Tag Archives: Cross River Real Estate

NYC agent count surges in 2013, especially in Brooklyn | Cross River NY Real Estate

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It’s been an active year (to say the least) for New York City real estate, so it should come as no shock that the number of real estate agents and brokers licensed in the five boroughs has increased.

The rise was concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In Manhattan, headlines about mega-luxury apartments and reality shows about high-flying brokers who sling them prompted many to get into the business, while in Kings County the continuing tide of gentrification (and its attendant rising rents) may have brought on the nearly 10 percent increase in licensed agents.

The number of licensed real estate salespeople in New York City grew by 7.2 percent, to 29,503 from 27,530 since last year at this time, data from the New York State Department of State provided to The Real Deal show.

In Manhattan alone, the number was 15,798, up 7.4 percent from 14,708 last December. In Brooklyn, the ranks of salespeople burgeoned 9.2 percent, to 5,210 from 4,772, the data show.

In the Bronx, there were 54 new agents licensed with the state this year, bringing the total in the borough to 1200; in Queens the ranks of salespeople swelled 6.3 percent – to 5,887 from 5,538. Meanwhile, on Staten Island, the 1366 agents added less than 50 new licensees to their ranks, to reach a total of 1408 salespeople in Richmond County.

The volume of licensed brokers citywide ticked up slightly as well, to 23,690 from 23,134 last year –an increase of 2.4 percent. (Agents are typically greener salespeople, while licensed brokers must have at least two years of industry experience and pass a licensing test to earn the designation.)

While the DOS figures do not distinguish residential from commercial brokers, anecdotal evidence suggests that the bulk of agents are in the residential sector. And while commercial leasing had an up and down year and may have even shed brokers, the commercial sales industry thrived, said David Behin, head of investment sales at commercial and residential brokerage MNS.

 

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/12/23/nyc-agent-count-surges-in-2013-especially-in-brooklyn/

Latest Figures Show New Home Sales and Prices Decline in New York | Cross River Real Estate

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In August, the New York, NY market saw a decline year-over-year in new home closings, and with a percentage decline steeper than July 2013, there were suggestions the market may be worsening. Closings sank 29.5% from a year earlier to 665. This was after the housing market saw a 25.0% fall year-over-year in July.

A total of 7,252 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in August, down from 7,530 for the year that ended in July.

Out of all housing closings, new home closings made up 4.8%. This is down from the 7.5% of closings a year earlier. Closings of new and existing homes increased year-over-year in August after also rising in July year-over-year.

 

 

 

http://www.builderonline.com/local-housing-data/mid-atlantic/new-york-northern-new-jersey-long-island-ny-nj-pa.aspx?cid=lmkt:new-york-northern-new-jersey-long-island-ny-nj-pa:20131215&rdrnum=1000073719

 

 

 

NJ’s priciest listing comes with 2 barns and a silo | Cross River NY Homes

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If it’s not clear what you might do with a 20,000-square-foot home that sits on 127 acres and comes with two barns and a 50-foot silo, the address should clue you in that the answer is not “farm.”7 Yearling Path, in Colts Neck, N.J., is being marketed as an “exquisite equestrian estate” that, in addition to all the amenities for horses, comes with some nice perks for humans, too — like marble showers in the 10 bathrooms, a kitchen that can serve 250 people, a gym, and a theater with platform seating.

At the moment, it’s the priciest single-family listing in New Jersey, Marlboro-ColtsNeckPatch reports. The property taxes alone set the current owner back $67,634 in 2012, according to details about the listing, represented by Pamela “Pam” Molloy of Coldwell Banker Holmdel, published by the brokerage. Source: coldwellbankermoves.com

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/priciest-nj-listing-9-bedroom-equestrian-estate-on-127-acres-for-34-999m/#sthash.83wN5XHW.dpuf

Historic Firehouse-Turned-Modern Mansion Wants $5.25M | Cross River Real Estate

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28 images

Location: San Francisco, Calif. Price: $5,250,000 The Skinny: Renovated from 2006 to 2008 into a breathtaking modern home, Historic Firehouse 44 in San Francisco’s Noe Valley is an undeniably impressive residence, but the 5,814-square-foot house has still had quite a bit of trouble landing buyers in the past. It was listed for $6.375M in May 2008, and, after numerous price reductions, finally sold in 2011 for $4.05M. Now, the new owner has already returned it to market, with a brand new asking price—$5.25M. The house, which was, pre-renovation, home to artists Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen, now features a four-story atrium with glass-and-wood stairs, an elevator, “numerous bars,” and original firehouse details, including a pole and rear metal staircase. The whole place is also wired with sound, lighting, and media systems. You can see a lot more of the house, and listen to some dramatic piano music, in this video tour.

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/03/historic-firehouseturnedmodern-mansion-wants-525m.php

Florida Foreclosure Sales Bring Chinese Drywall Homes to Market | Cross River Homes

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The biggest court cases have been settled, and contractors have been working to fix houses built with defective contaminated Chinese-made drywall for years. But houses that contain the malodorous material are still appearing for sale on the Florida real estate market — with the problem undisclosed by sellers and unsuspected by buyers. That’s because homeowners facing foreclosure may have lost their homes — or simply walked away — without addressing, or even knowing about, the contaminated drywall, reports the Bradenton Herald-Tribune (“Bad drywall still a problem for home investors,” by Josh Salman).

“Surging demand from buyers has pushed lenders to rush distressed homes onto the market, many of which were built during the mid-2000s real estate boom, at a time when inexpensive Chinese-made drywall was abundant,” the paper reports.

Estimates of the number of houses containing the bad material don’t reconcile well with the amount of drywall known to have been imported into the country. “An investigation by the Herald-Tribune and the watchdog journalism organization ProPublica found that nearly 7,000 U.S. houses were built with bad drywall, yet enough material was imported to build at least 100,000 homes,” the paper reports.

Now, houses are coming onto the market that have never been inspected to determine whether they have the bad material—even though left in place, it can destroy air conditioner coils, plumbing, wiring, and electronics. “I’m bidding on houses and I keep finding out they have Chinese drywall,” Bob Tarlowski, an investor and contractor who buys and repairs homes in North Port, told the paper. “After I turn them down, they stay up for bid. The banks don’t disclose it, and there’s no recourse.”

 

 

http://www.jlconline.com/drywall/florida-foreclosure-sales-bring-chinese-drywall-homes-to-market.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=jump&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COCO_082713&day=2013-08-27

Greenwood Nursery Ideas for October | Cross River Real Estate

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What to do in the yard this month:
  • Frustrated with leaves falling in your yard? Get the mower out and mow them down. It will chop the leaves up into mulch which can be used around plants or tilled into the ground (if not too thick).
  • Bring in houseplants and tropical plants when the temperatures begin to drop into the 40’s.
  • Plant bare root trees and shrubs. Fall planting requires less waterings and is less stressful on the plants (zones 5 to 10).
  • Time to attack the broadleaf weeds in your yard.
  • Decorate with pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and hay bales for fun, festive entrances.
  • Remove damaged/broken branches from trees and shrubs.
  • Pull out annuals that are dead or already dying.
  • Plant containers with small sized evergreens, ground covers, ornamental grasses, and colorful perennials to go through the fall and winter seasons.

 

 

Greenwood Nursery | 1-800-426-0958

 

CoreLogic Sees Even Higher Prices in September | Cross River Homes

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In its forecast for September year over year home prices, CoreLogic is ignoring predictions for a slowing down of the recovery with the end of the 2013 home buying season and predicts a 12.7 percent price hike in September after reporting August prices reached 12.4 percent.

If the September forecast proves true, September will be the 18th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices for the CoreLogic Home Price Index.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 11.2 percent in August 2013 compared to August 2012. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 1 percent in August 2013 compared to July 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.9 percent in August 2013 compared to July 2013*.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that September 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 12.7 percent on a year-over-year basis from September 2012 and rise by 0.2 percent on a month-over-month basis from August 2013. Excluding distressed sales, September 2013 home prices are poised to rise 12.2 percent year over year from September 2012 and by 0.7 percent month over month from August 2013. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

“Home price gains were negligible month over month in August-an expected decrease in the pace of appreciation as housing enters the off-season,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “While prices increased more than 12 percent on a year-over-year basis, the month-to-month change is more telling of this year’s late summer trend.”

“After a strong run, the rate of home price appreciation slowed in August. In addition to normal seasonality, the recent sharp rise in mortgage rates off their historic lows was a clear driver behind the slowdown,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “We anticipate moderate gains in home prices over the balance of this year, supported by the recent downward trend in rates and continued tight supplies of homes in many markets.”

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/corelogic-sees-even-higer-prices-in-september/

6 Tips for Finding Prospects on LinkedIn | Cross River Real Estate

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Are you using LinkedIn to connect with new leads and clients?

Do you want to learn about social selling tactics on LinkedIn?

Social selling is the use of social media to discover and connect with new leads and new clients.

In this article, you’ll discover a 6-step process to find new leads and attract new clients on LinkedIn.

Start social selling on LinkedIn with these 6 simple steps. Image source: iStockphoto

#1: Make Your Profile Easy to Find

Most of social selling requires an active outreach process. But you can draw prospective clients to you when you optimize your profile with keywords a potential new client might use when seeking out someone with the products or services that you provide. Add strong keywords to the Title and Summary sections of your profile to ensure you show up in search results.

Remember that you’ll only show up in search results for people in your network. This includes first-, second- and third-level connections, and people who are members of groups you belong to. For this reason it’s beneficial to have a larger LinkedIn network rather than keeping it limited to close personal connections.

The more connections you have, the more searches you will show up in. That said, try not to treat LinkedIn as a popularity contest, since you’re limited to 3000 connection invites.

#2: Create Strategic Alliances

Next you’ll want to remember to network and build business relationships with peers in your industry.

Find professionals who share a target market similar to yours, but don’t offer the service you provide. Once you connect with them, consider fostering a reciprocal relationship to generate referrals for each of you.

Before connecting with a prospect, ask yourself “What do I have to offer her?”

The third-party credibility you receive will dramatically shorten the sales cycle with prospective clients.

#3: ‘Search’ for Opportunities

Now you can focus on finding the prospects you want for your business.

First, join a few LinkedIn groups to network with a wider audience.

Second, use the excellent functionality of Advanced Search to find prospects. You can filter by relationship, groups, location and industry, and the Save Search function even allows you to store effective criteria.

Search by relationship, groups, location and industry.

Use the Tags feature in LinkedIn Contacts to sort your results and save profiles of prospects to the Profile Organizer without being connected to them.

#4: Carefully Craft Your Message

After you identify someone you want to connect with, you’ll want to carefully tailor your communication.

A great first impression with your prospects on LinkedIn should leave them with an interest in your service and a willingness to continue communication.

 

 

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/finding-clients-on-linkedin/

Great news! Shadow inventory drops to 1.9M homes | Cross River Real Estate

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It’s a staggering number: The “shadow inventory” in July– properties that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or in lenders’ REO inventories (but not yet listed for sale on a multiple listing service) — stood at 1.9 million homes valued at $293 billion, CoreLogic said today.

But you have to put things in perspective.

That’s a 22 percent drop from a year ago, and 38 percent from the 2010 peak of 3 million homes.

Plus, that’s the national picture, and all real estate is local, right? If you break it down to the state level, the five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of mortgaged homes were: Florida (7.9 percent), New Jersey (6.2 percent), New York (4.9 percent), Maine (4 percent) and Connecticut (3.9 percent). Source: corelogic.com

 

 

– See more at:

 

http://www.inman.com/wire/great-news-shadow-inventory-drops-to-1-9m-homes/#sthash.pe0Y4n90.dpuf

Q&A: Patching Water-Damaged Plaster | Cross River Real Estate

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Q.

My company has done plaster repair work for many years. After repairing water-damaged walls or ceilings, we occasionally get called back to “fix” an unsuccessful repair. Our second repair attempt involves digging out a very bumpy, chalky substance, and more often than not, we have to repeat this process a number of times until the patch finally takes hold. What causes this reaction on some water damage jobs and not others? What is the most efficient way to deal with this problem?

A.

Mel Hines responds: The problem you refer to is caused by efflorescence — salts in the plaster are brought to the surface by the intruding water. The water often causes the magnesium in the lime coat to expand and produce the blisterlike effect you refer to. One of our recent reader, hired a water damage restoration contractor in Phoenix area and got rid of such problems.

Assuming that the water intrusion has been stopped, the first step is to chip away the lime coat at the affected area. Other than this, if you want a best solution then go for plumbing service in the sutherland shire.  There is a good chance that the bond between the finish lime coat and the plaster base coat has been weakened.

When faced with this situation, I use a wire brush to scrub away any loose base-coat particles, then apply a coat of Kilz (Masterchem Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 368, Barnhart, MO 63012; 314/942-2510) to the base-coat plaster. Kilz is an alkyd-based sealer, primer, and stain blocker. The plaster base coat must be completely dry before application. Next, I apply a coat of Durabond (United States Gypsum Corp., 125 S. Franklin, Chicago, IL 60606; 800/552-9785). Durabond is a fast-setting, low-shrinkage compound with tenacious bonding qualities and accelerated setting times. When the plaster walls and ceilings in your home are damaged, it can cause various practical problems, as well as decrease your home’s value. To fix this eyesore, you’ll need to repair the plaster, hire professional contractor like Plaster Installation New Jersey Agency.

Finally, I apply a skim coat of ready-mixed all-purpose joint compound. After a light sanding, the repair is ready for painting.

Mel Hines owns Atlanta/Pro-Serve, a ceiling and wall repair service in Atlanta, Ga.