Floored’s interactive 3-D experiences may represent future of virtual home tours | Katonah NY Homes
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Warren Buffet’s new real estate brand wants to learn from — and recruit — millennials | South Salem NY Homes
A group of younger agents will help Warren Buffett’s new real estate franchise brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, buck the aging agent trend and connect with the perspective of a younger generation.
The Irvine, Calif.-based franchisor has selected 10 agents, all 35 years old or younger, to serve a two-year term on the “REthink Council,” from a pool of more than 40 applicants, based on their ideas and proficiency — transaction sides, sales volume and awards.
The council will provide input to BHHS leadership on how to connect with millennials, the 20- and 30-somethings born during the early 1980s through the turn of the century.
The new franchise network — which 51 brokerages have committed to affiliate with — wants to become an attractive brand for younger agents, and share innovative ideas with member brokers and the industry at large.
The dearth of younger agents was part of the motivation for establishing the REthinkCouncil. Millennials are not only scarce among the ranks of real estate buyers and sellers, but underrepresented in the ranks of real estate agents.
Agents under the age of 40 made up just 11 percent of the Realtor population in 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2013 member profile, down from 20 percent in 2003.
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/12/12/warren-buffets-new-real-estate-brand-wants-to-learn-from-and-recruit-millennials/?utm_source=20131212&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.f4OPAxYE.dpuf
Evolution of MLS Public Websites | Katonah Real Estate
There’s a movement afoot among Multiple Listing Service (MLS) executives and brokers to take measures to protect, control and monetize the data surrounding listings. A key component of this strategy is the consumer-facing MLS website (MLS public portal).
In a 2009 study of MLS public listings websites, Matt Cohen, technology chief for Clareity Consulting, said: “I have been an advocate for MLS websites that provide real estate listings information to the public since 1996. Such websites have always made sense as a hedge against industry outsiders that want to intercept the consumer on their way to the real estate professional, selling expensive advertising, charging referral fees and/or reducing the broker’s capability to provide a one-stop shop for services ancillary to the real estate transaction.”
In 2009, Clareity Consulting studied every MLS listing website in the U.S. and found most severely lacking in features and deficient in other criteria. Clareity updated their study in 2011 and 2013, addressing the main features of a well-designed MLS public website:
1. Finding Properties – There’s no good reason not to provide a visual display where listings are shown on a map as criteria are changed.
2. Search Filters/Content – To remain competitive, more MLSs will allow for local display of pending or sold listings and/or display that information via public records.
3. Open House – Approximately 70 percent of sites have some kind of open house search.
4. Individual Property Details – The simplest implementations of property maps are links to Google Maps. And when it comes to photos, the advantages of having many pictures rather than one should be obvious. Nonetheless, 9 percent of top MLS listing websites show one picture.
Residents of the Aloha State shell out a lot for electricity | Katonah Homes
Hawaii has a lot going for it: The jaw-dropping sunsets and stunning vistas, the multitude of beaches and warm temperatures year round, the relaxed island vibe. One thing it doesn’t have: low electricity bills. It seems residents of the Aloha State shell out the most money on a monthly basis for their residential electricity bill, paying an average of $203.15 per month in 2012. In contrast, New Mexico residents pay the lowest monthly rates with an average bill of $74.62.
And when it comes to commercial electricity bills, the District of Columbia may get sticker shock: Average monthly electricity bills there for commercial structures is a whopping $3,288.38. It’s a huge number, considering that covers only 26,548 customers. As a comparison, look at Idaho, which has 102,319 customers and a monthly commercial electricity bill of just $334.19. In D.C.’s defense, it’s average price per kilowatt hour is nearly double that of the Gem State: 12.02 cents versus 6.86 cents.
It seems there are a lot of states that could benefit from energy efficiency measures. The NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog gave us the tip off on on the data, which compiles information from 2012, ranks all 50 states, and was recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). On the mainland, wallets in the South Atlantic states (D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) feel the pinch the most each month when it comes to residences, with an average electric bill of $122.71 per month, and Pacific states rank the lowest. On the commercial side, the Pacific states of Alaska and Hawaii foot the largest average monthly bills, coming in at $1,192.77, while the East South Central states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee come out on top with the lowest average commercial bill of $501.67 a month.
December Checklist for a Smooth-Running Home | Katonah Real Estate
Faucets at $1,000 Abound as Home Equity Spigot Opens | Cross River Real Estate
A year ago, New Jersey contractor Michael Mroz’s customers were focused on saving money when renovating kitchens and baths, he said. Now, with a resurgence of home equity lending, they’re ready to pay for the best.
“People don’t want granite countertops — they want marble costing at least 25 percent more,” said Mroz, owner of Michael Robert Construction in Westfield, an affluent town less than an hour’s commute to Manhattan. “Money is so cheap today, people can splurge on $1,000 faucets.”
Spending on home renovations is rising to records as banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) increase lending for home equity lines of credit, or Helocs, after property prices this year gained at a pace not seen since the last housing boom. Heloc originations could rise 16 percent this year and reach another five-year high in 2014, according to Mustafa Akcay, an economist for Moody’s Analytics, powering the earnings of Home Depot Inc. (HD) and boosting the economic expansion.
Helocs are making a comeback as the housing market recovers enough to make the junior mortgages a safer bet for banks more than seven years after the beginning of the housing crash that saddled them with billions of dollars of losses. The median price for an existing home probably will gain 11 percent this year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, after plunging about 33 percent during the crash.
‘Enormous Impact’
“The biggest use of Helocs is renovations, and the biggest spur for renovations is Helocs,” said Kermit Baker, director of Harvard University’s Remodeling Futures program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “When the two fuel each other, it has an enormous impact on the economy.”
After home prices began rising in 2012, the number of Americans with negative home equity — those who owe more on their properties than they are worth — began tumbling. At the beginning of last year, that was the case with almost 16 million home loans. By the third quarter of this year, that number had dropped to 10.8 million, property data firm Zillow Inc. said in a report last week.
“There is an increase in the amount people are willing to spend on their homes as the values go up,” said Joe Emison, chief technology officer at BuildFax, a real estate data company. “A lot of them feel in a better position today as the job market and the economy has improved.”
Bank Holdings
Helocs typically are held by banks in their mortgage portfolios rather than being sold in the secondary market to be securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, common for primary home loans, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage data firm in Riverdale, New Jersey.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/
What’s the best way to use leaves in the garden? | Cross River Real Estate
What’s the best way to use leaves in the garden?
Leaves are one of the main ingredients of the dark, rich humus that covers the forest floor — nature’s compost. A gardener can replicate that humus by mixing carbon-rich leaves with nitrogen-rich manure or grass clippings to make compost.
Maintaining an active compost pile in winter can be a challenge, however. An easier alternative is to use leaves in the garden in fall, says Abigail Maynard, associate agricultural scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, who has studied the use of leaves as a garden soil amendment for more than 10 years.
If possible, shred your leaves first with a chipper-shredder or mower; the smaller pieces will break down faster. Spread the chopped leaf mulch over your garden soil, then incorporate it with a tiller or spade. “By spring, almost all of the chopped leaves will be completely decomposed,” Maynard says.
Maynard’s research has shown that amending soil with maple or oak leaves alone probably won’t boost yields the way adding finished compost does, but she says using leaves in the garden does add organic matter to the soil. Organic matter improves soil structure, holds nutrients and moisture that are released slowly to plants, and provides food for beneficial soil organisms.
Maynard suggests adding a nitrogen-rich fertilizer, such as aged manure, in spring. (Nitrogen added in fall could leach away by spring.)
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/print.aspx?id={152934F3-D318-4D8E-BF1C-9830C170F43A}#ixzz2jPEnYvbY
Lewisboro Wolves Benefit Hosted by Richard Gere | Lewisboro NY Homes
Existing home sales jump 12% | South Salem NY Homes
(Via CNN Money)
Sales of existing homes jumped in December, marking the fifth month of gains in the past six months, based on an industry report released Thursday.
Previously-owned home sales climbed 12.3% in December to an annual rate of 5.28 million, from 4.70 million in November, according to the National Association of Realtors.
That puts sales at the highest level since the homebuyer tax credit expired in June, said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.
The December rate came in much higher than expected. A consensus of experts surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast an annualized sales rate of 4.8 million. However, sales were down 2.9% from 12 months earlier and fell 4.7% in 2010.
“December was a nice finish to the year, but looking at the bigger picture — home sales and prices have been scraping along the bottom for the last three years,” Hoffman said. “So, while we’re not digging a deeper hole — the housing market is still quite weak, and there are still more homes available on the market than there are likely to be buyers.”
The median price of all existing homes sold in December was $168,800, down 1% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, the inventory of homes on the market fell 4.2% in December to 3.56 million units. That’s enough inventory to last 8.1 months, and is down from a 9.5-month supply in November.
While that’s an improvement, Hoffman said that data doesn’t reflect the large number of foreclosures that could soon enter on the market.
“What’s hidden behind the curtain are potential foreclosures adding to those inventory levels,” he said. “Even as we have jobs growing, inventory is still large and more foreclosures are going to be coming on the market. Prices will go down and it’s going to continue to be very much a buyer’s market.”
That said, Hoffman expects sales to gradually improve — rising about 4% or 5% — by the end of 2011, as the employment picture improves.
“I do think there will be more sales in 2011, because job growth will support homebuyers,” Hoffman said. “We’re getting back to the underlying demand without the homebuyer tax credit, but housing is still not contributing much to the overall economic improvement in the economy.”