Archive for October, 2007
Housing Cost Problems In New Jersey and Long Island Causing Youth To Flee
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31
When housing prices were running up, present homeowners started counting their chickens and planning their retirement. But what is forgotten once the bloom is off the rose as it is now, that these high housing costs also have their costs.
When looking around Long Island as a young man in my early 20’s the though of moving out was enticing, but the reality was grim. The dearth of rental properties meant that an illegal basement apartment was my only choice besides staying with Mom and Dad. This situation was replicated for many of my peers and the result was a mass exodus across the country and a generation lost.
Now after the present run up in housing costs, their is a new generation that could be lost from the New York suburbs. With the terrific education that is offered and the expectations of success, the cost of living in the tri-state area is burdensome compared to lesser cost cities where the paychecks are fairly comparable.
Long Island’s Newsday ran an editorial on the failure to have reasonable housing available for the next generation of Long Island’s youth.
Towns and villages that have not yet done their fair share of next-generation housing have to get off their duffs. The major institutions pushing for change, such as the Long Island Association, Suffolk County government, and the Long Island Regional Planning Board, must harmonize their strategies and avoid working at cross-purposes.
The people who need this housing most, young workers, have to become more informed and more active in pushing for solutions. They should emulate the spirit of the young families of 60 years ago, who showed up in droves at 1947 hearings leading to a change in a Hempstead town ordinance. That made possible the postwar generation’s affordable housing triumph: Levittown.
We have to get past the deeply held fear that more dense patterns of development will urbanize all of Long Island. That fear is rooted too often in racism and fertilized too eagerly by politicians. But increased density, especially in our downtowns, is the economic incentive we need to get developers to build affordable homes and rental units. via Newsday
The same issue was raised in New Jersey in an editorial. The youth of the communities are leaving in droves.
The most common reasons cited for the mass exodus are our state’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes and the crisis of affordable housing — two issues Gov. Corzine and our state legislative leaders promised to tackle in 2007. They promised to address taxes through property tax reform and an overhaul of our unfair school funding system. They promised to address the housing crisis by creating more affordable units and reforming our fair housing rules, including confronting the shameful practice of regional contribution agreements (RCAs), the loophole that allows wealthy towns to pay poor communities to take more than their fair share of affordable housing. via APP.COM
This issue is close to my heart. I still remember the conversations close friends and I had about how the choices seemed to be on Long Island in the mid eighties that you could buy a house or have a child with the newly wed couples. Now these same friends live all across the country, very few staying on Long Island. My fear is that another generation will be in the same predicament.
Source: Housing Cost Problems In New Jersey and Long Island Causing Youth To Flee
Making Home Improvements In This Soft Market
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31 <!–
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Investment potential is just one variable to consider when weighing whether to improve your home and how much to spend. Quality of life is also a major consideration. Generally, the longer you plan to stay in your home, the more it makes sense to make home improvements that will make your home more user-friendly. However, keep in mind that a basic rule of investing in real estate is to avoid over-improving for the neighborhood. Appraisal standards have tightened recently along with credit standards. To get the most “return of investment” out of a major renovation, make sure that the work is done with a building permit. An appraiser might not be able to count an attic, garage or basement conversion as livable square feet unless the homeowner could show that the work had been done with permit. This in turn could result in an appraisal far lower than the buyer might expect after spending money for the renovations.
Quality of life, home improvements, building permit
Source: Making Home Improvements In This Soft Market
Home Improvement Activity Because of Housing Woes
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31 <!–
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While, home and condo owners remain upbeat on home improvements, the uncooperative housing market, coupled with hard mortgage money, is making them think twice about getting work completed. For those who can afford home improvements, that could mean it’ll be easier to drive a hard bargain and negotiate to get work done for less. Homeowners are also concerned about the slowing economy, falling home prices, and the resultant impact on discretionary equity-based money. Some economic indicators say the housing market recovery may not begin until the end of the decade. The Opinion Research poll conducted for Miniwax Co. asked consumers where home renovations would give them the most return and 63 percent of homeowners said a kitchen do-over while 51 percent said just buying new or refinished kitchen cabinets will add to resale value. Sixty-seven percent said painting the interior or exterior will add value. Other jobs frequently mentioned were bathroom remodels, new carpeting and new or refinished hardwood floors.
home renovations
Source: Home Improvement Activity Because of Housing Woes
Remodel With An Eye On Energy Savings
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31 <!–
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Those planning on remodeling their home or condo will now find it much easier to make intelligent choices with energy savings in mind. Experts are generally in agreement that the average kitchen accounts for 20 to 40 percent of a home’s total energy bill. If your refrigerator and dishwasher are more than 10 years old, you can reduce your utility bills by replacing those old appliances. Another money-saving trick is to size your appliances to your needs. The style of fridge is important too. In general, models with the freezer on top use up to 25 percent less energy than comparable side-by-side models. Models with through-the-door ice and water use more energy too.
remodeling, total energy bill
Source: Remodel With An Eye On Energy Savings
Will the Fed cut the rate again in October?
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31
The big question for many is – will the Federal Reserve cut rates on Halloween? Based on the huge amount of recent write offs from some major players in the mortgage world – I think it will happen. The folks at Wall Street believe that we could see a 1/4% reduction on Wednesday. There are also predictions that a rate cut could have a negative impact on crude oil prices.
On a less serious note, some people are searching for Vegas Odds for a fed rate cut. Seems my earlier post came in pretty high in the search engines… I was right about a cut but wrong on the amount. They say you can be on anything in Vegas – I just can’t find the odds online.
I have a history of picking the underdog. Mac instead of PC (Mac was and still is better) , Beta instead of VHS (beta was really better but still lost the war), Kiwis over the Swiss in Americas Cup (Swiss dominated). The list could go on and on but I digress.
Now for the important part – how will a fed rate cut affect the Outer Banks Real Estate Market Conditions? Typically a reduction in the fed rate will trigger a small jump in 1st mortgage rates but the markets are not really following standard procedures lately. My guess is that we will not see a big jump in mortgage rates. The good news for those that have Home Equity Lines of credit – a rate cut will slightly lower monthly payments. Even though it is a small break – any break is good in the off season on the Outer Banks.
Source: Will the Fed cut the rate again in October?
Spam and Spam Blockers
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31
Spam is something we all deal with and truly hate. I have been contacted by more people in Nigeria with $65 million dollars than I can count. Recently, I have received a few returned emails asking for me to verify that I am the sender by entering a captcha code and then the reader will have the option of adding me to their "safe list". What a pain.
Google’s mail client Gmail has spoiled me. Their spam filter works great with little to no tweaking. In my opinion, it is the best mail client available today. Try it – you will like it.
Source: Spam and Spam Blockers
It’s the Housing Factor, Stupid!
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31January 7th, 2007 by James Morrison
I was glad to read that Daniel O’Connell, today’s Boston Globe hotseat guest, will be overseeing both the economic and housing development posts in the Patrick administration. Interesting to see a democrat condensing government instead of expanding it.
Efficiency aside, Daniel is a veteran of the real estate industry, leaving his post at Meredith & Grew to tackle the constant stream of college educated 20 and 30 somethings leaving our great state for a new hometown with a lower cost of living.
Here’s what he had to say about the situation:
“Globe: What is the single biggest economic challenge facing the state?
O’Connell: The biggest issue I see is the retention of our best and brightest. Keeping people in the state who are graduating from our colleges and showing them a quality of life here in the Commonwealth that makes it attractive for them to stay here and raise their families here.”
I hope he finds a way to succeed. December at my firm is spent gearing up for the college rental season that begins with the New Year. We spend a good portion of our time calling on previous clients to see if they are re-upping on their leases. A good portion of these men and women are seniors and if they say no our next question is to ask what their plans are.
It’s scary from an economic standpoint to hear the responses. “I’m moving to Chicago”, “New York”, and lately “Miami” are what I’ve heard, to pursue careers in industries we have right here. Boston has become branded as a great place to go to school, but to expensive to live in once graduation rolls around.
Economics 101 teaches us the basic principle of supply and demand. The low stock of affordable housing (supply) and the high demand for it will only increase prices. The way to combat this is to build more. Easier said then done in this town! The local communities have way too much clout when it comes to housing development in this city.
If I were O’Connell I would work with the legislature to pass laws that weaken these community groups. Not quite sure what the carrot would be but the stick would be less power when it comes to zoning and building permits.
Until then we will not see a spike in supply or a decrease in housing prices, and the Mass Pike will be filled with GenX’s strapped with college debt saying “anywhere but Boston!”
Filed under: Boston Real Estate Blogging
Source: It’s the Housing Factor, Stupid!
Moderate quake hits the South Bay
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31It’s been awhile since we were hit with an earthquake above 4.0. According to the USGS, last night’s earthquake was a 5.6. The epicenter was Alum Rock, where my clients (from North Carolina) just bought a home last month! Welcome to California!
Source: Moderate quake hits the South Bay
It’s a great time to be a buyer (well, in most areas)
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31Sales of existing homes nationwide dropped for a fifth straight month while inventories rose to a 16-year high. According to this article in CNNMoney, “declining sales and growing problems in the mortgage market helped push home prices down for the 12th straight month.”
On a local level, based on my calculations, inventory is at a 4-5 year high. In my 7+ years in the business, I have never seen so many for sale and open house signs! I have a few clients that are waiting for the market to bottom out before buying, but in my opinion, that’s just too hard to pull off. The problem is that you never know until well after the downturn has already reversed course where you should have bought in.
The other trend I’m noticing is that the slowdown is primarily focused on starter homes and the middle market — most likely where subprime and ARM loans are heavily used. Although these homes are more susceptible to “lowballing”, I would caution applying that rule across the board for all homes.
Case in point: Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, etc. These premium markets still remain active and are bucking the statewide/nationwide trend. The bottom line is that you need to do your research on the area. This is where you really make your Realtor earn their worth! In this kind of market, there are definitely some great deals to be made!
Source: It’s a great time to be a buyer (well, in most areas)
Gulfport Real Estate
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31If you have just begun your Gulf Coast research and your head is spinning with Biloxi real estate, Gulfport real estate, and who knows what else, then relax. It’s really all the same area. Pick one that you like the best because of location to, say, entertainment or great jobs, and work from there. If you are looking to invest, find out what the best money-making area is (the place with the best economy and nicest houses) and work from there. If you can’t find something suitable there or can’t afford the area, start working your way out.
Source: Gulfport Real Estate