Whether you’re trying to convince your company that adopting inbound marketing is beneficial for business, or you’re hoping to get budget so you can start using a new inbound marketing platform, getting executive buy-in can be a challenge. In a world where people fear change and constantly try to minimize risk, bold, innovative solutions are often met with skepticism, if not disdain. Continue reading
The Caramoor Center for Music and Art of Katonah will be honored by ArtsWestchester at its Arts Awards luncheon on Friday, April 4 at the Westchester Marriott.
Caramoor Center will receive the Innovator Award for In the Garden of Sonic Delights, a large-scale outdoor sound art exhibition that runs from June through November 2014 at five sites in addition to Caramoor: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (Peekskill), Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville), Lyndhurst (Tarrytown), the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College (Purchase), and Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture (Pocantico Hills).
The project has been in development for more than five years and features 15 new site specific works by nationally-recognized artists including Laurie Anderson, Bruce Odland and Bob Bieleck.
The complete list of winners is on the ArtsWestchester website.
The awards luncheon will at the Westchester Marriott on April 4. A reception begins at 11 a.m. followed by luncheon at noon. Tickets, sponsorships and luncheon journal ads may be reserved by calling (914) 428-4220 x326 or emailing afabrizio@artswestchester.org
http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/katonahs-caramoor-will-be-honored-artswestchester
In the past year, the national foreclosure rate declined each month by at least 20 percent from where it had been the year before, according to the CoreLogic Market National Foreclosure Report from December. Additionally, the 12-month sum of completed foreclosures hit its lowest level since 2007.
The progress is encouraging ? about 837,000 homes in the United States were in a stage of foreclosure in December, down from almost 1.2 million in December 2012 ? but that’s still a lot of homeowners struggling to pay for their homes.
CoreLogic’s report puts the serious delinquency rate among U.S. mortgages at 5 percent in December, its lowest level since November 2008. Quarterly data from Experian-Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and Experian’s IntelliView tool also show a smaller share of mortgages were delinquent. In the final quarter of 2013, the percentage of mortgages that were more than 90 days past due dropped from the previous year’s and the previous quarter’s levels, the reports said. The delinquency rate declined to 2.52 percent, down from 2.74 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 3.26 percent at the same time in 2011.
?Clearly, 2013 was a transitional year for residential property in the United States,” Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in the foreclosure report. ”Higher home prices and lower shadow inventory levels, together with a slowly improving economy, are hopeful signals that we are turning a long-awaited corner. The housing market should continue to heal in 2014, but we expect progress to remain very slow.?
Mortgage originations had been increasing year over year since the first quarter of 2012, but that momentum faltered in the third quarter of 2013, when new loans declined by about 110,000 from the previous year, according to Experian. Fourth-quarter data isn’t yet available.
http://www.realtor.com/news/last-years-foreclosures-hit-lowest-total-since-2007/
Location: Atlanta, Ga. Price: $3,250,000 The Skinny: Though Atlanta has played host to plenty of culturally important events, including the Olympics, the first season of the Walking Dead and, of course, the canonical live recording of Free Bird, the 1939 premiere of Gone with the Wind was such a huge milestone for the city that any association with it is trumpeted to this day. That’s the case with this 1935 home in the Peachtree Heights district of Buckhead, which the BrokerBabble claims hosted the cast party for the film. And it might very well have, though the homes where Clark Gable is said to have been fêted approaches the number of homes wherein George Washington purportedly lay down his wigged, weary head for a nap. Designed by Atlanta firm Cooper and Cooper, it’s all classical symmetry and reassuringly staid formalism (a combination the dim echoes of which can be seen in McMansion developments across the Sunbelt), while the decor veers queasily between traditional (downstairs) and blandly contemporary (upstairs). It’s asking $3.25M, which includes almost two acres of beautifully landscaped grounds that Vivien Leigh might have strolled through.
For all the hoops real estate agents have to jump through in order to secure a highly-coveted listing, it may seem crazy to say, but the truth is: Sometimes a listing just isn’t worth it. Before you take on a property you’re not sure about, ask yourself if it falls under one of the categories below. If it does, it’s probably not worth your time or trouble, so it’s a smart move to back away before it’s too late.
Instead, focus on the listings that you know will be a great partnership between you and the seller and lead to a successful sale. And remember, a listing that isn’t the right fit for you is the perfect chance to make a referral to one of another trusted agent in your network. You’ll avoid a situation that will cost you more time and money than it’s worth, and you’ll build goodwill within your own network.
Here are five red flags to look for that will let you know when it’s okay to say, “No way!” to a listing.
A seller might want to list a property right away—before all of its challenges are solved. And when a property is listed before issues are resolved, it will stay on the market longer, negatively affecting the selling price and wasting your time and marketing budget.
When there are known issues like repairs, zoning restrictions, or environmental hazards that pose obstacles to a smooth closing, you need to ask yourself if you have the qualifications and time to deal with them. If you’re not, tell the property owner they need to bring in the appropriate experts first.
In certain cases, the person who presents himself or herself at the seller might not actually be authorized to sell the property, so it’s up to you to clear up any murky issues before taking on a listing. In instances of divorce, find out who the legal decision maker is and whether both parties must sign.
Refinancing your home mortgage can be a great way to save some money in the long run. If rates have dropped since you obtained your original loan, you can potentially see a substantial drop in your payments. But there are other reasons you may also want to consider refinancing your home mortgage.
It gives you the option to reach into the equity that’s built up in your home since you purchased it — it’s known as a “cash-out refi.” It lets you take out a new mortgage based on the home’s current worth, pay off what you still owe on the old loan, and pocket the difference, Realtor.com says. You could also shorten the time period that you’ll be making payments, which can be done by swapping your current 30-year mortgage for a 15-year loan or another similar option.
But how do you know when it’s a smart move for you to go through the refinancing process? And when exactly will it start saving you money?
Click through for our guide to help you determine if it’s the right time to refinance
source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepyjeanie/
According to USA Today: “Some borrowers can save money when they spot a rate that’s at least half a percentage point lower than their existing rate, experts say. More typically, people tend to move when they see more than a full percentage-point drop.”
ABC News reports that it’s also important to ask yourself this question: How long will it take for your new monthly payment to yield enough savings to make up for the closing costs for the new loan? If you can find a way to keep your closing costs down, refinancing becomes an even smarter option. And you should expect closing costs on refinancing to be even lower, because there is less work for the lender and title company to do.
Figuring out how long it will take you to start recouping costs is key. For example, someone who is in their 80s probably shouldn’t spend $4,000 upfront in order to save $50 a month, according to USA Today. Just make sure you’re looking at your costs and how long you plan to stay in your home. If you plan on being there for quite a while, there’s a good chance refinancing is a smart option.
Realtor.com recommends weighing monthly savings against upfront costs. Let’s say you can save $100 a month on your mortgage payment by refinancing but it requires you to pay $2,500 upfront — then you’d need to keep the new loan for at least 25 months to make up the difference. If you’re not going to be in your current house for at least that long, it’s not going to do you any good.
When in doubt, talking to a mortgage broker is always a good idea. They can look at your specific situation and figure out what’s going to be your best move.
In February, the average rate on a 30-year fixed home mortgage was 4.28 percent, which is near historically low levels. A 15-year loan was 3.33 percent, according to Freddie Mac, a mortgage buyer.
These are great rates, but economists aren’t expecting them to stay that low for long, according to USA Today. “Most economists expect home sales and prices to keep rising this year, but at a slower pace,” the publication reports. They forecast that both will likely rise around 5 percent, down from double-digit gains in 2013.”
This means that if it’s something you’re interested in doing, the sooner the better. As interest rates continue to rise, it’ll save you less money when you do make the move to refinance.
You’ve decided refinancing is for you, and so your next step is to start the loan process again. Make sure to get all of your records together and check to see that your credit profile look goods, Realtor.com says: “Your lender will need to verify your income, employment, account balances and the like, so be prepared. The lender will tell you exactly what you need, but generally you’ll be required to produce current pay stubs and savings and checking-account statements.”
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If you’re a future homebuyer, you might have used one of those “How much mortgage can I afford?” calculators online. These calculators typically gather information like your down payment amount, credit score range, monthly or annual income and debts.
Then, they’ll spit out an estimate of what a bank might lend you mortgage-wise.
These calculators work primarily by figuring out your debt-to-income ratio and then how much you can afford to pay for your monthly mortgage payment. This is similar to how banks decide how much to lend you.
The typical bank limit on monthly mortgage payments is about 28 percent of your gross monthly income. Therefore, the bank thinks you can devote up to 28 percent of your household income to your mortgage payment and expenses (including taxes, insurance and association dues).
Banks will also typically allow a total debt-to-income ratio of up to around 36 percent. This means that your mortgage, credit card payments, student loan payments and car payments shouldn’t exceed 36 percent of your total monthly income. (Note that if your other debt payments are already at 15 percent of your monthly income, you only have 21 percent of your income to devote to your mortgage, regardless of the 28 percent rule.)
So when you put your current income and expenses into a house affordability calculator, it will tell you how much you can afford to pay for your home per month. Then, based on factors such as estimated interest rate, tax payments, insurance payments and available down payment, it’ll tell you how much house, in total, you can afford.
http://homes.yahoo.com/news/before-you-buy–try-that-mortgage-on-for-size-211830352.html
China’s housing market continued to show a modest slowdown in February as new data show that price growth was capped by discounts in some cities while the Lunar New Year holiday had an impact on sales overall.
Average new-home prices issued by data provider China Real Estate Index System on Friday showed prices grew 10.79% in February from a year earlier, compared with January’s 11.1%, which also slowed from December’s 11.5%.
The survey tracks new-home sales in 100 Chinese cities. The average price in February rose 0.54% compared with January, the survey said. That is down from 0.63% in January over December, which was the slowest on-month gain in more than a year.
More customers are staying on the sidelines since some property developers started to introduce price cuts from mid-February, sales agents said. In Hangzhou in east China, at least two property developers introduced discounts on their new homes last week.
While January and February are typically slower periods for home sales, some observers have warned that housing prices in China may cool in 2014 because many developers are concerned about clearing inventory in places where there is an oversupply of homes, especially in tier two and tier three cities.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304709904579410711546149156
As housing reform continues to be part of the Obama administration’s agenda, differences between the mortgage market in the United States and that of other countries have come to light. For instance, how do domestic mortgage products differ from those offered in Canada, a country considered the most comparable to the Unites States?
Here are three critical differences between the home lending market here and in our closest neighbor to the north.
30-year mortgages? Never heard of them While the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has become a staple in the U.S., Canada doesn’t offer anything remotely similar. The longest term for a home loan in the North Country is five years, with the amount amortized over a 25-year period. Canadian banks also offer fixed-rate mortgages for two-year, three-year, and four-year terms.
This means Canadians can never count on having a particular loan interest rate last more than five years. At the end of the loan’s life span, borrowers can refinance, but prepaying a loan early to take advantage of a drop in rates can cost mortgage customers dearly, as prepayment fees are quite hefty.
