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Westchester NY Homes

Home flipping frenzy returns to Southland real estate market | Bedford Real Estate

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Like most real estate agents, Tarek El Moussa saw much of his livelihood evaporate in the housing bust.

But with prices beaten down, El Moussa also started seeing bargains everywhere. He bought a Santa Ana condo for $115,000 in 2010, made modest renovations and flipped it for a $35,000 profit. Last year, he repeated the process 20 times and this year expects to flip 50 homes.

“I absolutely loved it,” El Moussa said about that first house flip. “I made a good profit, and I saw the opportunity to do it not only once, but do it over and over.”

With Southland home prices rising in a fast-paced recovery, home flippers have returned to the market in force. In May, investors flipped 1,377 homes — a level not seen since the height of the housing boom, when investors turned over 1,394 homes in June 2005, according to real estate research firm DataQuick. The firm defines flipping as buying and reselling a home within six months.

The frenzy has brought new interest in home flippers as celebrities, after earlier TV reality shows featuring them went the way of the housing market. “Flip this House,” on A&E, was canceled in 2009. Bravo’s “Flipping Out” first aired in 2007 but switched gears after the second season to focus on interior design. El Moussa has turned his experience into a new show, “Flip or Flop,” which premiered on HGTV in April.

After the crash, experts — in hindsight — pointed to get-rich-quick home flipping as a missed warning sign before the housing bubble burst. But whether the return of flipping constitutes cause for alarm remains a murkier question.

Many housing experts and economists say it may simply signal a healthy recovery — a quick bounce back from prices that had dropped sharply. Others see it as a sign that fast-rising markets may again be getting overheated. In Southern California, the median price has seen year-over-year increases of more than 20% in every month so far this year, according to DataQuick, hitting a record 28% in June.

 

 

Home flipping frenzy returns to Southland real estate market – latimes.com.

11 Things You Should Know About Homeowners Insurance | Bedford Real Estate

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Insurance requires you to think about bad occurrences: medical problems, car accidents, emergency home repairs. But while it may sound pessimistic to dwell on what could happen (carpe diem, anyone?), it’s important to protect yourself from some of life’s biggest surprises.

When it comes to protecting your home, it’s not just about safeguarding against structural damage or theft — it’s just as much about feeling secure in where you live. If disaster strikes, your focus should be on reclaiming your sense of stability. The last thing you should worry about is money.

We spoke to LearnVest Planning Services certified financial planner™ Ellen Derrick — and some real homeowners — about the top 11 things you should know about homeowners insurance.

No. 1: What it covers

A typical policy will pay for damage to your property and your possessions in the event of certain storms, fire, theft or vandalism. Like renters insurance, it also provides liability coverage if someone gets hurt on your property and decides to sue. Homeowners insurance also covers shelter costs, so you don’t have to face crazy hotel bills if you’re temporarily displaced from your house.

Homeowners insurance can protect belongings outside the home, too. If something is stolen from your car, auto insurance won’t cover it — but your homeowners policy likely will. “Most policies will cover your belongings when they are traveling with you,” Derrick said. “If you have a $1,200 laptop and it gets lost by the airline, call your insurance agent — right after you file the claim with the airline, of course.”

No. 2: What it doesn’t cover

A standard policy has exclusions including earth movements (landslides, earthquakes, sinkholes), power failure, war, nuclear hazard, government action, faulty zoning, bad repair or workmanship, defective maintenance and flooding. Windstorms are typically covered, including tornadoes, although insurance companies exclude tornadoes or hurricanes in some high-risk areas.

Water damage is tricky. As a rule of thumb, water from above (rainwater or a burst pipe in an upstairs apartment) is usually covered, but water from below (backed-up sewers or ground flooding) generally isn’t. If your region is prone to floods and earthquakes, you should consider supplemental coverage.

No. 3: Why you should shop around

Before committing to a policy, take the time to research an agent whom you trust — preferably one with good reviews online or via a personal recommendation. It’s certainly something that homeowner Ramzy Ayyad, who struggled to receive benefits following a house fire in November 2008, recommends that prospective homeowners do. “I had to deal with a rude adjuster,” he said. After complaining assertively to the adjuster’s boss, Ayyad finally received a check for the damages — but the process was exhausting.

By contrast, homeowner Terri Corcoran has nothing but glowing reviews for her adjuster. After a snowstorm caused a major leak in Corcoran’s laundry room, an insurance agent came to her home to assess the damage and promptly determined that the entire room needed to be redone. “They wrote me a check on the spot for what it should cost,” Corcoran said. “I was really impressed by how the company responded!”

 

11 Things You Should Know About Homeowners Insurance | Zillow Blog.

Help to Buy risks new house price ‘bubble’, warns Cable | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Vince Cable said that the help-to-buy scheme unveiled in the Budget earlier this year could simply “inflate” the housing market as occurred in the last decade.

From next year, first and second time buyers will be offered government guarantees which should allow them to obtain competitive mortgages even if they have relatively small deposits.

The £130 billion scheme has been heralded as a flagship measure which should help boost the economic recovery while allowing hundreds of thousands of people to meet their aspirations of buying a home.

However, some economists and business leaders have voiced warnings about the scheme and Mr Cable – who previously warned about the dangerous levels of debt before the financial crisis – has now indicated he shares their concerns.

“I am worried about the dangers of getting into another house price bubble,” the senior Liberal Democrat said.

 

 

 

Help to Buy risks new house price ‘bubble’, warns Cable – Telegraph.

Real estate investment trust yields robust rewards despite risk | Armonk Real Estate

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Sinking money into real estate investment trusts is considered to be one of Wall Street’s most complex investments.

Owning shares of REITs gives investors an opportunity to get investment exposure to real estate, including apartments, shopping centers and office buildings. But they’ve gained a reputation of being risky and confusing — especially after the industry was pummeled during the last real estate crash.

 

 

Real estate investment trust yields robust rewards despite risk – Los Angeles Times.

Owning vs. Renting a Home | North Salem Homes

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To the Editor:

Re “Owning a Home Isn’t Always a Virtue” (Economic View, July 14), which questioned incentives for homeownership:

Owning a home is one of the best ways to build financial security over the long term, providing equity accumulation and tax benefits. Homeownership strengthens communities, supports the economy and helps families build wealth — and for many people, it means gaining a foothold into the middle class. That is why owning a home has had longstanding government support.

Admittedly, lax lending and risky mortgages led to the housing market crash, but Americans have justly called for a return to safe, sensible underwriting standards. But the people have also spoken clearly and consistently about the importance of policies that promote responsible, sustainable homeownership, like the mortgage interest deduction.

Further, comparing homeownership rates in the United States to those in Switzerland, as the column did, is comparing apples to oranges; there are too many variables that influence those rates to make a fair comparison.

LAWRENCE YUN

Washington, July 16

The writer is chief economist of the National Association of Realtors.

 

 

Owning vs. Renting a Home – NYTimes.com.

LinkedIn Tools – 3 Tools to help you grow your presence on LinkedIn | Pound Ridge Realtor

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If you invest some time in LinkedIn it can be very beneficial to your business.

In this article we outline 3 tools that will really help you grow your presence on LinkedIn.

1.  Build stronger relationships with your contacts using FiveHundredPlus

If you connect with relevant people in LinkedIn this is an extremely valuable database that you should use.  When you build up a large database on contacts it can be a great source of business.

But you need to regularly communicate with them to nurture the relationships and let them know that you are still around.

FiveHundredPlus is a company which has an interesting tool which will become more and more useful as the functionality develops.  It is designed to help you maintain and build relationships with contacts in Linkedin.

You view all your contacts in a table and then drag contacts to a relevant column which indicates how often you think you should contact this connection e.g. weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly.

 

 

LinkedIn Tools – 3 Tools to help you grow your presence on LinkedIn.

Las Vegas Real Estate Market is Looking Good | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Las Vegas, it’s the town where no one sleeps and so much happens. Then, this great city was hit hard when the economy crashed back in 2007, but just like losing at slots, one can always come back for a win, and that is exactly what the Las Vegas real estate market is doing.

 

Numbers show that there has been an increase from April of 1.8 percent and an overall 32.8 percent increase since 2012. The market is also showing there are less than 13,815 homes in the Las Vegas area available as of May of this year. That means more and more homebuyers are acquiring homes as they are predicting the prices to rise even more as the year continues. It was also reported that building permits hit a five year high this month alone.

 

Investors are also getting involved in this market and buying up homes, leaving areas with little or no available homes, which include new and foreclosed properties. One of the neighborhoods that is being sought and looked at hard is the Henderson Nevada homes for sale. There are great Las Vegas homes for sale for unbelievable prices.

 

Real estate in Las Vegas is becoming a premier spot for investors again, and that helps increase the housing prices. This makes it an ideal market for sellers, which is a good turn around since 2006. The National Association of Realtors has stated that new homes for sale in Las Vegas were once again heading towards being number one in America. Users are also encouraged to look at Lake Las Vegas homes for sale.

 

It has been reported that the average price for a residential home in the metro area of Las Vegas has risen compared to last year by 30.6 percent. The average price of a home was $120,000, and the price rose to $143,000 during the first quarter of this year. Homes for sale in Las Vegas had an amount of 4,512 foreclosed home sales registered during the beginning of the year, which meant foreclosed houses were down 63 percent based on the data last year. It is also being reported that there is going to be a possible shortage of houses if the spike of buying continues. The price of a median price of a single family home was up 3.7 percent from last month and up 30.6 percent from this time last year. That is quite significant.

 

Home sales are on the move and this is one city that is going to remain a great location for home buyers and investors. When searching for homes for sale in Las Vegas, buyers are encouraged to take a look at Summerlin because there are many homes for sale in Summerlin Las Vegas.

 

 

Las Vegas Real Estate Market is Looking Good According to One Las Vegas Real Estate Company.

Advice for Small Fish in China’s Real Estate Market: Swim Fast | Waccabuc Real Estate

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For the minnows in China’s property market, swimming near the bottom of the real estate food chain can be dangerous. The smaller you are, the more likely you are to be someone else’s dinner.

And it is getting harder to stay clear of the bigger guys, particularly as Beijing keeps up its three-year campaign to curb real estate prices.

Bloomberg News
Residential buildings stand in Shanghai, on Sunday, June 30, 2013.

“Being a small fish is getting more difficult. The bigger fish are swimming faster,” said Kai Chen, chief executive officer of mid-sized developer Yango Group. “I expect that in eight to 10 years, China’s top 10 developers will have 20% of the market.”

As of the end of March this year, the top 10 developers had around 16% of the country’s total property sales.

Speaking at a real estate conference this week, Mr. Chen shared a few tips on how a small outfit like Yango has managed to survive in an environment where smaller developers are seen as an endangered species.

Tip No. 1: search for partners. In the past, smaller firms have been known for taking big risks for a chance at an outsized return. But they have often been reluctant to share the profits, he said.

“Smaller firms should change their mindset and form more partnerships, so that they can get more access to financing and land,” said Mr Chen. He noted one innovative partnership by his company with wealth management firm (more on CarsonWealth.com), adding the firm has received substantial financing this way.

Big firms have been better at making friends in government, and this is essential for getting land, he added.

Shenzhen-listed Yango has managed to post respectable sales growth in the past few years despite a host of government measures aimed at cooling off the market. Its property sales in the first half reached 8.7 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), exceeding the 7 billion yuan recorded for all of 2012 and up from 3.2 billion yuan in 2011.

By comparison, China Vanke, the nation’s largest property developer by revenue, had sales of 83.7 billion yuan in the first six months of this year and sales of 141.2 billion yuan for all of last year.

 

 

Advice for Small Fish in China’s Real Estate Market: Swim Fast – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Ryan Reynolds Relists Hollywood Hills Home | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Third time is the charm, at least that is what Ryan Reynolds is hoping. The actor has stuck his Hollywood Hills home on the market for the third time and at a lower price of $1.599 million, and perhaps this time the residence will attract a buyer.

Reynolds bought the home in the celebrity-entrenched neighborhood of Outpost Estates for $1.715 million before his marriage to actress Scarlett Johansson. The two didn’t live there but in the mid-century “Wong House,” which they sold after divorcing for $3.5 million. While Reynolds and Johansson were married, Reynolds tried to sell the home, first listing it in 2009 — not the hottest year for real estate. Reynolds ended up couching the listing until 2011, relisting the home with a sticker of $1.69 million.

Then life got busy for Reynolds: He quietly married another beautiful starlet, Blake Lively, and delisted the home. The two have a home in Bedford, NY, and Reynolds is trying again to dump his former place at 2416 Carman Crest Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

With just 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, the home is not a typical over-the-top celeb estate. Measuring only 1,789 square feet, the home does have upgrades, including hardwood floors, solar heating, a tank-less water heater and private, landscaped garden.

The listing is held by Annie Challis of Keller Williams Beverly Hills Realty.

 

 

Ryan Reynolds Relists Hollywood Hills Home | Zillow Blog.

Housing Unfazed by Higher Rates | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Rising mortgage rates haven’t stalled the housing rebound, says Kathy Fettke, CEO of Real Wealth Network, a California-based real estate investment club.

Indeed, the rate increase has accelerated the recovery, as buyers don’t want to miss out before rates rise too high, she tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.37 percent during the week ended July 18, up from 3.35 percent in the week ended May 2, according to Freddie Mac.

Watch our exclusive video. Article continues below.



“There’s been so much fear that if mortgage rates go up, it’s going to slow down the housing recovery. But we’re seeing the opposite, because as interest rates go up, people panic,” Fettke said. “They don’t want to get in too late, so they get off the fence and buy now.”

While it may sound strange after seven years of glutted inventory, there’s now a housing shortage, Fettke says. “So that’s why investors like me are buying land, realizing that building is the future,” she said.

“We have 4.5 million new residents in the U.S. every year, and building came to a complete stop, so we have a little catch up to do.”


Part of the problem was that builders stopped buying land and didn’t get titled, Fettke says. So now, “they’re a little bit behind on that part of it.”

A continuation of current trends could send home prices up for two to three years, Fettke says.

The S&P Case Shiller Index of home prices soared 12.1 percent for the year that ended in April.

Right now housing demand is strongest in coastal states, she says, and some of that increase stems from foreign buyers.

“Chinese buyers, they want to get their money out of China and into what they deem is safe, which is U.S. housing,” she said. “And they’re buying in what we call the ‘sand states’ — California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida.”

 

 

 

Real Wealth Network’s Fettke: Housing Unfazed by Higher Rates.