Pelham Heights in Pelham NY

Pelham Heights is one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Westchester County. Located less then 20 miles to NYC with a train commute of just under 30 minutes. Pelham Heights is located within walking distance to the Pelham Train Station, Colonial Elementary School, Pelham Memorial High School and Middle School, shopping and restaurants.

As originally defined, Pelham Heights was bordered on the north by the train station, New Rochelle city line on the east, Colonial Ave to the south and the Hutchinson River Parkway to the west.

To view all homes for sale in Pelham Heights please visit PelhamHeights.com

Home for sale in Hunters Run in Mahopac

 

Lovely light and bright colonial in sought after Hunters Run. Features include 5 bed, 3 bath, hardwood floors, central A/C, huge 500+ sq. ft finished bonus room, large kitchen w/breakfast area, guest bedroom & full bath on 1st floor. Large unfinished basement, 2 car garage, lovely landscaped yard. New water heater, new a/c & heating system. Gas heat, sewer & water. HOA includes lawn cutting, snow removal, pool, tennis, garbage and homeowners insurance. Asking $499,000.  Also available for lease w/option to buy at $3500/month.

For more info and photos click on: 11 Nottingham Way Mahopac, NY 10541

To view all homes for sale in Hunters Run visit: Hunters Run in Mahopac NY

Pricing your home right

Now more than ever pricing your home RIGHT is of utmost importance. With values falling up to 30% in Westchester County and Putnam County from the peak of the market 4-5 years ago, pricing your home competitively is the only way you will have a chance to stay a head of your competition; competition being other houses in the area comparable to yours. List too high and your home will sit on the market and may never sell or even worse sell for much less than you want it too. Let’s discuss one of the 1st things a prospective seller says in defense of pricing a home higher than their Realtor recommends.

“But we can always drop our price.”

 No you can’t. Well you “can” but most likely it will be too late. New listings get the most activity the first 3-4 weeks of the on the market, after that the interest in the house levels off dramatically. It no longer is considered a new listing on the Realtor “hot sheet” and the listing just finds its way with the rest of the over priced listings in your town. If you do not put your best foot forward (aggressive price) from the beginning then by the time you drop the price it will be too late and you will be chasing the market. If your Realtor says you need to be $50,000 less than what you want to list at but finally after 1-3 months you “give in” to his price recommendation it is actually too late. Now to be competitive with the other listings in the area you may need to be $75,000-$100,000 less than your current asking price.

Here is a recent example: I had a seller in Mahopac call me after 6 months on the market with another agent and the agent was not able to sell the house. The asking price was $500,000. I came in and told the owners the listing price can’t be a penny over $450,000. Of course they did not agree and thought I was crazy and refused to list it “that low”, the lowest they would allow me to list the home was at $475,000. After a few weeks on the market the activity was minimal and this was due to it being overpriced. I asked them every week to please let me drop the price.

After 3 months my sellers ‘gave in’ and let me drop the price but I told them $450,000 is now too high. Unfortunately they did not listen to reason this time either and they only let me drop it to $450,000 (which was 3 months agos price). I told them it is too high and to drop to maybe $419,000 and hope to get $400,000. Well at the $450,000 asking price I brought them 3 offers at $400,000 and none of the buyers were willing to go higher. My sellers told me there was no way they would “sell their house for that low”. I finally let the listing expire because my sellers were unrealistic and were more or less ensuring themselves to lose a lot of money.

They listed with another agent and 6 months later they sold… for… $375,000.

 “Buyers are always going to bid lower”

Yes and No. A competent buyer’s agent knows the market and when a house comes on the market at a very good price the agent educates their buyer on current listed and sold properties and more often than not the offers come in VERY close to asking price. I saw a house that was grossly over priced, about $150,000 over priced then one day the agent drops it $150,000 to $525,000. My buyer saw it and was impressed and felt it was worth every penny of the new asking price. The agent just dropped the price the day we saw it (I told my client about it as soon as I saw the new price), my buyer was unsure about what to offer and we discussed the comparable homes in the area and we offered asking price. Of course it was accepted and my buyers were more than happy.

Another reason why thinking you can “always lower the price” or “buyers are always going to bid lower” are wrong is that you push yourself out of the market with an over priced listing. SERIOUS buyers these days know that prices are down; they know sellers have dropped prices a lot; buyers are NOT searching for houses that are $50,000-$75,000 higher than a number they can afford or want to spend like they used to do years ago. Serious buyers looking for a $500,000 house are not searching much higher, maybe $515,000 or $525,000. So when you price your $500,000 house at say $540,000 or $550,000 you just made your home INVISIBLE to buyers because they do not know it exists when they search online for homes in their price range. Price it at say $515,000 and you expose your home to a large pool of buyers and your chances of getting a good bid on your home has drastically increased.

I had a seller in Somers NY who did not let me list his home at the price I told him, the price was $650,000 (down from $769,000 from his previous agent who was not able to sell it) and I said we need to be around $600,000-$610,000 and he only let me drop the price to $639,000. After 3 weeks my seller was fed up and I was even more fed up and pleaded with him to let me drop the price before it is too late. I asked him what is his bottom line and he said “$600,000 give or take a few thousand”.  Well we priced it at $600,000 on the dot. My seller was concerned about lowering the price and said “but people are going to bid lower, what if we get low ball bids?”, of course the uneducated buyer will bid low but not the educated and qualified buyer.

Within 24 hours we had three offers. One low ball offer of $500,000, one for $550,000 and one for $590,000 and we settled at $598,000! The buyer who bid the $590,000 knew the market and knew the price was good and she also said  “I never knew this house was even on the market until the price was lowered to $600,000 and I would have never seen it if you did not drop the price”.

Another example happened a few years ago when I went on a listing appointment and the price I gave the seller was $550,000. I stressed not a dollar higher is this unstable market. I did not get the listing and 2 weeks later I see his house listed at $750,000! To make this very long story short, the house is still listed and the seller  is now on his THIRD real estate agent 3 years later and his current price is $425,000.

 Agents do NOT waste their time showing overpriced houses.

When an agent sees a listing that is obviously overpriced they are not going to waste their time showing it especially when their buyer tells them it is just way too out of their price range. The agents also know that if the house is overpriced and does go into contract anywhere near the current asking price that the bank will never appraise it that high and the deal will be dead and the buyer will back out and legally can. An agent is also not going to show an overpriced listing and then lose creditably with their buyers and waste their buyers’ time driving around showing homes that are not what they are looking for. Buyers assume that sellers are aware of the down market and what home values are and assume you are pricing it based on the current market and are not that negotiable in the price. Many buyers do not think you will drop much off the asking price so if you are asking $50,000 more than you should or over what your bottom line is, the buyers do not think you will actually drop $50,000 off the price and will not bother looking at your home.

 The Old vs the New real estate market.

When the market was “hot” from around 2003-2005 agents would look at what sold and then list homes around 5-10% MORE than the most recent comparable sales. Now we look at what just sold and price it LESS than or at the price the most recent comparable’s sold for and hope to get as close as possible to those recent sale numbers. Any other way and a seller will chase the market and lose money like the seller above who listed at $750,000 and is now at $425,000.

The moral of the story is to listen to your Realtor’s price recommendation and price your home inline with the competition or even lower and NEVER ever choose your agent just based on the price they tell you. If that was the case then I would just go around telling sellers what they want to hear and not what they need to hear and give them all over priced values.

My job as a Realtor to my sellers is not to just sell your home but to sell your home for top dollar and in the shortest amount of time. More importantly my job is to make sure you do not get less than you should and an over priced listing is a perfect recipe for loss.  If a competent Realtor comes up with a value on your home and you want to list higher than they say because “people are always going to bid lower”, you probably just killed your chances of not only getting a bid near the value the Realtor came up with but any chance of selling your home at all.

Listen to this advice about pricing your home and will be on your way to a successful sale.

70 Tulip Rd. Mahopac – MLS# 3109469

Lovely raised ranch close to all in Mahopac. Features include 3 bed, 2 bath plus 4th bedroom/den in lower level, hardwood floors on 1st level. Lower level has brand new carpet, finished family room, new bathroom, wood burning stove. Nice private backyard, extra large driveway with plenty of parking. Minutes to shopping, school and Lake Mahopac. Taxes approximately $7400 after STAR deduction. MLS #: 3109469

To view more photos and details check out: 70 Tulip Rd. Mahopac NY 10541

To view all homes for sale in Mahopac check out MahopacRealEstate.com

Townhouse for sale in Hunters Glen with garage

Lovely townhouse in sought after Hunters Glen in Carmel with garage! 2 bed 1.5 bath, eat-in-kitchen, dining area, living room with fire place, sliders to patio. Large master bedroom and 2nd bedroom, large bath with double sink. Located close to clubhouse w/exercise room, pool, tennis, playground, gazebo, pond, walk to all amenities. Easy I84/ 684 Commute! 5 minutes to Metro North train.

For more info check out: 2105 Martingale Drive Carmel NY

To view more listings check out: Hunters Glen townhouses for sale in Carmel NY

Selling your home during the holidays | Holiday home selling tips

Selling your home during the holiday season between November and January can be a very stressful time. Getting ready for parties or cleaning up from ones you hosted at your home make it difficult to keep your house in showing condition all the time. Some sellers take their home off the market for a few weeks during the holidays but some serious sellers will keep the house listed throughout the season and for very good reason.

Buyers who are looking during the holidays (and cold weather) tend to be very serious buyers that you do not want to miss out on. Your competition is limited as well since a lot of homeowners wait until after the holidays to put their home on the market. This is a prime time to try to catch a solid buyer and not have to worry about competing with all the new listings that come on the market after the New Year.

Now that you have committed to sell during the holidays here are some tips to keep your house in its best showing condition.

Price it right

No matter when you list your home, pricing it right is always the number 1 priority. Pricing it aggressive this time of the year is even more important because once the New Year hits so do the new listings. The majority of these listings will be priced reflecting the current market trends which unfortunately is still going down. Current sellers will now have to compete with a bunch of new listings possibly priced much more aggressive than their home making it a lot harder to find a buyer. Instead of making small incremental price drops this time of the year be sure to be aggressive with the pricing the first time around to avoid chasing the market once the new listings start popping up.

Don’t overdue the decorations

Though a home looks great when decorated for the holidays make sure you do not overdue it. Keep it simple with all the décor especially with all the figurines and elaborate holiday scenes. Tone down any extravagant displays ala Clark Griswold and opt for some simple string lighting around some of the nice trees in your front yard as well as some simple decorations on the inside. You want to keep the home as simple and neutral as possible in order to attract not turn off buyers.

Keep the driveway and walkway clean

Nothing is worse than trying to show a house and the seller has not shoveled the walkway and driveway. I have been to some houses where the buyers just gave up and did not want to continue walking in the snow to get to the house. If a buyer can’t get into your home easily then they may not want to come in at all. Be sure to keep the outside clean after it snows; be sure there is no ice after you shovel. If the house is vacant and you do not live close by then be sure to hire someone to clean up the snow for the winter. The last thing you want is someone getting hurt on your property.

Keep the house warm

Sellers like to keep the temperature down because of heat costs but buyers who are not comfortable in the house will not stay long. A cold houses also brings on a negative feel to buyers so you want to keep the house warm and cozy. If you are home and have a fireplace, be sure it has been on for a while before the buyers come over. If there is no fireplace then turn the heat up probably a little higher than normal. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home there is more time for them to look at the good features of your house.

Make the house smell nice

Nothing is nicer than a nice smelling house but don’t overdo it with the candles and air fresheners. Yankee Candle sells some excellent fragrances that just about everyone loves. Some of the most popular candles for the holiday include Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cinnamon Roll and Christmas Cookie. Unless you like to bake cookies every time there is a showing these candles make a convenient alternative and make the home smell great.

Keep it light

Since the days get shorter during the winter, sellers need to make sure to keep the inside and the outside of the house well lit. If you are home during the showing, make sure to turn all the lights on in the house as well as the lights for the walkway. If you are not home during the showing and you do not want the lights on all day invest in a few timers to turn on a few lights when it gets dark. The last thing an agent wants to do is run around the house trying to turn all the lights on to make the house look inviting, that is your job.

How to sell your home when you owe too much on your mortgage

Having a hard time selling your home because you owe too much? Perhaps you bought the house at the peak of the market and would like to sell in order to get a bigger home or maybe down size. If you bought in the last 5 years you probably owe way too much on the mortgage unless you made a considerable down payment of 30-50%. According to financial data company First American CoreLogic, 11.3 million U.S. homeowners were underwater on their home loans at the end of 2009. This means that they owed more on their mortgage loans than what their residences were worth. You would like to sell your home or you are in a situation where you really need to sell but you do not know what to do but you do have some options.

Bring cash to closing.

Quite possibly the simplest and least complicated solution would be to take money out of your bank or investments and pay the difference at closing. For example if you have a $400,000 mortgage but you realistically can only sell the house foe $350,000 then the only way you can sell it without doing a short sale is to bring $50,000 to the closing to pay the off the bank. This may seem like a nauseating option but depending on your current situation it may be your best option.

This option is best for someone who is in a position where they can easily afford to continue making payments, their job is stable and they have a decent amount of savings. I had a client who did just this, he sold his condo that he bought at the peak of the market and took a considerable loss on it and he had to bring around $45,000 dollars to the closing table. He did not want to do a short sale and quite honestly he wouldn’t qualify and he really needed to buy a bigger house. The house he bought had dropped in price over $150,000 from when it was first listed, he felt the house was such a bargain that he could not pass it up. That $45,000 he had to take out of the bank was money well spent because he ended up saving money in the overall transaction.  He bought the house he needed and was happy with his decision.

Some people want to sell but may not be getting such a huge bargain when they purchase and would really need that $50,000 as a down payment. In this situation this person should consider a smaller down payment on a purchase so that he can pay off his 1^st loan and still have enough to purchase another home. Instead of having to come up with 10-20% down this person could opt for an FHA loan where down payments are as low as 3.5% of the purchase price. 

Renting

Renting the home is another option but perhaps the rent will not cover the mortgage and the taxes. If you are lucky enough to break even on the mortgage then renting is a great option. Others may find that the rent is not covering the mortgage and they still have to come up with $300-$500/month to make up the difference. That may or may not be more attractive than taking cash out of your savings to pay off your loan at closing. Consider that fact that you would have to rent it for at least 4-5 years before it would make sense to try to sell it with the hopes that home values have started to climb back up.

Short sale 

More and more homeowners are involved in short sales and this may be a last resort option and for some their only option. One thing to keep in mind, just because you owe more than your home is worth does not mean you will qualify for a short sale, if that was the case then everyone who bought a home in the past 5 years would be short selling their home. In order to attempt a short sale you will need to qualify and the 1^st step to figure out if you qualify would be to look at your finances. You have to be in a hardship situation in order to attempt a short sale. If you can easily make the mortgage payments and/or have enough money in savings to pay the bank the difference between what you sell the home for and what you owe then your chances are slim.

When your bank looks into your finances and savings and see you have a considerable amount of money they will just tell you that you are not in a hardship situation and to pay the balance at closing or just continue to live in the house and pay the mortgage.  Unfortunately many homeowners have limited savings but can afford to keep paying for the house and will just have to figure out a way to stay where they are until someday when the market turns around.

Refinance

Maybe you thought about refinancing to lower your monthly payment and then maybe you can rent the home and break even thus allowing you to purchase another home. This would allow you to use your savings for the down payment and not to pay off your 1^st loan. Under normal circumstances refinancing would be an option but when you owe more than your house is worth you do not have any equity in the house and you would not be able to refinance.

The bottom line is that there are not that many great options to get out of a house when your mortgage exceeds your market value. Possibly the best solution and least complicated would be to bring cash to the closing the pay off the balance but what is best for one person may not be a good idea for another. The fact is that you may just have to do what you can and stick it out for the next 4-5 years until either your finances improve and/or the values of homes stop dropping.

Selling your home when you owe too much on your mortgage

Want to sell your house but you owe too much on your mortgage?

I meet dozens of homeowners each month that are either behind on mortgage payments, or will be soon if their financial situation does not get better. The ever increasing taxes on homes are also making it harder for homeowners to keep current with their mortgage payment. These people would love to sell their home (they need too) but they can’t because they owe more then the home is worth. This type of homeowner is the ideal candidate for a short sale and there are hundreds in this area that should consider it.

A short sale is an agreement in which your bank agrees to accept a payoff on the loan for less than what is owed. Short sale provides a way for troubled homeowners to prevent foreclosure and many of the dire penalties involved. An example is a homeowner who has a $500,000 mortgage but the home is only worth about $375,000 in the current real estate market.

There are certain criteria to qualify for a short sale; you cannot do a short sale just because your house is worth less than you paid for it.

You must be in default or close to being in default (missing a mortgage payment). In the past a homeowner would have to be in default by at least 3 months to qualify for a short sale but today some lenders are willing to do a short sale if the homeowner is in distress and close to being unable to afford the next mortgage payment.

You have to show proof by using comparable home sales that your mortgage balance is more than what your home is worth.

The homeowner must prove they are in financial distress and submit a short sale hardship letter explaining why you can no longer make the mortgage payments. Hardship examples include loss of job, health problems, bankruptcy, death and divorce.

You will also have to show that you have little or no assets that you can use to pay off your mortgage.  You will provide bank statements and if you have a job recent pay stubs as well as the past 2 years tax returns. These items will help prove to the bank that you have a financial hardship and may have had one for sometime now. The last thing a bank wants you to do is walk away from the home and let it go to foreclosure. That is also the worst thing you should do as a foreclosure would wreak havoc on your credit as well as a possible law suit or wage garnishment where the bank can force your employer to deduct money from your pay check.

During a short sale the homeowner is allowed to stay in the home until it is sold, it could take 6-12 months from the start to the end of the short sale. The homeowner will not get kicked out of the home like a foreclosure and is able to stay until the home is sold. Just try to maintain your home as best as you can during this time to have a better chance of a successful short sale.

If you feel your financial situation is such that you need to sell your home but you can’t and you want to see if you qualify for a short sale call me at 914-403-4868 or email me at [email protected].

For more info on the short sale process please visit PutnamWestchesterShortSales.com

Staying in your home during a short sale

Staying in your home during a short sale?

I meet a lot of sellers that are in need of my help with a short sale on their home and one of the most common questions I get is whether or not they should stay in the home during the short sale process. Often these sellers cannot afford the mortgage any longer but are able to afford a rental and are considering renting during the short sale term. In realty there really is no reason to leave the house unless the house is in such bad shape that it is not livable.

If you are able to stay in your home during the short sale process then you should. Most sellers during the short sale process who are not able to afford the mortgage are not making any mortgage payments, whatever money they have left over they should save and use it when it is time to move out. The saved up money will be used for moving expenses as well as a deposit on a rental unless living arrangements have been made with friends or family members.

What many sellers do not realize is that a short sale is like any other house sale except the bank has to approve the offer. The owner should maintain the home to the best of their ability and make it look presentable during showings just like any other sale.

Another reason why you should stay in your home during a short sale is because your lender would most likely prefer it. They know that if you are in the home any problems that happened will not go unattended. Loads of problems happen when a house is vacant such as vandalism or if a water pipe bursts and causes tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the house, mold issues, mice, rats etc. So if anything you are helping the sale and in essence helping the bank lose less than they already are. The less the house sells for the harder it will be to approve the short sale with the bank.

A vacant house is an attention grabber, if people in the area or even prospective buyers who have seen that house realize the house is empty all the time they may come by “unannounced” to look around or who knows what else. Many of these things can lower the value of the home and as I mentioned above, the lower the offer is for the house the harder it may be to get the short sale approved.

If you must vacate your home whether you are relocating or moving out of state and staying in the home during the short shale process is not possible, no one is going to force you to stay. If you do leave the area and not able to check on the house, if possible have someone check on it once a week. If you can afford to have the lawn cut during the summer then that will also help the whole process and appeal of the home.

How long does the short sale process take? The whole process from the day the house is listed until the short sale is approved and it is time to move out could be 6-9 months or more. If could be even less than that but a conservative timeframe is about 6 months. I just closed on a short sale that took 3.5 moths from the day the offer was submitted. It took less than 2 months to find the buyer so less than 6 months for the whole process.  If you do receive an offer on your home and if your agent and short sale attorney tell you that the process is going well you should then start consider looking at rentals or making other arrangements. Banks are not very flexible with a closing date. Once they approve the short sale they will want to close in 2-4 weeks.

If you need advice on a short sale or want to know if you qualify for a short sale please call me or email me at [email protected].

For more info on the short sale process please visit PutnamWestchesterShortSales.com

If you are a buyer and interesting in buying a short sale or foreclosure home please visit: Westchester Putnam Short Sale Listings

Approved FHA condos in Westchester

Fha financing is becoming more and more common in the current real estate market especially among 1st time home buyers. The low 3.5% down payment is great for these type of buyers. First time buyers are also the majority of the condo buyers in Westchester. Unfortunately trying to find an FHA approved condo complex in Westchester is not easy and there are not too many complexes that are approved. I have compiled a list of FHA approved condos in Westchester below. This list changes often and more may be added in the future or removed.

White Plains – Granada Condos, Minerva Place Condos

Yonkers – Hilllcroft Townhouses, Monterrey Condos, Rivervew Club Condos, The Vista at Hudson Terrace, Westchester Terrace at Crisfield

Hartsdale – High Point of Hartsale, The Classic

Peekskill – Hillcrest Park, Woods III of Westchester

Yorktown – Villas on The Lake

Mohegan Lake – Lakeside Colony

Somers – Heritage Hills Somers NY

West Harrison – Lincoln Hancock Condos

New Rochelle – 60 Remington Place, Glenview Terrace Condos, Knickerbocker Lofts Condos, Prince Street Condos

Port Chester – Homestead Hills

Bronxville – Bronxville Glen

Dobbs Ferry – Village Green

Mamaroneck – Continental View Condos, Parkview Station Condos, Sweetwater Condos

Mount Vernon – Fulton Terrace Condos, Highland Manor Condos, Lorraine Terrace, South 11th Condos

Pleasantville – Foxwood Condominiums

Harrison – The Halstead Plaza

Tarrytown – Carrolwood Condos

To view all condos in Westchester for sale check out: Northern Westchester Condos and Lower Westchester Condos

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