YourCyberAgent - Dutchess County Realtor

Video The New Virtual Tour?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:49:14 -0800

I remember when I got my real estate license. Very few agents in my area had a website and most of the ones that did typically had a billboard type single page site. But as time went on, more and more agents had their own websites. The lastest buzz at the time was virtual tours. There were typically two types, the first was just a group of photos in a slide show with music. The other was an actual 360 degree photo that allowed you to see an entire room. The problem was most of these distorted the room with a fishbowl effect.

Fast forward to today... Has ever happened to you or your client? You see a house online, there's a dozen photos, great with all those photos you think to yourself "I have a really good idea what this house looks like". Then you go see the house only to be disappointed. The photos make the house look better than it is. Photos can be mis-leading. And lets be honest, as an agent it's our responsibility to market the house in its best light. We can't hide problems from prospective buyers, but we don't typically highlight them with our photos either. But is that really in our clients best interest?

That's why I prefer video's. You can shoot a short and simple video in just minutes with most smart phones, digital camera's or a flip recorder. Within minutes upload it to Youtube and link. My buyer clients love it, they can see every room for what it is, the video gives a much more realistic view of the home and my sellers like it too. Isn't it better to give a realistic view of the house and limit the showings to truly interested buyers. Why have all those showings of buyers who thought the house was better than what it is? I don't want to waste my sellers time and inconvenience them. Buyers appreciate it, sellers appreciate it and I think it's the new direction of marketing. So what are you doing? Virtual tours or Video?

Will REO Inventory Finally Pick Up?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:17:41 -0800

I read the article below, this may explain the excessive drop in REO listings in NY. Perhaps once these settlements are comlete things can finally get back to normal. We need to clear out the backlog of REO properties before this market will stabilize.

From HousingWire:

More than 40 states to sign foreclosure settlement

More than 40 states will sign a settlement with the top-five mortgage servicers over alleged foreclosure abuses that arose more than one year ago, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said in a statement Monday night.

Last week, Miller extended the deadline to Monday for states wanting to sign the deal with Bank of America ($7.97 0.13%), Wells Fargo ($30.20 -0.43%), Citigroup ($33.30 -0.24%), JPMorgan Chase ($38.14 -0.14%) and Ally Financial ($22.95 0.03%).

“The sign-on deadline for the proposed joint state-federal mortgage servicing settlement passed Monday with more than 40 states signing on,” Miller said “This enables us to move forward into the very final stages of remaining work.Federal and state officials, as well as representatives from the banks, continue to address matters that they must complete before finalizing any settlement.”

Throughout the day, those representing states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis signaled they are still working on the details of the settlement.

“We’re closer,” a spokesperson for California AG Kamala Harris said.

“My office is continuing to review the intricate draft settlement terms and advocating for improvements to address Nevada’s needs,” said Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto in a statement. “Receipt of important state specific information is necessary to make our determination and my office is still in discussions regarding that information.”

Florida AG Pam Bondi said she “remains involved in the settlement discussions in order to reach the best resolution for Floridians and all Americans.” She signed a joint letter with other republican AGs in 2010, saying a settlement that would involve principal reduction creates a moral hazard and lead to more strategic defaults.
…
An official in one AG office said an announcement is expected at the end of this week at the earliest.

From Bloomberg:

California, N.Y. Are Among Fewer Than 10 Mortgage Deal Holdouts

California and New York’s attorneys general haven’t signed on to a proposed settlement with five banks over foreclosure practices that has won the support of more than 40 states.

California’s Kamala Harris and New York’s Eric Schneiderman, who have been some of the most outspoken in pushing for changes to the deal, are among those who hadn’t joined the agreement as of yesterday’s deadline for states to decide. More than 40 states signed on to the accord, according to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is helping to lead talks with the banks.

“Adding more numbers probably improves the political dimension of the settlement from the standpoint of the attorneys general,” said Ken Scott, a Stanford University law professor. “If you can say there were only a handful of diehards that didn’t sign on, that gives you some political protection.”
…
Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. made a last-minute demand that New York drop claims filed against them Feb. 3 as a condition of the settlement, a person familiar with the matter said.

The push by the three banks raised a new obstacle in getting Schneiderman’s support for the deal, said the person. New York, along with California, Nevada and Delaware said late yesterday they hadn’t signed on to the settlement.

New York sued Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo in state court in Brooklyn, saying their use of a mortgage database known as MERS led to improper foreclosures. Schneiderman said the banks’ use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems database misled homeowners, undermined foreclosure proceedings and created uncertainty about ownership interests in properties.

NY State... Worst State for Foreclosures?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:01:59 -0800

I've been reading some very misleading articles lately about the current condition of the Real Estate market in NY. Many articles are misleading readers. I'd like to acknowledge Brandon Moore, CEO of REaltyTrac for his clear understanding of the statistics and giving an honest and clear picture of our current market conditions. Although the number of foreclosure filings was down in 2011 compared to 2010, those figures are misleading. The truth is the average foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2011 took over 33 months, that's almost 3 years. And that's the problem, because the process has been extended and in some instances, stalled completely, we've seen a short term decrease, but the number of people not paying their mortages is increasing.

“Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year,” said Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The lack of clarity regarding many of the documentation and legal issues plaguing the foreclosure industry means that we are continuing to see a highly dysfunctional foreclosure process that is inefficiently dealing with delinquent mortgages — particularly in states with a judicial foreclosure process.

New York State, which follows a judicial foreclosure process, had the longest average foreclosure process in the nation during the fourth quarter, up 37 percent from the same time in 2010. New York properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter took an average of 1,019 days to complete."

“There were strong signs in the second half of 2011 that lenders are finally beginning to push through some of the delayed foreclosures in select local markets,” said Moore. “We expect that trend to continue this year, boosting foreclosure activity for 2012 higher than it was in 2011, though still below the peak of 2010.”

As Moore states above, NY has the longest foreclosure process in the nation. Allowing people to stay in houses for almost 3 years without making payments isn't a solution. Until we clear out the existing REO inventory (and shadow inventory coming in the near future), this down market will far exceed previous down markets. This will continue to hurt the economy and keep unemployment at historic high levels. Unfortunately I feel like we're stuck in the old "chicken or the egg" situation. Do we need the real estate market and economy to turn around so we businesses can start hiring, or do we need businesses to start hiring so the real estate market and economy can turn around?

The Perfect Storm for Owner Financing

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:55:40 -0800

Owner financing, does anyone even remember what that is anymore? I remember when my parents bought there home back in the 70's, the seller offered to hold the mortgage. My in-laws bought their home the same way. It was a common practice, with mortgage rates over 18% it was the best way for a seller to get their home sold. Fast forward 30+ years and most sellers won't even entertain the idea.

Why? Is it because we're doing a poor job of explaining it? Is it the government intervention, HAMP, HFA, etc.... or is it just too risky in their opinion. What ever the reason I believe it could all change. We have the perfect storm coming together to bring back owner financing.

Think about this for a minute... we have an economy struggling (high unemployment and out of control government spending), we have a mortgage industry being regulated to death, we have rates at all time lows. Meaning if you already own a home you're probably paying under 7% on your mortgage. And for those of us who refinanced, you're probably paying under 5%. Inflation has begun (if you don't think so, just compare the cost of your Turkey this year compared to last year!) The cost of gas is up, heating oil, food, etc... As inflation rises so will interest rates, if you take into account the amount of government spending and the current economy.... inflation may explode to beyond what we saw in the 70's.

So if you have a home with a mortgage at 6% and interest rates are at 10% (in the future), a seller could offer to sell their home with owner financing (using a wrap around mortgage) and offer to give the buyer a discount on the rate. (This will give them an opportunity to locate the best buyer). Of course this will all depend on the government removing owner financing from their recent regulations. In 2008 the SAFE act was put into law, requiring all states to enact uniform legistlation implementing the SAFE Act within one year. The act requires mortgage lenders and originators to be licensed (which I am all for) but it also requires sellers who offer financing to be licensed as well. This is another example of legistlation with good intentions going terribly wrong!

So we could see owner financing help deal with this down market but only if the government gets out of the way and allows it to. I can only contact my local representative and ask that this law be ammended, I hope you'll do the same.

Handyman Special For Sale $199,000 - Lagrangeville NY

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:03:11 -0700

Foreclosure!

• 1,188 sq. ft., 1 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story "Raised Ranch" - MLS® $199,000

Lagrangeville, Dutchess County - **Foreclosure**

Handyman special! Great opportunity to bring this wonderful Raised Ranch style home back to life. Offers a two-tier deck, aboveground pool, attached two-car garage and a basement ready to be finished. Needs lots of work, tree damaged the roof. Sold as-is.

Property information

Brick Ranch For Sale - $254,900 Poughkeepsie NY

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:01:46 -0700

Foreclosure!

• 1,424 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm ranch - MLS® $254,900

Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County - **Foreclosure**

Attention buyers searching for that great opportunity. This three bedroom brick home offers a screened-in porch, covered entry, central air and much more. The home needs some minor TLC to make it shine. Sold as-is.

Property information

Market Update - Dutchess County NY

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:06:47 -0700

Here is the latest market stats for Dutchess County NY:

MARKET STATISTICS for Dutchess County NY...
Single Family Det	Aug '09	Jul '10	Aug '10	Yr Chg
Current Closed Sales	165	89	135	-18.2
Current Avg Selling Price	336,638	356,209	300,425	-10.8
Current Avg Days on Mkt	123	126	130	5.7
Avail Listings 1st of Month	2003	2241	2297	14.7
Purch Offers 1st of Month	156	122	130	-16.7
Statistics provided by Mid-Hudson MLS®

As you can see the market has taken a strong decline. Sales are down, selling prices are down, days on market is up. The statistics were similar for July as well. Most of this can be accounted for due to the First Time Home Buyer Credit which expired earlier in the year. It altered the natural supply and demand. Unfortunately it appears as if the banks have begun adding more REO inventory to the market due to the high default rates. This will keep this artificially bad market moving in a downward direction. I expect prices to continue to decline well into 2011.

With rates still at all time lows, I expect the next six months to provide great buying opportunities for first time home buyers as well as move up buyers.

It Must Be Shown In Order To Sell!

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:11:31 -0700

I'm sure this has been written about before but I just felt it's worthy of another blog post. I was working with a client from out of town this weekend. They drove in to look at 11 properties. Unfortunately 3 of the eleven could not be shown. Here were the reasons:

The owner must be home for all showings. He works weekends and wouldn't allow his agent to show it.
There is no lock box on the house and the agent (who has the key) is out of town for a week.
The property is currently being rented and the tenants didn't want to be disturbed on a Saturday.

Just to give you some background, these homes are priced at the lower end of our high market. Which as you can imagine has taken the biggest hit during the down market. The last thing a seller should do is make it difficult if not impossible to show their house. I recently went on a listing appointment, the seller informed me he didn't want to put a lock box on the house. I advised him without a lock box I could not take the listing. If you want to sell your house, you need to make it as simple as possible for potential buyers to view it. He agreed and we put it on the market. I understand when times are difficult agents may do things they wouldn't normally do, but in the end you're only wasting your time and marketing dollars. Don't get me wrong, I understand things come up and listings can't always be available (a lost key, a family event - birthday party, etc...) but when the property can't be shown because the seller feels the need to control the situation, they put themselves at a great disadvantage and it's our responsibility as professionals to advise them the proper course of action to get their home sold. That's what we get paid for, we need to educate our clients so they understand. Just my two cents, what say you?

$11,000 Towards Your Closing Costs!!!!

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:05:31 -0700

• 1,864 sq. ft., 1 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story - MLS® $185,000

Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County - ATTENTION BUYERS!

The Federal Home Buying Credit has expired, but this seller feels you still deserve it. So he's going to give you $11,000 towards your closing costs! This fine home has freshly painted interior and exterior as well as refinished hardwood floors. This home offers stainless appliances, covered entry, covered rear porch, fenced-in back yard, seasonal views of the river, and two additional rooms in the attic for storage. All this in walking distance to the train, hospital and river front! Hurry, before it's gone!

4 Bedroom Colonial - Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:26:57 -0700

Foreclosure!

• 3,040 sq. ft., 3 bath, 4 bdrm colonial - MLS® $429,900

Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County - **Foreclosure**

Attention buyers, this sizeable Colonial is in need of your love. With a little TLC you can make this your dream home. It offers a fireplace, deck, finished walk-out basement with a wet bar and full bathroom. Perfect for entertaining. Sold as-is.

visit www.CurtDarragh.com for more information.

To Advertise Listings On Active Rain or Not?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:05:28 -0700

I logged in this morning and clicked on blogs, wanting to see what's new with my friends in the world of Real Estate. What I found was 3/4's of the posts were listings. I'm not all that active with blogging, if I have something I want to share (or get off my chest on occasion) I'll post here on AR. I have a seperate blog on my website which I also post real estate related posts as well as my new listings. But I'm no blog addict, I typically don't post more than once or twice a month (not including listings)

But I pose this question... is Active Rain the correct venue for posting your listings?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for maximizing exposure. And I understand the more you post the more your name gets out. But isn't AR a place for real estate professionals to colaborate with one another? I feel like posting listings may be a waste of my fellow agents time, having to scroll through all the listings to get to a post they'd like to read. Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe you all want to know about my vacant, smelly, gutted, rodent invested REO listing for $95,000 or my beautiful listing on over 8 acres?

What say you?

Tax Credit Closing Deadline Extended - Will this help?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:49:34 -0700

Congress has passed a bill extending the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline to September 30, 2010.
The extension applies only to transactions that had ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, and have not yet closed. There will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law.

The question is will this matter... the answer? Not really. Yes this will help those buyers that met the April 30th deadline but are having a difficult time closing. This is a good thing. But since a buyer already had to be in contract, this will not stimulate any future purchasing.

In my opinion the home buyer credit did nothing to stimulate the real estate market. Did sales increase during the program? Yes, the numbers will support that. But it did it artifically, there was no change in the market itself, therefore the rules of supply and demand will take over once the deadline has expired and we will see the market drop even lower than expected. Why... because we took the demand in the market and artificially moved it it forward, but the demand did not change. Therefore the home buyers credit will create a vacuum and the real estate market(s) will free fall until they come back in line with the natural demand in the market.

The moral of the story... Hang on kids, this bumpy ride isn't over yet!

Lead Base Paint Changes!

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:13:48 -0700

To protect against risk, on April 22, 2008, EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices and other actions aimed at preventing lead poisoning. Under the rule, beginning in April 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. This is huge legistlation that has passed under the radar! The guidelines require any work that disturbs a section of wall 6 ft sq or larger to meet the guidelines. This is a huge expense to contractors that will ultimately end up costing home owners more also.

View more details here:

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm

Does CitiMortgage Have the Answer

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:53:51 -0700

CitiMortgage is testing a new foreclosure solution that will allow owners to stay in there house for an extra six months in exchange for the deed. Is this the new direction of the REO industry? I hope so. What I like about this idea is it gives the owner six months, during which time they try to qualify them for short sales or loan modifications which should satisfy the new HAFA requirements. But the best part, if they can't qualify for a short sale, loan mod, etc.... the buyers leave the property in six months. I believe this will help eleviate some of the shadow inventory, at the same time help keep those owners that are back on their feet where they belong... in their home. I believe this could play a major part in ending the madness the Government continues to create. It's not perfect but looks like the best option on the table. There will definately be some hurdles, in my state NY, its not clear whether the "Home Equity Theft Prevention" law will make this option possible. But I believe its a step in the right direction. Kuddo's to Citi for thinking outside the box for new solutions.

How is Health Care Related to Real Estate?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:36:13 -0700

The new Health Care legislation has been a very hot topic lately. Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, it's important to know how this legislation will affect you individually. Unfortunately this is easier said than done, even the Politicians that voted it into law don't know the in's and outs of this legislation. I believe it was Nancy Pelosi that said "We have to pass this bill so you can find out what's in it" .... really, is that the best way to create law? Since this isn't a political blog I'll leave that one for the Pundits.

We all know this will affect our health care. For some it will make it better for others it may make it worse. Some people will have to pay more while others will pay less. I run a small business so all of this is very important to me, but what really concerns me is will this affect the Real Estate Market?

As we found out with the mortgage crisis, as the real estate market tumbles, the economy is likely to follow. There is so much tied to the real estate markets, new construction, residential resale to the rental market. Jobs are on the line, financial markets are on the line, and much more. It's important for Politicians to understand the side effects of the laws they pass. What has caught my attention is the drastic increase in the Capital Gains Tax. This new legislation calls for major increases in the Capital Gains tax to help pay for it.

I'm told we are currently experiencing a "Jobless Recovery" from the current recession. Sounds like an oxymoron to me, but I don't hold one of those fancy "EXPERT" titles. I've tried applying but keep getting turned down based on my excessive use of common sense. Sorry I digress! So we have a recovery taking place even though unemployment is at record levels. Real estate prices are extremely low in many parts of the country and interest rates are being kept artificially low even with the threat of inflation. My experience, most buyers currently in the market are investors and first time homebuyers that were priced out of the market previously. An increase in the capital gains tax won't affect first time homebuyers purchasing homes to live in (at least in the short term). THAT'S A GOOD THING! But we have a large percentage of buyers purchasing as investments, either to fix and resell homes to owner occupants or purchasing rentals. According to Christopher Neefus of CNSNews.com the new law calls for an increase in "Unearned Income" from the current rate of 15% to 20% in 2011 and then 23.8% in 2013. That equates to a 58.6% INCREASE in capital gains THAT'S A BAD THING! In my opinion, there is no way this will NOT affect the real estate market.

Many real estate investors look for a minimum 8-10 % return on their investment when purchasing real estate.... with this new increase they will be earning 0-2%. Would you spend your money on an investment, have to worry about tenants damaging your investment, risk possible frivolous law suites for a 0%-2% return? Of course you wouldn't, no one would. Investors can get a similar return in a Money Market account without any of the risk. As I see it, there are two options. First, investors move out of real estate as an investment vehicle.... again NOT GOOD and second, investors will only purchase properties where they can get an additional discount to account for the additional tax. This will undoubtedly decrease the number of homes purchased by investors.

Less demand (less buyers), greater supply (the number of foreclosures in 2010 is expected to increase dramatically over 2009.... and we saw historically high foreclosures in 2009), it doesn't take a MBA from Harvard to figure out this recovery is going to take years.

Please understand, I'm no expert, and I certainly don't know the Health Care Legislation inside and out. But if the information I have related to capital gains is correct we're in for a long ride. The old saying "Buyer Beware" couldn't be more true, but now Buyers must beware the new Health Care Law, because I believe it does relate to Real Estate!

What are your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you.

The Next Market Crash?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:03:33 -0800

Sorry that title is incorrect.... it should read "CRASHES!"

I've been saying this since the White House requested this back in January. I've seen articles in the Investors Bussiness Daily & the Wall Street Journal mention it, but no one else seems to be discussing it. WHY.....

THE FORECLOSURE MORITORIUM

The Foreclosure Moritorium didn't end until March 2009. That means all foreclosures stopped dead in their tracks and no new foreclosures began. In my state (NY) it takes approximately 13 months to complete the process. That puts us into early/mid 2010 before all the back log hits the market. How can I put this.....

2010 WILL BRING ANOTHER DROP IN PRICES

That's crash #1. This is simple supply and demand. When this wave of foreclosures hits the market, the market will drop.... again! Add to this the amount of debt the government has added to the deficiet, the amount of money that's been printed, the fact it's very likely Oil will no longer be sold in Dollars and guess what comes next? INFLATION, when it hits the fed will have no choice but to chase after it raising interest rates. The problem is, with all this run away government spending, by the time the inflation explodes, they won't be able to catch up to it. (we won't mention the fact that as rates rise, so will the deficiet) I'm realitively young (35) so I wasn't old enough to see interest rates at 18-20%, but my parents did. Well that will look like a discount when this inflation hits!

Crash #2..... Why hasn't anyone else seen this, or if they have, why haven't they spoken about it? Over 90% of all loans today are government backed (FHA, FNMA & FREDDIE). If a buyer doesn't have 5%, 10%, 20%+ to put down on the purchase of a new home, what do they do? FHA! In their great wisdom, the men and women of Congress (who created most of this mess to begin with), decided that after the great real estate "bubble" went POP, we need real strict underwriting guidelines. "FHA..... increase the down payment requirement from 3% to 3.5% that should do it"

REALLY? 1/2 % that's going to decrease defaults, discourage buyers who can't truly afford a home from buying?

REALLY!

It's happening all over again, but the difference this time? You and I will all be on the hook becuase these loans are backed by taxpayers! You think the bank bailouts were expensive, wait until Crash #2.

Listen.... I'm in the real estate business, it's how I make my living. I want people to be able to buy a home.... NO I need people to be able to buy a home. But the reality is we need to get back to individual responsibility. Buyers need to be educated so they know owning a home is much different from renting one. There are more expesnses then just the mortgage payment. There's heating oil/gas, municipal water/sewer (if you're not on a well/septic), general upkeep (lawncare, snow removal, etc....), tax man is always asking for more not less, and of course when the toilet breaks, you pay a plumber, you don't call a landlord. But once educated, buyers must realize its up to them to be responsible. Don't over stretch to buy more house then you need. Live within your means.

So what does this all mean for buyers and sellers? It means I believe the market will continue to go lower at least into 2010. It means current interest rates aren't good, they're so low it's down right criminal. It means rates only have one way to go. Educate yourself and plan accordingly.

Just my thoughts for they day.... what are yours?

Tax Credit... extended?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:15:14 -0700

There's a great article in the Investors Business Daily today "Weaker Home Sales Strengthen Case To Extend Tax Credit" In it, they report "another obstacle to a housing recovery; a huge shadow inventory of up to 7 million homes that have been --- or will go --- through foreclosure but have yet to hit the market". Finally someone gets it and they're finally reporting it!

It's my opinion that our economy will not rebound until this real estate market recovers (at least hits bottom). I don't expect appreciation across the board for some time (3-5 years?). Some pockets across the country will see some appreciation but as a whole we're years away. Is this doom and gloom thinking.... No, I see this as an opportunity for all those people that were priced out of the market during the boom. Residential real estate needs to get back to basics.... homes are to live in! Raise your children in! I'm not a fan of bailouts or government involvement but if we're going to use tax dollars for the economy I'd rather see it go back to tax payers that will help the economy recover rather than build some airport so a senator can have a shorter commute to work!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350801854137702.html

So do the extend the credit, based on the economy, real estate market, I bet they do... how about you?

Market bottom or are we being fooled???

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:12:15 -0700

Wow, my head is spinning. Depending on which media source you read or watch, either the sky is falling or as the politicians put it "we've pulled back from the brink". Well I'm no economist and I don't play one on TV so I won't speculate about any "brink". But I do know real estate, real estate markets and how to determine the bottom. And we're not there yet!!!!!

Do the statistics (for Dutchess County NY) show the market decline slowing down.... well sort of. The decline in average sales prices has dropped, we were seeing over 24% year over year decline and now (August 2009 vs August 2008) it's down to a 6.6% decline. Days on market and number of listings are stabilizing some what. So common sense would say the economists may be right when it comes to the Real Estate Market.... right?

Wrong!!!!!

Is the market decline slowing....yes. But it's about to happen all over again! What the media and the so called experts (I'd like to know how you get that title EXPERT..... think I'll apply for that title, anyone know where I should send in my application.... sorry sarcasim got the best of me!) forgot to mention is the foreclosure moratorium that didn't end until March of this year. So all the foreclosure that were in process STOPPED! No new foreclosure could start. So what do you think happened in April? You don't have to be an expert to figure this out.... the courts are jammed and we have a second wave of foreclosures coming.

Here in NY it takes approximately 13 months to complete the foreclosure process. You do the math.... we'll see the 2nd wave in early to mid 2010. The number of REO's will explode, decreasing market values further and causing a ripple effect through the economy....AGAIN! But that's just my opinion, what do I know? ;-)

Don't Be Misled...

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:30:27 -0700

Statistics... funny thing about numbers, if you're not careful it's very easy to mis-understand them! Earlier in the year I made a post stating we may be nearing the bottom of this down market. The average number of sales was only down 2.3% compared to the year before and the average sales price was actually up .10% for the same period (compared to the -26.9% in December).

We had been seeing a 24% decline (approx.) in average sales prices for months then it went up .10% in January '09. How come?

Did the new president cause the market to EXPLODE? Nope!
Did all those tax dollars spent to save the banks (TARP) finally trickle down? Nope!

Simple math, that's what happened. The average selling price in Dutchess County, NY is $372,413.00 (as of January 09). But we had something we don't often see take place, we had one home sell for $6,000,000. Yes, that's 6 MILLION DOLLARS! As you can imagine that skewed the average sales price. The reality is we are seeing signs this declining market is finally slowing. The number of homes for sale declined (less supply), the number of purchase offers is up (more demand) and the days on market is holding. All good signs, but in the end, the average sales price is still decreasing about -24% (year over year). So we're not out of the storm yet, but the sun appears to be peaking its head through. Lets hope the spring market brings a turn in prices.

February 2009 Sales Statistics

market statistics provided by Mid-Hudson MLS

SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED	Feb. '08	Jan. '09	Feb. '09	Yr Chg

Current Closed Sales	117	86	71	-39.3

Current Average Selling Price	389,540	372,413	297,226	-23.7

Current Average Days on Market	145	134	144	-0.7

Available Listings 1st of Month	1832	1668	1678	-8.4

Purchase Offers 1st of Month	101	110	107

Are we seeing the bottom?

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:53:39 -0800

After months of doule digit decreases in average sales prices, increases in inventory and days on the market we finally see some stabilization. Below are our current statistics

	January 2009 Sales Statistics

SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED	Jan '08	Dec '08	Jan '09	Yr Chg

Current Closed Sales	88	89	86	-2.3
Y-T-D Closed Sales	88	1371	86	-2.3
Current Average Selling Price	371,990	294,005	372,413	0.1
Y-T-D Average Selling Price	371,990	351,780	372,413	0.1
Current Median Selling Price	330,000	280,000	280,000	-15.2
Current Sales Dollar Volume	32,735,120	26,166,445	32,027,518	-2.2
Y-T-D Sales Dollar Volume	32,735,120	482,290,658	32,027,518	-2.2

Current Average Days on Market	151	126	134	-11.3
Y-T-D Average Days on Market	151	131	134	-11.3
Available Listings 1st of Month	1904	1957	1668	-12.4
Purchase Offers 1st of Month	101	139	110	8.9

As you can see, closed sales is only down 2.3% which is a significant difference compared to the 26% last month. Now this may be a blip in the statistics, we'll need to see next months figures to know for sure but its a nice start!

Short Sales? Pro and Cons!

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:02:19 -0700

It seems the theme of the day has moved from "FORECLOSURES" to "SHORT SALES". So what exactly are these "SHORT SALES"? Well, simply put, its when the value of the home is lower than the amount owed to the mortgage company. You sell the house for less than is owed and the bank accepts that payment and removes the mortgage (the security that attaches to the properties title). So what are some of the pro's to selling your home as a short sale:

1. If you have fallen behind on your mortgage, you can sell your home and keep from having to go through the foreclosure process.

2. By selling the home vs losing it to foreclosure you will help keep your credit in tact. Yes, your credit will be negatively effected by the late payments, but this is much better than having a foreclosure show up on your credit report.

3. Saves you any embaressment of having your home auctioned off and the sherrifs dept. remove you from the home.

Now the cons:

1. They take much longer than the typical real estate transaction. Short Sales can take up to 6 months to complete.

2. There's no gaurantee after you find a buyer that the bank will accept the sale. The bank doesn't have to accept less then they are owed. Its important to work with someone that can explain to the banks loss mitigation deptartment why it's in their best interest to accept the sale.

3. Just becuase the bank accepts the terms, doesn't mean your off the hook. For example, if you owed $300K to the bank and sold your house for $275k, the bank didn't recieve $25,000 (the difference in what was owed vs the sales price). You could find yourself receiving an IRS Form 1099 in the mail come tax time. This could be considered taxable income. There is an IRS form 982 that may allow you to get around this. President Bush also passed a bill that allows you to write this off without paying taxes, but there are certain criteria you must meet. You should speak with a Tax Professional to make sure you qualify and don't get hit with a huge tax bill.

4. The process can be very frustrating. If you don't know what your doing, I recommend working with an experienced agent or even an attorney. You will need to provide certain documentation in order to get your short sale approved, such as a net sheet, hardship letter, financials, etc.... Much like when you applied for your mortgage you had to provide documentation to show you could qualify for the loan, now you're doing the opposite, you showing documentation to show you no longer qualify.

I hope this quick description helps you better understand the latest buzz word. Remember, if you've fallen behind on your mortage, you don't have to lose your house to foreclosure. You have options, the key is not to procrastinate. The earlier you deal with the issue, the more solutions you will have available (such as a forebearance, loan modification, short sale, dead in lieu of foreclosure just to name a few).

Market Continues to Slump in the Poughkeepsie, NY Area

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:15:20 -0700

Below are the most current market stats for the Dutchess County, NY area. Notice the average sales price dropped over 13%, that number by itself doesn't mean much, but when you look at last months numbers, the decrease was over 8%. There seems to be a pattern emerging and it doesn't look good for sellers who purchased in 2004-2006 during the peak. Up to this point we've been seeing 2-3% decreases in the average selling prices (not bad, some may even say the market needed it), last month it jumped from the 2-3% to over 8%. Many were hoping this was just a statistical hick up, but with this months numbers in that doesn't seem to be the case. So what does all this mean..... well to put it frankly IT'S A BUYERS MARKET. Not news for any of you I'm sure. If you've read a newspaper, turned on the news or logged onto the internet, I'm sure you've seen all the "THE SKY IS FALLING" media frenzy. You know... "The Housing Crisis" or my favorite "The Housing Recession". The reality is this is just part of the process. Real Estate runs in cycles, it goes up and it goes down and we are currently in a down market. But if you go back to April 2002, the average selling price was $237,802, now compare that to April 2008 $345,223. That's a 45% increase in 5 years. As my favorite stock predictor puts it "we're taking a little off the top". I can't predict the future but I believe that 2008 will be the hardest hit in this down market and we'll see the sales prices begin to decrease at a slower rate in early 2009 with the market bottoming out in late 2009 - early 2010. So good news for buyers right.... not so fast. This is an election year, and keeping the economy above water will be front and center, but come December things will change. The dollar has been taking it on the chin for a while now and the Fed can't continue to lower rates without sending our economy into a tailspin. As the dollar weakens the cost of oil increases. As oil/gas increase, inflation will set in. I expect as soon at this election is over you'll see interest rates rise, probably not double digits but likely in the 7-8% range. So if you find right house, don't snooze or you may lose! This year will provide some of the best buying opportunites and rates aren't likely to stay this low for ever.

April 2008 Sales Statistics

SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED                   Apr '07               Mar '08             Apr '08      Yr Chg

Current Closed Sales                            140                      83                  129        -7.9

Current Average Selling Price               398,339              374,227         345,223     -13.3

Current Median Selling Price                 345,000              337,000         310,000      -10.1

Current Average Days on Market             137                     130                 127       -7.3

Available Listings 1st of Month               1849                   1878               1937         4.8

Purchase Offers 1st of Month                 123                     103                 115        -6.5

market statistics provided from Mid-Hudson MLS

New REO Property

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:03:18 -0700

New Foreclosure - Single Family 3/2 with central air. Needs cosmetics. www.CurtDarragh.com for more info.

Foreclosures

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:32:47 -0800

FORECLOSURE. You hear it in the debates, the newspapers, TV and yes even Blogs. I recently read that 1 out of every 100 homes are entering some part of the foreclosure process. An additional 2 million foreclosures are expected in 2008. This brings many thoughts to mind, anyone remember the RTC? For those of you that don't this was a government solution created to deal with all the foreclosed homes from the S&L crisis of the '80's. Seems like we're headed in that same direction and everyone has an opinion (yes, I'm no different!). I've heard solutions on each end.... from doing nothing, to bailing the banks, wall street and borrowers out with tax dollars and everything in between. So what's the best answer? I don't know, but I can tell you this:

Real estate runs in cycles. It goes up, it goes down..... but over the long haul, it's always gone up. Now history is no gaurantee of future events but my point is this, if the typical down cycle takes 5-7 years to turn around, and the government decides to freeze interest rates for all those ARM's guess what will happen? You'll take a 5 year down cycle and turn it into a 10 year down cycle (assuming a 5 year freeze on rates). Does that sound good for the economy?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless. I understand what it feels like to be in foreclosure. The stress, the imbarassment, the problems it creates with family, work and friends. There are a lot of people out there that need help, but there are also a lot of people that knew perfectly well what they were getting into. They didn't care! They wanted to keep up with the Jones and when they were told they could afford that mini-mansion, they asked where to sign.

And what about all those people that make there payments on time. Why should they suffer. They used great restraint not getting in over their head, keeping their payments affordable. What about them?

The current system is broken.... the mortgage lenders haven't seen rates this low. What happens when rates go up? With all these lower rate mortgages (5%-6.5%), refinance loans will be pratically non existant. What caused all these problems? The teaser rate adjustable interest only loans! Think about it, the banks have killed two birds with one stone. First, they get the initial loan, great, but then what? With rates so low, people aren't likely to refinance. But what if the banks could create a scenario in which the borrower will more than likely be forced to refi? That's exactly what they did with the adjustable rates mortgages with teaser rates. When the teaser rate expires and the loan re-adjusts, the borrower is faced with rates higher then the current market rate (and therefore higher payments). So its in the borrowers best interest to refinance into a fixed rate. The payment is higher then the initial teaser rate loan but lower then the new adjusted payment. So in theory, every teaser rate loan was almost gauranting a second loan (refi). The ony problem...... timing! Unfortunately with values increasing at such a fast pace, it was only a matter of time before the market peaked. So if you purchased in the booming market, by the time your teaser expired and you needed to refi, the market value of your home was probably less then when you bought it, therefore increasing the Loan To Value and making it difficult if not impossible to refinance.

To make matters worse, this was typically the best case scenario. What about all those buyers who couldn't afford the current market rates (conventional fixed rates)? The reality is, borrowers should have been qualified based on adjusted rates or fixed rates not the teaser rate. There is plenty of blame to go around, but what good does that do? We need to fix the problem yes, but lets leave the blame game to the Media!

First, lets get back to real underwriting..... manual underwriting! I'm all for using techonology to increase efficiency and streamlining the process. But much like appraising real estate, there are too many small details and nuances for software programs to be the final decision maker. Credit anylysis isn't an exact science, yes there are guidelines, but you need someone with experience making those final decisions. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac have great systems, but they should be not be used for approving loans, just confirming an underwriters decision. They should be used as tools to help with the process. This should limit the number of defaulted loans going forward.

Next, we need to deal with the current glut of foreclosed loans. My opinion, those loans that aren't already in foreclosure, should be refinanced into a government sponsored FHA loan program allowing adjustable rate loans to be refinanced into low fixed rate loans. I recently read an article by a professor stating these loans should allow the borrower to refinance into loans with rates lower than the current market rate, in exchange the borrower cannot resell the property for a profit. Any appreciation would go back into the loan pool. I like this idea, becuase it doesn't bail the borrowers completely out. (Not fair for those who pay on time to pay market rate when lower rates are available to those who got themselves into this mess). The rest unfortunately need to let the process run its course. It will be hard, but needs to be done for the sake of the market. Bailing everyone out will only pro-long the agaony. Another idea is to re-write these loans to fixed rate loans (with higher rates-they're not A credit borrowers so they shouldn't get A credit rates). But extend the loan term out to 40 or 50 years to bring down the monthly payment. Put in a pre-payment penalty to keep them from refinancing in a year or two and getting a free ride. The pre-payment penalty will offset the lenders yield so everyone wins but no one gets off scott free. Just my opinion what's yours?

Market Stats

Curt Darragh (Legacy Land & Homes, LLC) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:23:29 -0800

January 2008 Sales Statistics

SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED	Jan '07	Dec '07	Jan '08	Yr Chg

Current Closed Sales	135	149	88	-34.8
Current Average Selling Price	348,553	402,267	371,990	6.7
Current Average Days on Market	126	114	151	19.8
Available Listings 1st of Month	1635	2118	1904	16.5
Purchase Offers 1st of Month	116	107	101	-12.9

If you have any questions about these statistics or just want to chat about the market
give me a call 845-518-7526. I love to talk real estate!

Statistics provided by Mid-Hudson MLS