Jan

2

Long Island Home Values: Hurdles & Projections

Filed Under Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | Comments Off

If you’re wondering what lies ahead for Long Island home values, look no further than what the experts are saying and what’s happening within the industry. While I do not fully agree with the outlook for Long Island in comparison to the national average, I can say that Long Island will be one of the leading states that will lose value.

What will be the causes of this? The answer is high inventory (number of homes for sale) and lower demand (number of people buying homes). While buyers will be out in full force, given the current low mortgage costs, the number of buyers eager to qualify and buy do not come close to the amount of people trying to sell.

Hurdles To Overcome In 2012

Appraisals will be the number one challenge for homeowners, buyers and agents in 2012.

According to the National Association of Realtors, and from experience talking with agents and dealing with this issue myself, 1 in 3 homes in the month of October 2011, had a low appraisal. This represents many obstacles to a successful sale/purchase.

When an appraisal comes in lower than the agreed upon price, unless an arrangement is discussed prior, homeowners are faced with very few options. I personally had to deal with this situation 2 times in September of this past year and one transaction did not work out and the other, the homeowner and the real estate agents, ended up making up the difference in the low appraisal.

The problem with appraisals is, even if the real estate agent prices the home correctly, according to accurate and recent sales in the local area, the appraiser can (and in this market, often will), find comparison properties that reign in the property value lower. Don’t forget, we are in tough economic times and banks are very tight with their lending so there are pressures on appraisers to get good “grades” from their respective lender lists so that they keep getting appraisal orders.

Pricing Projections

Fitch Ratings, which predict real estate prices, talks about the real estate market, dropping another 13%.

While I do not think that prices here locally will drop this much in 2012, due to the current challenges and downward pressures on prices, it is safe to say that Long Island home values will continue to soften throughout the first half of the new year.

I will be doing a full analysis of the current Long Island inventory within the month of January, so please check back soon or you can subscribe to google feedburner for this website, which will send you any new articles I write.

Bottom Line

It’s going to be important for homeowners to hire a very good real estate agent who understands how appraisers value properties and provides sound pricing advice. Along with a marketing plan, the real estate agent of today must have a keen understanding of today’s marketplace.

For more information on how I practice and live the fundamentals of customer service, visit my website www.TMcRealtor.com.

Long Island Real Estate Market | Promote Your Page Too

Share

For Email Marketing you can trust

Dec

21

The Biggest Real Estate Sale In History

Filed Under Buyers, Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | 1 Comment

That’s what is happening right now. We are in the biggest real estate sale in history. What I’m about to share with you is basic information that may help you understand exactly where we are in the market.

First, let me say that this is not an advertisement for you to call me and buy a house. None of my articles are, but this one started off like that’s what it’s going to be. Again, it’s not. However, this information is so strong, you’d have to be an idiot, not to want to pick up the phone and call me or a friend you know who’s a real estate agent.

Now, let’s get to it. When you talk with friends, you probably talk a lot about prices dropping and mortgage rates being low. If you’re in the market to buy a home, you’re especially talking about this. But what you may be missing is the affordability of homes. Of course, unemployment in the country is high so this is all relative to whether or not you have a job or are secure in your current one, but I digress.

In New York and Long Island, the house payment to income ratio is around 30% less than the 30 year average. What does this mean? It means that owning a home is cheap right now. Of course, we’re talking about Long Island here, where taxes are nuts, but I always like to say, “you get what you pay for”. I’ve lived in other states and let me tell you, I’d rather pay higher taxes to live here, than in another state where you can’t get a decent slice of pizza! Mama Mia!!!

Again, I digress.

The point is, it’s not about low mortgage payments or lower prices. It’s these things that make up the opportunities that are waiting for you to seize.

When compared to median income, if you’re monthly mortgage payment is only 13% of your total income, yes, that’s really unbelievable. I know that the median income on Long Island is much higher than the national average and I know home prices are higher as well, but I’d have to take a guess and say that in comparison to monthly mortgage payments, we’re probably averaging around 20% to 25% on the average.

To own a home on Long Island and have 3/4′s of your income free to pay for things other than your mortgage and own real estate…it’s a no-brainer.

I’d like to take a line from Crazy Eddie (the guy in those commercials years ago)…”It’s insaaaannnneee!”

Long Island Real Estate Market | Promote Your Page Too

Share

For Email Marketing you can trust

Nov

15

74 Good Things to Know About Long Island Real Estate

Filed Under Buyers, Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | Comments Off

With all the doom and gloom we hear everyday on the news (which I don’t watch but hear from others), it’s important to know (or hear) a good thing now and again. While the Long Island real estate market has been deflated significantly, there are some bright spots.

One little tidbit that I know you’re not hearing anywhere else can be summed up with one number. 74.

Daily Closings

That’s pretty encouraging considering all you hear on the news or from friends and family is, “Nothing’s selling out there” or “There are no buyers”.

That’s incorrect. 74 people buy a home everyday on Long Island and that’s impressive.

If you want more information like this or you’re asking yourself why you can’t sell your home, then call me and I’d be glad to share with you our current obstacles on Long Island, that are weighing down prices overall.

I have a FREE conference call on the Market coming up on December 1 at 6pm. Contact me for details. It’s about the Long Island real estate market.

Long Island Real Estate Market | Promote Your Page Too

Share

For Email Marketing you can trust

Sep

25

3 Amazing Things About the Real Estate Market

Filed Under Buyers, Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | Comments Off

It’s interesting to find out what’s really happened to the real estate market in the aftermath of the housing market crash. When you see some of the absolutely amazing statistics, it will really blow your mind.

3 Amazing (hard-to-fathom) Things About The Real Estate Market

According to National Association of Realtors (NAR):

1. In 2006, the aggregate home owners’ real estate equity was $13,000,000,000,000 (Trillion). In 2011, that equity stands at $6,100,000,000,000 ($6.1 Trillion).

2. That equates to an $82,000 drop in home equity for every household in America.

3. While that’s all bad and despite that amazing hit to home owner wallets, the Federal Reserve data shows that the net worth of the typical home owner is $190,000 whereas renters have $4000. So, homeowners are wealthier than the average renter, by 47.5 times.

Bottom Line

Home ownership is still the American dream and it is what will propel the next wave of wealth in the world, as people who buy homes now, see their home equity go up over the next 5 to 10 years. People are going to become very wealthy in the next decade – thanks to good old fashioned – home ownership!

Long Island Real Estate Market | Promote Your Page Too

Share

For Email Marketing you can trust

Aug

8

Mortgage Rates: Impact of the Credit Rating Downgrade

Filed Under Buyers, Mortgage Matters, Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | Comments Off

We want to discuss the impact the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating will have on mortgage interest rates. In these times of uncertainty and volatility, no one knows for sure what will happen next. However, we want to talk about possible scenarios.

Mortgage rates normally run parallel to the country’s Treasury bonds. If many people are buying Treasury bonds the return on those bonds decrease. If less people are interested in buying bonds, then the return on those bonds must increase in order to draw more buyers. If bond returns increase or decrease, mortgage rates normally follow.

Many experts feel that the downgrade in the country’s credit rating will cause people to see greater risk and therefore be less likely to invest in our Treasury bonds. That would necessitate returns to push upward as any investor would seek higher returns as compensation for the perceived greater risk. If that happens, mortgage rates will probably increase. Many experts believe this scenario will take place.

However, others believe the exact opposite could happen. If people think the U.S. is struggling financially, they may question the entire world economy. If they do, they might still trust the U.S. bonds over other investments. Then, Treasury bond returns would decrease as demand increases. Mortgage interest rates may actually soften in this scenario.

Bottom Line
Again, no one knows for sure what will happen. Rates could go up, go down or stay relatively unchanged. We will keep you current on any movements in rates.

To all economists and to all who wish they were: We realize this is an oversimplified explanation of a very complicated issue. We attempt to help our readers get a basic understanding of situations that impact the housing market. If you want to share a more complicated explanation, please feel free to comment. – The KCM Crew

Courtesy of KCM

Long Island Real Estate Market | Promote Your Page Too

Share

For Email Marketing you can trust

keep looking »

Jan

2

Long Island Home Values: Hurdles & Projections

Dec

21

The Biggest Real Estate Sale In History

Nov

15

74 Good Things to Know About Long Island Real Estate

Sep

25

3 Amazing Things About the Real Estate Market

Aug

8

Mortgage Rates: Impact of the Credit Rating Downgrade

Buying A Home?

Selling A Home?

REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATES

AVOID FORECLOSURE

Helpful Real Estate Books

Categories

Archives

Links

Admin

Search