Tag Archives: South Salem NY

Wells Fargo originations may be off by 30% | South Salem Homes

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Wells Fargo (WF) Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan says mortgage originations are projected to be off by 30%, while refinance volumes will be off by an estimated 60%.

Seeking Alpha elaborated on Sloan’s statements:

Still, he reminds business remains strong and those percentages are based on very strong comparables.

One bullish stat shows mortgage payments to disposable income is just 18% vs. a fifty-year average of 27%. At the height of the bubble it was 30%. Amid the high interest rates of the early 80s, it was about 50%.

                    Source: Seeking Alpha

Wayne Newton’s Las Vegas Ranch Hits Market for $70 Million | South Salem Real Estate

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Casa de Shenandoah, a 36-acre ranch once owned by Wayne Newton, just hit the market for a whopping $70 million. Newton and his family have lived at the ranch since the 1960s, but in 2010 it was purchased by CSD LLC for the purpose of turning the home into a Wayne Newton museum. Unfortunately the project failed due to legal disputes, and the LLC went bankrupt. The Newton family owns 20 percent of CSD, but not enough to keep the home.

The home is also a zoo; Newton used the home to keep his prized Arabian horses and a few other animals, and CSD acquired even more animals for the museum, including sloths, wallabies, penguins, lemurs, and more than 100 birds. The animals have since been sold to the Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center and the Sloth Captive Husbandry Research Center in Rainier, Ore.

And that’s not the only wild thing about this house. There’s a jumbo jet terminal that allows the plane to pull right up to the home. There’s not just a garage, but a “car museum,” with seven double doors. In addition to the main house, which has three bedrooms and 3.5 baths, there are seven additional homes on the property. Other details include 37 stables, an “equestrian pool,” acres of corrals, a gaming room, green room, and tennis court. According to the listing, CSD LLC has invested in excess of $15-20 million in improvements. It is listed by Dale Thornburgh, Synergy Sothebys International. For photos and more information, check out the listing on Redfin.com.

 

http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2013/09/wayne-newtons-las-vegas-ranch-hits-market-for-70-million.html#.Ui8vBmRATsn

 

Homesteading and Livestock | South Salem Real Estate

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If you suffer from Barnheart and would like to homestead but are unable to do  so right now for whatever reasons (there are many), do not despair. There are  still steps you can take in order to move yourself towards the goal of being  more self-sufficient. Happily, most of them don’t involve much money! Here’s a  list of my top 10:

 

1.  Save more, spend less. The sad fact is that most people cannot afford to buy the  homestead of their dreams … or any homestead, for that matter. In many places,  acreage is expensive. In order to make your dream a reality, you may need to  make some drastic changes. Thankfully, most of those changes have positive  outcomes …  stop eating out and instead, learn to cook the kinds of dishes  you’ll be making when you can have your own garden. Cancel cable and instead,  read books and magazines that will teach you about living self-sufficiently.  Make time work for you, and contribute annually to your IRA. Your 70-year old  self will thank you for it. Your co-workers and friends won’t understand why you  want to live so simply … but they don’t have Barnheart.

 

2. Seek to become debt-free. Once you have begun spending less, and saving  more, consider paying off those loans. No homesteader I know has ever said “I  wish I owed more money.” Every dollar in interest you are paying on your home,  car, or credit cards is one less dollar you have when at last you are able to  purchase your homestead.

 

3. Learn a new skill. You may not be able to milk your own cow, but you can  learn how to make your own yogurt and cheese. You may not be able to spin  your own wool, but you can learn how to knit or crochet. You may not be able to  build your own farmhouse, but you can learn how to do smaller woodworking  projects. Sign up for a class, have a friend teach you, or watch you-tube.

 

4. Learn to preserve food. Anyone can learn how to can and  dehydrate, and it doesn’t take a lot of money to get started. Someday you’ll  have a huge garden and bumper crops of produce, but for now you can support your  local farmer by buying in season and preserving the taste of summer all year  round.

 

 

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/homesteading-barnheart-zbcz1309.aspx#ixzz2fuhkj7hv

Brokerages Step up to One-Stop Shopping | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Despite six years of a depressed housing economy that reduced Realtor ranks by one-third, real estate brokerage companies are closer than ever to achieving the long-sought dream of becoming one-stop shops  providing their customers all the services they need to buy or sell a house.

A new survey Imprev, Inc. found that 75 percent of top real estate executives responding said their brokerage firms offer at least one major ancillary service and mortgages are the No. 1 additional offering.  Some 89 percent of the real estate firms that offer at least one ancillary service offer home loans.

Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) offer title services and nearly half (49 percent) offer home-warranty services.

“For decades, the National Association of REALTORS® has tracked growing consumer interest in a one-stop shop through its surveys,” said Renwick Congdon, chief executive officer of Imprev, a real estate marketing software firm that works with 150,000 agents and brokers nationwide.

“Clearly, the industry’s thought leaders are making it happen in their firms,” he added.

According to a 2011 NAR and Harris Interactive study, the number of consumers interested in using a service provider affiliated with a brokerage firm increased 34 percent from the first survey completed in 2008.

In the NAR/Harris study, 78 percent of homebuyers said that one-stop shopping would save them money; 75 percent said it would make the process more manageable and efficient; and 73 percent said that a one-stop real estate shop would prevent the details relevant to their transactions from “falling through the cracks” — as well as make the entire process “more convenient.”

When real estate executives were asked to select the top benefits from offering ancillary services, 79 percent said “higher profits”; 70 percent said “one-stop marketing opportunities”; 62 percent said “increased customer satisfaction”; and 60 percent said “better quality control.”

The survey was conducted in late May. Poll respondents included top executives at leading franchises and independent brokerage firms responsible for more than one-third of all U.S. residential real estate transactions last year.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/

Seven Million to Struggle with Negative Equity for Four Years or More | South Salem Real Estate

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Though three million homeowners were freed from the shackles of negative equity in the past year, it will take at least four more years for 7 million or more deeply indebted homeowners to reach positive equity, even as home values continue their current pace of recovery.

As home values continue to rise, the national negative equity rate continued to fall in the second quarter, dropping to 23.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, according to the second quarter Zillow® Negative Equity Report. However, millions of homeowners remain so far underwater that it will take years for them to regain equity, even as home values continue their recovery.

Approximately 12.2 million homeowners with a mortgage were in negative equity, or underwater, at the end of the second quarter, owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. That is down from 13 million homeowners in the first quarter and 15.3 million at the same time last year. Roughly one-third of homes are owned without a mortgage. The negative equity rate among all homeowners, both with and without a mortgage, was 16.7 percent at the end of the second quarter.

Nationwide, more than half (57 percent) of homeowners in negative equity are underwater by 20 percent or more, and roughly one in seven (13.4 percent) owes more than twice what their home is worth. According to the most recent Zillow Home Value Forecast, home values are expected to rise 4.8 percent in the next year. Assuming appreciation at that rate going forward, it would take a homeowner underwater by 20 percent roughly four years to reach positive equity.

“Widespread rising home values during the past year have helped chip away at negative equity nationwide, helping many homeowners who were only modestly underwater to come up for air. For those homeowners who are deeply underwater, though, there is still a long row to hoe,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “The frustratingly slow pace of negative equity declines in the face of such robust home value appreciation is a direct result of the fact that many people in the hardest-hit markets are underwater by an enormous amount. Because of this, negative equity will be a factor in these markets for years to come, constraining the supply of homes for sale and keeping people out of the market who might otherwise get involved.”

The “effective” negative equity rate, which includes those homeowners with a mortgage with 20 percent or less equity in their homes, fell to 41.9 percent, from 43.6 percent in the first quarter. Listing a home for sale and buying a new one generally requires equity of 20 percent or more to comfortably meet related expenses, including the down payment for a new home and associated closing costs, taxes and real estate agents’ fees. Homeowners without enough equity may remain tied to their homes, even if they are not underwater.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08

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.

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

 

HARP refinancings dip in second quarter | South Salem Real Estate

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Higher mortgage rates caused refinance volumes to edge down in the second quarter as fewer homeowners filed refi applications.

When compared to the two prior periods, 2Q refinance volumes fell slightly, according to the latest housing agency refinance data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

In the second quarter, 279,933 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages refinanced through the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), representing 22% of total refinance volume.

The slight drop in refi volumes occurred as mortgage rates rose sharply to 4.07% in June, up from 3.57% in March.

The total number of HARP refinances from the inception of the program to now totals 2.65 million.

Market analysts expect the trend to continue, as mortgage rates are likely to trend higher once the Federal Reserve begins scaling back its monetary stimulus.

“I think once rates begin their return to normalcy as the Fed starts to taper, refinance demand is likely to further decline,” explained Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) markets and international banking analyst Sarah Hu.

She added, “The tapering of refinance activity may have already occurred as evidenced in this week’s refinance index (< 2000), the lowest since Jan 2011.”

On a similar note, Compass Point Research & Trade analyst Kevin Barker noted that HARP refinance volumes will remain under pressure given the higher rates.

“If borrowers have less of incentive to refinance at higher levels, it’s going to effect volumes and how aggressively originators will target HARP borrowers,” Barker stated.

He continued, “I would point out that the drop in refi activity compared to HARP volumes will be relatively less because they’ll be more resilient to rates.”

Of the loans that refinanced through HARP in the second quarter, 19% had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125%.

While taking a look at year-to-date figures through June, 18% of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for shorter-term 15- and 20-year mortgages, building equity faster than traditional 30-year mortgages.

In Nevada and Florida, markets that analysts have been keeping an eye on since the recovery began, HARP refinances represented 59% and 50% of total refinances, respectively. This is more than double the 21% of total refinances throughout the country over the same time period.

Underwater borrowers accounted for a large portion of HARP refinances in a number states, representing more than 61% of HARP volume in Nevada, Arizona and Florida.

From the program’s inception through June, 2.34 million loans refinanced through HARP were for primary residences, 78,756 were for second homes and 307,272 were tied to investment properties.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26598-harp-refinancings-dip-in-second-quarter