, go into the various online real estate websites and their local discussion boards, and see which local agents are giving sensible, knowledgeable answers to consumers’ questions in those forums. During your interview process, ask for references — and call them! Speak to their recent past seller clients, to see how happy they were with the agents’ service.

    And I’d suggest you look for several other items beyond marketing and negotiating skills, or even trustworthiness and experience.

    If I were listing my home one of my top priorities would be to find an agent who seems to have nailed the art and science of pricing their listings — I’d want to find an agent whose listings regularly sold quickly, relative to other homes in the area, and for sales prices that were at, near or even above the asking prices.

    That’s an agent whose pricing recommendations you can trust, and an agent who likely has another strong skill you need: the skill of being able to have frank, tough conversations with their clients about what their homes are worth, and can support those list-price recommendations with facts and sound reasoning.

    I’d also prioritize an agent with strong relationships: with their past clients; with mortgage professionals; with other agents in the area; with property preparation vendors (like stagers, painters, handymen/women, landscapers and such); with inspectors, engineers and contractors; and with local escrow companies.

    And, if I were listing my home as a short sale, I would absolutely limit my listing agent search to agents who have a strong, proven track record of getting short sales closed — ideally short sales that involved the same bank or banks as my mortgage lender.

    This is by no means an exhaustive list of questions to ask and traits to seek in your listing agent candidates, but these are certainly where my top priorities would lie.

    Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

    via inman.com

    Mt Kisco NY Real Estate | Protesters thwart home repossessions in Spain

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    Protesters thwart home repossessions in Spain

    ‘Indignant ones’ mobilize through social media

    Flickr image courtesy of <a href=

    An activist movement in Spain has turned its attention to blocking evictions, according to news reports.

    Dubbed the “indignados” (Spanish for “indignant ones”), tens of thousands of protesters camped out in town squares in May to object to the government’s spending cuts and a 21 percent unemployment rate — the highest in the European Union. Since then, the protesters have turned their focus to preventing evictions of unemployed people who cannot afford their mortgage payments.

    They organize using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and gather in crowds outside of homes to prevent officials from delivering court orders for eviction.

    Last week, about 200 activists helped an unemployed woman and her two adult children, one unemployed and the other disabled, avoid eviction. According to Reuters, the protesters have helped stave off evictions “in dozens of cases.”

    In contrast to the U.S. and other European Union countries, banks in Spain may foreclose on a home and still collect on a certain percentage of the mortgage debt. One activist organization, the Madrid Mortgage Victims’ Forum, is asking the law be changed so that the debt is cleared upon foreclosure, in addition to other demands.