Real estate agents’ body language and speech can cost them business | Inman News.
Real estate agents’ body language and speech can cost them business | Mt Kisco Realtor
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Tag Archives: Westchester Homes for Sale
Ultra-Mod Robert Gurney Renovation in DC Asks $2.75M – House of the Day | North Salem Real Estate
Chappaqua Schools Brace For Storm By Announcing Early Dismissals | Chappaqua Real Estate
Fed taper could hit housing market | Katonah Realtor
Is housing bubbly? There is a lot going on | South Salem NY Homes
There is a lot going on right now in housing and mortgage markets. But one of the debates that continues to rage on is whether U.S. housing markets are in a bubble or not.
HousingWire’s own monthly HW Magazine talked about it in detail in our January issue.
So too has CNBC’s John Carney, in a post from late last year with the headline: Yep, it’s another housing bubble. And then on January 14 of this year, Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute wrote a breathless op-ed proclaiming: The bubble is back.
But is it really a bubble just because home prices are rising again?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this chart published today by rating agency DBRS in their annual overview of the RMBS market for 2014 suggests that anyone claiming a new housing bubble is simply ignoring the most basic housing fundamental of them all: nominal home prices.
Most markets haven’t yet reached their pricing level highs from the previous cycle, with the exception of two markets that saw the least amount of decline.
Those who want us to think there is a bubble cite the relationship between home prices and rental rates; or look at some calculated measure of affordability. And when those are out of whack, they say it’s a bubble.
But it could be that rental rates are themselves out of whack, not housing prices. And it could be that other variables are affecting affordability rather than just prices, too. Supply and demand factors can do funny things to ratios, all of which need to be read in context.
No analysis should ignore market fundamentals, should it? Can we really be building another housing bubble if home prices in almost every U.S. market right now haven’t even surpassed levels they once were at — even after the strong price rebound we’ve already seen in the previous year?
After five years of a housing economy that has been either horrible or just plain bad, it’s difficult to believe that one good year somehow suddenly puts the nation’s housing markets back into the bubble.
http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/28599-the-most-important-chart-in-housing-right-now
Perfectly Staged Florida Bayfront Mansion Asks $16.9M | Pound Ridge NY Homes
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Location: Osprey, Fla. Price: $16,900,000 The Skinny: Consider, for a moment, the staged perfection of listing photos: coming home to a house that’s been meticulously polished to its Platonic ideal as this one has must be like arriving at your front door only to find that your grandmother’s front sitting room, with its strictly off–limits knick-knacks and vacuum-sealed sofas, is now every room in your house. Do you dare muss the taut bedclothes, or move the towel that’s so artfully draped over the edge of your tub (as if someone just happened to casually lay it down in the most picturesque way possible)? Is it permissible to flop down in your favorite easy chair, or will your weight irreparably deform its perfectly fluffed, better-than-new, cushions? And as for making a crumbly peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the sterile operating theater standing in for the kitchen—well, no. All chin-stroking aside, this four-bedroom, eight-bathroom bayfront home, which the listing thoughtfully assures us is “architect-designed”, is asking $16.9M.
http://curbed.com/archives/2014/01/15/perfectly-staged-florida-bayfront-mansion-asks-169m.php
Westchester’s Astorino Says He’s ‘Leaning Toward’ Running For Governor | Bedford NY Real Estate
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino still hasn’t made a firm decision about running for Governor this year, but made a strong indication that he would during a radio interview on Wednesday, Jan. 14, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
During the interview, Astorino divulged that he is “leaning toward” challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo. This marks a change from last week, when the county executive claimed he was “50/50” on a gubernatorial run, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Westchester Real Estate Shows Strong Quarterly, Yearly Growth | Armonk NY Homes
Tuesday’s report from the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors painted a positive picture for the year and the fourth quarter in Westchester real estate.
Sales of single family houses jumped 21.7 percent for the year in Westchester, with a 3.9 percent jump in the median sale price. For the fourth quarter, sales of single family homes in Westchester rose 17.9 percent and the median sale price rose 2.4 percent.
“Everything is looking up,’’ said Diane Cummins, the HGAR President. “There’s a rosy picture and it’s only getting better.”
“We’re in a full-blown recovery,” said Phil Faranda, the Hudson Gateway MLS president. “I think consumer confidence has returned. We’re getting a new new normal that is more hopeful and a little less dire.”
Cummins said sales for the fourth quarter were particularly encouraging. With holidays, weather-related issues and usually fewer owners and buyers active in the market, the quarter can often be slow.
“You never know what’s going to happen,’’ Cummins said. “Many Realtors think December comes in, and I have to start all over again. It makes us feel better about the start of the new year. Unless we get clobbered with bad weather, we may have an early spring start.”
“We hit the ground running for the first quarter,” said Faranda, who closed the sale of six homes in the final week of December. “I expect this will be the strongest spring since 2006.”
The accelerating sales volumes over the past two years have reduced the inventory of properties for sales. There were a total of 4,309 units – including single-family homes, condominiums, cooperatives and 2-4 family residences) on the market at the end of 2013. That is a 10.6 percent decrease from 2012. While inventory is tighter, it has not had an impact on the market, the report said.
The other Westchester numbers included a 15 percent rise for the year in the sale of condominiums, a 22 percent rise in the sale of cooperatives and a 22.9 percent rise in the sale of 2-4 Family homes. The median sale price for 2-4 family homes rose 12.1 percent in 2013 in Westchester. Co-ops rose 1 percent and condominiums rose 3.9 percent.
In the fourth quarter, 2-4 family home sales rose 27.4 percent over the same period in 2012 and prices rose 3.0. The sale of condos fell 7.3 percent from 2012, while co-ops improved 11.5 percent. The median sale price for condos (3.2 percent) and co-ops (0.7 percent) also rose in the fourth quarter.
The report said steady and affordable mortgage rates and a decrease in the unemployment rate have helped spur the real estate growth in Westchester. The mortgage rates leveled off at around 4.6 percent after approaching 5 percent earlier in the year. The unemployment rate in Westchester dipped to 5.5 percent at the end of the year, down from 6.8 percent at the end of 2012.
“I don’t think this is a glitch,’’ Cummins said. “This is now the market and it’s moving onward and upward. We’ve hit our bottom and we are starting to move up.”
Richard Haggerty, CEO of HGAR commented during his Real Estate Update on Monday to a meeting of the Empire Westchester Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors, that this has been the best year since 2007 with a significant increase in the number of transactions.
He also stated that he looks forward to a good year ahead, barring some obstacles including uncertainty in Washington D.C., the tightening regulatory landscape and “irrational exuberance” within the real estate market.
(Cathleen Stack contributed to this report).
Attached: (4thqtr2013finalreport.pdf)
8 Mobile Apps You’ll Wish You Downloaded Yesterday | Mt Kisco Real Estate
You know that panicked feeling you get when your mobile device isn’t immediately nearby? Yeah, this post isn’t going to help that at all.
It will, however, give you a handful of useful business apps to further extend that digital Swiss Army knife of yours. Continue reading
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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