Tag Archives: waccabac ny homes

Clinton Hill Mansion Owned by Two Ex-Mayors Wants $9.875M | Waccabuc Real Estate

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↑ In Clinton Hill, this gorgeous, 9,000-square-foot mansion is, according to the listing, “SPLENDID BEYOND BELIEF.” For once, that’s some brokerbabble we can really get behind. William Tubby built the house for Brooklyn mayor Charles A. Schieren before Brooklyn and Manhattan were consolidated and, according to rumor, Prohibition-era mayor Jimmy Walker also lived in the house for a time. There’s a lovely library with floor-to-ceiling shelves, a living room with “a hidden projector screen,” six wood-burning fireplaces in total, and a massive backyard and patio. It kind of looks like a less-whimsical/cluttered version of that house from The Royal Tenenbaums. Last year, it hit the rental market for $14,000/month, but now it’s looking to sell for an impressive $9.875 million.

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/05/04/clinton_hill_mansion_owned_by_two_exmayors_wants_9875m.php

Home sales finally thaw, but just slightly | Waccabuc Real Estate

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U.S. home buyers signed more contracts to buy existing homes in March, as weather in much of the country warmed and as more listings came onto the market. An index of so-called “pending” home sales from the National Association of Realtors rose 3.4 percent from February, the first gain in nine months, but is still down 7.9 percent from March of 2013.

“After a dismal winter, more buyers got an opportunity to look at homes last month and are beginning to make contract offers,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors. “Sales activity is expected to steadily pick up as more inventory reaches the market, and from ongoing job creation in the economy.”

Regionally, sales in the Northeast increased 1.4 percent, but are 5.9 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest, sales slipped 0.8 percent and are 10.1 percent below March 2013. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.6 percent, but are 5.3 percent below a year ago. The index in the West increased 5.7 percent monthly, but is 11.1 percent below March, 2013. The Realtors still predict overall home sales for 2014 will come in lower than last year, at 4.9 million units sold.

Fast-rising home prices have caused at least some of the slowdown in sales during this spring season. In fact, prices in several major metropolitan markets hit new peaks in February. With median home values well above the national average, Denver, San Jose, Austin, Dallas and Houston hit new price highs, according to Black Knight Financial Services. Metropolitan markets in California made up eight of the top ten biggest price gains in February, with Portland, Ore., and Seattle, rounding out the list. Home prices fell in several Northeast and Midwest markets, like Cincinnati, Allentown, Pa. and Atlantic City, N.J. Nationally, home prices are still 13.5 percent below their June, 2006, peak, but that gap is closing fast.

 

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https://homes.yahoo.com/news/home-sales-finally-thaw-just-140000849.html

Sales of existing homes slowed in March | Waccabuc NY Homes

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Americans bought fewer homes in March, and the rate of sales dropped to the lowest level since July 2012, according to industry data released Tuesday.

Sales of existing homes fell 0.2 percent in March from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. They fell  7.5 percent from the same time last year.

 

 

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sales-of-existing-homes-slowed-in-march/2014/04/22/58cd8e08-ca20-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html

Spotlight on Wood Countertop Refinishing | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Wood countertops are not for everyone.

They have a warm feel about them that exceeds most other types of tops. But they do require periodic maintenance that can involve refinishing, which can be necessitated by general wear and tear or by the wood’s own behavior. Wood countertop refinishing is a discipline that Topcoat Finishes has considerable experience in.

One of the more common wood behavior issues is the ordinary expansion and contraction of the wood itself. Wood moves with the season. It expands with moisture and humidity in your home, and it contracts when the air becomes dry. As an organic material, wood is very much alive. Sometimes movement can cause wood to split.

How Wood Splits:

Wood splitting, or “checking”, is when the wood opens up along the course of it’s grain. It is an obvious split or separation in the wood.

While checking is visually desirable in some wood features, such as post and beam or other rustic types of wood joinery, on countertops it can become difficult to live with.

Imagine trying to clean your countertops, and crumbs and debris keep getting swallowed up in cracks on the surface. Not desirable at all.

Checking can also compromise the finish that is on the countertops rather quickly.

What to do when Wood Splits:

We recently tackled a wood countertop refinishing project in the pantry of a client’s home. The wood species is antique reclaimed oak. This tends to be very dry wood, so when it checks, it can get big in a hurry.

Here are the steps we took to remedy the problem:

  • fill the cracks with multiple rounds of a clear wood epoxy, until proud on top of surface
  • when epoxy is dry (follow mfr directions), sand the repaired areas
  • inspect to make sure there are no dimples or hairline cracks within the repairs
  • sand entire countertop surfaces
  • apply multiple coats of desired finish

 

http://www.jlconline.com/wood/spotlight-on-wood-countertop-refinishing_o.aspx

House price boom ripples out of London, across Britain | Waccabuc Realtor

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The housing boom is spreading across the country, with rapidly rising prices   and long queues of buyers no longer restricted to London, experts are to   announce.

Property sales in the first three months of 2014 reached a six-year high as   the market recovered on a “truly national” scale, according to the Royal   Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

Activity is at levels last seen in early 2008, before the banking crisis took   hold, and is spreading to the Home Counties and beyond, figures suggest.

The trend is “striking in that it is clearly broadening out”, said Simon   Rubinsohn, a Rics economist. “There has been a sense that it was one story   for London and a very different outlook everywhere else, with perhaps a few   other city centres edging ahead. But that is not the case any longer,” he   added.

“Now that the housing market recovery is well and truly under way and mortgage   finance is more readily available, buyers seem to be looking to test the   market right across the country, not just in the usual hotspots of the South   East.”

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/houseprices/10756343/House-price-boom-ripples-out-of-London-across-Britain.html

 

Victim’s family sues city over East Harlem blast | Waccabuc Real Estate

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The family of an East Harlem explosion and building collapse victim filed two notices of claims against the city Wednesday morning.

The suit, filed on behalf of Griselde Camacho, a fatal victim of the collapse last month, is believed to be the first in connection to the blast. Quinones’ mother Carmen Quinones, currently in recovery at Mt. Sinai Hospital for her own injuries sustained during the explosion, made the first of the two claims, which says her daughter was injured on March 12 “due to the negligence of the respondents.” The two claims also charge the city with failing “to inspect gas lines knowing that they are old and subject to leaks and decay.”

“She is feisty and angry,” Nilsa Aguila, Camacho’s cousin and Quinones’ niece, told the Wall Street Journal of Quinones. “That is where her anger comes from. She blames the City for my cousin’s death.”

The second claim seems restitution payments for what it calls injuries incurred during the incident, including fractures, torn ligaments and “traumatic brain injury.”

The two claims seek payment of $20 million.

 

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/02/victims-family-to-file-first-suit-against-city-for-east-harlem-blast/

Credit Scores: Mortgage Lenders Ease Requirements | Waccabuc Real Estate

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According to a report prepared by Ellie Mae, a mortgage technology company, the average FICO credit score for approved mortgage loans dropped to 727 in December 2013. It was 748 a year earlier.

The average credit score for home loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also dropped a little; December 2013 borrowers had an average credit score of 756, down from December 2012′s average of 761.

Refinance mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were approved with an average credit score of 729 in December 2013; this was a significant drop from the average credit score of 763 in December 2012.

Only 46 percent of mortgage applicants approved had credit scores above 750 in December 2013 while approximately 57 percent of applicants had credit scores over 750 a year earlier. Mortgage Credit Scores: What’s Going On? – –

 

Reasons for approving mortgages with lower minimum credit scores include mortgage lenders’ growing confidence as the economy improves and mortgage defaults decrease.   As rates rise and refinancing activity dries up, lenders may also exercise more flexibility with credit scores in order to encourage more business.

While this isn’t life-changing news for would-be mortgage applicants with sub-par credit scores, a mortgage lender’s willingness to work with less-than-perfect credit is a positive sign in the aftermath of the recession.

But wait — there are conflicting opinions concerning how or if mortgage lenders will change their minimum required credit scores for any but the best-qualified applicants. Mortgage applicants with credit problems can expect to encounter glitches on the path to mortgage approval. Mortgage Underwriting Policies: Out with Overlays — or Not

Another practice that can limit a mortgage applicant’s chances of approval is the use of “lender overlays.” Lender overlays are underwriting requirements, imposed by lenders, in addition to the guidelines set out by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the federal government. Overlays create extra hoops for applicants to jump through (or get stuck in).

Some analysts have said that mortgage lenders may be willing to reduce or eliminate lender overlays if economic conditions continue to improve.

 

 

http://blog.listedby.com/uncategorized/1064/

Rug Designer’s Funky Murray Hill Townhouse Wants $6.2M | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Loria Manne, who has designed her signature Lamontage rugs for such venerable institutions as Brown University, the University of Chicago, the Rubin Museum of Art, and the Gramercy Hotel, acquired this Murray Hill townhouse along with her husband in 2000 for $2.85 million. Now they have put it back on the market asking $6.195 million, though it appears that they made some improvements in the meantime—the house is still described on Streeteasy as a three-unit, four-story building, while the listing says that it is a six-story single-family home. The teal facade also looks fairly recent, as do all the colorful walls inside. Other highlights include the roof terrace, many fireplaces, and, of course, lots of rugs.

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/03/18/rug_designers_funky_murray_hill_townhouse_wants_62m.php

How to Convince Buyers Your Listing is a Bargain | Waccabuc Real Estate

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When you’re trying to understand or influence human behavior—as you might do when, say, listing and marketing a home for sale—it’s important to respect the distinction between what people should do and what they actually do do.

This is the difference between economics and behavioral economics. Classical economics theory is based on the belief that people will behave rationally and that we can use reason and logic to predict the movements of the market. But the fields of behavioral economics and behavioral finance were created in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of how real people actually make real financial decisions in real life.

Here are a handful behavioral finance must-knows for listing agents, to help manage your clients’ mindsets and help them understand why and how you’re marketing your home to buyers.

1. Don’t let overconfidence lead to overpricing.

Real estate agents are the only commissioned salespeople I know of who spend much of their time trying to talk their clients down in pricing their product. Why? Because we know that listing a home at too high a price causes unnecessary woe, drama and failure. Set the listing price too high and a home will lag on the market, attracting lowball offers. The end result is often a price reduction or can even keep a hope from selling at all.

Overpricing can result from the same overconfidence and overoptimism that causes buyers to make lowball offers on great homes in a hot market. It’s the same overconfidence and overoptimism that inspires investors to day trade, erroneously thinking they have superhuman stock picking skills. In fact, when you study up on successful amateur day traders, it becomes clear that what they have is less innate skill and more the willingness to voraciously, constantly research the companies and the markets—many, for hours every single day. Many have also placed rules on themselves and their trades specifically to counter their own human emotions and irrational tendencies.

That’s precisely how home sellers can and should deactivate overconfidence when it comes to pricing.  Urge them to commit to sitting down with you and pore over local market data, recently sold homes in the area, average days on market, and the local price-to-sale price ratios. While you’re looking through the comps together, take pains to point out the potential rewards of a disciplined, data-driven approach to pricing.

 

 

http://www.trulia.com/pro/buyers/how-to-convince-buyers-your-listing-is-a-bargain/?ecampaign=tnews&eurl=trulia.com%252Fpro%252Fbuyers%252Fhow-to-convince-buyers-your-listing-is-a-bargain%252F

Getting a mortgage is easier, but only just | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Mortgage credit continued to trend higher in February, following a steady increase in availability since November 2013, the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association revealed.

The mortgage credit availability index edged higher 0.44% to 113.5 in February from 113 in January.

If the MCAI had been tracked in 2007, it would have sat around 800. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.

“For the third month in a row, mortgage lenders and investors slightly expanded credit offerings in February on net, as a result of offsetting factors,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.

“Specifically, the recently implemented QM/ATR sections of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations stipulate that ARM loans must qualify at the highest allowable rate for the first five years of the loan,” he continued.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29261-mba-getting-a-mortgage-is-easier-but-only-just