Thursday, April 30, 2009

The President's Mortgage Modification Program

The Treasury Department announced JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and GMAC Mortgage are among the loan servicers that will be getting subsidy and incentive payments which will helping up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes.

The two-part plan calls for servicers to reduce monthly payments to no more than 31% of eligible borrowers' pre-tax income or to refinance eligible mortgages even if the homeowner has little or no equity. The government is allocating $75 billion to subsidize part of payment reduction, as well as provide thousands of dollars in incentives for servicers and borrowers to participate.

See more at the original CNN article
.

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Owning NY real estate on the cheap



Here's your chance to own any piece of NY real estate at recession pricing: just $250 for a single family house!Ok so there IS a catch: the "real estate" is located on The Queens Museum of Art's Panorama of the City of New York, a 9,335 square foot detailed model of New York City which was built for the 1964 World's Fair and which has essentially not been updated since 1992.

The Panorama has 895,000 structures, replicating every street, bridge and skyscraper in the five boroughs.



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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

'Worst of recession is over'

That headline is according to an article from the Daily Telegraph which says that: top U.S. officials have offered reassurances that the worst of the economic downturn is likely over, helped by unprecedented efforts to keep credit flowing, though the recovery will be slow.

Two Federal Reserve policy-makers, Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and New York Fed chief William Dudley, both pointed to signs that measures taken by the U.S. central bank are indeed working to help revive the economy.

And Paul Volcker, a senior economic adviser to the Obama administration and a former Fed chairman himself, said the rate of the economy's decline is set to slow.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Timing is Everything!


Photo by Ben Heine on Flickr.

As you must have heard, there are many incentives to purchasing a house in this market, especially for first-time home buyers. As my good friend Mitch always mentions, one of the more popular incentives is the $8,000 tax credit for a first-time home buyer who moves into the new residence before 2009 year end. Buyers must act fast, because in order to capitalize in this market, you may have to purchase a cheaper home that needs some tender, love, and care. In other words, your house may not be done with renovations by the end of the year, and you may forfeit the tax credit being offered because you won’t be able to occupy your home before year-end. For those looking to have a new home built are even more pressed for time. The process to select a community, a builder and to confirm the options and amenities you would like to have in your home is a very time consuming process. First-time home buyers should tackle the opportunity to buy now, before it’s too late. With the market hitting bottom, the interest rates nearing historic lows, and a tax incentive, buying a home for first-time buyers is nothing less than urgent!!

Resources are also available to help educate consumers on the home building process at NAHB.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

New home sales show signs of revival

http://www.aiesec.be/interns/images/housing.gif

According to a CNN article, sales of newly constructed homes are showing indications that the housing decline may be near an end. The article continues by saying that signs are pointing to a stabilization of the market conditions, and that the bottom has been reached.

Another sign that the bottom has been reached is that the estimated number of new
homes for sale dropped from last month according to the Commerce Department which means inventory is being depleted.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

When to Use a Mortgage Broker


Many banks are not dealing with mortgage brokers now given the bad history they have had recently. As this NY Times article states: "if you’re hoping to refinance or looking to snap up a bargain home in the next year or so, you’re faced with a tricky question. Given the number of institutions that want nothing to do with mortgage brokers, shouldn’t you stay far away from them as well?"

The answer is, it depends. The article goes on to say that "[t]he alternative, alas, may not be so great either. “If you want to get ripped off, go to a broker, and if you want incompetency, go to a bank,” said Mike Stoffer, a mortgage broker himself."

The article does a good job of laying it all out.

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How Much Will You Benefit From the Stimulus Package?




One of the things that we have mentioned here on SIREN fairly often is the $8,000 Federal Housing tax credit. But are you getting everything you can from the stimulus package? This article tells you about more other benefits you might be able to get from the stimulus package, including other breaks for increasing the energy efficiency of your new home.

"If you’ve been thinking of adding new windows, an outer door, insulation, or other energy-efficient improvements around the house, this might be a smart year to do so. The max energy-efficiency credit has been raised from $500 to $1,500, and from 10% of the project’s cost to 30%. Additional purchases include energy efficient appliances such as air conditioners and water heaters. Before making a purchase, make sure the product is eligible for the credit."

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Restaurant Review: Bistro



As I make my way around Staten Island, trying to discover new venues to spend Friday and Saturday nights at, its becoming more and more apparent that there are fewer and fewer places to go to get a drink with your significant others. Last week we decided to drive down Hylan Blvd after our city plans were scrapped. Just south of New Dorp Lane on Hylan Blvd, we found Bistro, a very upscale restaurant/lounge. The two of us decided to check it out. We pulled up to the valet attendant and I had him park my all too common Acura next to the brand new Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe that was sitting out front. Not too shabby.

Our main goal for the night was to find a nice place to get a few drinks, talk and have some dessert. Bistro on the inside is relatively unassuming with none of the grandiose decor you find in many high end restaurants on Staten Island. The restaurant had about 25-30 tables with a separate party room where someone was celebrating a birthday. They even had live singers on Saturday night, which was a nice touch because the duo was actually pretty good. The clientele was mostly aged 40 and up, so we were definitely the younger, if not the youngest of everyone there.

Since Saturday night was warm and beautiful, we took advantage of Bistro's outdoor patio and got a table overlooking the parking lot out front. The drinks were reasonably priced with vodka and tonics running in the $7.50 range and the dessert menu had exactly what you would look for in a dessert menu. I'm a sucker for good creme brulee, so I consider it my life's work to find the perfect creme brulee. While not the best I ever had, me and my girlfriend were in agreement that this was a well above average example.

I never got a chance to check out the dinner menu, so I'll definitely have to go back to Bistro and write a follow up review. Nevertheless, during the summer, when its a nice night out, I've found a cool place to come to, have a drink and enjoy my creme brulee.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

11th Annual Staten Island Conference 2009

Every year the SIEDC holds its annual Conference highlighting all of the public projects that have happened or are planned for the future. The daylong conference will take place on April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Staten Island.

Many businesses are participating at the Conference and also many interesting guest speakers will be present. NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon in addition to Greg David, editor of Crain's NY Business, and Sam Schwartz, president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering. The ticket price for this event is pretty hefty at $125 a pop, but if you have the money to spend I guarantee the conference will be very insightful and worthwhile. Plus Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will be present at the Cocktail Party.

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Monday, April 20, 2009

SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 5


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Friday, April 17, 2009

Worst May Be Over for Stocks And US Economy

Abby Joseph Cohen

CNBC reports that the "US stock market appears to have hit bottom and the nation's economy might see an upward shift in the latter half of the year." This comes from President of the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Institute, the widely watched investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen. Notably, Goldman Sachs itself just surprised itself when it was able to declare a larger profit than it had anticipated.

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Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

In this economy, we all are thinking about money. A some of us are hard hit by the economy having lived beyond our means during the roaring 2000s, but a good majority have been sensible and will make it through this downturn quite alright.

But what if you want to be more than just "alright" after the downturn? This is a time of opportunity, and now is a good time to think about where you are going to be, financially, in 10 years. To help, is an article on Reader's Digest about self-made millionaires.

How does this relate to the core subject of our blog? Many of the suggestions apply to investing in real estate just as they do with anything else. Set your sights on where you are going, get educated on everything, grow your money, take calculated risks, and don't spend on things that you don't give you value or can be had for less. All of these lessons can be applied now to our lives, to becoming a homeowner, or to finding the right new home.

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Be The Apprentice

http://gaysocialites.com/photos/trumpadvisesbritney.jpg

Well, looks like Mr. Trump is taking a page from our blog and telling everyone what SIREN followers have been hearing us say for months: Buy Now. In a CNN article based on his appearance on Larry King, Mr. Trump says its a great time to buy real estate. And Mr. Trump should know, after surviving through the last real estate boom and bust.

And in case you thought that little blurb was weak, Mr. Trump elaborated on Good Morning America. saying that "This is a great time to go out and buy a home" since today's plummeting house prices are great news for would-be home buyers.

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Sweetening the Pot for Home Buyers

A New York Times article points to an interesting development in the Federal Housing Tax Credit for first time home buyers: an initiative lends $8,000 or so to buyers, who would then use the money for down payments or closing costs and repay the loan once they received the Federal Housing tax credit. This idea is being investigated by NY State, and you can be sure that we will keep you posted of the developments.

The article also mentions something that is of note: SONYMA provides a Closing Cost Assistance program for prospective homes costing $550,000 or less, or if the buyer's annual household income is below certain thresholds. The program offers home buyers $3,000 to $10,000 in aid for down payments, legal fees and other closing costs. Sonyma loans are available to borrowers who might not otherwise qualify for conventional mortgages, like those who have little money for closing costs and those with low household incomes. Down payments can be as low as 3 percent.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 4



+ SIREN Show Part 3

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Monday, April 13, 2009

SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 3


+ SIREN Show Part 1
+ SIREN Show Part 2

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Downturn in Housing is Overstated By Major Indices

http://www.afsloansca.com/images/1mortgage.jpg

As a follow up to yesterday's post, an article from the Calgary Herald is citing the work of Collateral Intelligence, a real estate analytics firm based out of Massachusetts and California, states that most closely watched U.S. home price measures lack enough local data to truly reflect house values and are overstating the extent of price drops. Some key markets in those indexes are dominated by distressed foreclosure sales, exaggerating the price weakness that is often extrapolated to the national market.

“To properly track the real estate market you really need to get down to all the local markets,” said Sklarz. “Now we have the tools to properly track that. So why track these overly simplistic indicators that can be very biased, as they are in the current environment, when there’s so many more complicated things going on in the market?”

While Case-Shiller regional indexes show a 26% slide in prices since the peak in mid-2006 and its national index shows a more than 18% drop in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, Miller said a more realistic estimated cyclical drop is in the 12% to 15% range for the typical home owner.

So while it is true that there are good deals to be had, it is also just plain old smart to do your homework when shopping for a home. Looking at a new home that is priced at $750,000 and thinking that it will drop to $400,000 may be unrealistic, and you may find yourself continually waiting on the sidelines, getting ready to jump into the market at a price that will never happen. Prospective buyers should be thinking that similar homes will have similar prices, and that market forces have already affected the prices across the board.

Keep in mind that home prices have dropped already and mortgage rates are fantastic, and there are signs that the economy is turning already. Good hunting!

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Thursday, April 9, 2009

A $500,000 Home for $200,000



That seems like an impossible deal, but it is true that home prices have dropped in some markets drastically.A CNN article talks about how a family in California bought a house for $250,000 when a few years ago it was selling for $550,000. According to the article, "housing prices in 20 major cities have plummeted at record levels, down 19 percent from a year earlier. Home prices have plunged 29.1 percent nationally since they peaked during the second quarter of 2006, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index."

If that doesn't sound like a great opportunity to go out and buy, then I don't know what is. For people with good credit and strong finances, these great deals are not to be passed up.

One thing that our readers do need to keep in mind though is that the media is in their role reporting news that catches people's eyes. New York has not been as hard hit relatively as the superheated markets, so these 50% off deals don't always exist here since there never was inflation of prices at levels close to those of markets like California, Florida, or Arizona. The other thing to be wary of is the fact that new construction homes don't face the same dynamics as resale homes, which these news stories typically focus on, and haven't dropped nearly as much, since the builders still aim to recoup at least their costs in building homes.

Nonetheless, great deals are out there if you look. As the family from the article said, "It's unfortunate for those who are going through such tough times. But in some ways, we were really glad that we were able to do something we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise."

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 2


Filmed and Edited at CTV

+ SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 1

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Monday, April 6, 2009

SIREN Show: Why It's a Good Time To Buy a Home NOW! Part 1

Here is a first look at our very first SIREN Show. I'll be posting several segments of this first show over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to see what our great panel of guests from SI Board of Realtors, Equity Valuation Associates and Victory State Bank have to say about the Staten Island real estate market and why it's a good time to buy a home now. This is our first stab at something like this, so I hope you enjoy.


Filmed and Edited at CTV

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Friday, April 3, 2009

Central Park? That Tiny Little Thing?

Freshkills Park by freshkills2030.

Whenever you ask a New Yorker that doesn't live on Staten Island what they know about Staten Island, they will invariably refer to Fresh Kills or "The Dump".

Opened in 1948, it would eventually became the largest man-made structure on Earth and a black scar on the Island's reputation. Even today, almost a decade after the landfill site was closed on March 22, 2001, it still haunts Staten Island endlessly.

So why talk about something like this on a blog that wants to show the world that Staten Island is... well, not a dump? Because the Fresh Kills site has already started its transformation, one that will continue for the next 30 or so years, into something that Staten Islanders can be proud of. The site is being reclaimed, returned to nature, and will make Central Park look like the vegetated median from the West Side Highway (pardon me, Joe DiMaggio Highway).

Fresh Kills will be three times the size of Central Park when it is done. That is an incredible achievement considering Staten Island is part of one of the densest populated areas on earth, and will undoubtedly become an asset for future generations of Staten Islanders and New Yorkers alike.

What many of our readers don't know is that the old landfill only makes up about half of the future park's area with the rest remainder containing wetlands, open waterways and unfilled
lowland areas.
According to Newsday, Urban Park Rangers begin guided tours this Saturday.


This article from Landscape and Urbanism also refers to the City's blog on the progress at Fresh Kills and related subjects as well and links us to an interesting graphic series from Popular Science magazine that shows us how Fresh Kills is being reclaimed (a few excerpts here):











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Thursday, April 2, 2009

A SIREN Exclusive Interview with StreetEasy



Dawn Doherty, the VP of Strategic Development for StreetEasy, provides SIREN with an exclusive interview that gives valuable insight on the fastest growing and largest real estate listing site in New York City.

SIREN: Who founded StreetEasy, and what was the inspiration and reasons for starting up StreetEasy?
Dawn Doherty: StreetEasy was founded by a small team headed by Michael Smith. His intentions were to deliver a transparent and deep information experience for the consumer.

SIREN: When did they first come up with the concept for StreetEasy and when did it go live to the public?
Dawn Doherty: The concept was hatched in mid 2005 and StreetEasy launched in January 2006.

SIREN: Do you feel that PropertyShark, Trulia, New York Times Real Estate, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow, Realtor.com and Homes & Land are your direct competition? What differentiates StreetEasy from these listing sites?
Dawn Doherty: All of these sites deliver Real Estate information. The difference between StreetEasy and others is:
1. StreetEasy is locally focused. We have the highest integrity listings (we cross reference several sources) most comprehensive set (not just REBNY).
2. StreetEasy archives every piece of information posted. A user can access a past listing from 2005 for instance. We keep a running chronological history of every listing.
3. One can see the listing in context of its surroundings (in NYC- within a building) in a snapshot view.
4. Price reduction alerts and updates several times per day from sources insure that consumers plugged into StreetEasy are the first to know about status changes.

SIREN: What are the incentives and how do you encourage real estate companies to list their properties on StreetEasy?
Dawn Doherty: We show agencies that we are currently sending tens of thousands of transfers to agency websites- for no fee.

SIREN: I’ve noticed that Manhattan and Brooklyn are the boroughs with the most listings on StreetEasy. Are Manhattan and Brooklyn your main target markets and are you actively looking to grow your listings for the other boroughs?
Dawn Doherty: StreetEasy will be adding 6k+ listings from the Brooklyn NY MLS over the next few weeks extending our reach in boroughs.

SIREN: How much traffic does the StreetEasy website get a month?
Dawn Doherty: Close to 10MM page views (up from 4.5MM in September) monthly

SIREN: How has the current economic situation impacted consumer traffic on your site and how have you been affected by this from a business standpoint?
Dawn Doherty: StreetEasy’s traffic has exploded over the past few months. We attribute this occurrence to the consumer’s desire for “confidence”. Since we offer complete transparency and the most comprehensive set of listings in NYC we fill this research need.

SIREN: Some of the other listing sites have direct feeds from MLS and have a comprehensive database of information? Why doesn’t StreetEasy feed from MLS and is that an enhancement you are looking to make in the future?
Dawn Doherty: We are pursuing this while maintaining our transparency (history, price reductions). For instance, MANAR and the Brooklyn NYC MLS listings will be on StreetEasy shortly.

SIREN: What types of developments and housing (Condos, Co-Ops, Single Family, Multi-Family, New Construction, etc.) are mostly listed on StreetEasy? Can individual homeowners list their homes or does it need to be listed by a broker or developer?
Dawn Doherty: All of the above re: types. StreetEasy only posts sales listings from licensed agents. We just introduced “For Rent by Owner”.

SIREN: What type of growth have you seen since the inception of StreetEasy? Are you looking to broaden your listings to areas outside of NYC, such as Long Island and Westchester, or to expand to other areas in New Jersey?
Dawn Doherty: You can access our recent growth history from http://www.quantcast.com/. We are expanding throughout the Metro area.

SIREN: What types of marketing and advertising do you do in order to bring more visibility and traffic to StreetEasy?
Dawn Doherty: We have strong relationships with key real estate and business writers in all of the top publications. PR is the new marketing- this is working for us. Our users come to us direct, therefore they are serious. Our average pages viewed per session are 20+ (the other like sites that you mentioned above have 8 page session lengths)

SIREN: Besides advertisements what are your other sources of revenue streams?
Dawn Doherty: Subscriptions from “Insider” (recorded sales) accounts, Featured Listings and creative ad units.

+ For the most comprehensive list of real estate properties in NYC click here: StreetEasy [Official Site]

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Many First-Timers Considering Buying a Home This Spring

An article concerning a survey from earlier this month shows that among prospective first time home buyers shows that 78% said that now is a good time to buy a home, despite widespread concern about the economy.

Prices emerged in the online survey as the primary driving force for prospective first-time buyers, with 85% saying they consider current homes prices affordable and 73% saying that taking advantage of current pricing would be a major factor in their decision to buy.

More than three-quarters of those polled — 77% — said they are more likely to buy a home in the next six months because of the $8,000 first-time buyer credit.

The article quotes that home buyers who have a stable job history of at least two years, solid credit (620 and above) and downpayment money that can be documented (3.5% on FHA loans) are well positioned to secure a mortgage in today’s credit environment.

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The housing bust is a boon for some

house_1.03.jpgsara_gray.03.jpg

We have been talking about opportunities in the market for some time now here at SIREN, and it seems the mainstream media is finally catching on. Here's a CNN article that talks about a couple who found their dream home and made it affordable. With an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, no less, despite the incredible amount of demonization that this type of loan has been getting.

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