Tag Archives: Bedford NY Luxury Homes for Sale

Hot Seattle residential real estate called ‘surge market’ | Bedford NY Real Estate

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When Dolly Lenz, called the queen of U.S. real estate, speaks, people listen. And that’s what a select group of John L. Scott Real Estate high-end luxury real estate agents did when Lenz and real estate appraiser and consultant Alan Pope ofAlan L. Pope and Associates spoke at a recent breakfast put on by John L. Scott for their top sellers.

As vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York City, Lenz has sold more than $7 billion in real estate, more than double the next top agent in the country. This was her first time in Seattle. She loved it and spoke of increasing opportunities in the real estate market.

Pope says the market in our metro area is up 15 percent and that he is seeing the same kind of buying frenzy that he saw six years ago.

“Yes, it has been a fabulous recovery in the housing market,” says Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L .Scott Real Estate. “I saw it formulating 18 months ago. The confidence of local homebuyers has come back strong,” he says.

Scott says sales for his company are up 25 percent in the last 18 months and called the sales activity “a strong to surge market. The last four months has definitely been a surge,” he says, “fueled by the fact that there is such a strong economy with historically low interest rates.”

The Seattle area is one of the top markets in the nation, with strong job growth. Scott points to a shortage of housing inventory on both the West and East coasts. “And in our area there’s a one- to two-month supply of homes available. A healthy market is 5-6 months of inventory.”

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle

How to Buy and Sell a Home at the Same Time | Bedford NY Real Estate

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BUy & Sell4

Now that the real estate market is picking up again, many people are looking to sell their homes at last. But when you sell, you have to move somewhere — which usually means buying another home. Buying and selling at the same time brings up a whole new set of challenges, but those who plan well in advance can make it happen smoothly.

Here are five ways to successfully buy and sell a home at the same time.

1. Prepare to be stressed

Buying a home is stressful. Selling a home is stressful. When you do both at the same time, the experience is super stressful, not to mention emotional and difficult on many levels. You’re potentially carrying two mortgages or trying to time the purchase with the sale. There will be a lot of sleepless nights, worrying over finances and pressure to make a decision. It’s enough to ignite a family war.

Accepting upfront that this process will be extremely stressful will help in the long run. Know that most homeowners go through this, and there is success at the end of the long, dark tunnel. Plan everything as much as possible in advance. Do your homework. And take care of yourself. You’re going to be busier than usual.

2. Meet with your agent early on

Owners often believe their home is worth less than what the current market will bear. That’s why it’s important to meet with your real estate agent early on, even months before you plan to buy or sell. Researching online valuation tools or doing basic research will help to guide you. But a local agent will help you understand your home’s true current market value and marketability. A good agent is in the trenches daily and knows your neighborhood and market inside and out.

3. Learn the market where you want to purchase

After getting some hard numbers for your home’s sale you need to do the same on the purchase side. What’s on your wish list?  What are your priorities? Determine your needs and understand what you will get for your money on the purchase side. You need to know this to factor in how financing will work with the buy/sell. Also, understand that market. Is it more or less competitive than where you live now? How long can you expect to search for a home? This will factor into your sale timing. If you’re moving within the city or town where you live, your listing agent will likely serve as your buying agent. If you’re moving just outside your area, you may need to ask your agent to refer you to an agent knowledgeable about that area.

4. Know your numbers

Once you understand the numbers on both the purchase and the sale, you need to know your financing options. Many people today don’t have a strong-enough financial foundation to purchase another home before selling their own, so knowing this upfront can help you plan more appropriately.

Engage a local mortgage broker or lender and understand what kind of down payment you’ll need to make a purchase, given the price point and type of home you seek to buy. How much equity do you have in your current home, and is the equity available? Do you have enough of a down payment liquid and would a lender allow you to make the purchase before selling the home? Find out by going through the loan pre-approval process. A good, local mortgage professional is as valuable as a good real estate agent.

5. Make a plan

Now that you know your numbers, it’s time to come up with a plan and execute. The plan can vary greatly, depending upon any number of conditions. Some examples:

  • Buying in a competitive market? Adding a contingency that your current home must sell before you buy probably won’t work.
  • Selling in a competitive market? You may be able to negotiate with the buyer for a longer escrow or even a rent back. This would buy you time on the purchase side.
  • Selling in a slow market and buying in a competitive market? Need the sales proceeds in order to do the purchase? Unfortunately, you’re in the worst-case scenario. Consider the option of selling your home first and moving into temporary housing. While not the most physically convenient, it could be less stressful.
  • Need temporary housing? Start researching those options now well in advance.

 

http://www.zillowblog.com/2013-05-03

Subprime lending, 2013 edition | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Think subprime mortgages have gone away? Think again, we have one lurking within FHA, with features that are eerily similar to those of the private market that went into hyper-drive in the 2000s, and collapsed in 2007.

The central features of a subprime market are:

  • Expensive marketing directed to borrowers with very poor credentials and few options.
  • Liberal qualification requirements that allow some of these weak borrowers to be approved.
  • Overcharges, with profit margins much higher than those available on other mortgages.
  • High default rates.

Expensive marketing: The techniques used in the two recent subprime markets to target potential customers are the same. A letter I received recently described “an event sponsored by a real estate company/mortgage company to help people that have had a foreclosure or short sale get back into a house. We did a short sale on our house about two years ago. While there our qualifications were checked, and a few days later they approved us.” The approval was for an FHA. Other than that, this letter could have been written 10 years ago.

Liberal qualification requirements: The private subprime market depended on the substantial liberalization of underwriting requirements that arose out of the housing bubble during 2000-2007. The prevailing assumption was that rising house prices would convert the otherwise weak subprime loans into good loans — which they did, until the bubble burst, at which point the default rate ballooned.

via inman.com

Investors flood the housing market as landlords | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Investors have always played a role in the housing market, but their presence was often small. Currently, cash buyers—largely investors—make up about 32% of sales nationally, according to the National Association of Realtors.

via housingwire.com

A Beginner’s Guide to YouTube Branding | Bedford Homes

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youtube branding

With so many business-related videos on YouTube, and more being added every day, you need to put some effort in if you want your brand to stand out.

In this article I’ll look at five quick tips to help you create a more memorable YouTube presence.

Tip #1: Reinforce who you are

At the end of every company video you upload to YouTube, you should reinforce your brand. For example, you could say your company name and web address at the end of each clip or include an image showing this information in the final frame of your video.

If you fail to do this, people might forget who you are by the end, depending on the length of the video they’ve just watched.

Tip #2: Add your social media links

Your YouTube channel shouldn’t be treated as an individual online entity. It’s definitely a good idea to include your other social media links within the channel. For example, if people like your video and what you’ve had to say, they might want to follow you on Twitter or Facebook.

Tip #3: Take time choosing your avatar

The avatar for your YouTube channel is also an important consideration. You need to bear in mind that you’re competing with millions of other company video channels, so an eye-catching logo that stands out for all the right reasons is essential.

Tip #4: Add your logo to your videos in a subtle way

A watermarked logo can be added to your videos in a subtle way so that people are aware of it without it being intrusive. This also helps with branding if other people decide to embed your video on their websites.

Tip #5: Include your brand in the tags

My final tip is to include your company name/brand name as the final tag when you’re adding these for each video you upload. If you put this at the beginning, you’re using up a valuable space that should feature one of your main keywords.

Including your brand is great if you’ve recorded a series of videos and want the others to be displayed as related content.

If you liked this article, please retweet it using the button below.

Image credit: SarahJane (license) 

via socialmediatoday.com

HSBC to pay $249 million to end foreclosure probes | Bedford NY Real Estate

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International bank HSBC signed onto an agreement that effectively ends the companies’ review of questionable foreclosure practices.

Rather than using an independent review process already in place, the bank will address the issue through a one-time settlement with impacted homeowners.

The mega bank is joining 12 other servicers that already ended independent foreclosure reviews by opting to solve legacy foreclosure processing claims through a cash settlement.

HSBC alone will pay $249 million in both direct cash payments and foreclosure assistance to borrowers harmed by sloppy or questionable foreclosure practices, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Friday.

Of those funds, $96 million will go to eligible borrowers, while $153 million will cover loan modifications and deficiency judgments.

The Federal Reserve and OCC released similar deals with other major servicers, including Aurora, Bank of America ($11.14 -0.14%), Citibank ($41.66 0.42%), Goldman Sachs ($144.45 3.44%), JPMorgan Chase ($46.46 0.02%), MetLife Bank ($36.31 -0.05%), Morgan Stanley ($22.38 1.63%), PNC ($61.84 -0.17%), Sovereign, SunTrust ($29.14 -0.43%), U.S. Bank ($32.87 0.11%) and Wells Fargo ($34.93 -0.1%).

With HSBC added to the pile of settling firms, 4.2 million borrowers will receive about $3.6 billion in cash to be distributed among them. Another $5.7 billion will be used to offer mortgage assistance.

Federal regulators moved to the one-time settlement approach after finding the foreclosure review process too costly and inefficient.

via housingwire.com

Foreclosures for sale: deals disappear on foreclosures for sale | Bedford NY Real Estate

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In four-county Metro Orlando, a RealtyTrac snapshot of more than 1,300 foreclosure sales in July and August revealed an average discount of 4 percent below the homes’ market value — only slightly more than what banks are shaving off repossessed homes nationwide.

“This is likely the result of home prices stabilizing and even increasing in many markets, along with a limited supply of bank-owned properties, giving the edge to the sellers,” said Daren Blomquist, a RealtyTrac vice president. “Unlike an individual homeowner selling his or her home, the banks are not emotionally attached to these properties or to a certain value that they think the properties are worth.”

The local price-slashing varies widely by lender and location, however.

Some Metro Orlando locales reported deep discounts in bank-owned homes — from 15 percent to 29 percent below market value, according to RealyTrac’s July-August sample. Those areas, which are disparate geographically and in terms of income levels, include:

Orlando’s 32806 ZIP code, an eclectic area between downtown and Conway.

Lady Lake, a haven for retirees in Lake County.

Orlando’s 32807 ZIP, with the working-class subdivisions of Azalea Park.

Maitland, a city of middle-class and lakefront neighborhoods.

Orange County’s 32818 ZIP code, which includes parts of the historically low-income Pine Hills area.

Discounts on bank-owned homes are important not only to deal hunters but also to other homeowners. Orlando’s housing market is so thin on for-sale listings that, although it could absorb more foreclosed homes without crippling property values, the market’s recovery could slow if banks slash prices to move their distress sales faster. And getting rid of properties quickly is attractive to lenders trying to minimize legal costs, homeowner-association dues, property taxes, repair bills and other fees.

Orlando real-estate broker Dean Asher, president of the statewide industry group Florida Realtors, said the market is moving in a direction that is conducive to investment groups armed with cash buying up multiple residential properties directly from large lenders. Homebuyers dependent on financing, he added, are having a difficult time competing for the bargains.

“Years ago, we would have gotten these [foreclosures] off the books and cleaned up” the market, Asher said. “We’re moving forward, but [banks,] they’ve been holding on to these assets, and as they’re tightening the discount, they are discouraging ordinary buyers.”

According to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, the much-larger gap between prices paid for bank-owned homes and those paid in “normal” home sales has also been shrinking. For example, in the Realtors’ core Orlando market, the single-family homes sold by lenders had a median price of $90,000 — or 42 percent less than November’s conventional sales, which had a midpoint price of $155,048. A year earlier, in November 2011, the gap had been 46 percent.

via articles.orlandosentinel.com

Latest from the NYC market | Bedford NY Realtor

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from the top:

We have just released the “Elliman Report: Manhattan Sales 4Q 2012,” the leading resource on the state of the Manhattan co-op and condo market.  Our market reports are produced in conjunction with Miller Samuel to provide you and your clients with the most comprehensive and neutral market insight available.

Manhattan closed out 2012 with the most fourth quarter sales in 25 years and the lowest level of inventory in more than a decade. Tax planning in advance of the “fiscal cliff,” rising rents, an improving regional economy and record low mortgage rates were some of the key reasons for increased sales in the quarter. Although housing prices remained stable through the year, the shortage of inventory could bring pressure to them in the new year.  We continue to be impressed with the depth and strength of the market and look forward to an active 2013.

via trulia.com