Category Archives: North Salem

Desperately seeking high-end buyers in Costa Rica | North Salem NY Homes

Leave a reply

Recently, I was working on my computer when a Skype call bleeped through. I switched over to Skype and answered in video-call format. On my screen popped up Tor Prestgard, a fellow I profiled a year ago in a story about Costa Rica home markets.

At the time, Prestgard was trying to sell his 30-acre coffee farm located high in the central mountains about an hour’s ride from the capital city of San Jose. Back then, I had Skyped with him from his Costa Rican property.

This time, we were talking France to the U.S. He had left Costa Rica so his children could attend school in France, and he and his family were happily settled in the Rhone Valley wine region.

Well, not exactly real happy, because, as Prestgard told me, he was scheduled for brain surgery in a few weeks.

OK, I thought, maybe I should change the subject and quickly asked him about his property. At least that should be a more salubrious subject. And it was.

Prestgard had a caretaker managing the farm and was still looking to sell. The price hadn’t come down — it was still at just over $1 million.

Just one year ago, second homes or hobby farms in exotic locations such as this one in Costa Rica were starving for investors. The global economy was very weak and investors were playing it close to the vest, avoiding anything that smacked of risk. In addition, the banks weren’t lending. As result, Prestgard wasn’t getting much action on his listing.

As his broker told me at the time, in the old days “anyone could leverage their house in Canada, (the) United States or Europe, get an equity line and buy a house in Costa Rica. The banks have clamped down, so that type of buyer would now have to sell his or her home before moving to Costa Rica.”

Considering he had a serious operation ahead of him, Prestgard noticeably perked up when I asked if he was finally getting any interest in his farm.

Prestgard revealed that he had recently received two serious inquiries. One came from a U.S. company in the coffee industry. And just the weekend before, he had a good inquiry from a Canadian investor.

“More people are showing interest and going down to view the property,” Prestgard said. “The market in Costa Rica has definitely bottomed, and prices are starting to move up again. I’m starting to see other properties being sold. There will be two visitors to my property this week, and another is scheduled a few weeks out.”

I decided to check in with Dan Duffy, CEO of United Country Real Estate, a Kansas City, Mo.-based organization with five offices in Costa Rica serving San Jose, the central country and the entire Pacific coast.

“The velocity of sales on higher-priced properties had definitely taken a hit as it relates to the overall market,” Duffy said. “However, we are starting to see those homes move.”

There were a few areas of Costa Rica where the developers were not well capitalized and failed to finish projects, Duffy said. “That was mainly in the popular Pacific Coast region, and prices there fell anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent.”

Things were much different in the central mountains, where there was only a 5 to 10 percent adjustment in pricing, Duffy said. “There wasn’t a lot of inventory to begin with. People who owned properties such as Prestgard weren’t highly leveraged. They didn’t have big mortgages, or the properties were bought with discretionary funds. There was also a lot of this real estate owned by locals.”

Prestgard is a native Norwegian, and his wife is an American. Prior to moving to Costa Rica, they lived in the United States and France.

“Americans tend to stick to the coastal areas of Costa Rica,” Duffy said. “When you get into the mountain areas, you tend to see a lot of Europeans. They don’t have the affinity or the absolute requirement that they see the ocean or be in walking distance to a beach like Americans. Europeans like the mountain climate where often you don’t even need air conditioning.”

I also spoke with Tor’s wife, LouAnn, and asked her about Costa Rica.

“It was a beautiful place to live,” she said. “I have never seen nature as beautiful as it is there, the color of the light, so many different colors of green. It’s a beautiful land, but we have decided not to move again. We will stay in France.”

The Prestgards moved to Costa Rica in 2009 and built or rebuilt all the structures on the property.

“We put more money into the house than most people who are selling down there,” LouAnn said. “Unless you go into the million-dollar category, the quality of construction in Costa Rica is poor. For that kind of money, our property is a good investment.”

I asked Duffy how he would market the property:

He answered, “If that was my property, I would make a small price reduction to make it more attractive. I would benchmark it against five or six other properties in the area. I would produce an ad that would say, ‘Highly motivated to sell due to health reasons,’ and I would make it an exclusive listing not an open listing.”

To which he added, “The people who were interested in these types of properties and relocating from the United States prior to the Great Recession never lost their interest. They just took a pregnant pause to see if their savings and retirement funds were going to withstand the full force of the recession.”

Finally, I questioned LouAnn about missing Costa Rica.

“I miss the coffee,” she said. “Even in France, it’s awfully hard to drink a cup of coffee from the store, because we used to process our own coffee for our own consumption.”

Didn’t you take some with you when you left, I asked.

“Not enough,” LouAnn and Tor answered in unison!

via inman.com

Pound Ridge Homes for Sale | Existing home sales fall, but up 11% from last year

Leave a reply

September existing-home sales fell slightly from the previous month, but remain well above year-ago levels as prices continue to escalate on new demand in key real estate markets.

The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales declined 1.7% from August to September, with 4.75 million units sold last month, down from 4.83 million in August. Still, September numbers are up 11% from the 4.28 million units sold a year ago.

Overall, real estate is performing better than it was in 2011 with September home prices recording their seventh consecutive month of year-over-year increases, NAR said.

“Despite occasional month-to-month setbacks, we’re experiencing a genuine recovery,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist with NAR.  “More people are attempting to buy homes than are able to qualify for mortgages, and recent price increases are not deterring buyer interest. Rather, inventory shortages are limiting sales, notably in parts of the West.”

The national median price for an existing home shot up 11.3% from last year to $183,900 in September, making it the seventh consecutive month of annual price increases.

Distressed properties, including foreclosures and short sales, represented 24% of all September sales, an increase from 22% in August and down from 30% a year ago.

Foreclosures generally sold at a 21% discount while short sales sold 13% under market value in September, NAR said.

The country’s total pipeline of existing inventory fell 3.3% in September to 2.32 million homes, which reflects a 5.9-month supply. Today’s inventory level is 20% below year ago levels when the nation carried an eight-month supply.

“The shrinkage in housing supply is supporting ongoing price growth, a pattern that could accelerate unless home builders robustly ramp up production,” Yun said.

Homes also are spending less time on the market, with the median listing time now running 70 days, down from 101 days in September of 2011. About 32% of homes sold last month spent less than 30 days on the market. Nineteen percent remained listed for six months or longer.

via housingwire.com

It pays to accommodate tenants in property sale | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Q: We’re going to be selling our building, which will involve brokers and interested buyers looking at our apartments. Several tenants think we should give them many days’ notice and consult them when scheduling visits. Do our tenants have the legal right to make these demands?

A: Putting up with rental applicants evaluating a home’s potential or dealing with buyers eyeing the property during a sale are hassles every tenant encounters eventually. But most states give tenants some protections — more than half have laws that specify how much notice a landlord must give before entering a tenant’s apartment. Common periods are two days or 24 hours. Some state laws are less useful, requiring “reasonable notice,” whatever that means. Notice requirements don’t apply to common areas such as the lobby, hallways and recreation areas. In these places, owners are free to bring visitors at any time and without notice.

So the first thing you need to do is to find out what your state law has to say about showing rentals to prospective buyers and tenants. But aside from your legal obligations to give adequate notice, let’s think about how you might accommodate your tenants in other ways, too. Don’t forget that uncooperative residents can have a real effect on how nicely your property shows — you don’t want grumbling residents pointing out deferred maintenance, do you?

Consider asking to meet with a delegation from the tenants’ group to discuss how this transition time can be made easier for them. Think ahead of reasonable requests that won’t seriously affect your ability to market the property, such as being willing to show the property at specified times and days. You might also consider modest rent reductions to compensate tenants for the disruption caused by the sale.

A savvy owner will make these concessions, realizing that cooperation by building residents is essential to marketing efforts and eventual sale — no seller wants to try to navigate a sea of resentful, gloomy residents, and no buyer wants to inherit a building full of angry people.

Q: I have been asked to sign a clause in a residential lease that states that the tenant agrees not to make any claims against the landlord for any loss or damage caused by “any accidents beyond the reasonable control of Landlord.” Is this legal? –Davey R.

A: Your landlord is attempting to avoid lawsuits brought by tenants who have suffered economic losses or injuries on the rental property. These claims often arise. For example, suppose your landlord fails to maintain a set of lobby stairs, and you fall and are injured. You might decide to sue for medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

Fear not. In virtually every state, the clause in your lease would not bar such a suit. That’s because the clause shields the landlord only from claims that result from situations beyond his reasonable control. In our example, the monitoring and repair of the lobby stairs are obviously his responsibility, not yours, and not anyone else’s.

It might strike you as odd that landlords think it necessary to tell tenants that they won’t be held responsible for accidents that are beyond their reasonable control. After all, it stands to reason that we would make people responsible only for the mistakes that they could have avoided. But that common-sense conclusion will not stop some tenants from making a claim or suing, who think that any accident on the landlord’s property is the fault of the landlord.

For example, suppose the tenant parks in his assigned parking spot, but during the night a branch from a tree planted on the street breaks off and smashes his car. Thinking that because the damage happened while his car was parked on the rental property, the tenant demands compensation from the landlord or the landlord’s insurance company. In such a situation, unless the tenant can prove that the landlord somehow could have avoided the accident (Did the landlord know of the tree’s frailty and fail to warn tenants? Was the landlord legally obliged to monitor the tree and trim it?), the tenant won’t collect. But in the meantime, the landlord will have spent time and effort defeating the claim.

The clause in your lease is placed there to remind tenants that the landlord’s ability to avoid accidents is limited to those situations in which he has control. But don’t assume that the “control or not” question is always black and white.

In California some years back, a landlord was held liable when a tenant slipped and fell on a broken concrete pathway that led from the rental property to an adjacent street. Even though the landlord did not own the land under the path and could not have repaired it on his own, he was aware that his tenants regularly used it as a shortcut and failed to warn them of the path’s dangerousness. That was enough to make him at least responsible.

In the end, signing off on this clause will not defeat a valid claim brought by a tenant who claims to have been injured or economically damaged by the landlord’s carelessness. If the claim is bogus (suing the landlord for an act of God, for example), it will get tossed out of court. If the question is close, the court will resolve it, regardless of what the lease does or does not say.

Janet Portman is an attorney and managing editor at Nolo. She specializes in landlord/tenant law and is co-author of “Every Landlord’s Legal Guide” and “Every Tenant’s Legal Guide.” She can be reached at janet@inman.com.

via inman.com

Fannie: Sales Up 9 Percent in 2012 | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Fannie Mae’s economists expect total home sales to rise approximately 9 percent this year from last year’s depressed levels.

Although home prices are likely to dip somewhat in the winter season following typically stronger spring and summer months, Fannie Mae’s experts still believe that home prices hit bottom earlier this year. Combined with record-low mortgage rates, aided by the Federal Reserve’s latest round of mortgage-backed security purchases, more consumers are likely to enter the housing market, the company said today.

Sales will top out at 4.98 million this year and continue to increase next year, reaching 5.19 million units for the first time in years. Fannie predicts prices will rise 2.9 percent this year and 1.6 percent next year. Housing starts will reach 746,000 this year and rise to 888,000 in 2013.

“The U.S. fiscal cliff and debt ceiling debate as well as the weakened global economic environment are likely to create the strongest headwinds facing any real improvement this year,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “With these issues hanging in the balance, we believe risks remain tilted to the downside. News from the housing sector is more positive, with various indicators showing continued momentum toward a sustainable, long-term recovery. Notably, home prices are inching back into positive territory on a year-over-year basis. Results from our September National Housing Survey also show consumers’ home price change expectations have remained positive for nearly a year.”

via realestateeconomywatch.com

California foreclosure activity reaches 5-year low | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

The number of California homes landing in foreclosure reached a five-year low in the third quarter as home prices rose, home sales ticked up and more distressed borrowers obtained short sales.

DataQuick reported that 49,026 notices of default were recorded on homes in the state during the third quarter. That is down 10.2% from the 54,615 properties reported in the second quarter and a 31% drop from the 71,275 notices recorded a year earlier.

Short sales helped stave off foreclosures by allowing homeowners to escape without facing the distress that comes with a foreclosure. Short sales overall made up 26% of the state’s resale activity during the third quarter.

However, DataQuick says that may change when the New Year kicks-in since a temporary debt forgiveness feature to the tax code will expire without Congressional intervention. The feature encourages short sales for troubled borrowers, giving them a way out without having to pay a penalty on the debt forgiven.

Home prices also are rising giving homeowners more equity. The median price for a California home hit $300,000 last quarter, a 32% jump from the market’s bottom price of $227,000 in the first-quarter of 2009.

via housingwire.com

10 Tips To Make ‘Working From Home’ Work For You | North Salem NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Much like how freelancing isn’t for everyone, the idea of working from home is not really everyone’s cup of tea either. Sure, you get to work in your bunny slippers, no one steals your lunch from the fridge and if you hate office politics and traffic jams, it’s actually a godsend to be able to work from home. But that doesn’t mean that life’s going to be a bed of roses.

For starters, if you were to choose to work from home, most bosses would ask that you take a paycut (in lieu of not having to turn up at the office). Plus, you can absolutely expect your friends and family to take advantage of your newfound ‘freedom’. The working hours will become a blur, and sometimes if you are not careful, you’ll find yourself working 7 days a week just to catch up with all the time you’ve lost! But if you have decided that working from home is your only option, here are a few tips that may help you make the best of it.

Recommended Reading: 9 Things You Should Consider Before Freelancing Full-time

1. An Understanding Family

One of the hardest thing about working from home is setting boundaries with the people you share ‘home’ with. It’s definitely easier to understand that you are not to be disturbed when you are at the office than when you are in the back room.

Start setting boundaries from the first day you start work. Granted it will get some getting used to (about 66 days in fact) but your children, flat mates, siblings or parents must learn to give you your 8 hours (or more) a day so you can get things done.

2. Get Help

If you have very young children, you will need to get help. A 3-year-old would consider having to go poo an emergency and they expect you to treat it like one (drop everything and get me to the loo quick!). In this case, it would be helpful to have another adult in the house, or to drop your children off at daycare, or a babysitter’s to get a few uninterrupted hours to yourself.

(Image Source: Camilo Jimenez)

During busy periods, you can always get a cleaning lady to help straighten up the mess you call home. Give yourself the peace of mind required to get your work done.

3. Get Your Own No-Fly Zone

It will help to have a room, a workstation or at the very least a desk in a quiet area in your home. Here is where you keep your laptop or PC, fax machine or phone, work documents like reports and invoices, your stationery etc. And it would be good to ensure that no one but you are to use your equipment.

In case this is not possible, stock up on your essentials (e.g. always keep some ink stored away for emergencies).

(Image Source: apartment therapy)

For some inspiration, check out the Modern Office Designs from Around the World

4. I’m Working, Honey!

Within these four invisible walls, you are working and you are to treat it like how you would treat your old office. Coming to work is merely a hop into your ‘cubicle’ and going home is ‘hopping out’. Everything else should remain as it was – keep problems, issues and matters that have to do with home outside of your no-fly zone. If you can convince yourself to compartmentalize like this, it will be easier to convince everyone else.

5. Deliver the hours

Depending on what has been ironed out in the clauses of your contract (or discussed over two cups of coffee) you will be expected to deliver certain working hours for your work-from-home job. The good news with working from home is that nobody is keeping track; the bad news is nobody is keeping track (let that sink in for a bit).

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Don’t think that you can prop up your feet and catch a whole season of your sitcoms in one afternoon and try to work it back during the weekends.

Do it often enough and it will turn into a habit in the long run. Have some self-restraint and keep the entertainment to after hours or the weekends.

Read also: Time-tracking App for Freelancers [Mac]

6. Have a Routine (and Breaks)

Apart from the reason that we are just tired of commuting, another reason to work from home is because of other responsibilities you have that require you to be home. It could be because of your children, your old nana or your spouse who had suffered a broken leg from an accident. In this case, you will need to set a routine that will ensure that you can be there for them and for your company.

For the rest of us, the routine will help with keeping up with house chores – and the breaks you schedule in will help you keep your sanity. It’s also great to help you recharge for the next project or refuel your inspiration. If you get breaks while you’re in the office, there is no reason you can’t take breaks when you are at home.

7. Open Up, Be Reachable

The problem most managers have with their employees working from home is that they can’t keep an eye on them. Make it easier for your boss by being reachable whenever possible. Let them know when you are not around like when you are heading out to the bank or post office, and when you will be back.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Keep yourself in check at all times so your boss doesn’t have to. After a while once a routine is set in, the reins will loosen and you will have the freedom to roam about freely… which could lead to another problem.

8. Deliver the goods

One thing that should always be at the back of your head is that your productivity should not diminish when you work from home. If it is counterproductive for you to be working from home, what’s to stop them from making you brave traffic and parking wardens to turn up at the office again?

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Set quotas for yourself and discuss roadblocks or problems that you have with your colleagues or managers while working on a project. Consider joining in brainstorming sessions via conferencing tools, but stay away from the office politics or gossip.

Read also: Best of Online Meeting and Web Conferencing Tools

9. Get out of the house

Moderation is key. Working in solitude has its disadvantages but only because humans are social creatures. Hence, getting out of the house is very important. If you don’t have to go back to the office to have meetings or deliver progress reports, you can bring your laptop and work at a coffee shop or meet a friend during lunch.

The idea is to break the monotony of working with your shadow and your reflection.

10. Stay healthy

Get plenty of fluids and eat healthy, and if you aren’t a fan of exercise, just try to move around whenever you can. This gets oxygen into your blood circulation which can be the cure to that dullness you’ve been feeling after looking at the same project day in, day out for months! Relax with music, some light reading or make lunch for yourself.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Also you should pamper yourself for being able to keep away from online distractions and for getting the job done with minimal (or no) supervision. Not everyone can do it, so when you do, reward yourself for it!

via hongkiat.com

Housing industry recovering faster than many economists expected | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Housing is snapping back faster than many economists had expected, with home builders stepping up production of new homes nationally and fresh foreclosures in California falling to their lowest level since the early days of the bust.

Demand for housing has surged as interest rates have plummeted and home prices in many markets appear to have bottomed, particularly in states such as California where inventories of foreclosures and other lower-priced homes have sunk. The turnaround in prices and record-low supply of newly built homes also are luring builders back after six years of pain.

“The numbers are strong in September, and that is definitely a positive sign,” said Celia Chen, a housing economist with Moody’s Analytics. “It is confirmation that housing is lifting off the bottom.”

  • Also
  • Foreclosure activity drops

Residential construction starts rose 15% nationally last month from August to their highest annual rate in more than four years. A separate report showed that the number of troubled California borrowers entering foreclosure hit its lowest level in the third quarter since the dawning of the mortgage meltdown.

If the gains in housing hold, they could give consumer confidence a boost and help the broader economy recover. Housing has played an important part in lifting the nation out of past downturns but was hampered this time by the severity of the Great Recession and the huge number of vacant and foreclosed homes dragging down the market for years.

Now rising prices are helping homeowners in properties that for several years have been underwater, in which the house wouldn’t bring enough in a sale to pay off the mortgage. Rising values could play a role in lifting household finances if families feel more secure about the direction of the economy.

Any positive economic news presumably would be a boost for President Obama‘s reelection campaign, though both he and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have largely avoided a detailed debate on housing policy. Many on the left have said that Obama’s tepid and patchwork response to the housing downturn resulted in a slower recovery while the right has decried his policies as interventionist failures.

Michael D. Larson, a housing and interest rate analyst for Weiss Research, said the Federal Reserve‘s policies to keep mortgage interest rates low and Obama’s foreclosure prevention efforts have played some role in the recovery — but the improvements can mostly be attributed to natural market dynamics.

“It is certainly encouraging; housing has been this lead anchor around the economy’s neck,” he said. But “most of this is just the passage of time. I think if the Fed or the government had done absolutely nothing … we still would have seen some demand return.”

Several recent trends have underscored improvement in housing. Nationally, home builder stocks are up, prices have begun a modest recovery, and sales of newly built and previously owned homes have risen.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that construction of houses and apartment buildings rose in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000, marking the third straight month of improvement. The figures surpassed economists’ expectations of about a 770,000 annual rate.

September had the best monthly performance since July 2008, when housing starts were on an annual pace of 923,000. Compared with September 2011, new housing starts jumped 34.8%, the Commerce Department said.

Last month’s growth was “surprisingly strong,” said David Crowe, chief economist at the National Assn. of Home Builders. “As consumer confidence rises and jobs return, more local markets and more consumers will join the buyer market, and I expect housing construction to continue a modest but fairly steady rise throughout 2013 and into 2014.”

The annual rate of new home groundbreaking still is far below the peak of more than 2.2 million units reached in early 2006 during the housing bubble. But the pace has picked up dramatically from the low of 478,000 in April 2009, and is up sharply from the 706,000 annual rate in May. Building permits for private housing construction, a sign of future activity, also jumped in September, up 11.6% from August and 45.1% from a year earlier. The annual rate in September was 894,000 building permits.

Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight, said the increases were likely due to gains in household growth after years of people doubling or tripling up to wait out the worst of the downturn.

“What’s kicking in right now is simply the demographics,” Newport said. “We have been building at too low a rate for four years, and so demand has been suppressed because of the recession, and now it is starting to kick in.”

On the other side of the housing pipeline, the shortage of cheaply priced homes in California appears poised to continue. The number of Californians entering foreclosure dropped in the third quarter to its lowest level since early 2007, according to a report from real estate firm DataQuick. Foreclosure filings have fallen as banks work toward completing more loan modifications and short sales. An improving economy and rising prices have also helped.

“Prices in most areas today are up significantly from their low point in early 2009,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick. “Additionally, during the past year, we’ve seen short sales overtake the foreclosure process as the procedure of choice to deal with homeowner distress.”

Notices of default fell 10.2% from the prior quarter and 31.2% from the same period last year, DataQuick reported. A total of 49,026 notices of default — the first stage of foreclosure in California — were filed on homes in the Golden State last quarter.

That was the lowest number since the first quarter of 2007, and a 63% decline from the first quarter of 2009, when notice of default filings peaked in the state.

The number of homes lost to foreclosure rose 5% from the prior quarter and dropped 41% from a year earlier. A total of 22,949 homes were lost to foreclosure last quarter.

via latimes.com

Denver a real estate market to watch, says report | North Salem NY Homes

Leave a reply

Metro Denver has been named one of the country’s top 20 real estate markets to watch next year in the “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2013” report released Wednesday.

In its 34nd year, the commercial real estate study is compiled by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP financial services firm and the Urban Land Institute.

This year, it was released in conjunction with the ULI’s Fall Meeting, Wednesday through Friday at the Colorado Convention Center. The meeting is being attended by about 5,000 real estate professional from around the country.

Denver ranks 14th on the list of “U.S. Markets to Watch: Overall Real Estate Prospects.”

The report says that Denver’s housing market was not hit as hard by the housing downturn as many other cities, with fewer homes in foreclosure or sitting delinquent than most.

“Denver’s economy has remained healthy, maintaining the ability to absorb a diverse employment base,” the report notes.

PwC’s Wendy McCray, partner in the assurance practice for the Denver PwC office, said Denver’s large young population — about 16 percent are 25-34 years old — “tells people there’s good job growth and Denver’s economy is more diverse.”

The “Emerging Trends” study is based on surveys of more than 1,000 commercial real estate experts, including investors, developers, lenders and brokers.

Here are some of the city’s other rankings:

• Denver ranks eighth among promising investment markets, moving up three spots from the 2012 report, due to “strong growth potential. … An attraction is the city’s central location in the country’s southern and western regions, as well as Denver’s ever-expanding international airport.”

via bizjournals.com

US housing construction up 15 percent in September | North Salem NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

U.S. builders started construction on single-family homes and apartments in September at the fastest rate since July 2008, a further indication that the housing recovery is strengthening.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground on homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. That’s an increase of 15 percent from the August level.

Applications for building permits, a good sign of future construction, jumped nearly 12 percent to an annual rate of 894,000, also the highest since July 2008.

The strength in September came from both single-family construction, which rose 11 percent, and apartments, which increased 25.1 percent.

Construction activity is now 82.5 percent higher than the recession low hit in April 2009. Activity is still well below the roughly 1.5 million rate that is consistent with healthier markets.

Still, the surge in construction suggests builders believe the housing rebound is durable.

Builder confidence reached at a six-year high this month, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders. The group’s index of builder sentiment rose to a reading of 41. While that’s still below the level of 50 that signals a healthy market, it has steadily climbed over the past year from a reading of 17.

Sales of new and previously owned homes have been slowly improving this year, and home prices are starting to show consistent gains.

Record-low mortgage have encouraged more people to buy. And the Federal Reserve’s aggressive policies could push long-term interest rates even lower, making home-buying affordable for the foreseeable future.

Housing is expected to keep improving next year. But many economists say economic growth will stay muted until companies step up hiring and consumers start spending more.

Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing sales market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to data from the home builders group.

via finance.yahoo.com

How to Protect Yourself Against Bad Landlords | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Bad landlords are bad news, and they come in many different types. They can make you hate living in an otherwise perfect apartment. However, it’s not easy to spot a bad landlord before you move in. Here’s how you can take steps to protect yourself, in case you’re stuck with one of the three most common types.

Type 1: The security deposit grabber

This landlord will consider your security deposit his from the get-go and will look for any excuse to keep your money when you move out.

Protection: Conduct a thorough walk-through before moving in.

Protect yourself against future problems before you move in. During the initial walk-through, make sure you document every flaw you find with your new apartment, even if it’s something that can’t be fixed, such as a stain on the countertop. Make sure to take pictures when you find something wrong, so you’ll have documentation. That way, if the landlord blames you for the problem, or tries to keep your security deposit, you have proof that the problem existed when you got there.

A few areas needing special attention:

  • In the living, dining and bedroom areas: Are hooks left on the wall from a past tenant’s framed picture? Even if they’ve been painted over, write it down. How about the carpet? If it’s worn out, write it down. Also, ensure all lighting fixtures, outlets and switches are in proper working order. Inspect doorknobs and doors, windows (glass, locks, check that all will open and stay open) and window coverings. Also, remember to look through the peephole; this will often get painted over.
  • Kitchen: Test every burner on the stove, plus test the oven. Inspect your refrigerator and freezer for cleanliness and dents and dings. Ensure that all of your cabinets will close, and that all of your drawers glide smoothly. Check countertops and cupboards for chips and stains. Check your dishwasher, sink and faucet. Finally, inspect windows, electrical outlets, etc, as you did in the living room, dining room and bedroom.
  • Bathroom: Check the shower for mildew, as well as the grout around the tub. Flush the toilet to make sure it runs properly and make sure it does not leak. Verify that the faucets work and do not drip. Make sure your towel bars are securely affixed to the wall, and that the toilet paper holder is in place. Again, the key here is to verify the basics of the room.

Type 2: The intrusive landlord

This landlord does not respect your privacy or boundaries.

Protection: Establish a cordial distance from the start.

One of the worst kinds of landlords is the one who feels free to stop by at all hours, ostensibly to check something in the apartment or maybe just for a friendly chat. This typically happens when you rent a single unit in a private house or in a small rental building, and your landlord lives on the same premises. The landlord tenant-relationship can get too close, and you lose your privacy. If that happens, it is difficult to re-cast the relationship without hurt feelings, and you may end up having to move.

Type 3: The non-responsive landlord

This landlord is nowhere to be found when the heat stop coming in or shower turns into a trickle.

Protection: Stay calm, firm and document.

Make sure you first approach your landlord (or property manager) in a calm, friendly tone. Explain what you need fixed. When you realize that no one is making an attempt to fix the problem, you know you are stuck with a non-responsive landlord and need to take additional action.

Additional up-front protection: If you live in a large building or apartment complex, try to befriend your maintenance person — a nice tip on the move-in day can really pay off! Usually the maintenance person will be able handle minor fixes, like unclogging toilets, draining air from the radiator or replacing hard-to-reach light bulbs. You may be able to bypass the landlord entirely.

However, for bigger and more expensive problems like a chronic leak in the ceiling when it rains or replacing a window that won’t shut properly, you’ll need to get the landlord or management company to approve and finance the fix. If they are unresponsive, don’t give up. Continue asking for the fix in a firm tone, but also start documenting every instance you contact the landlord (or management company).

If there is still no response, you need to send a formal demand letter (you can find templates online). Explicitly state the problem, the dates and times you have reported it to management, and their ignoring of your request or their denial to fix it. Then send this letter to the landlord’s business address, using certified mail with a return receipt. Unless the problem is serious (lack of heat or water, for example), give the landlord or management company 30 days to fix it. If that doesn’t work, send another letter. This time, give them 15 days. If still no response, repeat. The third time, give them seven days. Use certified mail with a return receipt every time. If nothing has happened, you now have the documentation necessary to take the landlord to court.

Hopefully, you’ll find a nice apartment with a good landlord, and you’ll never have to deal with bad landlords. However, as you move into your apartment, it does not hurt to take steps to be prepared if the landlord turns out to be less than perfect.

via zillow.com