Tag Archives: South Salem NY Homes for Sale

Nearly Half of Renters Lack Insurance | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Some 46 percent of renters are uninsured even though renters are more satisfied with their insurance than homeowners, according to a new JD Powers study released today.

Price is the leading driver of the satisfaction gap: price satisfaction is a significant 45 points higher among renters than among homeowners.  Satisfaction with insurers is higher among renters than among homeowners (809 vs. 787, respectively, on a 1,000-point scale), the study found.

State Farm captures the largest share of the renter insurance market (26%), followed by Allstate (12%) and USAA (10%).

Customer retention rates with their current insurer are higher among renters who bundle an auto policy (91%) compared to renters who do not bundle an auto policy (67%).

“Many insurance agents focus their time selling high-dollar products, such as auto and homeowners, with higher commissions instead of the average $200 per year renters policy,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the global insurance practice at J.D. Power. “This is shortsighted because agents who satisfy the large renter population today are more likely to retain and service their growing household insurance needs over time” (learn more in the review of SuperMoney).

Rankings
Overall Customer   Satisfaction Index ScoresJ.D. Power.com Power   Circle Ratings
(Based on a   1,000-point scale)For Consumers
Homeowners Segment
Amica Mutual

842

5

State Farm

813

4

Auto-Owners Insurance

812

4

Erie Insurance

811

4

Automobile Club of   Southern California

808

4

Encompass

798

4

American Family

797

4

Progressive

796

4

COUNTRY

795

3

Allstate

789

3

GEICO

789

3

The Hartford

787

3

Homeowners Average

787

3

NCNU Insurance   Exchange

786

3

Nationwide

780

3

MetLife

778

3

Safeco

778

3

Automobile Club Group

776

3

CHUBB

768

2

The Hanover

766

2

Farmers

763

2

Liberty Mutual

762

2

Travelers

756

2

__________________________
USAA*

894

5

*USAA is an insurance   provider open only to U.S. military personnel and their families and   therefore is not included in the rankings.
Homeowners Segment:   Included in the study but not award-eligible due to localized availability   and/or not meeting minimum sample requirements are Alfa Insurance, Allied,   Cincinnati Insurance, Fireman’s Fund, Homesite, Mercury, North Carolina Farm   Bureau, Shelter and Tennessee Farm Bureau.

Mortgage refinance activity picks back up | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Mortgage applications shot back up this past week as the market corrected itself in the wake of the Labor Day weekend, analysts said Wednesday morning.

Despite seasonal factors having an impact on applications, other factors remain. The market overall continues to readjust as interest rates fluctuate and analysts wait to see whether the Federal Reserve will slow down its acquisition of mortgage-backed securities and Treasurys. An update from the latest Federal Open Market Committee Meeting is expected this afternoon.

Looking at the data, mortgage applications increased 11.2% from a week earlier, the MBA said. Refinance activity also came back, growing 18% from the previous week, while the purchase index rose 3%.

Collectively, the refinance share of mortgage activity inched back up to 61% of total applications this week, up from 57% a week earlier.

Mortgage analysts are attributing the rebound in refinance applications to a recent drop in mortgage rates and a natural pick-up resulting from the end of a holiday.

“However, refinance volume remains almost 70% below the peak in early May,” explained MBA vice president of research and economics Mike Fratantoni.

He added, “The decline and rebound were also caused to some extent by the slowdown around the Labor Day holiday. Although we included an adjustment for the holiday, it did not precisely capture this slowdown.”

Handling such a volatile market, it becomes difficult to discern what happens week-over-week in the mortgage space, explained Quicken Loans chief economist Bob Walters.

“The week before, you had people on holiday, so when consumers reengaged back into their every day life a lot more people were making more decisions on their homes,” Walters noted.

He added, “Additionally, the industry had a ton of people out on vacation, which also effects such a volatile series.”

On a similar note, Ellie Mae noted that purchase loans continued to gain share in August, climbing 4% to represent 57% of all loans analyzed by Ellie.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26898-mortgage-refinance-activity-edges-back-up

Completed foreclosures fall 34% | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Completed foreclosures dropped 34% year-over-year in August 2013, according to data from CoreLogic (CLGX). As a whole, August’s completed foreclosures hit 48,000 filings, down from 72,000 filings in August 2012.

From a month ago, completed foreclosures grew a slight 1.3% from 47,000 actions in July 2013.

Overall, the nation has experienced 4.5 million completed foreclosures across the country since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008.

Through August 2013 this year, approximately 939,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, compared to 1.4 million in August 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 33%.

From August to July, the foreclosure inventory declined 3.2%. In August, the foreclosure inventory represented 2.4% of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 3.3% in August 2012.

By the end of August, 2.1 million mortgages, or 5.3% of loans survyed, were seriously delinquent, the lowest level since December 2008.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27288-foreclosure-inventory-plummets-34

 

Mortgage relief fails to provide as much promised aid | South Salem NY Real Estate

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While the five giant mortgage firms signed a landmark $25 billion mortgage settlement last year, the real relief did not fulfill most borrowers expectations. Just 20% of the aid dished out under the settlement covered forgiveness of first-mortgage principal. Per the Los Angeles Times:

“We all wish there had been more principal reduction, which is what is most helpful in keeping people in homes,” said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a 300-member alliance that lobbies on behalf of low-income and minority neighborhoods.

Still, Stein said, the program set a good precedent, demonstrating that debt forgiveness can benefit lenders and borrowers alike without causing a wave of intentional defaults, as critics had warned.

                    Source: LA Times

CoreLogic: 2.5 million homes float back into positive territory | South Salem Real Estate

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Approximately 2.5 million more residential properties returned to a state of positive equity during the second quarter of 2013, according to the CoreLogic second- quarter home equity report.

The total number of mortgaged residential properties with positive equity stands at 41.5 million, the research firm found.

“Equity rebuilding continued in the second quarter of this year as the share of underwater mortgaged homes fell to 14.5%,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming.

He added, “In just the first half of 2013 almost three and a half million homeowners have returned to positive equity, but the pace of improvement will likely slow as price appreciation moderates in the second half.”

Despite the substantial decline in negative equity, there’s more ground left to cover with the remaining 7.1 million underwater borrowers.

Meanwhile, 7.1 million, or 14.5%, of all residential properties with a mortgage were still in negative equity at the end of the second quarter of 2013 with a total value of $428 billion, down from $576 billion at the end of the first quarter.

This figure is drastically down as a result of a steady home price improvements.

Of the residential properties with positive equity, 10.3 million have less than 20% equity, meaning these borrowers may have a more difficult time obtaining new financing for their homes due to underwriting constraints, according to the report.

At the end of the second quarter, 1.7 million residential properties had less than 5% equity.

Looking at individual states, Nevada had the highest percentage of mortgaged properties in negative equity at 36.4%, with Florida and Arizona following behind with 31.5% and 24.7%, respectively.

Of the largest 25 metropolitan areas, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., held the highest percentage of mortgaged properties in negative equity at 36.5%, with Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla., and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz., following behind with 33.8% and 25.6%, respectively.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26744-corelogic-25-million-homes-float-back-into-positive-territory

 

Jodie Foster’s ‘enormously private’ villa now going for $6M | South Salem Real Estate

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A 1930s Spanish-style villa in Los Angeles owned by “Silence of the Lambs” actress Jodie Foster just got its price cut to $5.995 million, down from its original asking price of $6.339 million in June.

Zillow describes the five-bedroom, six-bathroom home as “enormously private” surrounded by a tall hedge and with a rear entrance.

 

 

Source: Zillow –

 

 

See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/jodie-fosters-enormously-private-villa-now-going-for-6m/#sthash.agxeoWaL.dpuf

Fixed mortgage rates retreat from a 2-year high | South Salem Real Estate

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Fixed mortgage rates eased up from a two-year high this past week as lenders offered a 30-year mortgage at an average rate of 4.51%, up from 4.58% a week earlier, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The newspaper gave a rundown of all the changes this past week:

“The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.54%, down from 3.6%, according to Freddie Mac. Starting interest rates for popular types of variable-rate loans were up slightly, the McLean, Va., housing finance giant said.”

Freddie’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, said the market is being driven by speculation about when the Federal Reserve will cut back on its stimulus program, which involves buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds.

                    Source: The Los Angeles Times

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | South Salem Real Estate

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Do you use Instagram for your business?

Are you wondering how Instagram can help with your marketing?

To learn how to get started with Instagram marketing, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.

More About This Show

Social Media Marketing Podcast w/ Michael Stelzner

 

The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.

It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).

In this episode, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman, who is known as theInstagram Gal. Sue helps businessesuse Instagram to find their ideal customers. She’s used Instagram herself to increase traffic to her Cape Cod retail boutique by 40% in only 12 months.

Sue shares the strategy behind her Instagram success.

You’ll learn how to take advantage of using photos and short videos and how tomake the most of hashtags.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!

Listen Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:

Instagram Marketing

Why marketers should consider Instagram

Sue states that she didn’t know what Instagram was until a little over a year ago. She became curious when her twin daughters were using it.

Sue shares that one of the reasons why marketers should consider Instagram is because it’s mobile. It’s a great way for your business to communicate directly with people with whom you want to build trust and credibility. There’s no better way for people to see what you are up to.

sue b zimmerman instagram

Instagram is a great way to share with people what you are doing in the moment.

Instagram is a free mobile app, which you can download onto your iPhone orAndroid phone. It allows you to share photos or videos with your target market. It’s very quick, easy and fun to use. There are 20 filters that you can have a lot of fun with.

You’ll discover why hashtags and @mentions are most important for marketers and businesses.

Listen to the show to find out what type of image gets the most likes and comments for Sue.

Who is Instagram ideally for and how does it differ from Pinterest?

Sue believes they are similar but have slightly different approaches. Sue has a very active Pinterest account, which is also very successful for her boutique.

Both Pinterest and Instagram have grown into their own thriving communities.

With Instagram, you can tell a story with both photos and videos. As soon as you upload an Instagram image, you can see within seconds that someone has liked it. With Pinterest however, you tell people what you like. You curate your boards and highlight what you like from things that are already online.

in the moment sue zimmerman

With Instagram, it’s you in the moment.

Sue gives an example of how she is able to seize opportunities presented to her with customers in her boutique. It’s a great way to create a fun mood.

The hashtags that you use to describe the image or the video are how people follow you or find you.

You’ll hear what hashtags Sue uses at an event and why it helps create more interaction. You have to remember that people look for certain hashtags for their industry to stay top of mind.

falmouth roadrace

Make sure you tag the event you are attending to create more interaction.

From a business perspective, when an image grabs your attention, you can choose to click into the account and see if you want to follow the person. Once you start to follow an account, it will show up in your feed. You can also unfollow accounts at any time.

Sue believes that she can put a visual strategy together for any kind of business. You’ll hear the different types of businesses she has worked with.

In the B2B world, it’s not necessarily about the products you sell, it’s about visual feelings. Images of sunsets, nature and oceans get a lot of likes because they are visually pleasing. It’s not just about business.

Listen to the show to find out what the benefits are when you share your passions visually as an individual.

Examples of businesses that use Instagram well

One of Sue’s favorite businesses is Birchbox. They have over 50,000 followers and are super-creative with their products. One of the products is a subscription-based box of goodies, which is delivered to your door once a month for $10.

 

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | Social Media Examiner.

Rising Rates and Falling Standards Raise Default Risk | South Salem Real Estate

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Mortgages currently being originated stand a 14 percent higher risk of default due solely to current economic conditions, especially rising mortgage interest rates and falling underwriting standards.

Under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be 14% higher than the average of similar loans originated in the 1990s, due solely to the local and national economic environment.

Investors and lenders should expect defaults to rise on new loans according to the latest UFA Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The UFA Default Risk Index for the third quarter of 2013 rose to 114 from last quarter’s revised 96 in our baseline scenario.

“Most of the increased risk this quarter can be attributed to the hefty increase in mortgage rates – 100bps in just three months! Borrowers initiating mortgages at these higher rates will have higher payment ratios and will be more likely to default if the household is stressed,” said Dennis Capozza, Professor of Business Administration in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a founding principal of UFA.

“At the same time, borrowers at the lower rates of earlier vintages become less likely to default. This is because their existing mortgage at the earlier favorable rate becomes a more valuable contract, since the market value of the mortgage liability falls when valued at current higher rates,” Capozza said.

Capozza also cited changes in underwriting standards as factors contributing to higher rates of risk in new mortgages. Last week Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae, said credit standards continued to ease in July. “The average FICO score fell to 737, from 742 in June 2013, and it is now at the lowest level since we began our tracking in August 2011. Similarly we saw slight increases in both loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios last month-signs that lenders are willing to accept slightly more risk to maintain volume,” he said.

The UFA Default Risk Index measures the risk of default on newly originated prime and nonprime mortgages. UFA’s analysis is based on a “constant-quality” loan, that is, a loan with the same borrower, loan and collateral characteristics. The Index reflects only the changes in current and expected future economic conditions, which are much less favorable currently than in prior years.

 

 

Rising Rates and Falling Standards Raise Default Risk | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

How to Insulate a Slab Foundation | South Salem Homes

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In Texas where I build the most common foundation type is Slab on Grade. In effect, we pour a big rock of concrete on top of the ground (also mainly rock) then build a house on top.

 

My Project Manager Ryan on top of this newly poured Slab Foundation.

I just completed my first house with Perimeter Slab Edge Insulation and I thought I’d walk you through the process. First, let’s talk about why to insulate the slab. As we build tighter and better insulated houses the uninsulated slab becomes more of a heat loss in the winter time for these High Performance Homes. Check out this Manual J energy loss chart from a house we remodeled recently.

Check out the BTU loss through the un-insulated concrete slab on this house.

The chart above is from a house with R-19 walls, and an R-40 roof. As we build better that slab becomes a larger % of the loss of heat!

This is for a house with an R-11 Insulated Slab.

Now look at this chart with a house with similar specs for walls/roof but it has an R-11 Perimeter insulated slab. Big difference! As a percentage of heat loss the floor went way down compared to the un-insulated slab house.

So, let’s look at the mechanics of actually insulated the slab. One of our first concerns for this process is Termites! Adding foam to the outside of a slab is a big no-no in Termite country. First, we used Borate impregnated foam from Nisus Corporation. I’ve been using their Bora-Care on my framing lumber for about 10 years now, but I only recently realized they make a termite resistant foam aptly called Bora-Foam. Our local Termimesh dealer sourced it for me and did the install.

I want to thank Joel Roeling from Termimesh for his help in this project. Also want to extend a big thanks to my Energy Rater/Tester Kristof Irwin of Positive Energy here in Austin, TX. His modeling really helps us decide what approaches will yield benefits long term for the houses I build. Last, but certainly not least was the amazing Architect/Client on this house Scott Ginder of Dick Clark & Associates. Scott and his wife Andrea are wonderful clients and it was such a pleasure to build this beautiful high performance home with them!  Here’s some detail photos but be sure to watch the video too.

 

read more…

 

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/31642/how-to-insulate-a-slab-foundation