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North Salem Realtor

Uncertainty, QE3 push mortgage rates to new lows | North Salem NY Real Estate

With U.S. lawmakers heading toward the edge of the “fiscal cliff,” government-backed mortgage bonds that fund the vast majority of home loans are looking like a safe haven for investors, helping push mortgage rates to new lows.
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.34 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Nov. 15, down from 3.4 percent last week and 4 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
That’s a new low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971. In the four decades that Freddie Mac has conducted the mortgage market survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans had never been below 4 percent until last year.
The survey showed rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 2.65 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 2.69 percent last week and 3.31 percent a year ago. That’s also a new record in Freddie Mac records dating to 1991.
For five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, rates averaged 2.74 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 2.73 percent last week but down from 2.97 percent a year ago. Rates on five-year ARM loans hit a low in records dating to 2005 of 2.69 percent during the week ending July 19.
Rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARM loans averaged 2.55 percent with an average 0.3 point, down from 2.59 percent last week and 2.98 percent a year ago. That’s a new low in records dating to 1984.
Applications for mortgage loan applications bounced back last week after being dented by Hurricane Sandy, according to a separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That survey showed applications for purchase mortgages were up a seasonally adjusted 11 percent during the week ending Nov. 9 compared to the week before, and up 22 percent from a year ago.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions, and increased demand for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) guaranteed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae has pushed mortgage rates down.
The Federal Reserve has been one of the biggest purchasers of MBS, in a deliberate move to stimulate the economy by lowering the cost of borrowing. A first round of “quantitative easing” by the Fed that wrapped up in 2010 helped push mortgage rates below 5 percent. That program involved the purchase of $1.25 trillion in Fannie and Freddie MBS and debt.
A third round of quantitative easing (“QE3”) announced by the Fed on Sept. 13 has boosted its MBS purchases by $40 billion a month. Because of the sluggish pace of the recovery, Fannie Mae economists think that open-ended program could last through all of 2013 and perhaps into 2014, and grow the Fed’s balance sheet by $1 trillion.

via inman.com

Personal Branding on LinkedIn: 10 Mistakes to Avoid | North Salem Realtor

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LinkedIn is a fantastic online business networking platform for professionals.
It has almost become the default global network for all serious business people to connect, engage and share ideas due to its sheer size with over 175 million registered users.
From day one it was set up for the express purpose of providing an easy to use portal to exchange ideas and network with like minded individuals. Its tone is more formal than Facebook or Twitter which seems to escape some people.
And for job seekers, it’s a brilliant place to showcase yourself and your personal brand. But, if you’re doing the following, you’re NOT doing your “Brand You” any favours:
#2. Don’t lie.
All your connections can view your profile and if you lie, you will be found out. It will be very embarrassing too. Look what happened to former Yahoo CEO, Scott Thompson.
#4. Don’t use the “Friend” option
Only do this when you are a friend of theirs. Comments 0It’s a major pet peeve for many professionals on LinkedIn and they won’t want to connect with you.
#6. Don’t leave your LinkedIn profile incomplete
This is important if you want to be found. LinkedIn has a “wizard” which guides you through completing your profile and tells you when it is 100% complete. Most important is your Summary, your Experience, your Skills & Expertise and your Headline. Make sure that they are “keyword rich”. Did you know that all these sections, and more, are searchable? So if you want to be found, make the effort to optimize your profile.
#8. Don’t use LinkedIn groups purely for getting “linkbacks” to your website or blog
This will see you labelled as a spammer. A well managed LinkedIn group is tightly monitored and most will only allow discussions, questions and commentary. Many will allow you to link to other people’s blog posts, but not your own. A bit strange if you ask me. Even if your post is totally relevant to the discussion; it is perceived as self-promotion.
#10. Don’t ask people who DON’T know you to write recommendations for you.
It’s awkward for them and you won’t get a recommendation that you’ll want to publish anyway. Remember, it’s not about the quantity of the recommendations, it’s about the quality of them. And for the record, tit for tat, reciprocal recommendations look dodgy.
What About You?
How is your LinkedIn etiquette. Is it enhancing your personal brand or could it do with some polishing?
How effective is your LinkedIn profile? Could you take some of these tips today and make some improvements?
Is there anything I should have added to this list? Please add your thoughts to the comments below.
Guest Author: Carolyn Hyams is the Global Marketing Director for award-winning digital recruitment specialist, Firebrand Talent Search, Carolyn is responsible for Firebrand’s entire brand strategy and execution in the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. She brings a wealth of local and international experience to the Firebrand team, including expertise in brand development and strategy, digital and traditional marketing strategy and execution, and is particularly passionate about social media marketing. Follow Carolyn on Twitter: or connect with her on LinkedIn:
Want to Learn How to Market Your Personal Brand on Social Media?
My book – Blogging the Smart Way “How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.
It is now available to download. I show you how to create and build a blog that rocks and grow tribes, fans and followers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It also includes dozens of tips to create contagious content that begs to be shared and tempts people to link to your website and blog.
I also reveal the tactics I used to grow my Twitter followers to over 115,000.
You can download and read it now.
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via jeffbullas.com

North Salem NY Real Estate | Mortgage applications down 12%, rates edge up

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The number of mortgage applications filed by potential homebuyers and refinancing borrowers fell 12% for the week ending October 19, an industry trade group said.
The steep drop is attributed to an upward adjustment made a week earlier to account for the Columbus Day holiday, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. When reviewing the numbers on an unadjusted basis, applications fell 2%.
The MBA noted that refinancing activity declined 13% from the previous week while home purchase applications fell 8%. The trend of slowdowns is expected to continue.
The MBA is warning it expects to see $1.3 trillion in mortgage originations during 2013. This is down more than 25% from its revised estimation of $1.7 trillion in 2012.
As applications declined, rates went up with the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage on a conforming loan increasing to 3.63% from 3.57%.
The 30-year jumbo FRM also grew to 3.85% from 3.81% last week.
The 30-year, FRM backed by FHA edged up to 3.41% from 3.34%, while the average 15-year, FRM hit 2.96% from 2.87% last week.
The 5/1 ARM also grew to 2.72% from 2.59%.
via housingwire.com

North Salem, Lewisboro, Katonah Inventory | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Months of Unsold Inventory in Northern Westchester
North Salem 19 months
Lewisboro 11 months
Katonah 8 months

via trulia.com

US Home Values Post Big Gains, But Recovery Is Uneven Among Markets | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Home values in the United States rose 1.3 percent in the third quarter — the biggest quarterly gain since 2006, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. The Zillow Home Value Forecast shows more growth, albeit slower growth, on the horizon with values increasing 1.7 percent over the next year.
However, the pace of the housing recovery is uneven from market to market. Home values are increasing rapidly in some areas. In the Phoenix metro, for example, values are up 20.4 percent year-over-year. But in other areas — such as the Atlanta metro, where home values declined 4.8 percent year-over-year — values continue to fall. But that doesn’t mean the recovery is in jeopardy.
“We’re likely seeing home values fall back into the negative range in some markets due to the close of the traditional home-buying season,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “While that doesn’t mean the recovery has come off the rails — in fact, most markets have hit bottom — it does present a confusing environment for consumers. Looking forward, we expect to see home values bump along the bottom for some time, before increasing at a slow and steady pace.”

via zillow.com

Weekly Wrap-Up: How Evil Is Your Smartphone, When To Pivot Your Startup, And How To Watch The Presidential Debate Online | North Salem NY Real Estate

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How Evil Is Your Smartphone, 8 Startups On When To Pivot, and How To Watch The Presidential Debates Online. All of this and more in the ReadWriteWeb Weekly Wrap-up.
After the jump you’ll find more of this week’s top news stories on some of the key topics that are shaping the Web – Location, App Stores and Real-Time Web – plus highlights from some of our six channels. Read on for more.
How Evil Is Your Smartphone?
Okay, maybe there are no ethical smartphones. But some must be better than others, right? How Evil Is Your Smartphone?
More Top Posts:
When Is It Time To Pivot? 8 Startups On How They Knew They Had To Change
There comes in a time the life of many startups when it becomes clear that everything is not going according to plan. But how do entrepreneurs tell if they need to keep going all in on the original plan, or pivot to something new? When Is It Time To Pivot? 8 Startups On How They Knew They Had To Change.
How To Watch The U.S. Presidential Debates Online – Updated
As Mitt Romney and Barack Obama prepare for their third and final debate on Monday night, your options for tuning in are greater than ever before, How To Watch The U.S. Presidential Debates Online.
Don’t Make The Mistake Of Preordering A Windows Surface RT Tablet
The problem is Microsoft’s “long tease” – the slow, steady drip of information leading up to the launch of Windows 8, Don’t Make The Mistake Of Preordering A Windows Surface RT Tablet.
Why Brands Should Build Their Own Social Communities
Meet SocialEngine, white-label software that helps businesses build their own branded, interest-driven social networks, control their message and turn participants into potential customers. The service has been around for a few years with some success, but the product has now been relaunched as SocialEngine Cloud, retooled for bigger clients, Why Brands Should Build Their Own Social Communities.
Color’s Epic Collapse: Why Everybody Is Loving It
Reports say that the engineering talent from Color is going to be acquired by Apple and the app will be shut down. No one but its investors and employees not going to Apple will shed a single tear, Color’s Epic Collapse: Why Everybody Is Loving It.
What The Hell Just Happened At Google?
There’s only one thing worse than missing your numbers – and that is missing your numbers and not even being able to report that news correctly, What The Hell Just Happened At Google?
The FTC Wants YOU! – To Kill Robocalls
The FTC Robocall Challenge is offering a cash prize for anybody that can come up with the best way to eliminate robocalls from reaching consumers’ cellphones and landlines. The submission window runs from October 25 to January 17, 2013. Winners, if there are any, will be announced in April 2013, The FTC Wants YOU! – To Kill Robocalls.
The Democrats Prank Romney With Clever Search Engine Fun
This is what national, presidential-election-year political campaigns do now: They make little prank websites to undermine their opponents. It’s the tech-savvy, 21st Century equivalent of a TV attack ad, The Democrats Prank Romney With Clever Search Engine Fun.
The iPad Mini’s Killer Feature = Price
The tablet market is different from that of other gadgets. While many people believe they need a mobile phone and a computer to meet their personal and business goals, a tablet is more of a “not necessary, but nice to have” type of device, The iPad Mini’s Killer Feature = Price.

via readwriteweb.com

Desperately seeking high-end buyers in Costa Rica | North Salem NY Homes

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Recently, I was working on my computer when a Skype call bleeped through. I switched over to Skype and answered in video-call format. On my screen popped up Tor Prestgard, a fellow I profiled a year ago in a story about Costa Rica home markets.
At the time, Prestgard was trying to sell his 30-acre coffee farm located high in the central mountains about an hour’s ride from the capital city of San Jose. Back then, I had Skyped with him from his Costa Rican property.
This time, we were talking France to the U.S. He had left Costa Rica so his children could attend school in France, and he and his family were happily settled in the Rhone Valley wine region.
Well, not exactly real happy, because, as Prestgard told me, he was scheduled for brain surgery in a few weeks.
OK, I thought, maybe I should change the subject and quickly asked him about his property. At least that should be a more salubrious subject. And it was.
Prestgard had a caretaker managing the farm and was still looking to sell. The price hadn’t come down — it was still at just over $1 million.
Just one year ago, second homes or hobby farms in exotic locations such as this one in Costa Rica were starving for investors. The global economy was very weak and investors were playing it close to the vest, avoiding anything that smacked of risk. In addition, the banks weren’t lending. As result, Prestgard wasn’t getting much action on his listing.
As his broker told me at the time, in the old days “anyone could leverage their house in Canada, (the) United States or Europe, get an equity line and buy a house in Costa Rica. The banks have clamped down, so that type of buyer would now have to sell his or her home before moving to Costa Rica.”
Considering he had a serious operation ahead of him, Prestgard noticeably perked up when I asked if he was finally getting any interest in his farm.
Prestgard revealed that he had recently received two serious inquiries. One came from a U.S. company in the coffee industry. And just the weekend before, he had a good inquiry from a Canadian investor.
“More people are showing interest and going down to view the property,” Prestgard said. “The market in Costa Rica has definitely bottomed, and prices are starting to move up again. I’m starting to see other properties being sold. There will be two visitors to my property this week, and another is scheduled a few weeks out.”
I decided to check in with Dan Duffy, CEO of United Country Real Estate, a Kansas City, Mo.-based organization with five offices in Costa Rica serving San Jose, the central country and the entire Pacific coast.
“The velocity of sales on higher-priced properties had definitely taken a hit as it relates to the overall market,” Duffy said. “However, we are starting to see those homes move.”
There were a few areas of Costa Rica where the developers were not well capitalized and failed to finish projects, Duffy said. “That was mainly in the popular Pacific Coast region, and prices there fell anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent.”
Things were much different in the central mountains, where there was only a 5 to 10 percent adjustment in pricing, Duffy said. “There wasn’t a lot of inventory to begin with. People who owned properties such as Prestgard weren’t highly leveraged. They didn’t have big mortgages, or the properties were bought with discretionary funds. There was also a lot of this real estate owned by locals.”
Prestgard is a native Norwegian, and his wife is an American. Prior to moving to Costa Rica, they lived in the United States and France.
“Americans tend to stick to the coastal areas of Costa Rica,” Duffy said. “When you get into the mountain areas, you tend to see a lot of Europeans. They don’t have the affinity or the absolute requirement that they see the ocean or be in walking distance to a beach like Americans. Europeans like the mountain climate where often you don’t even need air conditioning.”
I also spoke with Tor’s wife, LouAnn, and asked her about Costa Rica.
“It was a beautiful place to live,” she said. “I have never seen nature as beautiful as it is there, the color of the light, so many different colors of green. It’s a beautiful land, but we have decided not to move again. We will stay in France.”
The Prestgards moved to Costa Rica in 2009 and built or rebuilt all the structures on the property.
“We put more money into the house than most people who are selling down there,” LouAnn said. “Unless you go into the million-dollar category, the quality of construction in Costa Rica is poor. For that kind of money, our property is a good investment.”
I asked Duffy how he would market the property:
He answered, “If that was my property, I would make a small price reduction to make it more attractive. I would benchmark it against five or six other properties in the area. I would produce an ad that would say, ‘Highly motivated to sell due to health reasons,’ and I would make it an exclusive listing not an open listing.”
To which he added, “The people who were interested in these types of properties and relocating from the United States prior to the Great Recession never lost their interest. They just took a pregnant pause to see if their savings and retirement funds were going to withstand the full force of the recession.”
Finally, I questioned LouAnn about missing Costa Rica.
“I miss the coffee,” she said. “Even in France, it’s awfully hard to drink a cup of coffee from the store, because we used to process our own coffee for our own consumption.”
Didn’t you take some with you when you left, I asked.
“Not enough,” LouAnn and Tor answered in unison!

via inman.com

10 Tips To Make ‘Working From Home’ Work For You | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Much like how freelancing isn’t for everyone, the idea of working from home is not really everyone’s cup of tea either. Sure, you get to work in your bunny slippers, no one steals your lunch from the fridge and if you hate office politics and traffic jams, it’s actually a godsend to be able to work from home. But that doesn’t mean that life’s going to be a bed of roses.
For starters, if you were to choose to work from home, most bosses would ask that you take a paycut (in lieu of not having to turn up at the office). Plus, you can absolutely expect your friends and family to take advantage of your newfound ‘freedom’. The working hours will become a blur, and sometimes if you are not careful, you’ll find yourself working 7 days a week just to catch up with all the time you’ve lost! But if you have decided that working from home is your only option, here are a few tips that may help you make the best of it.
Recommended Reading: 9 Things You Should Consider Before Freelancing Full-time
1. An Understanding Family
One of the hardest thing about working from home is setting boundaries with the people you share ‘home’ with. It’s definitely easier to understand that you are not to be disturbed when you are at the office than when you are in the back room.
Start setting boundaries from the first day you start work. Granted it will get some getting used to (about 66 days in fact) but your children, flat mates, siblings or parents must learn to give you your 8 hours (or more) a day so you can get things done.
2. Get Help
If you have very young children, you will need to get help. A 3-year-old would consider having to go poo an emergency and they expect you to treat it like one (drop everything and get me to the loo quick!). In this case, it would be helpful to have another adult in the house, or to drop your children off at daycare, or a babysitter’s to get a few uninterrupted hours to yourself.
(Image Source: Camilo Jimenez)
During busy periods, you can always get a cleaning lady to help straighten up the mess you call home. Give yourself the peace of mind required to get your work done.
3. Get Your Own No-Fly Zone
It will help to have a room, a workstation or at the very least a desk in a quiet area in your home. Here is where you keep your laptop or PC, fax machine or phone, work documents like reports and invoices, your stationery etc. And it would be good to ensure that no one but you are to use your equipment.
In case this is not possible, stock up on your essentials (e.g. always keep some ink stored away for emergencies).
(Image Source: apartment therapy)
For some inspiration, check out the Modern Office Designs from Around the World
4. I’m Working, Honey!
Within these four invisible walls, you are working and you are to treat it like how you would treat your old office. Coming to work is merely a hop into your ‘cubicle’ and going home is ‘hopping out’. Everything else should remain as it was – keep problems, issues and matters that have to do with home outside of your no-fly zone. If you can convince yourself to compartmentalize like this, it will be easier to convince everyone else.
5. Deliver the hours
Depending on what has been ironed out in the clauses of your contract (or discussed over two cups of coffee) you will be expected to deliver certain working hours for your work-from-home job. The good news with working from home is that nobody is keeping track; the bad news is nobody is keeping track (let that sink in for a bit).
(Image Source: Fotolia)
Don’t think that you can prop up your feet and catch a whole season of your sitcoms in one afternoon and try to work it back during the weekends.
Do it often enough and it will turn into a habit in the long run. Have some self-restraint and keep the entertainment to after hours or the weekends.
Read also: Time-tracking App for Freelancers [Mac]
6. Have a Routine (and Breaks)
Apart from the reason that we are just tired of commuting, another reason to work from home is because of other responsibilities you have that require you to be home. It could be because of your children, your old nana or your spouse who had suffered a broken leg from an accident. In this case, you will need to set a routine that will ensure that you can be there for them and for your company.
For the rest of us, the routine will help with keeping up with house chores – and the breaks you schedule in will help you keep your sanity. It’s also great to help you recharge for the next project or refuel your inspiration. If you get breaks while you’re in the office, there is no reason you can’t take breaks when you are at home.
7. Open Up, Be Reachable
The problem most managers have with their employees working from home is that they can’t keep an eye on them. Make it easier for your boss by being reachable whenever possible. Let them know when you are not around like when you are heading out to the bank or post office, and when you will be back.
(Image Source: Fotolia)
Keep yourself in check at all times so your boss doesn’t have to. After a while once a routine is set in, the reins will loosen and you will have the freedom to roam about freely… which could lead to another problem.
8. Deliver the goods
One thing that should always be at the back of your head is that your productivity should not diminish when you work from home. If it is counterproductive for you to be working from home, what’s to stop them from making you brave traffic and parking wardens to turn up at the office again?
(Image Source: Fotolia)
Set quotas for yourself and discuss roadblocks or problems that you have with your colleagues or managers while working on a project. Consider joining in brainstorming sessions via conferencing tools, but stay away from the office politics or gossip.
Read also: Best of Online Meeting and Web Conferencing Tools
9. Get out of the house
Moderation is key. Working in solitude has its disadvantages but only because humans are social creatures. Hence, getting out of the house is very important. If you don’t have to go back to the office to have meetings or deliver progress reports, you can bring your laptop and work at a coffee shop or meet a friend during lunch.
The idea is to break the monotony of working with your shadow and your reflection.
10. Stay healthy
Get plenty of fluids and eat healthy, and if you aren’t a fan of exercise, just try to move around whenever you can. This gets oxygen into your blood circulation which can be the cure to that dullness you’ve been feeling after looking at the same project day in, day out for months! Relax with music, some light reading or make lunch for yourself.
(Image Source: Fotolia)
Also you should pamper yourself for being able to keep away from online distractions and for getting the job done with minimal (or no) supervision. Not everyone can do it, so when you do, reward yourself for it!

via hongkiat.com

Denver a real estate market to watch, says report | North Salem NY Homes

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Metro Denver has been named one of the country’s top 20 real estate markets to watch next year in the “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2013” report released Wednesday.
In its 34nd year, the commercial real estate study is compiled by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP financial services firm and the Urban Land Institute.
This year, it was released in conjunction with the ULI’s Fall Meeting, Wednesday through Friday at the Colorado Convention Center. The meeting is being attended by about 5,000 real estate professional from around the country.
Denver ranks 14th on the list of “U.S. Markets to Watch: Overall Real Estate Prospects.”
The report says that Denver’s housing market was not hit as hard by the housing downturn as many other cities, with fewer homes in foreclosure or sitting delinquent than most.
“Denver’s economy has remained healthy, maintaining the ability to absorb a diverse employment base,” the report notes.
PwC’s Wendy McCray, partner in the assurance practice for the Denver PwC office, said Denver’s large young population — about 16 percent are 25-34 years old — “tells people there’s good job growth and Denver’s economy is more diverse.”
The “Emerging Trends” study is based on surveys of more than 1,000 commercial real estate experts, including investors, developers, lenders and brokers.
Here are some of the city’s other rankings:
• Denver ranks eighth among promising investment markets, moving up three spots from the 2012 report, due to “strong growth potential. … An attraction is the city’s central location in the country’s southern and western regions, as well as Denver’s ever-expanding international airport.”

via bizjournals.com

US housing construction up 15 percent in September | North Salem NY Real Estate

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U.S. builders started construction on single-family homes and apartments in September at the fastest rate since July 2008, a further indication that the housing recovery is strengthening.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground on homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. That’s an increase of 15 percent from the August level.
Applications for building permits, a good sign of future construction, jumped nearly 12 percent to an annual rate of 894,000, also the highest since July 2008.
The strength in September came from both single-family construction, which rose 11 percent, and apartments, which increased 25.1 percent.
Construction activity is now 82.5 percent higher than the recession low hit in April 2009. Activity is still well below the roughly 1.5 million rate that is consistent with healthier markets.
Still, the surge in construction suggests builders believe the housing rebound is durable.
Builder confidence reached at a six-year high this month, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders. The group’s index of builder sentiment rose to a reading of 41. While that’s still below the level of 50 that signals a healthy market, it has steadily climbed over the past year from a reading of 17.
Sales of new and previously owned homes have been slowly improving this year, and home prices are starting to show consistent gains.
Record-low mortgage have encouraged more people to buy. And the Federal Reserve’s aggressive policies could push long-term interest rates even lower, making home-buying affordable for the foreseeable future.
Housing is expected to keep improving next year. But many economists say economic growth will stay muted until companies step up hiring and consumers start spending more.
Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing sales market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to data from the home builders group.

via finance.yahoo.com