Long Island Home Search

New Year, New Market?

2011-01-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011! Most people want to know when the real estate market will finally rebound and they also want to know if the market will continue to fall. I believe we have hit bottom and that prices have begun to stabilize. Foreclosures and short sales will continue to trickle into the market throughout this year which will give buyers one last really good opportunity to buy at the "bottom". How can I reasonably predict this? Well, here's how, many of these foreclosures that come onto the market at really cheap prices are being snapped up in a matter of days by all cash investors who are paying over full price. Did you hear what I said? Bidding wars on foreclosure properties that are priced low. Non-foreclosure properties are also getting multiple bids if they are priced right which means slightly under market value. I plan on buying more homes this year than I did last year since I feel the market is about as low as it is going to go.

Happy New Year everyone!

Housing Market Update

2010-07-01T09:05:00.001-07:00

The spring market was pretty active with many first buyers wading into the market. The Government's tax credit helped people decide to get off the fence and actually purchase. Lots of buyers rushed to get into contract by April 3oth and to close by June 30th in order to receive $8000 (first time buyers) or $6500 (trade up buyers). The time table to close has now been extended til September but this will only help buyers who had already signed their contracts by April 30th.

The big fear now is that since the Government will no longer be offering incentives to purchase, buyers will no longer be as enticed into buying since they are still a bit shaken by the market place. Interest rates are incredibly low even lower then I ever thought I'd see in my lifetime. The fixed 30 year rate is around 4.5% and the 15 year is around 4% which is just incredible. The problem remaining is that banks are still holding onto their money and not lending that easily. We still need to see banks loosening their grip and credit getting easier to obtain before we will see any big strides in a housing rebound. Home prices have flattened out and have basically hit bottom. Many housing markets across the country are beginning to see slight rates of appreciation but our housing market is flat right now and foreclosures and short sales are still heavily flooding the market. Investors and savvy buyers are quickly snapping up good deals and they have been numerous bidding wars all over our area. It will still take some time before we have a completely stabilized market therefore there is still great opportunities out there for buyers to capitalize on.

Stalling a Solid Recovery

2010-02-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well I still believe that we have hit bottom but as I said before we will not see a strong recovery til 2012. There are still too many obstacles in the way of any real significant market changes. The biggest obstacle is still the tightest credit market we have seen in years which is keeping many potential buyers from purchasing due to their inability to secure mortgage financing. Even the FHA is about to tighten their lending standards by decreasing the allowable seller's concession which is currently at 6% down to a paltry 3%. Couple this with the increased down payment requirement which went up from 3% to 3.5% about a year ago and now buyers will have to come up with much more money in order to get the FHA mortgage. Home prices are no longer free falling but there are still too many short sales and real estate owned properties coming onto the market which artificially deflates the average purchase price. This trend will continue for another year or two before all the excess non-performing loans are taken out of the market place. A strong recovery will move into place when the amount of foreclosures and short sales start to trickle instead of flood the market. My prediction is that this will happen in the fourth quarter of 2011. Other areas of the country are already experiencing bidding wars on homes and a healthy level of price appreciation. It will take our tri-state area a little longer since our appreciation rates had been driven to unsustainable levels during the years of 2000 til 2005. I am still seeing good buyers getting very good deals on homes that they would never have been able to afford several years ago. The timing continues to be right for those buyers who are able to purchase now.

The end of the bottom is upon us....

2009-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well I've been watching and waiting for some signs to signal that the end of the bottom is approaching and I have begun to see those signs. Foreclosures and short sales are still coming out on a daily basis but now they are being snatched up pretty quickly if they are good deals. Buyers are wading back into the market at a rapid pace and are no longer scared of their own shadows. The number of contracts being signed are up and the days on the market are down. In some "hot" areas where there is a lot of pent up buyer demand, the days on the market for the average well priced home is now below 30.

Mortgage financing is now the biggest obstacle that is still hindering a complete housing recovery since consumer confidence is slowly being restored. Banks are slightly beginning to loosen their vise-like grip on credit so we are seeing a slight uptick on closings. Rates are still very low but credit is still difficult to obtain. Buyers who have good credit, verifiable income and a down payment are really scoring some terrific deals in this market. Investors with cash are snapping up low priced deals and either fixing and flipping or holding as rentals for future appreciation.

My prediction is that the Metro NY housing market will be on the road to recovery as we hit 2010. Real price appreciation probably will not occur until 2012 but by then we will be heading into a strong seller's market again with home prices on the upswing and a strong decline in available inventory.

It's pretty tough out here

2009-04-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well the good news is that many homes are selling for 50 to 60% of what they had sold for in 2005 to 2006. This really means that buyers have a lot of options available and they can now buy homes that were completely unavailable to them a mere 3 years ago. The other good news is that interest rates are insanely low, anywhere from 4.625% to 5.55% depending on the program, the down payment, the points, and your particular credit worthiness.

The bad news is that most banks are still looking for excuses as to why not lend to you. Buyers should do everything within their power to make themselves as mortgageable as possible since we have now reached what I call the "Perfect Storm" of Real Estate. We now have very low prices coupled with very low interest rates. This is an awesome time to buy if you can. Best of luck to all of you!

The Questionable Fairness of the Obama Stimulus Package

2009-02-21T11:18:00.001-08:00

First the good news:

It's good to have a President that can assess a situation and move quickly to try to fix a known problem of enormous magnitude namely the Real Estate and Mortgage MESS.

I am glad that many existing homeowners who have fallen on hard times will get the opportunity to remain in their homes because they now will be able to get their interest rates automatically reduced and may also get part of their loan balance forgiven. That sounds nice but it also reeks of a Giant Government "Gimme". What bothers me the most about this plan is that there is no way to separate the people who deserve a "hand up" with the people who are just getting a "Free ride". I, personally witnessed many greedy home buyers who bought homes that far exceeded their current earning abilities yet they did so with impunity because the "System" in place was one of letting Capitalism run amok. It is the system still favored by NeoCon conservatives. Now don't get me wrong, there is something to be said for the market being able to self regulate itself based on overall profitablity coupled with supply and demand but the problem with greed is that it completely blinds all parties.

Now for the bad news: Part of the "Stimulus Package" that the solid, fiscally conservative, law abiding, mortgage paying population will be paying for is the support of those same greedy people who felt that they deserved a "McMansion" complete with gunite pool and spa, yes folks, the very same people who had poor judgement in the first place.

Let me make this very clear, I have a problem with bailing out greedy self indulgent people who shouldn't have bought what they bought in the first place!

I do not have a problem with people who, due to unfortunate circumstances such as health problems, the death of a loved one, a messy divorce or the loss of a job, end up needing a helping hand. These families need our help and I'm happy that the "Stimulus Package" will provide that "hand up".

In the past several months I have witnessed many good mortgage paying people unable to refinance their mortgage down to a lower rate because their equity has slipped away and lending regulations have gotten tighter than a tourniquet. Our former Prez, Bush the 2nd, gave the banks billions and yet those very same banks suddenly won't lend to the very same people who have already proved that they can pay a mortgage on time. Now that is what I call UNFAIR. If the government is so big on handing out billions where's my cut of the pie? Countless clients of mine can not refinance their mortgage to take advantage of the lower rates while countless numbers of people who haven't paid their mortgage in over a year are able to refinance with no closing costs into an outrageously low mortgage rate. This is NOT FAIR. How about the government rewarding those people who did not contribute to the current mess? How about giving them a "Gold Star" and a means to participate in this giant government give-a-way? Anyone who has systematically paid their mortgage, on time, throughout this time in history, should get an automatic "Free Pass" that could be redeemed for at least a 1% interest rate reduction and maybe a cherry on the top which could be a $25,000 downward loan modification. Now that would be a fitting way to reward people who did not contribute to the current mess we are in. What do you think folks?

Fundamentals are what count

2009-01-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to get this topic off of my chest for awhile so here it goes..... Everyone, including the papers, the pundits and now the politicians say we are in a bad economy, right? So why is it that when I call a company for service they don't get back to me or lose my information? I'll give you an example of this. I called a permit expediting company several months ago because I thought I needed professional help in legalizing a structure. I left not one but two messages w/the receptionist and I never received a call back. Here's another interesting story, I ordered an oil delivery for a home of mine that is tenant occupied and asked if I could purchase a service contract for said home. I was told that one of their service technicians would need to look the burner over before they would agree to give me a service contract to make sure that the burner had no real problems. I scheduled the appointment between the service technician and my tenant. I never received a follow up call to let me know if I would be eligible for a paid service contract. 6 Weeks later my tenant tells me that the heat just stopped working so I called back this company to schedule in a service call and they said that their service technician had no interest in fixing my burner even if I agreed to pay them in full for parts and labor. I was completely shocked that a company that is in the business of fixing oil burners had no interest in taking my money and fixing my heating equiptment. I promptly called another oil delivery/service company and had my oil burner fixed w/in 4 hours at a total cost of $199. This excellent company is Taylor Fuel and I am now a grateful customer of theirs while the other company will be on my blacklist. What I really think is that good businesses have good fundamentals and some how they will weather the economic storm while businesses w/poor fundamentals will go out of business and it will not be the economy's fault it will be their own damn fault.

The same lesson can be applied to home buying. Fundamentals count. The reason we are in such a foreclosure mess is that the average home buyer threw fundamentals in the garbage. They just wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it, especially if their friend or cousin had it. I saw people get into bidding wars on 2 bedroom homes in so so locations. I saw buyers overlook their own inability to make a mortgage payment just so they could say they owned a home.

Today's buyer is just plain afraid. They are afraid of making the same kind of mistakes that thousands before them made. They are afraid that they won't get mortgage financing. They are afraid that they will lose their jobs. I understand this fear however it was once said that "the only thing to fear is fear itself". Fear is there to make you think things through and not leap before you look which is a good and healthy thing. Fear that prevents you from making meaningful and positive decisions and choices is just baseless fear that paralyzes. Once you have analyzed a situation properly it is time to make a decision based on fundamentals and get on with it. Waiting for the sky to fall like "Chicken Little" is no way to live.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!

2008-12-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of year again when most of our thoughts turn to holiday festivities and holiday stress. I have definitely noticed a more somber attitude this holiday season due to the overwhelming financial pressures that face most of us. Big retailers are having sale after sale and yet are selling less. Internet retailers are offering bigger and better bargains and even free shipping. It's a pity that there seems to be so much pressure on people to make sure that they buy plenty of gifts for everyone. Maybe it's time to return to simpler values like baking a plate of Christmas cookies and giving them as a gift instead of just spending more and more money that you don't really have to spend.

One of the nicest traditions I have is that every year I get together w/an older woman that I became friends with while working at Fire Island back in the late 80's. I drive over to her home and sit awhile in her cozy living room and look at old photos and reminisce over people we knew who are no longer with us. We then go out to dinner at a local restaurant and talk some more. We usually give each other a very small gift like a poinsettia plant or a home baked batch of cookies. We always have a lovely time just catching up with each other once a year over the holidays. I find that the gift of time is far more precious than any silly trinket or electronic gadget that I probably don't need anyways. Make time for the people in your life that are special to you for one day they may not be there anymore and all you will have to hold onto are the memories you made together.

If you are fortunate enough to have a roof over your head than you are more fortunate than most of this planet's inhabitants. Be thankful for what you've got even if it is less than you had hoped for. For better or worse we live in a country that idealizes "stuff" and the message we are constantly being bombarded with is that the more "stuff" you have the more successful you are. It's time we realized that "stuff" doesn't last only memories do. We are all just caretakers in this life. We buy jewelry, we buy homes, we buy cars and then we pass on and our "stuff" also gets passed on. We are just temporary caretakers and the best we can do is take good care of all that we have and realize that all we have is enough to be grateful for.

So this holiday season give the gift of time and the gift of appreciation. That's the "stuff" that memories are built upon. Wishing you and yours a most joyous holiday season!

Hope over Fear

2008-11-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

Our country finally did it, we chose hope over fear. A new day is dawning for America and it couldn't come at a better or bleaker time. We will have new leadership in the White House and we will have a thoughtful and intelligent President who was voted in by a majority of us. Things will not change overnight, it took time and many poor decisions to get us into the mess we are in now and it will take time and many good decisions to get us out of it. Still, this is really, really big history in the making and I couldn't be prouder to be an American then I am today.

What will this mean for the housing and financial sectors? It will mean that government will have an eye on the ball and will start to look out for the middle class instead of just big business, as usual. It will mean that consumer sentiment will start to become positive again. It will mean that foreclosures will no longer be on the rise but on the decline. It will mean that jobs will come to depressed cities like Detroit and Columbus. It will mean that banks will start loosening their tight grip on money and the credit will start to flow again into the hands of small businesses and home buyers. It will mean that our economy will start to create more good jobs instead of just outsourcing them out to foreign countries. It will mean that the super rich will start paying their fair share of taxes instead of the middle class bearing the burden. In short order, it will mean better times are ahead of us instead of just behind us.

Things are looking up, my friends, it is time to be hopeful again!

Tricks or Treats?

2008-10-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, my pretties, with Halloween approaching, it is time to think of Trick or Treating. When you are going door to door asking for candy, will your neighbors answer their door and hand you a treat or will they be chained to the door hoping to stave off foreclosure. These are awful times for many homeowners and while the average "Joe the Plumber" says that they do not want government interference in their lives it is time the government really does something to help out all the struggling homeowners who are barely holding on. More foreclosures mean more blighted neighborhoods and more people feeling suicidal and helpless. For years the government looked the other way as big business helped themselves to monstrous profits (and still do like Mobil/Exxon) at the expense of the little guy.

You know what I consider an insult to American intelligence? Paltry economic stimulus checks that give some Americans between $100 to $1800. To further add insult to injury, our current President thinks that Americans who receive these checks should go out and spend them in this insipid hope that buying more consumer goods will beef up this dismal economy. What a complete pathetic joke. How about giving us "Real" economic stimulus checks like the 700 billion dollars that you handed out to the very same corporations who have been ripping us off?

Think about what the average American family could do with about $350,000? Now that would really help people and put our economy back on track. Foreclosures would dry up, consumer confidence would spread, money would be spent on housing, cars and other consumer goods. Small businesses would prosper once again and all would be right with our economy. The housing market would stabilize and new buyers would be able to get mortgages again. Older homeowners who previously could not sell their home would now be able to ride off into the sunset (into their Florida or North Carolina retirement homes). Blighted towns like Mastic Beach would come alive again and attract new buyers wanting to set down roots in a well priced beach community. All would be right with the world. Now, my friends, that's what I would call a real "Treat"!

How Safe is the Middle Class?

2008-09-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago I was watching the news and heard that banking giant, Lehman Brothers would be filing for bankruptcy. The other big news of the evening was that Merrill Lynch was probably going to be bought by Bank of America and that AIG (the insurance giant) was also in danger of going out of business.

I receive an online publication called "The Mortgage Graveyard" and for the past year and a half more and more banks have been added to that list. I couldn't believe it when I was directly e-mailed, by my account executive at Indy Mac, last month, that they too were going out of business. Right now there are very few banks left to do business with. The real scary part of all of this is that if you happened to have over $100,000 in Indy Mac Bank, you were in danger of losing your money.

Trying to get a mortgage in this lending environment is like pulling teeth. It's hard, uncomfortable and will cause you a whole bunch of pain and that's if you are lucky enough to find a decent dentist.

Now, you may ask why is it just the middle class that aren't safe? My attorney and friend, Paul Barlow, neatly summed it up when he said "the poor don't have any money to begin with and the rich always have money. It's the middle class like you and me that always get squeezed".

He's right, the rich never have a problem buying homes and the poor are happy just to have a roof over their heads. It's the striving middle class that dream of home ownership and take the steps necessary to achieve those goals that are in danger of being squeezed out. It's also the middle class who will be losing their well paying jobs at "Lehman Brothers, Indy Mac, AIG, Merrill Lynch, etc". Those nice middle class salaries will be very hard to replace in a failing economy, such as the one we have now, which was created by our wonderful Republican President George W Bush who has systematically catered to his very rich corporate cronies like Ken Lay who pilfered the pensions of the loyal, hardworking middle class employees of Enron. I pray that we can get our country back on track and back on it's feet so that we can once more have a strong economy and a healthy environment. Four more years of the same and we will be in for a depression instead of a hard core recession.

When the middle class feels safe and consumer sentiment is positive we all share in a strong economy. We are anything but safe right now. These are, indeed, very scary times.

The Credit Slump

2008-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

One of the more obvious reasons that we are in the midst of such a housing crisis is that the same banks who had no problem lending money to anyone who could fog up a mirror now seem to have a problem loaning money to very viable purchasers. We will not see a complete housing market turnaround until credit starts to become more readily available.

Bank after bank is going out of business and the requirements necessary to obtain a mortgage have become herculean in nature. Is it any wonder that so many homes are languishing on the market? I still believe that there will always be people who want or need to buy a home for their family however it has become exceedingly difficult to qualify for a mortgage.

There are many very good deals on houses that can be had if you can get a mortgage or you are fortunate enough to have an ample supply of cash. Every day there are houses coming onto the market that are priced at 50 to 60% of what they sold for back in 2004-2006. Imagine buying a home that sold for $450,000 in 2005 for $225,000 today. It's out there but the catch is you must be able to get the financing.

REO's or Short Sales?

2008-06-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Do you know that most people including real estate agents have no idea what's the difference between REO properties and short Sales? You are probably asking yourself why this matters. The reason this matters is if you are a buyer and are looking for a really good deal you will undoubtedly come across both of these types of listings. You will also probably think they are the same thing. This will be a big mistake since they are not the same thing.

REO properties are properties that are currently owned by a corporation which may or may not be a bank. Short sales are properties that are still owned by the current seller who owes more money to their current mortgage holder than the property is worth. For example, say a seller bought their home in 2005 and paid $525,000 for it and took out an interest only loan for 100% of the value. They now owe more than $525,000 on their mortgage yet the current market value of the home is only $375,000 and they need to sell immediately. This property becomes a "Short sale" since the money they will get from the sale will not be enough to pay off the current mortgage holder who must then approve this sale at such a reduced price. This process can take months to accomplish and then sometimes at the last moment the deal can still fall apart. Buyers must be aware of the substantial risks they are taking by entering into a short sale contract with a seller who ultimately can not make the final decision on whether to accept a reduced price on their property.

On the other hand, an REO property is typically a property that a bank or corporation owns after they have foreclosed on the prior owner who has typically failed to make their mortgage payments. The buyer who chooses to purchase one of these properties are typically buying them in "as is" condition and are negotiating through a real estate agent who makes the offer directly to the bank or corporation which is typically a very motivated seller who can make a final decision quickly.

Good and sometimes great deals can be had in either above situation but it is prudent for a buyer to be very aware of the differences and challenges that each situation can present.

Have we hit bottom yet?

2008-04-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

The question on many peoples' minds is "Have we hit bottom yet?" This is not an easy question to answer. My belief is that there are some areas in the country that have not hit bottom yet and there are others that are darn near close. On Long Island we have seen some drastic reductions in price compared to just one short year ago. Homes that had sold for $400,000 in early 2007 are now selling for $300,000. For buyers this should seem to be good news however there still is a segment of buyers sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if the market will fall even further. My belief is that there still is some room for further price reductions in certain market areas however in other areas the price is probably close to bottom. Smart and motivated buyers are now in the position to scoop up homes that should far exceed their previous expectations. I have seen w/my own two eyes some pretty amazing deals. I would also like to point out that these incredible deals have been noticed by buyers since they have generated bidding wars with full and over full priced offers. I know that many people will find this hard to believe considering our current market environment but it is true.

Yet the news continues to sound ugly. Today's news pointed out that 1 in 194 homes had foreclosure notices filed. Home prices are down 12.7% through February 2008 and consumer confidence sank to a 5 year low.

Most people tend to become frightened when they hear this news and fright and fear breed inaction which causes the market to further stagnate. When I hear this news I tend to have 2 reactions. My first reaction is sadness for all of the homeowners out there who are losing their homes and all of their neighbors who will be stuck living next to a foreclosed property which can attract vandalism and blight. My second reaction is excitement over the many possibilities for well qualified buyers to get into their first home or the trade up home of their dreams. Home prices have finally fallen to realistic levels where the average person has a shot at home ownership without having to work 80 hours per week just to pay the mortgage. We have now entered into a time of wonderful opportunities for the next generation of home owners. I'm happy to say 'it's about time'!

How to fix what's broken

2008-03-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

It seems as if Long Island is losing more buyers than it is gaining. Why is this happening when we all know what a beautiful place Long Island is? The short answer can be found in our ridiculous property taxes. It seems that even if you are one of the lucky few seniors who have paid off your mortgage, so what? You still will most probably have to pay real estate taxes that may be in excess of $1000 per month and you can still count on outrageous homeowner's insurance policy costs associated w/our living on an island. Heck, those wonderful companies like Liberty Mutual and State Farm decided to arbitrarily cancel people's policies even if no claim for damage was ever filed. The insurance companies cited too great a risk to insure in a coastal area. I guess Hurricane Katrina really woke them up.

Now back to our criminally outrageous real estate taxes.......... Do you know that real estate taxes on Long Island bear no resemblance to real property value? I'll give you some actual examples. How about a 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch home w/no basement and no garage in Mastic selling for $151,000 that has real estate taxes of $7300? How absurd is that? If you were to purchase that home and put 20% down on it your actual principal and interest payment would be less than the combined cost of your real estate taxes and homeowner's insurance. Ooh wait, I have another example for you, how about a foreclosed 4 bedroom cape in Central Islip with an asking price of $199,000 that sports real estate taxes of $12,000? Now I ask our wonderful politicians out there, who the heck is going to buy a resale home (not new construction) in Central Islip that has taxes of $12,000????? Guess what? The NYC millionaire who wishes to buy a summer home in Southampton that is three times the size of the Central Islip home will only have to pay $9000 in real estate taxes. Where is the equity in that?

The lower middle class and the middle class are gettting squeezed out of home ownership by our elected politicians who refuse to make any meaningful changes to our outmoded system of real estate taxation. There tends to be neither rhyme nor reason when it comes to assessed valuation. It's high time that changes.

People want to buy on Long Island but not at a price they can't afford. Now that our home prices have fallen to more realistic levels isn't about time our real estate taxes also decrease to realistic levels?

Can you trust the news?

2008-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that everyday there is some more news concerning the housing market. Yesterday the news appeared to be good, more buyers were getting back into the game. This news caused the stock market to rally. Today's news wasn't so good. Home prices fell to historically low levels with the average market dropping more than 10% from last year with Florida and Nevada suffering losses of close to 20%. Yesterday's good news had the National Association of Realtors saying that prices may begin to increase in the second half of 2008. Today's bad news had other industry experts saying that we haven't hit bottom yet.

Who are you going to believe? Watch out for the National Association of Realtors since they have a vested interest in promoting a healthy real estate market even if the facts do not support such a rosy picture. Beware of the Harvard and Stamford educated economists since they are way too busy sitting in their ivory towers pontificating on the world at large. They are not on the front lines and the data they base their decisions on is usually at least 6 months old so therefore they can not see trends happening.

In America, our idea of news is more closely related to gossip and innuendo than it is to real facts and real trends. Before you decide who to listen to, regarding real estate news, try listening to your own needs first and base your decisions on those needs not the news of others.

Foreclosures, Short Sales and Desperate Sellers

2008-02-26T12:20:00.000-08:00

As an active Real Estate Investor and Buyer's Agent I have the opportunity to view a whole lot of homes (via MLS) on a daily basis. What is very interesting is that there are many homes that have been on the market for a very long time and they are dropping in price in gigantic increments. It is no longer unusual to see $50,000 to $100,000 price drops. Many of these properties are either in foreclosure or going into foreclosure. The banks holding these non-performing loans in their portfolios are getting pretty antsy about being long term property managers. At first they were not very amenable to deal with when trying to put together a short sale but slowly they have been coming around. I still find it easier to deal directly with very motivated sellers who are not in foreclosure but really do need to sell. Many good deals can be found this way if you know what to look for. I often employ my own buyer's agent when I am interested in a property since this saves me time and money. They will go out and preview up to 6 houses per day for me and submit offers on whatever ones sound good. They get paid a commission from the sale and they are extremely helpful when it comes to negotiating in my best interest. It is also very helpful to be removed from the negotiation if you are the buyer. This practice puts a third party negotiator in the middle of the deal so nothing becomes too personal when going back and forth on terms and price.

I know a lot of buyers are still sitting on the sidelines waiting for home prices to drop even further. I, too, agree that this will happen however there are always good and even great deals out there. Waiting is not always the best strategy unless you are sure that you are the best market timer in history. Even for us professionals, it is difficult to gauge the top of the market when one should sell and the bottom of the market when one should definitely buy.

Enjoy what's left of Winter and get your garden trowels ready for Spring.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone. I am thrilled to be alive and well and still practicing real estate. It's been a difficult past year in the market place. Lots of changes have taken place and are still taking place as we speak. It's much more difficult to get a mortgage today however the interest rates are very low which should be very attractive to anyone who plans on buying or refinancing in the next few months. I do not see rates trending higher since the economy is in the dumps and there is a political election coming up this year. If anything, rates will trend slightly lower. That's very good news and then home prices have dropped quite a bit so this is a perfect opportunity for buyers who have sat on the sidelines, saved up some money and have decent credit. Buyers who are able to easily get a mortgage or who have lots of cash will truly be in the catbird seat as this year hums along.

There are so many choices in housing today available to well qualified buyers that shopping for a house is a little like being a kid in a candy store. This is also an awesome time to be an exclusive buyer's agent. I just love being able to negotiate from a position of strength not weakness. Listing agents are literally falling over themselves trying to be nice and cooperative when we show our buyer clients homes. One of my agents just put together a great deal today and the listing agent profusely thanked her for bringing such a good buyer. This is all good news for the intelligent and well qualified buyer since they will be able to obtain excellent representation and in most cases it will not cost them a dime since all commissions are included in the purchase price. This really is a great time to be a buyer since it is as if all the planets are in alignment.

Well I wish everyone a happy, healthy New Year and a home of one's own.

Home for the Holidays

2007-12-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

Well, Tis the Season. So what will be under your Christmas tree or your Chanuka bush? It is that time of year when everyone is in such an utter state of panic to make sure that holiday cards are sent out, presents are bought, travel plans are made and menus are planned that most of us forget the true purpose of the holiday season. It is a time to reflect back on the past year and to also look ahead to the New Year. It is a time for gratitude and appreciation for all that is in your life and all that can be part of your life.

This time of year can be difficult for many of us because of the losses that may have occurred during the past 12 months. Still, if you truly look around, you can find enough blessings to be grateful for. If you have a roof over your head you are luckier than many people. If you have enough food to eat and clothes to wear you have more than others in third world countries. If you have someone in your life that loves and cares about you than you are truly blessed.

Money may be the currency of countries but love is the currency of our souls. Take some time out from all the running and mad dashing from store to store this season and reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in awhile. Send a check to a charity you believe in. Volunteer your time if you don't have enough money left over to write that check. Give your family the gift of time which will always be treasured more than another toy or video component.

Turn you house into a home by making sure that there is always love and laughter within your four walls. These are the things that are remembered way after the season has come and gone.

Wishing you and yours a most memorable holiday season,

Bethany

A Tidal Wave of Doom and Hope

2007-11-14T10:18:00.000-08:00

Every day the news get a little worse. The War in Iraq is still claiming lives on a daily basis. Suicide rates are jumping for returning veterans as well as their homeless rate. Foreclosures are at their highest level in years. The National Association of Realtors have forecast that we will be in for another tough year. Every day I get a call or two from desperate people who need to refinance or sell their homes. Every week I get a new notice from another bank I've done business with that says they are no longer in the business of loaning out money and writing mortgages. Consumer confidence is hitting some serious lows and the retail businesses are bracing for the worst holiday season ever.

Will this snowball of doom and gloom ever end? Of course it will. It always does. The War will eventually end. A new President will be chosen. New business technologies will emerge. Banks will begin loosening their credit requirements again. People will begin selling their homes easier and faster. Buyers will start to buy again with confidence. The cycle will start all over again. This is the way it has been for ages and the way it will be again. There is just so much doom and gloom we can take as a species before we create lasting paradigm shifts in our reality. The time is coming and it will be here before you are even aware of it. Concentrate on one good thing you can do for yourself or others and the good times will be here sooner than later.

How Our Government Wastes Our Money

2007-10-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

I normally don't get into discussions on social service programs but I find the following information to be totally disgusting. Did you know that there are countless families living in homeless shelters on Long Island right now? Did you also know that there is no need for many of these families to live in such overcrowded and awful situations? Here is the problem in a nutshell. A family gets into financial difficulty because they don't make a lot of money. They get paid minimum wage and this is not enough money to cover the costs of an average 3 bedroom rental which typically rents for $1700 to $2000 per month plus utilities. Remember these are hard working people who just don't have the skills, education or temperament to make a decent wage. Their options are to get government subsidies so they can afford to pay the rent on a home or an apartment or to end up in a homeless shelter.

The paperwork required to get into one of these subsidized programs is daunting and the waiting list can be months or years. If you fill out a form and miss one question the paperwork is returned to you and the process starts all over again. The government pays somewhere in the vicinity of $4000 per month for a homeless family to live in one bedroom in part of a home that has been converted into a homeless shelter. So, let's see........... do the math, an average 3 bedroom home converted into a homeless shelter receives $12,000 per month from the government while landlords that have perfectly decent 3 bedroom homes available for rent may end up having their homes sit vacant for months until a tenant is found. What kind of sense does that make????

I have an idea to change this system but no one wants to hear it much less implement it. We could have a centralized list of landlords that have available housing and tenants that need available housing. DSS (Department of Social Services) and SSP (Shelter Supplement programs) and Section 8 could be more consistently and adequately funded and paperwork could be streamlined. The rent guidelines for payments could be increased to represent fair market value to landlords willing to rent to those on such government programs. Townships could stop making it so darn difficult for landlords to pass inspections. It has become normal in the town of Brookhaven for 3 separate inspections by 3 different agencies to happen on one home before it may be considered to have passed inspection. For G-d's sake, my own primary residence would fail their insane inspections. Meanwhile all this red tape is happening while poor families languish in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. I frankly find it deplorable. It's time for a change.

Deal or No Deal?

2007-10-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's getting awfully tough to find ready, willing and able buyers these days. It's getting very easy to find desperate sellers. Yet so many buyers are still sitting on the sidelines waiting. I wonder what they are waiting for. I went out to look at several properties this past week and I saw some pretty good deals. I just put in an offer of one of those homes. I looked at another home this morning w/a good friend of mine who wants to get into the real estate game of investing. We both liked what we saw and will most probably be putting in an offer on this home after we run the numbers to make sure that there is still plenty of profit left in the deal after we rehab the home. This is a very good time to hook up with a very knowledgeable professional team that can make your dreams of home ownership or real estate investing come true. I predict that in 10 years from now most of the properties that will be bought from 2007 to 2009 will experience a tremendous rate of return and those of you who are smart enough to be one of those buyers will look like geniuses. The beauty is that not only will you seem brilliant but you will also be wealthy, now that's a great combination that really works for me :)

Crash and Burn

2007-08-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

Well Folks, this is some market we are in isn't it? I predicted this kind of scenario would happen years ago while other industry professionals just kept spouting the party line which was 'Long Island will be insulated from a downturn in the market'. I know that real estate and mortgage markets are cyclical in nature and whatever goes up must invariably come down. How about all those other professionals talking about a very soft landing? Take a look at the mortgage market and anyone can see that this is not a very soft landing instead it is a crash and burn. Of course, there are a multitude of reasons why this is happening and the most obvious one is that greed breeds stupidity. Wow, that kind of sounds ugly, doesn't it? So many prospective home buyers thought that the market would keep going up and up and were willing to overpay. So many banks believed the same exact thing and were willing to lend and lend even when they knew that some borrowers were more than questionable. So many real estate agents just didn't care about putting people into homes that they knew they couldn't afford. So many loan officers also didn't care about the people they were getting loans for and didn't seem to mind that these same people would not be able to make the payments. All these greedy people cared about was getting their commissions quickly and moving on to the next deal. Many buyers were also stupid. They didn't do any due diligence when it came to the real estate agent or loan officer they were using. They never bothered to even use a simple calculator to see if they could truly afford the homes they were looking at. As they say in a court of law, "Ignorance is no excuse". I had several real estate agents refer me mortgage loans, after they had found buyers a home, which I had to turn down. The reason I turned down such lucrative opportunities was that I couldn't, in good conscience, put someone into a home that I knew they couldn't afford, even though they thought they could afford it. I'll bet anyone 'dollars to donuts' that some other loan officer was more than willing to write the deal and capitalize on buyer stupidity. I'll also bet money that this buyer is now facing foreclosure. It's all a shame since everyone seems to be losing out in this market place. Sellers can't sell their homes for what their neighbor's sold for in 2005, not even close. Buyers who bought in 2004 to 2006 will see declining equity. Borrowers who are in dangerous 2/28 adjustable rate mortgages will see their payments increase dramatically and not be able to refinance due to either credit issues or the decline of equity. Bank after bank are shuttering their doors. Mortgage money is getting hard to come by and rates have been trickling up. While this may sound like quite a dismal picture it actually does have a silver lining for some intelligent, educated and motivated people. For sellers, at the right price anything will sell. For buyers, there are plenty of good homes w/desperate sellers out there. Interest rates are still near 40 year lows and if you have good credit and a little bit of money you can still get a good deal on a mortgage. As always, I'm sure most people will sit on the sidelines and wait for something or someone to tell them that it's ok to buy again. Most people are followers not leaders. For those of you who are not swayed by popular opinion, the time to get some serious values in the real estate market is already here and will continue to be here for quite awhile. Ready, set, go!

So what are you waiting for?

2007-06-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know about you folks but I sure do like the direction home prices are heading in. On Long Island the average home in Suffolk County has drastically dropped in value. Nassau County is just lagging behind but still dropping and Queens County has just begun to drop in price. I just love a good deal and there are quite a few to be had right now. Homes with basement apartments in Central Islip are now selling for below $300,000 when they had sold a year ago for $350,000. High ranch homes in Lindenhurst which had sold for $450,000 a year ago are now selling for $390,000. An attached brick townhome in Queens Village which had sold for $435,000 a year ago are now selling for $400,000. A large split level in south Baldwin which sold for $585,000 in 2005 is now selling for $490,000.

Yet there are not a lot of active buyers in this marketplace. Many buyers seem to be waiting on the sidelines for something else to happen. My advice is that if you can afford to wait a litttle longer and save up more money so that you can get a better mortgage then keep saving. If waiting won't help you save up any more money and you are tired of renting or living in your in law's basement apartment, then just do it! Take the plunge and start to investigate the housing market. You will never know what you've missed out on unless you begin educating yourself.
So I ask you, what are you waiting for? Jump in, cool off, the water's just fine.

A Sad and Cautionary Home Buying Tale

2007-05-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met w/a lovely man who is facing foreclosure. He had bought a home for him and his family less than 2 years ago. He wanted to be in a good school district so his children could get a better education than they were receiving. He wanted a nice backyard where they could play and he could bar-b-q. He dared to dream the American dream of home ownership. He felt that somehow he would be able to manage the mortgage payments but he never did the math. The real estate agent that he had used was all too happy to make sure he could buy the home so he could make a sizable commission. The mortgage company that he had used was also happy to be making nice big juicy fees on the loans. It looked like the proverbial "win/win" situation but unfortunately for this nice man, now facing foreclosure, it was not. What went wrong? Well the answer is really quite elementary. The nice man was overly optimistic about his earning potential and the real estate and mortgage professionals didn't care enough to be honest and say to this man that he should have been looking to buy a less expensive home w/lower taxes. Does this scenario ring true for any of you reading this? It's really a pity and it need not happen.

Home Buyers, do your home work! Do the math. Work with honest and reputable professionals who will be looking out for your best interests and not their own. Try an exclusive buyer's agent who will build a solid team of experts for you.

Wishing all of you a very Happy Mother's Day Weekend.

Build Your Team

2007-04-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am often asked by journalists what the most important thing a home buyer can do to get ready to buy. My answer is "Build a solid team of professionals that work for you not the seller". When you as a home buyer start looking for homes, too often, you contact the listing agent for information. The next thing you know, the listing agent is showing you their own listings and inducing you to make an offer. Once that happens you are already on a speeding train about to jump the tracks. Assuming you get your offer accepted, it's now time to put your money where your mouth is. Do you have an attorney? Are you going to get an engineer's report or a home inspection? Will there be a termite report? When will it be ordered? Who will be your mortgage broker or banker? How much financing are you qualified for? Will it be enough? What will your payments be? Will the house appraise for what you are paying? Can you afford your monthly mortgage payment? Are the real estate taxes verified? Will there be C/O (certificate of occupancy) issues? Are there title issues?

Is it any wonder that buying a home is considered one of the three most stressful events in one's life? Take your pick; death, divorce or buying a home?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if most of the stress in the home buying process could be eliminated?
Well it can be!

The choice is yours. You can either do things the old and stressful way as discussed above or do things the intelligent way which will remove most of the stress. It's time to build "Your Team of Professionals" who will be looking out for your needs and interests not the sellers or their own.

Your team should consist of an experienced: Exclusive Buyer's Agent; Real Estate Attorney; Home Inspection Engineer; Termite Inspector; Insurance Agent and Mortgage Broker. These are the professionals who will make a huge difference in your life. The Exclusive Buyer's Agent will make sure you are getting the best home posssible in the best location for the least amount of money. The Real Estate Attorney will make sure you are protected by the terms of the contract. The Home Inspection Engineer will make sure that all problems that may not be obvious to the naked eye will be uncovered so that you do not buy a home that has more problems than you bargained for. The Termite Inspector will make sure that you are not buying a home that is infested w/insects. The Insurance Agent will make sure that you paying for just the amount of coverage that you truly need. The Mortgage Broker will make sure that you can afford the payments on your home and search for the best rate and the lowest payment available. All these professionals will be members of your team and as members of your team they will be actively looking out for your best interests not the sellers or their own.

Do yourself a favor, become a "Smart Buyer" today. Call your nearest Exclusive Buyer's Agent today and get the ball rolling! They will be happy to help you "Build your Team" so you can get on the road to a stress-free home buying experience.

Scary News from the Trenches

2007-03-14T11:59:00.001-07:00

Well Folks, the times they are a changing and so must we. It's hard to turn on a television or radio these days and not hear tons of doom and gloom about the housing market. The big news has been that Subprime banking giants like Fremont Investment and Loan and New Century have ceased to do business. How does this news impact you? How does this news impact me? Well for starters this means that there are less players in the market competing for business and that usually spells higher rates for consumers since there is less competition. Within the last 5 years one of the largest segments of lending involved 100% financing and now this financing will be very difficult to obtain and therefore more costly to the consumer. The trickle down effect is that there will be less buyers that can purchase homes and more sellers trying to unload their homes. Many sellers who had bought within the last 5 years had done so with the assistance of 100% financing and now that the real estate market has taken a downward turn these sellers may not be able to sell their homes for what they had paid. If sellers can't sell and many buyers can't buy then we will all have a very real and frightening problem. My prediction is that we will start to see many more foreclosed properties even in solidly middle and upper middle class neighborhoods. Still all is not bleak for there are always silver linings amongst the clouds for some. As I said in my Newday interview( Business Section page A49 and A50) yesterday with Jim Bernstein "It just depends on how you position yourself". Money is made in all kinds of markets if you educate yourself and position yourself to work with knowledgeable people who will have your best interests at heart. As a Realtor who represents buyers exclusively, I am really looking forward to this brave, new marketplace. Buyers who are smart enough to hire us will be able to get some really good deals on homes and not have to worry that they will be overpaying. Welcome to the new Buyer's market!

Short Sales on Long Island

2007-01-30T12:16:00.000-08:00

There has been a recent development in the Long Island marketplace that hasn't been seen here in a very long time. That development is called a "Short Sale" and that is the technical term that real estate and banking professionals use when describing what happens when a homeowner is in foreclosure and they can not sell their home for what they owe the bank. The reason this phenomenon is relatively new is that instead of home prices rapidly appreciating as they have done consistantly for the past 10 years they have now begun to depreciate. Let's say you bought your home at the height of the market last spring and paid $500,000 for it. In order to keep your payments affordable you took out an interest only mortgage and have been making the minimum payments ever since. Let's also say you availed yourself of 100% financing. Here you are 10 months later and you now owe $506,000 on your home. For some reason your financial situation has worsened and you can no longer afford to make even the minimum payments on your mortgage so you decide to sell your home so your credit does not spiral further downward. Guess what? Your home is no longer worth $500,000 it's now worth $475,000 and you still owe at least $506,000. You are now faced with some very ugly choices. You can pack up all your bags and leave while the bank forecloses or you can hire a professional real estate agent who has experience in "short sales" and will negotiate directly with the bank on your behalf. The "short Sale" will at least preserve your credit and may even allow you to walk away with a drop of money and your dignity more or less intact. The lesson to be learned from all of this is that you really should try not to get in over your head when you are looking to buy a home. Stick to your budget. Be realistic about your income. Keep some money tucked away for an emergency. Hire an exclusive buyers agent to negotiate the lowest possible price and best terms on your purchase so that at least you are not overpaying from the get go. Use an honest mortgage consultant who comes recommended and advises you properly. Make sure you get a home inspection report so that you can budget for expenses like a new roof or new windows. Know what you are getting yourself into before you do something foolish like buy the house next door to where you live just because you think you are getting a good deal. I have seen this kind of good deal completely backfire on the buyer because more often than not, the house next door is not a good deal. Know what you are buying and know what it is really worth. The last thing you want to become is a foreclosure statistic.

How Will the 2007 Real Estate Market behave?

2007-01-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2007 bring us a better year. I, personally would like to see more peace and less war, more prosperity and less poverty. However you are probably reading my blog for real estate advice not Beth's personal vision for the world. In 2007 I expect to see continued price drops which means that home prices will continue to fall. I also believe they will fall gradually not drastically. The average home on Long Island has already depreciated 20 to 25% with the higher depreciation rate in the $500,000 and over segment of the market. Sellers are getting very nervous and buyers are sitting on the sidelines feeling very unsure of themselves. What to do, what to do? Let's take a first time buyer with little money for a down payment and a job that pays a decent salary but nothing to write home about. Should you buy now or wait? Let's see.......... A decent 3 bedroom starter home in the Mastic/Shirley area will cost you between $225,000 and $250,000 today. If you were to say hire a really good buyer agent and they could negotiate a $199,000 price for you then your total mortgage payment ( assuming a 6% interest rate) would be approximately $1650 per month. If perhaps you waited a year to buy a similar home and your good buyer's agent negotiated the price down to $189,000 your monthly mortgage payment ( assuming a 7% interest rate) might actually be $1700 per month due to the difference a year would make on the prevailing interest rates. So my best advice to you is to buy a home when you are ready, willing and able. Good deals on desireable homes can come along at any moment but remember "Ya gotta be in it to win it"

The Gift of Good Credit

2006-11-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday season is upon us and that means shopping for gifts! If you are like most people you will probably spend more money than you really have. At this time of year people often max out their credit cards paying for presents, food, vacations and all sorts of other good cheer. The rush you probably get from shopping will soon turn to depression and dismay when the bills start rolling in come January. That big screen tv that only cost $1995 on sale will end up costing you twice that amount if you just pay the minimum payment on your credit card. To make matters worse your credit scores will start plummeting if you make one late payment or have used up your credit limit. Instead of spending money and using your credit like there is no tomorrow remember there is a tomorrow and go easy on the credit. The best gift you can give yourself and your family is the gift of good credit. Over the average person's lifetime bad credit can end up costing hundreds of thousand of dollars in higher interest rates and payments. Bad credit can end up costing you the opportunity to become a homeowner or if you are a current homeowner bad credit may end up costing you your home. In the past 12 months more homes have been foreclosed on then in the previous 12 months. I do not expect this trend to reverse anytime soon. Bad credit is a killer. Remember overindulgence is bad for the waistline and bad for the budget. The key to a really great holiday season is moderation, know your limits and stick by them. I wish you and yours a magical season full of love and peace.

How Scary is that House?

2006-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

In late October my thoughts always turn to Halloween and pumpkin picking. It occurs to me that today's average home buyer is also thinking the same thing instead of thinking of what treats may lurk behind the door of the home they are putting off seeing until they feel comfortable wading into this newly evolving "Buyer's Market". If you see yourself in this statement, listen up! There are roughly 4,000,000 homes on the market throughout the country right now. This should present multiple opportunities for you. This could be your best time to get into the market place and buy that home you've always wanted. The current rates on a mortgage are still at all time lows and sellers are feeling the pressure to reduce their prices. With so much inventory on the market it is an excellent time to do your bargain hunting. So this fall as you set out to pick a pumpkin or bake a pie, think about the potential great homes that would be just perfect for you and give your "Exclusive Buyer's Agent" a call and they will be able to do the rest. You're in good hands with a Realtor that works for buyers only!

To Flip or to Hold?

2006-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

To flip or to hold, that is the question my dear Watson. A house came on the market in early June for a very good price. The house was in Mastic, NY and the listed price was $189,900 for a 3 bedroom ranch on a nicely landscaped piece of property. Based on the price I figured the house would need extensive renovations or that the bedrooms would all be miniscule. I called the listing agent and found out that the house was in relatively good condition and the bedrooms were nice sized. Normally I have a hard time believing listing agents however this agent was also the owner/contract vendee of the house. Being that I would be driving from my office in Baldwin, I didn't relish the thought of a wasted trip out to Mastic in the hard, driving rain. It pays to ask the right questions upfront, afterall gas is not cheap anymore, is it? I made it to Mastic in under an hour and proceeded to look the house over very quickly and take a quick tour of the outside while swatting pesky mosquitos that had decided that I appeared to be a tasty treat. Other investor types also were there looking at the house so I knew if I liked it I would need to move very fast. I went back to my home office and plugged in the numbers. $3500 for new siding; $1500 for an interior paint job; $500 to spackle and patch up some holes; $500 for new moulding around the doors where it was missing; $1000 for a new front porch deck; $1000 for new carpet; $5000 real estate commission to the selling agent; $1500 for short term homeowners insurance; $2000 for real estate taxes, water and electric; closing costs to buy and resell $5000. By the time I was done with all of my calculations I had figured out that the total cost of my proposed project would be $211,500 if I had given the seller his asking price. I also figured out that the selling price of the newly renovated house should be $229,000 and depending on how many buyers actually made offers, I might have to settle for $225,000. My overall profit on this project would have been $13,500 which certainly is nothing to sneeze at. I also thought about a PLAN B which is something I always have. Plan B involved finding a government subsidized (Section 8) tenant and rent the house out to cover the mortgage payment. After carefully thinking it all over I decided to make an offer of $185,000 with the provision that I could close very quickly (let's face it, I am a mortgage broker also). The seller accepted and we closed within 3 weeks. It took me just 2 weeks to get the house completely renovated and ultimately I decided to test the waters to see if I could get a very fast rental which I was successful at. My thought was that whatever happened first, the flip or the rental would be what was supposed to happen. My tenant has been in the home now for 2 months and I have no regrets. Flipping seems sexy but holding can be far more profitable in the long term.

Looking to Invest in Real Estate?

2006-08-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Everybody wants to be real estate investor or so it seems. Just the other day a prospective client came in to interview one of our buyer agents to see if they would be a good fit for one another. The prospective client proceeded to tell a very sad tale of how he owned 3 investment properties that he had bought at the same time. All 3 properties needed renovation work and supposedly the contractor he hired failed to show up on time and do the right job. Now many months later he is stuck w/3 vacant peoperties that still aren't ready for occupancy. I've seen too many people get into the investment property business only to fall flat on their faces. Of course, there is plenty of good money to be made in real estate investing, I should know since I've helped quite a few people make quite a lot of money. I learned how to be a real estate investor by doing it myself and making a whole lot of mistakes early on. I no longer make those mistakes and I make sure that my clients don't make them either. The biggest secret to smart investing is to always buy right no matter what type of market you are in. I always say that you should make your money buying not selling. When you sell you will realize your profit but a smart investor knows their numbers going into the deal not the other way around.

Are you paying too much for that house?

2006-07-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

As an exclusive buyer's agent it pains me to see buyers paying too much money for houses that just aren't worth it, knowing full well that if they had taken the time to hire me they would have paid less money. Several months ago I did a home buying seminar for a credit union and it was well attended by doctors, nurses, physician attendants and other hospital employees. One of the attendees contacted me several weeks ago asking for my help. She had found a home that she wanted to buy and had agreed to pay the seller's full price of $539,000. Now she wanted me to come see the house and let her know if it was a good house. I ran a comparable market analysis and determined that the house was slightly overpriced based on its exterior condition and location however I told her I would know more after we hired a professional home inspector to check out the sytems and foundation of the house. I met the inspector at the house and was able to see the interior for the first time. The rooms were very small and the house had never been updated so it needed a complete renovation which would include a new kitchen; bath; paneling removal; sheetrock; new carpet; new paint and a whole host of other smaller items. I told my client that I thought the house was worth much less money than she had agreed to pay for it. Meanwhile the home inspector had found some serious water intrusion problems in the basement with actual furry mold growing on the concrete walls. Basically I had to tell the client that the house was a disaster and she should walk away from it. Thankfully she listened but not all buyers do. Many never even contact me because they are unaware that I will actually save them money and that my services are typically fully paid for by the real estate commission that is already included in the asking price of the house. Remember, a good buyer's agent won't cost you money they will save you money and just may prevent you from making the biggest financial mistake of your life.

Long Island Market is Changing Rapidly

2006-06-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Having been in the real estate market place since the mid 80's I have always tried to keep a trained eye on market conditions and changes that may be occurring. Right now this Spring market has been off to a rather slow start. Inventory has been substantially increasing and buyers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how this market is going to shake out. Recently we were able to negotiate a $395,000 price on a lovely newly sided high ranch in a very desireable part of Lindenhurst which had originally been priced at $445,000. Every day we get notices of price changes which means sellers are willing to take less money than they previously thought they would get. For all of the buyers sitting on the sidelines now is the time to start testing the waters. You never know what kind of good deal you can get until you try.

A Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way!

2006-05-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

Today I received a phone call from a prospective client who is interested in obtaining my mortgage services. We have been in touch over the last several years ever since she came to one of my "Home Buying Seminars". She called to tell me that she had found a home that she was interested in buying and wanted me to calculate what her mortgage payment would be. I asked her what the purchase price would be and she told me that she had made an offer of $475,000 on the home. I also inquired as to the amount of real estate taxes and was told approximately $7300. She wanted to put down a substantial down payment of $95,000 which represented 20% of the purchase price. After crunching the numbers I quoted her a total payment of $3175 based on a fixed 30 year mortgage which included the real estate taxes and home owners insurance. I asked if that sounded about right and she said that 'there was no way that she could afford that high a payment'. I asked her what number would she be comfortable paying and she replied "$2500". I was surprised by her answer and proceeded to let her know that the only way her payment could possibly be that low would be if she took out a 50 year interest only mortgage. She thought a moment and wondered out loud if that would be a good option for her. I mentioned that I thought it might be a good idea to look at homes that would cost less money but she felt that there weren't any good homes that would be less costly. She got off the phone after thanking me for spending so much time with her. I got off the phone thinking that I wished people would take the time to crunch their own numbers before they spent so much time and energy looking and bidding on properties. A little knowledge goes a long way in understanding how much home you can afford to buy if you wish to stay in your financial comfort zone.

Fear of Buying?

2006-04-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

I remember reading Erica Jong's book "Fear of Flying" many moons ago which had to do with people's fear of sexual intimacy. Many people are just afraid of commitments and the intimacy they entail. When it comes to big commitments, home buying nears the top of the list. No matter how much certain people say they want to buy a home, when it gets right down to it they back off and create reasons not to buy. I'll give you an example, a little while ago I was working w/a couple who seemed to really want to buy a home soon. In the process of showing them homes they suddenly decided that every town that had homes in it that they could afford were suddenly not good enough. I would probe them for reasons that made these towns unsuitable and they would just say that they didn't like them. I asked them if they would like to see other towns that were a little more expensive but were still affordable enough and they said 'No, we want to stay in the previous price range'. This couple had been looking for homes off and on for the past 3 years and still couldn't commit to buying. They used excuses as to why certain homes and areas were unsuitable. They refused to look in other areas that may have been more suitable using finances as an excuse. They could afford more home than they were looking for but kept putting artificial obstacles in their path. I really believe that potential home buyers could use the benefit of an impartial real estate consultant to help them through their fears, real and/or imagined. I know I have been able to provide low cost real estate consulting services for those buyers who realized they needed some outside assistance. It's like buying an insurance policy you hope you'll never need. It gives you peace of mind and helps you sleep at night. Sooner or later we all have to commit to one thing or another :)

Flash or Substance?

2006-04-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Working with Buyer clients can be quite challenging and very rewarding but sometimes they need some serious hand holding and some serious advice. Just recently we began working with a couple who had been looking at homes with a traditional real estate agent. Over the course of several months they had seen numerous homes and even made an offer on one of them. I asked them if they still wished to purchase the home they had made the offer on and they seemed ambivalent. I probed a little deeper to find out what they had liked about that particular house and it seemed the answer was "the price". I kept asking what else they liked about the house and they really couldn't say all that much except that it was in decent condition. So the following day I presented them with a list of homes that fit their price range and looked like they had far more amenities than the house they had previously made an offer on. They were excited and so appointments were made for them to visit several more houses. The one house that they liked the most happened to be the smallest but was in pristine condition. In our opinion the home was too small for their needs and so we told them so. They seemed disappointed in our assessment of the home but called back the following day to express their gratitude that a real estate agent would actually go out on a limb and suggest that a home wasn't right for them. The moral to this story is that it is easy to be swayed by either good looks or a low price but ultimately that is not all the buyer should be searching for. They should be searching for a home that will really suit their needs for the amount of time that they will be living there. A good looking home in a poor location will lose it's charm real fast and a poorly built home that sells for a cheap price will soon cost the buyer more money and lots of aggravation. Two bedroom homes are really not that suitable for families, even if they are in great condition they will still be too small. When picking the right home for your family make sure to choose substance over flash. As a buyer's agent we will always guide you appropriately.

Navigating Muddy Waters

2006-03-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

Right now is a very interesting time to be involved in real estate on Long Island. People are always asking for my opinion on which way the market is heading. While I'd like to have a crystal ball so I could make deadly accurate predictions and probably millions of dollars, the truth is I don't and neither does anyone else. That being said, I do believe we've seen the top of the mountain and there is nowhere else left to climb for the time being. Still it is possible to make money by investing in real estate even in an uncertain market. You just have to be very, very careful. If one were to look back at the Long Island marketplace just 3 years ago, it appeared that prices just couldn't go any higher and yet they did. In fact, the average home gained in value at least 30%. People started taking their money out of the stock market and started to plunk it into the real estate market. For many it was a shrewd investment even if they lacked the knowledge of how to buy right. It just didn't matter since prices were escalating so quickly. But now folks, the party is over. This has now become a marketplace where buyers will need to be educated on true market value. The smart buyer will learn as much as they can and will utilize the services of an exclusive buyer's agent. Loyalty and knowledge of the market are the hallmark of a good buyer's agent. To go it alone makes for dangerous decisions and poor choices which could ultimately cost a buyer thousands of dollars or worse yet, the loss of their home. Now is the time for buyers along with their buyer's agent to really rule this new and unchartered real estate market. Navigating muddy waters can be very scary without the right guide.

How a Buyer's Agent can save you money

2006-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Most people like to save money, that's a known fact, but do they really have the necessary tools to do so on their own? In my professional opinion, the answer is a resounding "No". The reasoning behind this is rather simple. When the average person goes to buy a home they become emotionally attached to the outcome and can't think clearly. This emotional thinking will cloud their judgement and the net result will not be as good as if they had hired a professional negotiator to look out for their best interests. Let me tell you a true story that happened to one of my home buying clients several years ago. I showed them many homes in their price range until one day they decided to make an offer on one of them. Both the husband and wife really wanted this one particular home so I negotiated to get it for $9000 less than the asking price which made my clients really, really happy. The next step before contracts were to be signed was to get a professional engineer's report on the condition of the home. The engineer stated that while the home was basically in good overall condition it had one major flaw and boy was it a doozy. The home which was located very close to the water in Freeport had settled over 3 inches. Upon hearing the news I told my clients that I thought we should "kill the deal" and start looking for another home. They were crushed and said they would sleep on it and get back to me the next day with an answer. So the following day they called me to say that they didn't care about the settling and they still wished to purchase this home. I told them that I thought this was a mistake but I would do whatever I could to make sure that they would, at the very least, get a much better deal on this home. I called up the listing agent and explained the serious problem with the home and threatened to walk away from the deal unless the seller dropped their price significantly. The listing agent said she would talk with the seller and get back to me. I told my client about my conversation with the listing agent and they said that they didn't want to lose the home but they would be happy if I saved them a little money but would still pay the agreed upon price if I couldn't get anywhere with the listing agent and the seller. The next day the listing agent calls me back and says the seller refused to drop the price $30,000 (which represented the number I had tried to negotiate for) but would agree to drop the price by $15,000. I told the listing agent that I would need to discuss this with my clients first before I could give her an answer. I called my clients and they screamed with joy, they couldn't believe that I was able to save them another $15,000. My clients moved into their home a couple of months later and were always grateful that they had used a buyer's agent to help them achieve their dream.

What is a Buyer's Broker?

2006-02-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

It's come to my attention that many people still do not know what a buyer's broker or buyer's agent is. The simplest definition is a real estate broker or agent that works specifically for buyers. A true buyer's broker will be one that never takes listings and is known as an "exclusive buyer's broker or agent". It can be difficult to find such a real estate agent since most real estate agents work with both buyers and sellers often on the same transaction. This leads to an inherent conflict of interest since buyers and sellers generally have opposing interests. Sellers wish to sell their home at the highest possible price and buyers wish to pay the lowest possible price for that same home. See the conflict created? In order to minimize conflicts it was decided that both buyers and sellers had the right to equal representation which meant undivided loyalty from their respective real estate agents. The problem for buyers has always been that there is a shortage of exclusive buyer's brokers out in the marketplace. As a buyer you really need to do your homework in order to find a buyer's broker or agent that can work in the geographic area you are looking to purchase in. A good place to start your search is through the National Association of Exclusive Buyer's Agents otherwise known as NAEBA. Their website can be found at www.naeba.org Good luck and happy hunting!

Have Buyer's Agents become relevant again?

2006-02-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Let's face it, I may be a bit prejudice when it comes to agency law since I believe the right way to practice real estate is to have both the buyer and seller professionally represented by their own agent who should have a fiduciary duty to protect their client's best interests. However it seems that by and large the bulk of home buyers out there have disregarded their own need to have true representation and 100% loyalty when making perhaps, the largest financial investment of their lives. I wondered if maybe the reason that buyers took temporary leave of their senses was because we here in the metro New York area have been in the throes of a hard core "seller's market" for the past 8 years. For those of you who don't know what I mean, I'll try to explain it in plain terms. A "Seller's market" is when there are more buyers willing to purchase then there are houses for sale. Therefore the prices on this limited inventory of houses start to rise due to pent up demand. A "Buyer's market" is when there are more houses available for sale than there are buyers willing to purchase and therefore prices start to fall. In a "Seller's market" buyers become desperate to purchase and sellers hold all the cards. The buyer's ability to analyze and negotiate each home becomes severely diminished since they end up in a mad rush just to place a bid or offer on any home that is minimally acceptable. In a "Seller's market" many homes end up with multiple full price offers and even offers that exceed full price. If the buyer hires a home inspection company to check out all the systems and construction of the home, it is generally done with the understanding that it is for the buyer's knowledge only since sellers rarely renegotiate price in a "seller's market". The seller's attitude is that "if you don't want my house, that's fine since I have multiple back up offers". It becomes easy to see that buyers literally become the "whipping boy" of sellers and their real estate agents in a serious "seller's market". For buyers this is probably the time when they need a dedicated buyer's agent the most. A good Exclusive buyer's agent can prevent hapless buyers from getting raked over the coals and acting from pure emotion instead of a little logic. Unfortunately this is also the time that they are least likely to use one. You see, in a "seller's market" buyers have felt that representation was irrelevant. All buyers wanted was to get to that house as fast as they could and make an offer even if that offer wasn't rooted in reality. Well the times they are a changing............. We are now heading into a "Buyer's market". Hiring a buyer's agent to protect and promote a buyer's best interests should become relevant again. In a "Buyer's market" a good buyer's agent can basically cherry pick an assortment of good homes for their buyer client to look at. The buyer's agent will also be able to carefully analyze all the good and bad qualities of each prospective home from a logical and clear headed point of view. The buyer's agent will also be able to actively negotiate to get their buyer client the lowest possible price and best possible terms. All these abilities will add up to some hefty savings for the buyer who was shrewd enough to hire the right exclusive buyer's agent.

Foreclosures on the Rise

2006-02-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Well you heard it here first in one of my recent postings, foreclosures are on the rise nationwide. This news comes as no shocker to those in the know. Pretty soon foreclosure rates will reach historic levels and Florida is leading the pack with 14% of the country's new foreclosures in 2005. New York, meanwhile, has had a 141% increase in the amount of foreclosures from the 1st quarter of 2005 til the last quarter of the year. This news is pretty frightening for existing homeowners who bought within the last 5 years with some of the more interesting loan products such as interest only loans. They will be in for a rude awakening when the payment resets itself so that the loan can start being amortized. Most of these mortgage payments will jump up at least $500 per month which can really takes it toll on the homeowner's ability to make timely payments. My advice to those homeowners holding adjustable rate mortgages and interest only mortgages is to either refinance into a plain vanilla fixed rate mortgage or sell your home while prices are still high enough to be able to bail out without owing the bank money. It's time to take a deep breath and watch which way the wind blows.

Florida Real Estate

2006-02-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

I just got back from visiting my cousin in Miami and began to ponder the condition of the South Florida real estate market. Afterall owning a piece of the pie does seem incredibly tempting when you're lying poolside in a bathing suit when way back North everyone is donning winter clothes and wondering how they are going to pay this month's heating bill. So I started to do some research on property values and found out that it actually makes more financial sense to rent than it does to purchase right now if you plan on being a "snowbird" and spending 6 months down there (during our winter up North) and 6 months up here on Long Island when it's beastly hot down there. Now you may wonder how I arrived at this conclusion and to be honest it was just a case of simple math. A nice one bedroom waterfront condo in a lovely complex which is loaded with amenities like a pool, gym, sauna, fitness club and business center will cost at least $350,000. Now add on top of that $300 monthly common charges plus exorbitant real estate taxes (which have been going up at a much faster rate than on Long Island) of $7000 per year and insurance to protect your interior walls (from a dreaded hurricane). If you put down 20% and mortgaged the $280,000 balance at let's say a 6% interest rate, you would be stuck with a total payment of approximately $2600 per month. Meanwhile you would be able to rent the same exact unit for approximately $1500 per month. You tell me what's a better deal? As for me, I am going to wait to see if the prices start to come down because I'm betting that they will. too many condos have been bought by investors instead of owner occupants. This means that if these investors begin to realize that they are losing money every month when the rent does not cover the mortgage payment they will begin to bail out and start flooding the market with thousands of units. I see a good opportunity if this comes to pass.

In the News

2006-01-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Imagine how excited I was to see my clients, the Bennetts, on the front cover of Sunday's (Jan. 22, 2006) Newsday which can be seen at www.newsday.com. The article was about the state of Long Island's housing market. I was quoted several times throughout the article as were other members of our real estate community. It seems as if there is an overwhelming need for people to predict where our market is going. Some real estate brokers think Long Island will maintain it's strong market with a steady influx of buyers willing to pay current prices while I am a bit skeptical and feel that may be a tad too optimistic.

I frankly would prefer to err on the side of caution. I see a slowdown in our marketplace with sellers starting to outpace buyers. Homes that are priced well and are in nice condition will always attract more buyers and sell in a reasonable time frame. Homes that are not in desireable locations and may need work will be staying on the market much longer and will be literally begging for buyers. The optimist in me still sees good opportunities for those who can see past old wallpaper, threadbare carpet and walls that haven't seen a paint job in years. Personally I will be on the lookout for just such opportunites for myself and my clients. As they say "Ya gotta be in it to win it."

Foreclosures

2006-01-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

These days you can't go anywhere without overhearing people talk about foreclosures. It's as if they were talking about the holy grail. One woman called me today to see if she could just take over payments from a bank on a co-op without having to prove income, assets or even credit. I told her that this would be highly unlikely and even if it were possible she would still have to supply the information to a co-op board of directors who would very likely turn her down if her income wasn't sufficient to carry the nortgage and the monthly maintenance.

Often times I see uneducated buyers making outlandishly overpriced offers on HUD foreclosed properties which can be viewed through a link in our website @ www.Homebuyerscenter.com or by going to HUD's website @ www.hud.gov . These offers that buyers submit are often in excess of the property's true market value and at least 50% of the offers that are accepted fall apart because they fail to appraise for what the buyer is willing to pay for them. If only these buyers would take the time, to work with an exclusive Buyer's agent who's job it is to educate, inform and protect them, they'd be a whole lot better off.

Buyers listen up, a traditional real estate agent is not going to give you this advice. They would rather see you pay as much money as possible for these foreclosed properties. As I've said before, "Buyer Be Aware".

Appraisals: Art or Science?

2006-01-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

Last night I reviewed an appraisal that was just done for a client of mine that is refinancing their home and was surprised to note that the value of the square footage adjustments were way below the average used and therefore resulted in the home appraising for less than I believe the home is worth. As a real estate broker I am often asked to prepare a form known as a "BPO" or Broker Price Opinion for real estate attorneys who may be working on an estate and need to establish value. Banks who may be in the process of foreclosing on a mortgage will also ask for "BPO's" since it is less expensive ($75-$125) than ordering a full blown appraisal ($300-$500).
Anyway, according to my numbers this home should have easily appraised for at least $30,000 more than it did which leads me to my belief that real estate appraisals can often be more art than science.

Buyers need to educate themselves

2006-01-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

The one thing that frustrates me the most when it comes to purchasing real estate is that most buyers do not take the time to educate themselves as to what kind of real estate agent they wish to work with. Now you may think to yourselves, 'hey, what's the difference, all I want to do is look at pretty houses' but the reality is that you will end up working with someone who does not have your interests at heart. Now what do I mean by that? Well unless you are specifically working w/an exclusive buyer's agent you are probably working with an agent who owes all of their loyalty to the seller. Now I know they may seem really nice and helpful but their job and their obligation is to get the seller the highest and best possible price whether the seller happens to own a run down piece of trash or a beautifully kept showplace. In the industry we call this "Buyer beware". I'd like to rename this concept "Buyer Be Aware". Remember sometimes what you don't know may hurt you.