Category Archives: Westchester NY

The Value of My Home Went Up: Do I Need More Home Insurance? | South Salem Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Most homeowners keep track of changes in the estimated value of their homes. If the estimate increases, does it mean you should increase the limits of your home insurance coverage to accommodate the hike? The quick answer — maybe, maybe not. Why the hedge? It depends on why the value of your home has increased.

The good news? If what increased is the possible sale value, you’re likely in good shape, insurance-wise. The amount of home insurance coverage you need doesn’t change based on real estate prices.

How real estate prices work

Real estate prices focus on demand. The more demand there is for a house, the more a seller can ask to be paid. Demand depends on a number of factors and can change over time.

An example: Location is one of the most important factors in real estate. If a home is in a trendy neighborhood, a great school district or near desirable shopping or entertainment venues, its market value could be greater than that of a house in another location. On the other hand, neighborhoods can fall off “popular” lists, school districts can be redrawn, and stores and theaters can close. That same house likely wouldn’t sell for nearly as much.

Most recently, home values have increased in many parts of the country as the real estate market heated back up after the recession. As more buyers enter the market, sellers can demand higher prices.

How home insurance prices work

When you buy home insurance, you don’t base your coverage limits on what you paid for the house. Instead, you buy enough dwelling coverage so that you can rebuild what’s likely your largest investment in case it is destroyed by a covered event such as fire or wind.

Factors taken into account in arriving at this amount — also called the replacement value of your house — include the size of the house and local construction costs.

Insurance providers then consider the amount of risk presented by a particular home and policyholder. Again, location is important: It determines the types of threats a home can face. For example, it costs much more to insure a home in Tornado Alley than it would for a similar house in a region with less-volatile weather.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.zillow.com/blog/home-values-and-home-insurance-151160/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages rose this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.10 percent, up from 4.08 percent at this same time last week.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered around 4.05 percent for the majority of the week before rising to the current rate on Monday.

“Rates continued on a downward path last week, reaching six-month lows before rebounding slightly,” said Erin Lantz, vice president of mortgages at Zillow. “This week, we expect rates to rise gradually and correct for what some market observers believe has been an overreaction to recent economic data and the situation in Ukraine.”

Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 3.10 percent, and for 5/1 ARMs, the rate was 2.77 percent.

 

read more…

 

http://www.zillow.com/blog/30-year-fixed-mortgage-rates-rise-152060/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

January Jones’ Home Eschews Avocado Appliances for Stainless | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Source: IMDb

Source: IMDb

As Betty Draper on “Mad Men,” January Jones seems at home in the mid-century suburbs. But the remodel of her Los Feliz Mediterranean home, now listed for $1.495 million, shows her personal style is more formal and contemporary.

Since buying the home for just over $1 million in 2009, the actress had a son, filmed several seasons of the hit AMC show and found time to completely remodel the kitchen in her 1920s gated home. And there is not a retro appliance or rotary telephone in sight.

The home at 4969 Ambrose Ave in Los Angeles was outdated when she bought it. The kitchen, in particular, had linoleum floors and a cramped space, prompting the Real Estalker to call it “a fixer.”

Jones added a Carrara marble island and a big stainless steel sink. She also updated the wood-burning fireplace and redecorated in a black-and-white palette. The formal, elegant 3-bedroom, 3-bath home is 2,200 square feet, with a pool table, hardwood floors and lots of windows.

 

read more…

 

http://www.zillow.com/blog/january-jones-lists-la-home-152020/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

Dracula’s castle is now for sale in Romania | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

A view of Bran Castle, Romania. (Daniel Williams/The Washington Post)

The Transylvanian castle erroneously reputed to be the abode of that terrifying abomination Dracula is now technically “for sale.” Bran Castle, an atmospheric pile perched atop a crag, is set to be sold off by its Habsburg owners. The Romanian government has reportedly lodged an $80 million bid.

The fortress dates to the 13th century and has been occupied by various bands of warriors and knights over the years. Images of Bran Castle supposedly reached Bram Stoker, the 19th-century Irish author of “Dracula,” who drew inspiration for his famous work from travelogues and sketches by British diplomats and adventurers in what was then Wallachia (modern-day Romania). He envisioned the scene surrounding the vampire’s lair like so:

The castle is on the very edge of a terrific precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.

Bran Castle fits the bill and has since become a popular tourist destination for those seeking their Dracula thrills. The structure was in the possession of the Romanian Habsburg royal line, but it was appropriated by the state with the advent of Communism. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Habsburgs’ descendants were ceded back the fortress and set about restoring it — making it the desired attraction it now is.

 

 

read more…

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/14/draculas-castle-is-now-for-sale-in-romania/?tid=up_next

Top Shanghai real estate agents downsize as sales slowdown takes a toll | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Shanghai’s top real estate agent has been forced to downsize, hurt in part by a delay in commission payments from property developers in a market facing increasing liquidity pressure and a slowdown in sales.

Hong Kong-based Centaline Property, which has around 470 branches in Shanghai, told Reuters it has imposed a hiring feeze in the commercial capital and has been reviewing leases at some of its branches since the fourth quarter of last year.

“For agents and shops that can’t meet quotas, we would let staff go through natual attrition and stop renting,” said Clement Luk, Centaline’s chief executive of east China.

“April’s transactions in Shanghai were around 20 percent lower than March; looking at the momentum now, April may not be the bottom yet, May and June could still be on a downtrend.”

Another leading agent in Shanghai, Dooioo Real Estate, said it was also cutting staff, although it still planned to increase its number of branches in the city to 250 by the end of the year from 206 now.

Chinese media reported on Monday that the two real estate agents were cutting staff by 5 to 10 percent, citing internal sources. Dooioo said its staff cuts would be less than that figure, while Centaline said only it was letting staff go.

 

read more…

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/china-economy-property-layoffs-idUSL3N0NY3VD20140513

Metro Atlanta home prices jumped 18% at end of ‘13 | Armonk Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Metro Atlanta’s housing market continued to rebound at the end of 2013, posting double-digit growth, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes.

The area’s house prices jumped 17.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. CoreLogic also predicts metro Atlanta’s home prices will increase 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

National home prices rose 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. Home prices nationwide were 20 percent above the trough reached in the fourth quarter of 2011, but remained 21 percent below the peak reached in the first quarter of 2006.

 

read more…

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/05/13/metro-atlanta-home-prices-jumped-18-at-end-of-13.html

Drop in rates spurs rise in mortgage refinancing | Chappaqua Homes

Leave a reply

 

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.”

 

 

read more…

 

 

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

What you need to apply for a mortgage | North Salem Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

 

When it comes time to apply for a mortgage in 2014, you might be surprised at how much documentation you’ll need.

J.D. Crowe, president of Southeast Mortgage in Lawrenceville, Ga., says most of the documentation should be familiar to you if you have applied for a mortgage loan in the last five years. If you’re new to the mortgage market this year, he says, this is all new.

The new qualified-mortgage rules that took effect on Jan. 10 make this paperwork even more important. To meet the rules, lenders will be even more diligent in collecting the paperwork that proves that you can afford your monthly mortgage payments. David Reiss, professor of law at Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, N.Y., says that while the documentation requirements under the rules might come as a shock to those who haven’t applied for a mortgage since 2008, they are common-sense requirements, for the most part.

“These are really common-sense rules,” Reiss says. “The new rules say that mortgage lenders are no longer allowed to throw out the common-sense standards of lending money during boom times, when they might be tempted to overlook long-term financial goals for quick profits. If the rules help that happen, they’ll be a good thing.”

 

 

 

read more…

 

http://realestate.msn.com/what-you-need-to-apply-for-a-mortgage

From Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

I recently wrote an article for Houzz in which I acknowledged the dumbest decorating decisions I’d ever made. More than 300 of you responded with your own tales of woe. Most of them fell into four categories:

1. Painting anything yellow.
2. Furniture that wouldn’t fit through doorways.
3. Leaving town while someone worked on your home.
4. Painting anything yellow.

Because it can take a while to read 300 comments, I collected some of the most memorable tales from fellow Houzzers to share with you. Schadenfreude alert: Some of the following stories may cause involuntary laughter. Don’t resist.

Note: Photos are for illustration purposes only and do not portray the actual disasters described.

From Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes
Save to Ideabook

Email Photo

Houzz user names are noted in green.

Color Trouble
ojmcneff
Once my color-blind husband picked the color to paint our traditional home. He said it was tan. I came home to a lavender house.

joslyn2315
I love the color purple, so I wanted one room in purple. Well, it looks like Barney puked all over the walls.

baiwenli
When building our first house I painted the whole house what seemed to be gray with a purple undertone. My first mistake was in not understanding how tough it is to get gray right. My second mistake was not getting a test pot and trying it out in the space. My third mistake was being out of town when the painters did the job. “Slight purple undertone” was Barney purple. My entire home. Needless to say, my husband was less than pleased having to repaint it. All I can say is test pots, test pots, test pots.

read more…
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/26845925?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u506&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery4

FHA, Fannie and Freddie regulator making moves to ease mortgage credit | South Salem Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

A shift by the federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could soon make getting a mortgage loan easier by giving lenders more wiggle room before the mortgage giants demand that they repurchase loans.

In his first public remarks since taking over as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mel Watt said he wants to address uncertainties surrounding the “representation and warranty” standards that can trigger repurchase demands.

Vault image via Shutterstock.
Vault image via Shutterstock.

Going forward, new borrowers will be allowed to miss two payments during the first three years after taking out a mortgage without triggering a repurchase demand from Fannie and Freddie. The mortgage giants will also not automatically demand that lenders repurchase loans if a loan’s primary mortgage insurance is rescinded.

Watt said Fannie and Freddie will continue to allow Fannie and Freddie to approve loans with debt-to-income levels above 43 percent when borrowers have “other compensating strengths,” and keep current loan limits in place.

Those moves could embolden lenders to approve mortgages to borrowers who meet all of Fannie and Freddie’s other underwriting requirements, but who previously might have seemed to pose too great a repurchase risk.

When lenders have done their due diligence and made sure borrowers meet Fannie and Freddie’s underwriting standards, the mortgage giants keep payments flowing to investors in mortgage-backed securities that mortgages are bundled into, even when borrowers default.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.inman.com/2014/05/13/fannie-and-freddie-regulator-making-moves-to-ease-credit/?utm_source=20140513&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm