Tag Archives: Bedford NY Luxury Homes for Sale

Housing boom price peak not a useful reference point | Bedford NY Real Estate

 

Since home price appreciation is set to cool to a historically normal rate, conversations about the housing market should drop the housing boom price peak as a reference point, particularly since prices aren’t likely to surpass peak levels until 2021, according to Clear Capital, HousingWire reports.

 

Source: HousingWire

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/housing-boom-price-peak-not-a-useful-reference-point/?utm_source=20140203&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.NGmdkHqb.dpuf

Higher rates loom for some modified mortgages | Bedford NY Real Estate

 

Almost 800,000 homeowners will see mortgage payments rise about $200 a month in the next few years as the benefits of their government loan modifications ease, a new government report says.

The first higher payments will hit more than 30,000 homeowners this year. They received the initial mortgage modifications in 2009 under the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), says the report from the office of the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP).

The modifications were intended to help homeowners avoid foreclosure as housing prices sank and unemployment soared. About 95% of HAMP modifications included cuts to interest rates, some to as low as 2%, SIGTARP says.

But the “permanent” modifications only last five years, after which interest rates can  reset no more than 1 percentage point per year until they get back to the prevailing rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan at the time of the modification.

Between now and 2021, 782,748 HAMP homeowners will get increases, SIGTARP says, including almost 300,000 next year.

The increased costs “could be a problem for some people,” says Keith Gumbinger, mortgage expert with HSH.com.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/29/rate-increases-for-hamp-loan-modifications-2009/4964701/

Walker Tower PH Sells For $50.9M, Sets Downtown Record | Bedford NY Real Estate

 

wt2.jpg [Inside Penthouse One, photo via NY YIMBY]

As expected, the penthouse of Chelsea’s highly-acclaimed Walker Tower sold for more than $50 million, setting a new record for the most expensive home ever sold in Downtown Manhattan. The Journal reports that the all-cash deal closed for $50.9 million, and, evidently, the unnamed buyer was in the space “less than five minutes” before stating “I’ll take it.” Because $50M spur-of-the-moment decisions are never a bad idea.

The full-floor, nearly 6,000-square-foot unit was listed last September for $55 million, and by the end of October, the Times reported that it entered contract for “slightly less than ask.” Can $4 million be defined as “slightly”? No matter, the sale takes the title away from the penthouse of 18 Gramercy Park, which sold for $42 million to the owner of the Houston Rockets in 2012.

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/01/27/walker_tower_ph_sells_for_509m_sets_downtown_record.php

Getting into real estate for the wrong reasons? | Bedford NY Real Estate

The top 10 reasons to get out of the real estate business line up with the top 10 reasons to get out of any business:

  1. I am in it for the money. If you are in the real estate business because you think/know that a lot of money can be made, you are in the wrong business. Yes, it is true, a lot of money can be made, but not without the sincere professional efforts of a dedicated agent.
  2. I can make my own schedule. Yes, this is true. In real estate you can make your own schedule, but if you think you don’t need a schedule that you keep to, you are in the wrong business.
  3. It is easy work. Yeah, right! Any profession that demands as varied and deep an understanding of various types of information as real estate does is never “easy.”
  4. I am a “people person.” If you like people you just might not want to be in the real estate business. As an agent, you are directly in line for abuse when things go wrong. It is your fault and they are going to tell everyone.
  5. People like me. Well, read Nos. 4 and 3. It is guaranteed that people will not like you when you don’t give them exactly what they want, when they want it. Don’t get into this business because people like you — they won’t.
  6. I have been hired onto a good team. While surrounding yourself with like-minded professionals working at the top of their game is crucial to success, it does not dictate your personal success. You need to develop your own skills and abilities. This is your work, not theirs.
  7. I am good at marketing. We all know that marketing is crucial for a successful real estate business. Internet marketing is even more important, but if this is your only skill you will be whistling down a lonely path.
  8. I was hired by the top agency. Well, every agency says it is the top agency. Every agency has statistics that show how it is at the top of this or that. It is never about the agency — it is always about the professional.
  9. I am a hard worker. This is not everyone’s mantra, but there are agents who come into the business with a hard-working attitude. While this is important, it is more about working smart and consistently than working hard.
  10. My manager has promised to train me. Your manager’s job is to get you in the door and producing. Once you are in the door and doing some of the things you are supposed to do, the manager is off recruiting and promising to train the next recruit. Being a professional is about your goals, focus and consistent efforts. Without that, you are just another warm body paying rent to your office.

The real reason to be a real estate agent is because you love what you do. You are willing to put the time, effort and energy into constantly getting better, smarter and more knowledgable. There are far more downs than ups in real estate at the beginning. While it may not be easier, I can think of nothing I would rather do in my life.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/next/getting-into-real-estate-for-the-wrong-reasons-dont-do-it-because-youre-a-people-person/?utm_source=20140114&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.I7YDPNaK.dpuf