How to Spot a Home-Contractor Scam

April 25, 2013 By 3 Comments

Most have integrity, but you have to rely on more than a handshake and your gut

By GEOFF WILLIAMS

April 24, 2013 RSS Feed Print

Couple standing in front of house while contractor points at something

This is the season when the lawn mowers begin roaring, the mulch is spread and homeowners, if they haven’t already, begin thinking about getting that roof fixed or finally putting up a privacy fence. But it isn’t just the sun that comes out. There are also the pests—the ticks, the mosquitoes and the con artists.

As plenty of homeowners are aware, there are ample anecdotes in the media of home-contractor scams. These often con the elderly into either giving up money for no work done, or having work done but at an exorbitant price that wasn’t agreed to. In the last few weeks alone, a 77-year-old man in the Philadelphia area paid for his roof to be repaired only to end up paying to have a useless, tar-like substance splattered across it; in Norfolk, Va., an 83-year-old woman gave a home contractor $4,300 and never saw him again; in San Diego, a con artist has been offering to fix driveways, collecting down payments as high as $2,500 and giving nothing in return.

The anecdotes go on and on. So what should you do if you want a project completed but don’t want to see your name in the local paper, where you’re quoted warning your neighbors not to fall for a scam?

Research your contractor. Everyone thinks they’re doing that, but it isn’t as straightforward as one might think to vet a home contractor.

“In many cases, we see a person posing as a licensed or reputable contractor, and all checks out until the first payment is made to begin the job, and then the subject disappears. We see fake business cards and websites being used, and criminals can assume the identity of a real contractor, register a company or use an alias. The goal is always the first payment,” says Tom Burnett, a spokesman for Wymoo International, a worldwide detective agency headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. Burnett is also a former private eye.

Despite all the tricks a con artist can play, you can vet a contractor, says Burnett. Obviously, there’s the tried-and-true method of using a contractor that a friend or family member swears by, but if you don’t have that avenue, Burnett suggests:

• Contact the Better Business Bureau where the company or contractor operates and check for complaints.

• Ask for references and make sure you actually contact, say, two of them.

• Check to see if the company is registered with its state or your state’s division of corporations.

• You can ask for the contractor’s license number to verify with your state’s Department of Professional Regulation, or your contractor’s state license board or similar office.

• And, of course, search the Internet for whatever you can find on the company.

Be wary of paying upfront. This is tricky, too, because even honest home contractors ask for money upfront, for good reasons. “Let’s say you want your front door put in, and if the contractor makes the order, and you back out, they essentially own that front door,” says Amy Matthews, a home contractor who has hosted numerous DIY Network and HGTV series and is a spokesperson for Home Advisor, an online portal that matches, for free, homeowners with licensed home contractors (homeadvisor.com).

So it isn’t weird for a home contractor to ask for money upfront, but it shouldn’t be astronomical numbers, says Matthews. “It’s very common for home contractors to ask for a percentage, say, 30 percent at the start, 30 percent in the middle and the rest at the end, and you should never pay at the completion until you’ve really looked it over.”

She adds that every state is different, and that in California, home contractors aren’t allowed to ask for more than 10 percent of the job upfront. Meanwhile, some states have no regulations regarding home contracting projects.

It is also wise to pay a home contractor with a credit card instead of forking over a wad of cash or paying with a check. This will give you a record of the payment for the authorities and improve the odds of getting your money back if you are swindled, since credit card companies may refund your money in such situations.

If the proposal isn’t very detailed, that might be a red flag. A home contractor who plans on putting a fence around your yard or fixing your roof isn’t likely to offer up lengthy, detailed plans, but if you want to hire a contractor for a fairly elaborate project, such as a room addition, you’ll want to see some detailed blueprints.

“The less gray areas there are, the better off homeowners will be,” says Nicholas Iarocci, who owns a home contracting company, Source Development, Inc, which services the New York City area. He says detailed plans can “make the homeowner aware of possible additional expenses,” which can help you if the contractor is ethical and if the contractor isn’t. After all, some unethical contractors deliver when it comes to work, but they overcharge. Or they might not plan to destroy your finances but do because of the shoddy way they run their business.

“If an insured contractor brings a day laborer or an employee that’s not on the books, and they get injured, the property owner is directly affected,” says Iarocci. “I collect certificates of insurance from my subcontractors.”

Don’t let yourself be rushed into a project. Some perfectly honest home contractors will come to your house unsolicited, says Matthews. “They’re called storm chasers,” she says, “and there are some very credible contracting companies that look for homes that have been hit after a windstorm or heavy rain, but you still have to do that background check to make sure.”

So if the contractor can’t wait for you to think about their offer, or for you to summon your inner Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew and check them out, stay away. And you should always keep an eye out for that classic red flag waving in the warm, friendly breeze. Sadly, just as there is no free lunch, there is also rarely an extremely cheap lunch.

Says Matthews: “If someone offers to do a really quick job on your house for a really low price, and it sounds too sound to be true, it probably is.”

 

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brettany Harrison, Brian Peralez, Design, Make Over Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

A U.S. housing recovery like never before?

April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

April 16, 2013

ALEX CARRICK

Chief Economist, CanaData

U.S. new home starts in February were 917,000 units, seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR), according to a joint press release from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The monthly level of housing starts has been above 900,000 units for three months in a row. Within that period, their monthly high was 982,000 units reached in December of last year.

On a month-to-month basis, February 2013’s level was almost even with January 2013 at +0.8%, but it was a much more impressive +28% when compared with February of last year.

Additionally, the latest building permits figure — which is a leading indicator, by a month or two, for starts — was quite encouraging. The number of residential permits issued in February was 946,000 units SAAR, an increase of 5% versus January and an uptick of 34% when compared with February 2012.

It’s possible the importance of housing’s recovery to the overall U.S. economy is being underestimated. Gross domestic product (GDP) projections for 2013 mostly lie between +2.0% and +2.5%, after a +2.2% performance in 2012.

An upward creep in taxes, higher medical costs for employers, plus jobs cuts and furloughs in the public sector are being blamed for keeping growth lower than it might otherwise be. Still, there are some forecasters who think +3.0% is attainable and the main reason will be better residential construction. The ripple effects (i.e., “multipliers” and “accelerators” in economic jargon) of a stronger homebuilding sector are enormous.

There are no guarantees, but this argument may have validity. Consider that the current recovery in housing starts will have a magnitude never seen before in the U.S. economy.

A look at historical data from the Census Bureau is revealing. Going back to 1959, when the statistical series begins, there has never been another period of decline nearly as steep as between January 2006 and April 2009. Within that interval, starts plunged 80% from a pre-recession peak of 2.273 million units SAAR to a bottom of only 478,000 units.

Only bungee jumpers had ever experienced that kind of descent before and lived to tell about it.

Economic events are often governed by a pendulum that swings back and forth to establish equilibrium. Sometimes, the duration of the movement in one direction or another can be a long time coming. A perfect example is the recovery in NASDAQ stock prices since the dot.com collapse. They still haven’t returned to their prior peak. But they are finally showing that such an eventuality isn’t totally out of the question.

U.S. home starts don’t have to make it all the way back to 2.3 million units to have a huge impact. Their average level of 940,000 units in the three most recent months is nearly double the volume to which they sank in the trough. Even if they only return to the lower end of a “normal” range of 1.5 million to 1.7 million units — which some forecasters are saying will happen by the end of next year — they will have more than tripled since their most recent low.

In the U.S., there have traditionally been two sub-sectors with exceptional influences on the overall economy — automotive demand and residential construction. Bringing the analysis up to date, those two might now be augmented by a third major player, the high-tech sector.

In Canada, where the economy is smaller and therefore more factors can assume larger roles in the overall results, the number of sub-sectors that can create an out-sized influence may be a little larger — auto production, energy exports, residential construction and start-ups or completions of mega projects in non-residential construction.

Economics 101 provides the following advice on how to move an economy out of a recession. Step number one, cut interest rates in order to stimulate the housing sector. It’s taken a long time south of the border, but the standard framework for recovery is finally taking hold.

And what a recovery it might be. Simply consider all the side effects of stronger housing starts. Remember in what follows, that improved activity levels reap a harvest of greater profits and more employment.

Suppliers of building products will realize a pick-up in sales. The Home Depots, Reno-Depots and Lowe’s of this world and their close cousins will benefit.

Further back in the supply chain are sawmills and cement manufacturers. Softwood lumber producers are already seeing prices for their output that have escalated dramatically.

The railroad and trucking industries move building products to wholesalers, retailers and other customers.

New homes have to be heated and cooled, bringing in the energy utilities.

Governments will receive more property taxes from new subdivisions.

Lawyers, real estate agents and mortgage brokers will smile more.

Let’s not forget the banking community. Sales of more new homes will mean greater mortgage business, contributing to better earnings. (In Canada, a decline in new home starts is expected to eat into banking sector profits this year.)

Stronger housing starts will also mean more retail sales by storekeepers who supply furniture, appliances, television sets, stereos, lighting fixtures, plumbing supplies, cabinetry, carpeting, drapes, blinds, dishes, silverware, paintings, paint and the list goes on and on.

The better housing sector alone will be a big boon to the U.S. economy. But it’s not just housing that’s picking up smartly south of the border.

Earlier, I mentioned some other pillars of the U.S. economy. Autos sales have improved nicely. Many high-tech firms are experiencing a renascence as evidenced by the surge in NASDAQ equity prices. There is an energy boom underway in a number of states. And an unprecedented amount of money has been made available by the Federal Reserve.

The politicians give the impression they’re still trying to gum up the works. But there is a great deal of underlying strength in the economy that will continue to march forward, with new home starts riding point.

Wouldn’t it be lovely — and a refreshing change — if whatever happens in Washington turns out to be irrelevant?

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Arcadia Real Estate Agent, Brettany Harrison, Brian Peralez, Housing Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

US housing starts rise

March 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Christopher S. Rugaber THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON —  U.S. builders started more homes in February and permits for future construction rose at the fastest pace in 4-1/2 years. The increases point to a housing recovery that is gaining strength.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that builders broke ground on houses and apartments last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000. That’s up from 910,000 in January. And it’s the second-fastest pace since June 2008, behind December’s rate of 982,000.

Single-family home construction increased to an annual rate of 618,000, the most in 4-1/2 years. Apartment construction also ticked up, to 285,000.

The gains are likely to grow even faster in the coming months. Building permits, a sign of future construction, increased 4.6 percent to 946,000. That was also the most since June 2008, just a few months into the Great Recession.

And the figures for January and December were also revised higher. Overall housing starts have risen 28 percent higher over the past 12 months.

Separately, a private report showed the number of Americans with equity in their homes increased last year. That suggests one of the biggest drags from the housing crisis is easing and could clear the way for more people to put homes on the market.

“The road ahead for housing is still, so far, looking promising,” Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note to clients.

The pair of positive housing reports helped drive early gains on Wall Street. But stocks edged lower later in the day as investors awaited the outcome of a vote on an unpopular bailout plan in the European nation of Cyprus. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 35 points in afternoon trading.

Housing starts jumped in the Northeast and Midwest, while they fell in the South and West. Permits rose in the South, West and Midwest, falling only in the Northeast.

The U.S. housing market is recovering after stagnating for roughly five years. Steady job gains and near-record-low mortgage rates have encouraged more people to buy.

In addition, more people are seeking their own homes after doubling up with friends and relatives in the recession. That’s leading to greater demand for apartments and single-family homes to rent.

Still, the supply of available homes for sale remains low. That has helped push up home prices. They rose nearly 10 percent in January compared with 12 months earlier, according to CoreLogic, the biggest increase in nearly seven years.

Higher prices mean that more Americans have equity in their homes. Last year, about 1.7 million Americans went from owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth to having some ownership stake, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. That benefits both home owners and the broader economy.

When homeowners have some equity stake, it makes it easier for them to sell or borrow against their homes. Still, 10.4 million households, or 21.5 percent of those with a mortgage, remain “under water,” or owe more on their home than it is worth.

The number of previously occupied homes for sale has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years. And the pace of foreclosures, while still rising in some states, has slowed sharply on a national basis. That means fewer low-priced foreclosed homes are being dumped on the market.

Those trends, and the likelihood of further price gains, have led builders to step up construction. Last year, builders broke ground on the most homes in four years.

Homebuilders have become much more confident over the past year.

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brettany Harrison, Brian Peralez, Bussiness, Market, Mortgage Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

3 Top Tips To Selecting The Right Home For Your Family

March 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Published March 12, 2013

New Home With Family

Whether you are moving to a new house with children or you are buying your first Greenville home with the intention of raising future little ones there, many factors will come into play when making your decision.

You will want to find a house with the right size and layout, that has a suitable number of bedrooms and bathrooms, is in an excellent neighborhood and has all of the local amenities your family will need.

Here are three important factors to consider during your new home search:

Location

Take a look at the area where the property is located.

Is it close to a school that your kids can attend when they are old enough?

Is there a playground where they can play with their friends?

Are you near any convenient shopping areas or stores for picking up groceries?

Location is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a place to raise your family.

Neighbors

Take a look at the demographics of the neighborhood.  You may want to spend some time walking the neighborhood and learning about the surrounding area.

Taking evening walks in the neighborhood might allow you the opportunity to meet other people who are living there and learn what they think is important about the area.

If it has mostly young families around the same age as you, your children will likely have plenty of neighbors to play with as they grow up.

Affordability

You may think that spending as much as you can possibly afford on an expensive home is the best thing for your kids, but you might be wrong.

In fact, you could end up stressed out from working too hard to make your mortgage payments and feel like you never get enough time to spend with your family.

Another option would be to buy a more modest house that you can reasonably afford and have more time with your children.

Choosing the right place to live is difficult. It might take a while to find the right house, but when you do, it will be worth it.

When you do, you will have a wonderful place to fill with love and memories, where your children can grow up in peace and happiness.

If you’ve been seriously contemplating purchasing your first home, or possibly the next home, the best thing you can do is contact a licensed real estate professional to determine what is available in the market that would fit your needs.

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brettany Harrison, Brian Peralez, Bussiness

Short sales: taxes, 1099s, and relocation assistance

February 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

by Melissa Zavala in Housing News -   

taxes money Short sales: taxes, 1099s, and relocation assistance

It’s Tax Season

I always know when tax season is just around the corner because I see Lady Liberty or Uncle Sam spinning signs that invite me into a local tax preparer’s office. Now is also a time when lots of questions arise about short sales and income taxes. If you or any of your clients participated in a short sale in 2012, then there are a number of things you will want to know about short sales and tax return preparation.

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

I received a 1099-MISC from the short sale lender. Is the income noted on the 1099-MISC taxable?

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 provides tax forgiveness for certain short sale sellers, and such forgiveness depends on the taxpayer’s specific situation. Taxpayers who sold their home in a short sale during 2012 should seek the advice of an accountant in order to learn whether this Relief Act applies to their unique tax position.

What if the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act doesn’t apply to my short sale?

Because the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 does not apply to everyone (e.g. if the home sold is not a qualified principal residence or due to bankruptcy), it is vital that taxpayers seek the advice of an accountant in order to learn about any other tax laws that may come into play in order to provide tax relief.

Is Relocation Assistance Money Taxable?

I received an incentive from the short sale lender? Do I have to pay taxes on the incentive?

According to the Internal Revenue Service, “Cash for Keys Program income, which is taxable, is income from a financial institution, offered to taxpayers to expedite the foreclosure process. Report this as ‘other income’ on Form 1040, line 21. The taxpayer should receive Form 1099-MISC with the income in box 3.”

I received an incentive from the short sale lender, but I did not receive a 1099-MISC. How should I proceed?

I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that short sale sellers often don’t receive the 1099-MISC because the short sale lender doesn’t have a record of the taxpayer’s new address. Speak with an accountant about how to proceed in this situation.

Common Problems with Relocation Assistance

My real estate agent told me that I was supposed to get relocation assistance money. We closed, and I received a 1099-MISC. However, I never got any relocation assistance money. What should I do?

All relocation assistance money is documented on the final settlement statement (also called a HUD-1) and payable to short sale sellers through the settlement agent at closing. If there is no line item for relocation assistance on the settlement statement and no notation on the short sale approval letter from the lender, then the bank did not approve the short sale assistance.

If there is a line item for relocation assistance and the seller did not receive the funds, contact the settlement agent for more information. In many cases, with prior written authorization of the short sale seller and the short sale lender, relocation assistance money is used in order to pay off non-institutional liens and clear the title for closing.

On the settlement statement, it shows that the buyer is paying the relocation assistance and not the short sale lender. Why would I receive a 1099-MISC from the short sale lender if the buyer paid the money?

Since any real estate sale requires that buyer funds be used to pay seller costs, the relocation assistance shows as a debit to the buyer and a credit to the seller. Of course, this is a credit to the seller from the short sale lender who retains all of the remaining funds at closing.

Short Sale Documentation

No matter when the short sale closes, all short sale sellers should retain copies of the short sale approval letters from the lenders and a final settlement statement from the closing agent. In this way, any questions that come up (no matter how far in the future) can be addressed quickly and efficiently.

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brian Peralez, For Sale, Lending, Market, Mortgage Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Latest Real Estate Buzzwords

February 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 / By Zillow.com 
Top Real Esate Buzzwords

Winter is considered “off season” in the real estate world, but that doesn’t mean that buyers aren’t still out there.

Even in December, when everybody was busy racing around to get ready for the holidays, the number of home sales — including existing homes, foreclosure resales and new home sales — was 8.7 percent higher than in the same month in 2011.

One way to make your home stand out from others during the winter doldrums is to choose words that jump out at potential home buyers when they’re searching through real estate listings.

Desirable features vary depending on price and city, but there are a few universally golden terms at the moment. Daniel Beer, a real estate agent and marketing expert in San Diego, says “open floor plan” and “downstairs master” are popular features everywhere.

“A downstairs master bedroom has long been standard in luxury homes,” Beer said. “But now that requirement has moved down into the middle market, and home builders are responding.”

He says this is especially true among aging baby boomers, who are now focusing on smaller homes with fewer levels and fewer, if any, stairs.

Similarly, the “walkability” of a neighborhood is rising in stature. Green terms such as “solar” and “energy efficient” are red hot. “Low HOA fee” continues to be a popular term in listings all over the U.S. because an estimated 63.4 million — and counting — Americans live under the governance of homeowners associations.

On a more local level, the term “No Mello-Roos” is a welcome phrase in California because it means that a particular property is not subject to a special property tax that’s often levied in newer communities to pay for parks, roads and other infrastructure.

In coastal Southern California “new construction” jumps out because there is currently so little of it while demand is strong.

Seeing the light

“Light and bright” or words to that effect are huge in Manhattan. “I can’t stress enough how important lighting is in New York,” Leslie Lazarus, an agent with DJK Residential, told the Wall Street Journal.

Lighting isn’t as important, of course, in a fair-weather city such as Miami, but a “sunny breakfast room” or nook seems to appeal to people everywhere.

Being as specific as possible with adjectives tends to result in higher sale prices, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Instead of “wood floors,” for example, say “oak floors.”

How about “stainless” and “granite”? Not so hot anymore or even necessary: Those are givens these days if you’ve noted that your kitchen has been “updated,” says Beer, who pointed out that “updated” is a word that always gets attention.

Stainless may not be king much longer anyway, according to Beer. A current hot buzzword in design material, he says, is “Caesarstone,” which is high-quality quartz.

Dropping high-end appliance brand names continues to be an effective “look-at-me!” lure. The biggies are still Sub-Zero, Viking, Bosch and G.E. Monogram, and “anybody considered a chef will demand a kitchen with a Wolf range,” Beer said.

In the bathroom, the coolest brand name is now Toto. “Actually, it has become the Sub-Zero of the toilet world,” Leonard Steinberg, managing director of Douglas Elliman in New York, recently told the New York Times.

Be cautious with the ‘F’ word

People tense up when they see the word “fixer,” and readers often translate the term “investor,” as in “investor special,” as “needs lots of work” (use “income property” instead, Beer counsels).

“The mood of the market right now is for a ‘turn-key’ or ‘move-in-ready’ property,” Beer said.

At times, however, a term like “needs work” is advantageous. First-time buyers are often looking for a fixer-upper in a desirable neighborhood or coveted school district in which they would otherwise be priced out.

Buyers are often put off by hardcore sales lingo such as “Hurry, won’t last!” Some phrases have been so overused that they now put buyers to sleep.

“Gourmet kitchen” and “luxury bath” are also in that category. And the word “rare” is anything but rare in real estate listings — “rare jewel,” “rare opportunity.”

Be careful with vague superlatives, too. Some people believe “charming” means “small.” Others consider “classic” a euphemism for “completely out of date.”

Finally, Laura Lothian, a Pacific Sotheby’s agent in La Mesa, CA, says she has seen the words “open house” more and more frequently in listings all over the U.S.

“It’s a trend I love,” she said. “People are having more open houses, and those open houses are attracting bigger crowds.”

She speculates that there are two reasons behind this trend. Most real estate photos are now taken by professional photographers, she says, so photos are looking more and more alike.

Images can be easily “enhanced,” so people want to get a more realistic look at a place with the electric wires in place and without a Technicolor blue sky.

The second reason open houses are increasing in popularity, Lothian believes, is that people are getting antsy about spending so much of their social lives online in places such as Facebook. “They want to connect with real flesh!”

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brian Peralez, Bussiness, Make Over, Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

What is Debt-To-Income Ratio?

February 4, 2013 By 1 Comment

What is DTI Ratio?

By  on January 23, 2013

Debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is one of the key factors mortgage lenders use to determine whether or not a potential borrower can afford a mortgage. The debt-to-income ratio is calculated by dividing total monthly debt payments by total monthly income. Monthly debt payments generally include expenses such as mortgage payments, auto payments, student loan payments, credit card payments, and child support payments. Monthly expenses such as utilities, auto insurance and phone services are not included towards the monthly debt calculation. Monthly gross income generally includes the borrower’s monthly income, his/her spouse’s monthly income, any savings income, and any business or side incomes.

To learn how to calculate DTI, let’s consider the following example:

Monthly Mortgage Payment: $1200
Monthly Auto Payment: $500
Credit card payment (minimum): $300
Total Monthly Debt Payment = $(1500+500+500) = $2000

Suppose the monthly incomes are as below:

Borrower’s Monthly Salary: $3500
Spouse’s Monthly Salary: $2500
Other Income: $500
Total Monthly Income= $(6000+2500+500) = $6500

Debt-to-Income Ratio = Total Monthly Debt Payment/Total Monthly Income = (2000/6500) = 30.76%

When underwriting a mortgage, a lender will typically consider two kinds of debt-to-income ratios. First is the front ratio, which includes all housing costs (i.e. mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance premiums, and property taxes). The second is the back ratio, which includes non-mortgage debt such as credit card payments, auto loan payments, child support payments, and student loan payments.

As a general rule of thumb:

  • Front ratio = Housing DTI: Total Monthly Housing Payment / Gross Monthly Income Before Taxes
  • Back ratio = Total DTI: Total Housing Payment + Other Debts / Gross Monthly Income Before Taxes

The maximum allowable DTI to qualify for a loan is going to depend upon your lender, your financial situation, and your loan program.  Underwriting standards may vary from lender to lender, so you will want to contact your lender of choice to find out how it calculates DTI for a given loan program.

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brian Peralez, Market Tagged With: , , , ,

First impressions are made at the front door

January 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Home’s entrance is seldom high on remodeling priorities

BY ARROL GELLNER, FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2013.

Inman News®

Front door of a <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=75275389" target="_blank">Georgian era townhouse</a> in Salisbury, England image via Shutterstock.Front door of a Georgian era townhouse in Salisbury, England image via Shutterstock.

Have you ever been to a house where you had to skirt the gas meter or sidle around garbage cans to get to the front door? Or one where there was such a bewildering array of doors, you weren’t sure which one to knock at?

The front entrance is seldom high on people’s remodeling priorities. Yet, just like that old saw about first impressions, it’s your home’s entrance that people notice first. It’s practically impossible to rectify a bad impression made at the front door.

Tract-home builders have known this for years; even in the cheapest house, they’ll never cut corners on the front door. They know that a strong impression of quality here subtly colors a visitor’s perception of the whole house.

For much of architectural history, front entrances have been a focal point of a home’s design. In colonial New England, for example, the front door was often flanked by sidelights and topped by a pediment, setting it apart from an otherwise austere facade.

The entrance should also be clearly apparent from the street. That doesn’t mean it has to be glaringly exposed to view — just that its location should be easily deduced by an unfamiliar passerby. Architects call this principle “demarcation.”

There are lots of subtle ways to demarcate a front entrance. The most common is to surround the door with an architectural form such as a pediment or other type of trim. Another traditional strategy places the door in a recess, on a projection, or under a roofed porch. You can find a well-known example of the latter on the back of a $20 bill.

Here are some thoughts for planning your own grand entrance:

  • Don’t place an unsheltered entrance door flush with the front wall of the house; it’ll create an unwelcoming “side door” or trailer-door effect.
  • Don’t bring the path to the front door past utilities such as gas or electric meters, or past unsightly storage areas for trash or the like. Keep these kinds of features out of the visitor’s line of sight.
  • Don’t force visitors to walk on a driveway to get to your front door. Provide a separate walking path, or at least set aside a portion of the driveway paving using a different color or texture so it’s clearly meant just for those on foot.
  • If you plan to provide a covered entrance porch, make it at least 6 feet wide — enough for a person to stretch out both arms without touching either wall. Anything less will feel cramped and uncomfortable. Also, make the porch at least 4 feet deep (6 feet is better), or it’ll feel cramped when more than one person is waiting outside the front door. A cheaper alternative to building a projecting porch is simply to recess the front door. Again, make the recess at least 6 feet wide, and not less than 2 feet deep.
  • Lastly, if your house has several doors facing the street, make sure your front approach aims your visitors toward the main entrance. Your front door may seem obvious to you, but, hey, you live there.

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brian Peralez, Bussiness, Design, For Sale, Make Over Tagged With: , , , ,

Housing Issues to Watch in 2013

December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Nick Timiraos

Home prices finally hit a bottom in 2012, well ahead of many predictions that called for continued price drops this year.

Prices were up 6% from one year ago in October, according to CoreLogic CLGX -0.26%, putting them on track for their best year since 2005. Housing starts, which hit a bottom three years ago, ramped up to their highest level in four years. Sales of new homes are running around 20% of last year’s levels, while existing home sales are up around 10%. Continued declines in homes listed for sale—particularly foreclosures—explain much of the improving price picture.

So will 2013 be the year of recovery or relapse? Evidence points more strongly to a continued rebound, albeit one that still has considerable headwinds and that varies from one market to another. This week, we’ll offer five areas of focus for 2013.

1. Don’t fear the shadow. For years, housing analysts have warned that a glut of delinquent mortgages—a so-called “shadow” inventory of eventual foreclosures—would overwhelm housing markets. That hasn’t happened.

On a national basis, the shadow inventory is still there, but it is slowly getting smaller. The number of homes that were 90 days or more past due or in foreclosure fell to around 3 million in October, down by more than 430,000 this year and nearly 1.3 million from the peak in 2010, according to Barclays Capital. Normally, there’s a “shadow” of around 800,000, which means the excess shadow supply stands at around 2.2 million.

Banks have slowed down their foreclosure processes and while those could ramp up in 2013, they’re unlikely to lead to a deluge of supply. Also, big declines in new construction over the past few years have pushed the current housing demand, however muted, towards absorbing the excess supply of foreclosed homes.

The shadow inventory is often discussed as a national phenomenon, but it isn’t really national anymore. States where banks have struggled to meet court-administered foreclosure processes have a significantly higher share of unresolved bad debt: around 5.9% of mortgages are in foreclosure in those judicial states, compared with fewer than 2% in nonjudicial states, according to Lender Processing Services.

Many housing markets “will swallow what foreclosures come to the market whole because we’re seeing inventory shortages develop, acutely,” says Jeffrey Otteau, president of appraisal firm Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick, N.J.

 

In New Jersey, which has the second highest foreclosure rate in the country, the bigger problem is that many foreclosures are concentrated in certain communities, particularly inner-city and rural areas. “Those markets are going to take it on the chin,” he says.

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Brettany Harrison, Brian Peralez, Market Tagged With: , , , , , ,

4 Reasons to List or Buy a Home in December

December 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 / By Zillow.com / Comments
Home For Sale Real Estate Sign in Front of Beautiful New House.

Tis the season to sell and buy! Here are the top four reasons sellers should list and buyers should purchase prior to ringing in the New Year.

The commitment factor

Buyers searching for homes over the holidays are serious, committed and ready to go, often motivated by a deadline-oriented relocation brought on by a career switch or an unexpected change in housing situation.

Furthermore, with vacation time during the season, local buyers generally have more time during the weekdays to look.

Emotional buying

The holiday season also brings out emotions and feelings of nostalgia in buyers, which may help push their decision making to quickly move forward with the purchase.

When staging homes, sellers and agents should try to make the house feel as holiday-homey as possible. Let the buyers picture themselves there.

How about some tasteful greenery, the gentle glow of twinkly lights, a little golden holiday bling and the scent of baking cookies wafting through your open house?

The low inventory advantage

Inventory of homes for sale is excruciatingly low. Buyers have fewer choices, which means sellers’ homes will be in demand — and greater demand equals more money.

Low inventory isn’t necessarily a bad thing for buyers, especially for those who must make a decision quickly.

However, both buyers and sellers must be realistic about desired purchase and sale pricing.

Tax advantages

Purchasing prior to the end of the year can be advantageous and motivating to buyers for tax reasons.

Closing on a home before the end of the year allows you to deduct property taxes, mortgage interest, and loan points on this year’s tax return.

If you can buy your dream home AND save money, why wouldn’t you?

“4 Reasons to List or Buy a Home in December” was provided by Zillow.com. 

Courtesy of your Arcadia Real Estate Agent

Filed Under: Arcadia News, Brian Peralez, For Sale, Pasadena News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,