Category Archives: Cross River NY

Cross River New York Real Estate for Sale

Mobile Real Estate Apps Are Here to Stay | Cross River Real Estate

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I do not believe that mobile is the future of online real estate search. Why you ask? Because mobile is online real estate search and consumers have already been conditioned to get the information they want from their smartphone. With the popularity of real estate apps and searches, it’s difficult to make an argument that the mobile real estate revolution hasn’t already arrived.

According to the Google/NAR Digital House Hunt Study, “36 percent of home buyers use a mobile device while watching TV.” We know that home buyers use different technology during every different phase of their home search, but as practitioners, are we reactive or proactive in how we respond, adapt, and offer technology to our clients?

In an effort to be proactive, I have spent this past year informally polling all of my buyer clients on their search habits. What I’ve discovered is that some like Trulia, some like Zillow, some like to perform a basic Google address search but a lot are using the realtor.com® app. While there are no major differences with any of these apps, my polling revealed that mobile real estate search preferences vary according to personal style and familiarity with the application or program.

Personally, I have been evaluating the realtor.com® mobile app for iPhone. So far, I think it has fairly good features not only for the agent but also for the consumer. And my clients are loving it! The real difference between this app and many others is that with the realtor.com® app, I can add my clients using my login information—much like a friend request on Facebook—and once my client accepts, we are connected. Because of this feature, there’s a collaborative aspect to this app; I can send my clients homes they may be interested in and more importantly, they can send me homes they want to see or get more information about.

For example: Last weekend, one of my clients was driving around looking at neighborhoods, saw a home, opened the realtor.com® app, and used it to get details about the home. Instantly, the details were sent to my phone, which alerted me of my client’s desire to see the property. This is a perfect example of the collaboration between home buyers and their agents that our industry has been talking about for years.

If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to download the app and ask a few clients to do the same. They will be happy you are involving them in the home buying process and you’ll be able to check out some pretty neat technology. Mobile is not the future, mobile is now. So what are you waiting for?

 

 

http://ypnlounge.blogs.realtor.org

Mortgage rates drop for 5th week, flirt with record lows | Cross River Homes

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Mortgage rates dipped for the fifth consecutive week, following a first-quarter economic-growth estimate that fell short of expectations.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.35 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 2, down from 3.4 percent last week and 3.84 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The drop put the 30-year rate not far above the record low of 3.31 percent seen during the week ending Nov. 21, 2012.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans and 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs also dipped. Source: Fannie Mae

http://www.inman.com

Case-Shiller Composites Sank to New Lows in Q1 | Cross River Real Estate

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All three headline Case-Shiller composites fell to new post-crisis lows in the first quarter of 2012, wiping out all price gains realized since prices peaked in 2006, a decline of approximately 35 percent through March 2012.

The Case-Shiller national composite fell by 2.0 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and was down 1.9 percent versus the first quarter of 2011. The 10- and 20-City Composites posted respective annual returns of -2.8 percent and -2.6 percent in March 2012. Month-over-month, their changes were minimal; average home prices in the 10-City Composite fell by 0.1 percent compared to February and the 20-City remained basically unchanged in March over February.

In addition to the three composites, five cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Portland – also saw average home prices hit new lows. This is an improvement over the nine cities reported last month.

In March 2012, 12 MSAs posted monthly gains, seven declined and one remained unchanged. Phoenix posted the largest annual rate of change, up 6.1 percent, while home prices in Atlanta fell the most over the year, down 17.7 percent.

Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas were the four cities where average home prices were below their January 2000 levels. With an index level of 102.77 Chicago is not far behind.

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2012/05

NYC brokerage gets behind same-sex marriage | Cross River Real Estate

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Anyone on Facebook in the last few days has likely seen the pink-and-red logo that many people are setting as their profile images this week in support of gay marriage, the subject of two cases the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing.

Bond New York, which claims to be the largest independently-owned brokerage in New York City with 500 agents and staff, has incorporated features of the Human Rights Campaign logo that’s come to represent support of gay marriage into its own branding.

via inman.com

Eminent domain should never be political, but it is | Cross River Real Estate

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There’s a reason the world hates lawyers, but in reality, the world should be more upset at politicians who generally confuse politically driven lawyers as task masters that are useful, but neither committed to the laws they write or willing to back them under divergent scenarios.

Take eminent domain for example. Even after San Bernardino County, Calif., gave up on the idea of allowing government officials to use eminent domain to disrupt investors’ interest in mortgages for the purposes of giving homeowners principal reductions, other counties have been apparently considering the idea in California.

What’s odd though is another eminent domain-related bill is getting slammed in Colorado because it would allow oil pipeline companies to have eminent domain and condemnation rights in certain scenarios where they need to expand their operations. That particular bill never made it out of committee because the terms frightened lawmakers who remain attached to the idea of not toying with property rights.

That’s a fair assessment – the idea that intervening in property rights is a fundamental violation of the original contract and the very nature of ownership.

Yet, somehow when it comes to eminent domain on the housing side, the drum beat continues with little objection to the idea that knocking out investors’ interest is noble and efficient.

What proponents of eminent domain forget to ask themselves is whether they would back the same view under a different type of scenario.

The Colorado House panel’s killing of the oil-related eminent domain bill shows it’s unlikely they would

via housingwire.com

Skepticism about the housing rebound remains | Cross River Real Estate

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Fox Business writes:

“We’ll see how the summer goes and that will be a little bit of an indicator but my estimate would be another year until we have a good housing market,” said Joe Gross, national mortgage expert and author. “If employment goes down, within the year the housing market should be in a much better position than we are today.”

via housingwire.com

Housing Prices: What Can You Expect To Get? | Katonah Real Estate

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The size and features of houses in the different price ranges can vary widely in towns throughout Hartford County. Indeed, they can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood in the same town or city. And, what is standard in West Hartford or Glastonbury may not be found in Southington or Newington.

Ed Sutton, an agent from RE/MAX in East Hartford prepared a report for the Courant of what features you’ll likely get in different price ranges around greater Hartford. The prices ranges we looked at are: starter ($150,000-300,000), mid-range ($300,000-450,000), high end ($450,000-600,000) and luxury ($600,000+).

Click through the gallery to see what you might expect to get in each price range.

via courant.com

NAHB calls on Congress to support housing tax incentives | Cross River NY Real Estate

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The National Association of Home Builders called on Congress Thursday to maintain its support for vital housing incentives in order to meet the nation’s growing need for affordable rental housing and homeownership opportunities.

The housing incentives include the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the mortgage interest deduction and real estate tax deductions. 

“Homebuilding is an industry dominated by small businesses, so the idea of simplifying the complicated tax rules related to business has great appeal,” said Robert Dietz, an economist and assistant vice president for NAHB. 

Dietz added, “At the same time, our industry remembers painful lessons from the 1986 Tax Reform Act, when the commercial and multifamily sectors experienced a downturn due to unintended consequences.”

When housing is doing well, it spurs jobs and contributes to economic growth, notes Dietz. “For these reasons, we urge Congress to be cautious and thoughtful when it comes to housing and tax reform.”

via housingwire.com

Elliman Release Hamptons 1st Qtr Highlights/Report | Katonah Homes

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After a record number of sales in the 4th quarter of 2012, fueled by many high-end buyers

rushing to close at the end of last year, the 1st quarter of 2013 experienced a drop in

sales over $5M.

Median sales price fell 5.1% to $740,000.

The overall number of sales jumped 20.9% to 347 from the year ago quarter

despite the lower number of high-end sales.

There were 1,437 listings at the end of the first quarter, 4.9% below year ago levels.

The monthly absorption rate, the number of months to sell all inventory at the current pace of sales, fell to 12.4 months from 15.8 months in the year ago quarter.

Days on market, the number of days from last price change to contract date,

expanded by 10 days to 187 from the same period last year.

Listing discount, the percent difference between the list price at time of contract

and the sales price, fell over the same period to 9.4% from 13.2%.

www.elliman.com/marketreports.

via trulia.com