Tag Archives: Cross River NY Homes for Sale

For 2014 listen to your clients, neighbors and smart friends | Cross River Homes

It isn’t even December yet, and I’m already tired of the holidays and of reading about what I need to do to be successful in 2014.

Usually the articles are about the three, five, eight, 10 or 14 things that I need to do. Before throwing caution to the wind and taking all of that wonderful advice, I like to consider who is writing it and why. There are plenty of armchair real estate quarterbacks who just know what we need to do to be successful.

They give advice and never have to implement any of the ideas. Right now I can’t see any reason why 2014 will be very different from 2013. I think the tight inventory of homes for sale will loosen up a bit, and interest rates will rise slightly, as will home prices. Real estate is local, so that last sentence may not apply to your market. Here are 10 things I think everyone should take into consideration as they plan for 2014:

1. The Internet is not going to replace most real estate agents, and it isn’t going to go away.

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/22/tune-out-generic-advice-on-how-to-succeed-in-2014-and-listen-to-your-clients-neighbors-and-smart-friends/#sthash.cjZ4CeAZ.dpuf

Where the Next Huge Real Estate Bubble May Be Building | Cross River Real Estate

The 2000s real estate bubble—which burst in 2007 and precipitated a once-in-a-century financial crisis and recession—is not something most folks are excited to see a sequel of. But five years of declining or stagnating housing prices, the market turned around big time in 2012, making some analysts worry that we’re seeing the beginnings of Housing Bubble 2.0.

As you can see, home prices in most of the country are far from the bubble levels of mid-2000s, but if you drill down deeper to look at individual markets, one sees a different picture. Jed Kolko, housing economist with the real estate site Trulia, has been tracking home prices across the country to see which markets are over and undervalued. In a forthcoming “Bubble Watch” report, he finds that while most of the U.S. real estate market remains significantly undervalued, there are certain markets that are straying into bubble territory.

According to Kolko’s analysis, which looks at several factors like price-to-income ratio, the price-to-rent ratio, and prices relative to their long-term trend, markets in Orange County California and Los Angeles are more than 10% overvalued. Kolko also pegs the Austin, Texas market at 10% overvalued, while 7 other markets range from 4% to 7% overvalued. Those include:

San Antonio, TX;

Honolulu, HI;

San Francisco, CA;

Houston, TX;

Riverside-San Bernandino, CA; and

Oakland, CA

Unsurprisingly, these markets — concentrated in Texas and California, have also seen double digit home appreciation over the past year, with Orange County real estate appreciating a whopping 23.4% since October of 2012.

So are we in danger of another housing bubble like we experienced last decade? Not quite yet, at least nationally. According to Kolko, the market remains roughly 4% undervalued overall. And in some markets, like Cleveland, Ohio and Palm Bay-Melborne-Titusville, Florida, home prices are still 20% below their fundamental value. Furthermore, even the most frothy markets are less overvalued than the national market was in 2004, when home prices were 24% overvalued nationally.

 

 

 

Read more: Where the Next Huge Real Estate Bubble May Be Building | TIME.com

Homing In lets buyers and agents share pictures and comments about listings | Cross River Real Estate

Homing In lets buyers and agents take pictures and make comments about houses for sale or rent and share them with the world.

Its patent-pending technology allows potential buyers to find the nearest available real estate agent for showing requests.

No more waiting for a listing agent who doesn’t respond or can’t show a house because its not convenient for him.

The company is one of 13 in the inaugural class of the Inman Incubator program, a yearlong mentorship, advisory and promotional program to help new companies in the real estate industry succeed.

 

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/08/homing-in-lets-buyers-and-agents-share-pictures-and-comments-about-listings/#sthash.skGac8Pu.dpuf

Homing In lets buyers and agents share pictures and comments about listings | Cross River Real Estate

Homing In lets buyers and agents to take pictures and make comments about houses for sale or rent and share them with the world. Its patent-pending technology allows potential buyers to find the nearest available real estate agent for showing requests.

No more waiting for a listing agent that doesn’t respond, or can’t show a house because its not convenient for them.

The company is one of 13 in the inaugural class of the Inman Incubator program, a yearlong mentorship, advisory and promotional program to help new companies in the real estate industry succeed.

 

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/08/homing-in-lets-buyers-and-agents-share-pictures-and-comments-about-listings/#sthash.hH6eXCBV.dpuf

NAR’s alternative to ‘Obamacare’ exchange to begin offering ‘guaranteed issue’ health plans Friday | Cross River Realtor

The National Association of Realtors has launched a private health insurance exchange with plans that comply with the new health care law, offering hundreds of thousands of uninsured and underinsured Realtors an alternative to the problem-riddled federal website.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare,” has the potential to affect up to 700,000 NAR members — those without health insurance, and those who buy it on the individual market.

The vast majority of Realtors, whether independent contractors or salaried agents, do not get health coverage from their employer. According to NAR’s 2013 Member Profile, only 4 percent of Realtors reported receiving health insurance through the brokerage their license is associated with.

About 1 in 3 Realtors (34 percent) said they pay for health coverage out of their own pockets, while about 1 in 4 (27 percent) said they received their health insurance through a partner, spouse or family member.

More than 1 in 3 Realtors (36 percent) did not have health insurance at all. Extrapolated to NAR’s 1 million-member base, that’s an estimated 360,000 Realtors without health insurance. Under the new law, most will be required to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty.

For those who already have health insurance through their employer or through Medicare or Medicaid, their coverage will not change under Obamacare.

But for the 10 million to 15 million people who buy health insurance on their own — including approximately 340,000 Realtors — their health care plan may change if it does not meet certain minimum requirements. Even if their plan won’t change, many in this group may choose to shop around and compare the new Obamacare-compliant plans for the best deal.

I will not be using an exchange. Send me the tax. If I get seriously ill, then I suppose I will get coverage, since you can no longer be turned down for a pre-existing condition.” –Mary Linthicum, Coldwell Banker Residential

In order to address that need, earlier this year NAR launched its “Realtors Insurance Marketplace,” described as an exclusive “one-stop” insurance shopping site, in partnership with national insurance brokerage firm SASid (Smart And Simple Insurance Development).

SASid is responsible for creating and managing NAR’s other health insurance plans and products, including its Realtors Core Health Insurance (offered since May 2009) and its Realtors Dental Insurance (offered since July 2010), as well as Drug Card America, its free discount pharmacy drug card. These were previously offered as stand-alone products through SASid, but the marketplace now houses all of NAR’s health insurance programs.

This includes two products also launched in May: a major medical health insurance exchange for NAR members and short-term insurance designed to be an affordable temporary major medical policy. While the core insurance is a limited plan that covers only everyday illnesses and accidents, these plans are designed to offer more comprehensive coverage.

Keller Williams will launch a similar benefits platform in December.

‘Gauranteed issue’ plans launch Friday

NAR’s major medical health insurance exchange, which the trade group has dubbed the “Members Health Insurance Exchange,” currently offers health plans that are fully underwritten, meaning members have to qualify for the plans and their health status will be taken into account.

But starting Friday, the exchange will be updated with “qualified health plans” that fulfill the health care law’s criteria, and which will be offered on a “guaranteed issue” basis, meaning health status will not be a factor.

The exchange includes a tool that will allow members to determine whether they are eligible for a government subsidy — subsidies are available only for plans purchased through a public exchange — and recommend whether to continue through the Realtor exchange or go through the national public exchange, healthcare.gov.

In general, Realtors whose household income is less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level will qualify for the Affordable Care Act subsidies, also called health care tax credits.

Around half of those in the individual market will be eligible for a subsidy. Regardless of Realtors’ eligibility, SASid’s licensed benefit specialists will be on hand to guide them through the process, whether that process is on NAR’s private exchange or a federal or state public exchange.

“The association’s goal is to provide benefits to members and, with the subject of health care, our goal specifically is to offer a trusted source where they can go for consultative advice on the confusing, ever-changing insurance landscape and ACA — and how it pertains to their personal circumstances,” said Kristin Maurelia, NAR’s managing director of strategic alliances.

“Our provider will share options, including public/government exchange options and/or the Member Exchange options, depending on individual circumstances, and will have the ability to enroll them. So, this Members Health Insurance Exchange is also designed to ultimately provide expanded or alternative carrier and plan options versus what members may find on the public exchanges, in addition to a much easier, seamless ‘shopping’ experience.”

The federal government’s health insurance website, healthcare.gov, has been plagued with glitches since its launch on Oct. 1. The website was supposed to help uninsured and underinsured Americans compare and sign up for comprehensive health care coverage, as required by the Affordable Care Act.

But the site has been overrun with technical problems that are not expected to be resolved until the end of November. While 15 states have rolled out their own exchanges, those have gotten mixed reviews.

“If you’re not going to get a subsidy I wouldn’t really recommend going through that [public exchange] process because it’s a long process today. Unless they make it faster,” said Shannon Kennedy, president of SASid.

In addition to the technology-related delays, healthcare.gov does not allow people to compare plan costs until they answer a litany of questions, which has caused frustration for some, Kennedy said.

“People have struggled. I think initially everybody wanted to window shop because [the] effective date [for coverage] is Jan. 1,” Kennedy said. “Not many people buy coverage that far in advance. I think most activity is going to happen in November and December.”

NAR exchange not pushing particular plans

With NAR’s exchange, Realtors will be able to window shop and, because there will be no underwriting process for qualified health plans, they’ll be able to purchase “in as little as 10 minutes because the application process is going to be so simple,” Kennedy said.

Neither Kennedy nor Maurelia knew whether the government website’s troubles have spurred more Realtors to turn to NAR’s marketplace instead.

So far, tens of thousands of participants, including Realtors and their family members, are enrolled in one or more of the programs offered in the Realtors Insurance Marketplace, according to Maurelia. She declined to say how many have participated in the major medical health exchange launched in May.

NAR receives royalties for the use of the Realtor mark in connection with the marketplace, just as it does for any other member benefit program, Maurelia said. She said that the royalties SASid pays don’t affect plan rates in the marketplace.

SASid works with other trade groups to set up similar programs, but Kennedy said NAR is its biggest partnership. There is no charge to Realtors for participating in the marketplace. As an insurance brokerage, SASid receives marketing commissions from insurance companies for helping NAR members access the companies’ health insurance.

“These commission rates are set by the insurance companies, but the government has said so much can only be used for administrative and marketing costs. Whether you buy through a public or private exchange, the commission is set,” Kennedy said.

“Independent agents, they have the ability to shop through public and private exchanges,” he said. “There is no advantage to shop through healthcare.gov or through the Realtors Insurance Marketplace,” though the latter may have more choices because some insurance companies have decided not to participate in the public exchanges.

Unlike the “navigators” or “assisters” hired by community groups and government agencies to provide impartial guidance to those signing up through the public exchanges, SASid’s representatives can offer advice on which plan to choose.

“When you go through the public option they are instructed not to help you select a plan,” Kennedy said. “Sometimes the cheapest isn’t always the best strategy for you, sometimes it is. We play a very significant role in consulting people with their health insurance and helping them understand and helping them through that process whether it’s public or private.”

SASid can also offer information on other insurance plans such as group dental insurance or supplement plans, he said.

Maurelia and Kennedy said the objective of the exchange is not to sell Realtors on a particular insurance plan, but to guide them through the process.

“As you can imagine, the ACA implementation and exchanges are a moving target, so information is changing daily,” Maurelia said. “We’re glad to be partnered with a group who truly has the members’ interest in mind and is on top of these changes — in fact, ahead of many of them so that the NAR program is able to leverage whatever opportunities there may be for our members’ benefit.”

Through the Members Health Insurance Exchange, Realtors will be able to compare major medical plans; sort by price, plan design, co-pays and other factors; and enroll. The exchange will include health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), high-deductible catastrophic plans, and plans that qualify for health savings accounts.

Upon launch, there will be plans available from Aetna and UnitedHealthcare, and possibly some from Coventry and Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kennedy said.

“Every month there will be carriers being added,” he said.

Plan rates will based on location, age, and whether the member is a smoker or nonsmoker, but not on whether the member is healthy or has a pre-existing condition. How much rates will change is unclear because the new plans will not be an “apples to apples” comparison with the old plans, Kennedy said.

Qualified health plan minimum requirements

The new, qualified health plans will be required to cover 10 “essential health benefits.”

These include prescription drugs, outpatient care, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, emergency room visits, hospitalization, lab tests, maternity and newborn care, preventative services and chronic disease management, mental health and substance abuse treatments, and pediatric services, including dental and vision. In order to be certified and offered through the public health insurance marketplace, insurance policies must cover these benefits.

The law also requires that insurers spend at least 80 percent of subscriber premiums on medical care; the remaining 20 percent can be used for administration and profits.

These minimum requirements are behind the millions of cancellation notices that those in the individual market have been receiving from their insurance providers. The notices inform policyholders that the insurer will no longer be offering their particular policy and what other plans, that do meet the requirements, will be available.

Some plans — those in place in March 2010 when the Affordable Care Act became law — will be “grandfathered in” as long as they don’t change much. But both insurers and consumers tend to change their plans every year, so grandfathered plans are in the minority and on their way out.

“These requirements are all good things in the sense that they help make sure you have access to quality coverage and can’t be turned down because of your age or health status,” said Realtor Magazine senior editor Robert Freedman in a blog post.

Nonetheless, because the new plans will generally provide more coverage, they will also generally cost more.

“Carriers have expressed that rates will increase but [it’s] hard to give a percentage due to plan changes and that it is based on demographics,” Kennedy said. “My feeling is that people will see and feel a sticker shock doing their own comparisons (current plan vs. QHP plans).”

The Members Health Insurance Exchange will continue to offer fully underwritten policies until the last available effective date, probably Dec. 15, he added. These policies will likely be cheaper than the guaranteed issue plans because insurers will be allowed to consider health status, Kennedy said.

Some members may opt to pay the penalty for not buying a qualified health plan and still keep their existing plan or buy a fully underwritten plan because it will be more affordable, Kennedy noted.

“Because if you go through the underwriting, a plan could be $100 a month, but a similar QHP plan would cost $200 per month,” he said.

That $1,200 yearly difference would dwarf the penalty that most people, with some exemptions, are required to pay if they don’t buy health coverage that meets the minimum requirements.

For 2014, the penalty, or “individual shared responsibility payment,” is $95 per person or 1 percent of a household’s yearly income, whichever is greater. The payment is due by April 2015 when filing for 2014 taxes. The fee will rise every year and in 2016 will be 2.5 percent of income or $695 per person, whichever is greater.

Realtor reaction

Over on the Raise the Bar in Real Estate Facebook page, several real estate professionals complained that the Affordable Care Act had caused their insurance rates to go up, or that the premiums for the new plans were unaffordable.

“I will not be using an exchange. Send me the tax. If I get seriously ill, then I suppose I will get coverage, since you can no longer be turned down for a pre-existing condition. That’s the most affordable way for me,” said Mary Linthicum, a Realtor at Coldwell Banker Residential in Bethany Beach, Del.

Wayne Harriman, managing partner at Harriman Real Estate, said paying the penalty would be cheaper for his family than paying the lowest monthly premiums they could find.

“We are FAR above the threshold for subsidized coverage. Our premium would be $16,404 a year. Our penalty for not signing up for coverage? About $2,000, give or take. At least in 2014. It would go up in subsequent years,” he said.

But some said they had had success signing up through state exchanges.

“We’re using the Maryland State Exchange and, while my wife, who is a student, was informed that her Aetna plan would no longer be available, we found it to be a handy way to consolidate our insurance under one company … At almost no additional expense for us and our two boys,” said Daniel Finn Metcalf, a Realtor at Long & Foster.

Atieno Williams, broker-owner at DC Home Buzz, said Washington, D.C.’s exchange did not face the same challenges as the federal site.

“I am switching from my current individual plan. It is a little more money, but I am also getting lots more coverage and not as severely underinsured as I was,” she said.

Inman News columnist Teresa Boardman, a broker in St. Paul, Minn., has said NAR’s insurance marketplace is worth a look and plans to compare the rates and benefits of plans offered through NAR’s marketplace with programs offered through Minnesota’s health exchange.

Affordability may not be the only consideration in evaluating whether to obtain health insurance, however.

Michael DeFilippi of Mega Model Management and Global Luxury Realty has NAR’s dental insurance, which he said is “great,” but that he has no interest in health care.

“I work out and eat well,” he said.

NAR will hold a presentation on the Members Health Insurance Exchange at NAR’s booth theater at its annual conference on Saturday morning. Kennedy and other staff will also be available at the Realtors Insurance Marketplace booth in the Realtor Pavilion to work with members.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/06/nars-alternative-to-obamacare-exchange-to-begin-offering-guaranteed-issue-health-plans-friday/#sthash.LQU4t9bv.dpuf

Home prices were up 12% in September year over year but growth is slowing | Cross River Real Estate

Home prices were up 12% in September year over year but growth is slowing, market researcher CoreLogic says.

From August, home prices were up just 0.2%, marking the smallest month to month gain since January.

Price gains will slow further, to 0.1% from September to October, CoreLogic says.

Slower appreciation of home prices was expected by many economists given very rapid gains earlier this year, which fueled fears of housing bubbles forming in some markets, along with higher interest rates since late spring.

Year over year, the states with the highest home price appreciation in September were Nevada, up 25.3%; California, 22.5%; Arizona, 14.6%; Georgia, 14.4% and Michigan, 13.9%, CoreLogic says.

September marked the unofficial five-year anniversary of the start of the housing crisis. Given the strong home price gains for more than a year, average home prices in nearly half the states are now within “striking distance” of their pre-downturn peaks, says Anand Nallathambi, CoreLogic CEO.

Still, it may take longer to make up the rest of the ground.

Asking prices, whose trends lead sale prices by several months, were up 0.6% in October from September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, shows data from market researcher Trulia. That’s the second-slowest monthly gain in seven months.

Despite smaller monthly gains, prices are still rising because the inventory of homes for sale is still tight in many markets. Also, buying still looks cheap relative to renting in many markets, Trulia says.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/05/corelogic-september-home-prices/3435687/

 

 

 

 

Montlake Spite House in Seattle sells | Cross River Real Estate

This is the home’s narrowest point, 55 inches wide. Down the path on the left is the front door. Click to go to …Did you spot the Spite House? It’s the wedge-shaped house in the upper left. Click to go to a slideshow.You might think that a little wedge-shaped house built explicitly to aggravate someone would be a tough sell.

Not in Seattle. Listed at $397,500, the home was just snapped up over the weekend, the real estate agent told Yahoo Homes, after spending only a couple of weeks on the market. “We had quite the interest!” she told us. (A local news story published Tuesday and picked up internationally might have helped the quick sale.)

Click here or on a photo to go to a slideshow.

Locals call it the Montlake Spite House. Legend has it that the home, on a mere sliver of a lot, was built by:

• A woman who won only a bit of yard in a divorce settlement, while her ex got the rest of the property, including the (normal-shaped) house they’d shared. Or …

• A landowner who was furious when the neighbor who owned the adjacent (normal-sized) lot made him a lowball offer on the sliver. Or …

• A traveler who, while visiting Germany, gave permission for someone to build on the lot — with the provision that enough land be left for a second house. When the traveler returned, he discovered that the new house took a lot more space than he’d expected, so, “out of spite, he [the landowner] built that funny little pie-shaped home” as an obstacle, the current homeowner told KPLU-FM’s Martha Kang. “I also heard that back when it was first built, the side that was facing the neighbor had been painted black.”

The house at 2022 24th Avenue East has 830 square feet, and it’s just 55 inches wide at its narrowest point. The house is shaped like a right triangle with its sharpest point slightly blunted — that’s the 55-inch-wide edge, where a mudroom and exit door lead into the yard. The longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse) faces the street, with the entrance placed roughly at its center.

Click here or on a photo to go to a slideshow.

Lisa Horton, the current homeowner, told KPLU that the shape of the house was never much of an impediment, except when she was cooking: The kitchen is toward the narrow end of the house, so you can’t stand in front of the oven when you open it; you have to stand to the side.

 

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/montlake-spite-house-seattle-sells-231552209.html

China’s property market heats up | Cross River Real Estate

Prospective buyers at a property sale in Beijing.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Property prices ticked up last month in many Chinese cities, raising the chances of further government action to cool the housing market.

Prices jumped in 54 of the 70 cities tracked by the government in January, according to data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The average price change was an increase of 0.6%, the first year-on-year acceleration in 11 months. Compared to the previous month, prices rose 0.5%, which is the fastest rate of growth since January 2011, according to economists at Nomura.

China has gradually eased property ownership restrictions in recent decades, and its citizens have responded by pouring money into housing.

The resulting growth was so red-hot that many analysts feared a bubble was developing. But more recently, China’s real estate market had slowed amid government efforts to rein in speculators and control prices.

The measures include higher down payments, tough qualifications for mortgages, residency requirements and limits on investment purchases.

The slowdown spurred developers to offer discounts to unload their unsold inventory. Spooked by falling prices, would-be buyers stayed on the sidelines, and investors mourned declining valuations.

January’s increase is likely attributable to looser monetary policies and an abundance of liquidity — general stimulus measures taken by Beijing recently to combat a slowing economy.

Related: The Rise of China

But Beijing is still wary of rising property prices, and will likely respond with cooling measures.

“We believe the recent rise in property prices will pressure the government to tighten policies,” economists at Nomura wrote Friday.

Chinese stocks: ‘Not for the faint of heart’

And indeed, the government is already signaling some action.

China’s State Council said Wednesday that cities where prices have “soared too fast” will be asked to “introduce timely curbing measures.”

And in a bid to maintain supply, the council said it would guarantee land supplies for housing projects at no less than last year’s level. To top of page

First Published: February 22, 2013: 1:38 AM ET