Let us rent your North Fork Home for a Movie Set or Foto Shoot Location!

This creative use of your home may help pay the bills!

We have requests for homes to be rented short term (for  few days or a week or so in general, sometimes more) for use as a movie set or (fashion) foto shoot…

We are so close to New York, US Fashion Capital, and the North Fork is a movie stage extraordinaire.

If you have a (special) home on the North Fork, let us discuss if your home would work.

So talk to us and we will try and connect you. Call Nicholas at 631 948 0234 or 298 4646!

North Fork Market – 37% fewer contracts signed over $1 Million in 2008

It is true that the North Fork Market held up relatively well compared to other regions… Nevertheless, the wake-up call for sellers is now: 37% fewer contracts in 2008, 26% fewer contracts signed overall, and 27% down in volume is not that great either. And this trend seems to have worsened in December with only 4 contracts signed on the real North Fork according to MLS…
What better environment to make offers and get them accepted when sellers are presented with these statistics! When sales volume slows to a tiny trickle the imbalance will only allow for more transactions with an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Sellers need to realize that for now there is demand, but this demand will intially be satisfied by sellers who HAVE to sell. So the market will be determined by these sales, and comps for future mortgages will use these distressed sales figures to allow new mortgages. Pricing your house retail now puts properties at a distinct disadvantage for year-end buyers. These buyers are seeing competing offerings in other areas where pricing has come down substantially more severely. And make no mistake, these areas in Nassau and the rest of Suffolk ARE competition.
So a seller who wants to sell needs to price a property aggessively. Buyers are now in the market at 25-30% below “retail” prices. Grab them while you can, sellers!

Never a better time for savvy buyers: U.S. Nov. existing-home sales fall 8.6%

Ruth Mantell (Market Watch,The Wall Street Journal) wrote this article today:

“U.S. Nov. existing-home sales fall 8.6%

Home prices decline at fastest annual pace on record

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos fell a surprisingly bad 8.6% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday, even as home prices fell at the fastest annual pace on record.

The result is much weaker than expected, as analysts surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for sales to fall to an annual rate of 4.9 million from the prior month’s result of 4.91 million. Resales are down 10.6% in the past year.”

I have as a broker on the North Fork never seen an environment more conducive for savvy, able buyers to make deals! 

 

Sellers are at a distinct disadvantage at this moment: jumbo loans are hard to come by, so any home for sale which would require a buyer to take out a Jumbo Loan:  not impossible but highly improbable to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes!

Buyers if approved have FHA loans available to them with as little as 3% down, with a Federal Tax Credit of $7,500, and maximum loan amounts under $729,500 for 2008.  But the house needs to appraise (in what is now a high risk declining market on LI). Retail pricing may today not appraise out.

But buyers: take notice: this may be a small window of opportunity! Governments all over the world are trying to restore liquidity and credit in the financial markets and are putting their money where their words are. Jumbo Loans will be available again, and more buyers will come back into the market. How much lower will things go than today? Nobody knows. But remember: smart people like Warren Buffett decided not to try and time the market and bought. Shouldn’t you? And buyers, realize all real estate is local, and the North Fork remains desirable. We still experience bidding wars when property is priced right. Be reasonable. Talk to your mortgage professional and make sure you get a great deal. We can connect you a number of professionals to choose from.

Let a professional Buyers Agent guide you in this market, able to tell you the difference between retail pricing and great deals. Let us show you! You’ll be happy you did, before this window of opportunity is gone.

Lower Mortgage rates and Tax Credits: time to buy into the North Fork

Historically low mortgage rates and a first time home buyer tax credit of $7,500.00 (you have to close before April 2009), and FHA loans with downpayments as low as 3% (will go up to 3 1/2% in February of 09) will provide a backdrop for a very active market on the North Fork in early 2009. We have seen a rise in activity in the lower echelon of pricing, specifically stimulated by these incredible benefits. Two years ago, barely any homes were available below $350K, today there’s a lot more to look at!

The fact that these benefits are only temporarily available, and that the activity in the market will focus on the properties that are “value” priced, means that anyone interested in buying a home on the North Fork should start looking to be able to take advantage of the worst of the market and great -truly historic- incentives.  Ask your parents if they ever had a 30yr fixed mortgage under 5%?

So let us prove this to you: we’ll connect you to the right properties and people to make being a part of the North Fork a reality!

A wave of buyers is coming.. A great year for RE is coming…

Steve Harney, RE Guru for many years recorded this message:

Click Here

Listen to his message: price your property right and you will see a lot of buyers coming the coming 6 months!

How Short Sales can help home owners on the North Fork

Short Sales have been in the news: If you no longer can afford your mortgage, or are behind on your mortgage, maybe in foreclosure, this blog may clarify how a short sale of your home can help you take care of a problem, and end the nightmare of defaulting on your mortgage.

Some people think when they are “under water”, when their house in worth less than the mortgage, they have no option but let the mortgage company come after you and foreclose if you cannot pay for the mortgage.

A short sale is the sale of a home for less money than what you owe on the mortgage, as approved by the mortgage lender. In order to achieve a short sale of your home make sure you talk to a skilled negotiator, specialized in the field of short sales. A licensed Realtor(c) and Real Estate Broker, I also hold a short sale certificate, please call me if you have any questions at 631 298 4646!

Short sales can help many home owners who are behind in their mortgages who cannot remain in their homes, and can limit the damage to homeowners’ credit scores and facilitate getting back on their feet afterwards.

In some cases, it can be negotiated with the bank to forego a “deficiency” judgement” after a “Short Sale”. this means the bank agrees not to come after your for any amount they receive “short” of that the homeowner owes on their mortgage (s).

The nightmare scenario of not being able to pay your morgtgage requires a homeowner’s commitment to take care of a very large problem; and resume a normal life, in a way start over.

Let us help!