Southwicke

Active Listings

reginamicaletti — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:50:20 +0000

Total 17 Listings

4 Total Short Sales

2 listings on Monarch

2 Listings on Southwick

Single Buyers Opt for Suburbs

reginamicaletti — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:21:55 +0000

Single Buyers Opt for Suburbs
More singles are buying homes in suburbia, reports Coldwell Banker, which conducted a nationwide survey of single home owners on the factors that motivated them to buy.

Here are some figures that reflect the reasoning behind their choices:

52 percent chose the suburbs over urban or rural areas.
53 percent of single home owners said they purchased a home because it was a better deal than renting.
68 percent chose a home priced lower than they could afford.
Of the 13 percent who own their home jointly with another person, 49 percent made the purchase with their parents.
55 percent have less than a 30-minute commute to work.
40 percent live within 30 minutes of their parents or extended family.
27 percent of women thought the number of bedrooms were important, while only 18 percent of men felt the same way.
38 percent of men would consider buying a foreclosure, while only 29 percent of women would consider one.

LISTINGS

reginamicaletti — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:16:08 +0000

TOTAL ACTIVE LISTINGS -14

SHORT SALE LISTINGS -4

1 FORECLOSURE SOLD 03/17/10 $160.000 MONARCH DR.

2- FORECLOSURE SOLD 12/23/09 $190.000 SOUTHWICKE DR.

Making an Offer on a Short Sale

reginamicaletti — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:16:37 +0000

Making an Offer on a Short Sale? What You Need to Know

Are you looking to buy a new home? Are you thinking that now’s a great time to find bargains? Before you make an offer, it pays to know a little about the seller’s situation.

If a home is being sold for below what the current seller owes on the property—and the seller does not have other funds to make up the difference at closing—the sale is considered a short sale. Many more home owners are finding themselves in this situation due to a number of factors, including job losses, aggressive borrowing against their home in the days of easy credit, and declining home values in a slower real estate market.

A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when the seller’s lender has taken title of the home and is selling it directly. Homeowners often try to accomplish a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. But a short sale holds many potential pitfalls for buyers. Know the risks before you pursue a short-sale purchase.

You’re a good candidate for a short-sale purchase if:

You’re very patient. Even after you come to agreement with the seller to buy a short-sale property, the seller’s lender (or lenders, if there is more than one mortgage) has to approve the sale before you can close. When there is only one mortgage, short-sale experts say lender approval typically takes about two months. If there is more than one mortgage with different lenders, it can take four months or longer for the lenders to approve the sale.
Your financing is in order. Lenders like cash offers. But even if you can’t pay all cash for a short-sale property, it’s important to show you are well qualified and your financing is set. If you’re preapproved, have a large down payment, and can close at any time, your offer will be viewed more favorably than that of a buyer whose financing is less secure.
You don’t have any contingencies. If you have a home to sell before you can close on the purchase of the short-sale property—or you need to be in your new home by a certain time—a short sale may not be for you. Lenders like no-contingency offers and flexible closing terms.

If you’re serious about purchasing a short-sale property, it’s important for you to have expert assistance. Here are some people you want to work with:

Experienced real estate attorney. Only about two out of five short sales are approved by lenders. But a good real estate attorney who’s knowledgeable about the short-sale process will increase your chances getting an approved contract. Also, if you want any provisions or very specialized language written into the purchase contract, a real estate attorney is essential throughout the negotiation.
A qualified real estate professional.* You may have a close friend or relative in real estate, but if that person doesn’t know anything about short sales, working with him or her may hurt your chances of a successful closing. Interview a few practitioners and ask them how many buyers they’ve represented in a short sale and, of those, how many have successfully closed. A qualified real estate professional will be able to show you short-sale homes, help negotiate the purchase when you find the property you want to buy, and smooth communications with the lender. (All MLSs permit, and some now require, special notations to indicate that a listing is a short sale. There also are certain phrases you can watch for, such as “lender approval required.”)
Title officer. It’s a good idea to have a title officer do an initial title search on a short-sale property to see all the liens attached to the property. If there are multiple lien holders (e.g., second or third mortgage or lines of credit, real estate tax lien, mechanic’s lien, homeowners association lien, etc.), it’s much tougher to get that short sale contract to the closing table. Any of the lien holders could put a kink in the process even after you’ve waited for months for lender approval. If you don’t know a title officer, your real estate attorney or real estate professional should be able to recommend a few.

Some of the other risks faced by buyers of short-sale properties include:

Potential for rejection. Lenders want to minimize their losses as much as possible. If you make an offer tremendously lower than the fair market value of the home, chances are that your offer will be rejected and you’ll have wasted months. Or the lender could make a counteroffer, which will lengthen the process.
Bad terms. Even when a lender approves a short sale, it could require that the sellers sign a promissory note to repay the deficient amount of the loan, which may not be acceptable to some financially desperate sellers. In that case, the sellers may refuse to go through with the short sale. Lenders also can change any of the terms of the contract that you’ve already negotiated, which may not be agreeable to you.
No repairs or repair credits. You will most likely be asked to take the property “as is.” Lenders are already taking a loss on the property and may not agree to requests for repair credits.

The risks of a short sale are considerable. But if you have the time, patience, and iron will to see it through, a short sale can be a win-win for you and the sellers.

* Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. A REALTOR® is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and is bound by NAR’s strict code of ethics.

Note: This article provides general information only. Information is not provided as advice for a specific matter. Laws vary from state to state. For advice on a specific matter, consult your attorney or CPA.

California Million-Dollar-Home Sales Fall

reginamicaletti — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:24:56 +0000

Sales of California’s million-dollar homes fell 24 percent in 2009, the fourth-straight year that sales of the state’s priciest homes have declined, according to MDA DataQuick.

Last year, 18,261 California homes sold for at least $1 million, down from 24,436 in 2008. Million-dollar sales were down 66 percent from the peak of 54,773 in 2005, DataQuick says.

There’s still a market for some pricey properties. The most expensive California home, a 23,000-square-foot home, sold in 2009 for $265.5 million.

Source: Associated Press (02/04/2010)

Browse all of today’s news

Active Listings

reginamicaletti — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:31:28 +0000

Southwicke- Dunham Model $229.900

Southwicke- Everton Model $235.000

Southwicke- Dunham Model $237.000

Southwicke – Dunham Model $238.000

Monarch- Radcliffe Model $175.000

Monarch- Windsor Model $185.000

Monarch- No Model stated $ 185.000

Monarch- No Model stated $193.000

Monarch- Essex Model $212.000

Short Sale Active Listings

reginamicaletti — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:28:17 +0000

Southwicke Model not stated $199.790

Southwicke- Glenshire Model $234.900

Short Sale Purchase

reginamicaletti — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:11:50 +0000

December 23-2009 Southwicke Everton Model Sold $189.900

Tax Credit

reginamicaletti — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:39:45 +0000

Daily Real Estate News | January 21, 2010 | // addthis_pub = 'rmostaff';
addthis_logo = 'http://www.addthis.com/images/yourlogo.png';
addthis_logo_background = 'EFEFFF';
addthis_logo_color = '666699';
addthis_brand = '';
addthis_options = 'delicious, digg, favorites, facebook, fark, google, reddit, magnoliacom, newsvine, furl, yahoo, technorati, twitter, icerocket';
document.write(' Share

');
// ]]> Share

Tax Credit Ignites Early Spring Selling Season
The homebuying season is starting early this year, thanks to the expanded first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit.

Typically, the busiest time for home shopping starts in March and continues through May, but this year buyers who want to take advantage of the tax credits have to hold a signed contract by April 30 and close the deal by June 30.

That is getting people off the couch.

“The tax credit will absolutely have an effect,” says Pete Flint, CEO of residential real estate search engine Trulia.com. “It is going to shift demand from the later part of the year to the first part. January and February will be very strong. The next three months, there will be a surge in demand.”

Source: USA Today, Stephanie Armour (01/20/2010)

White House Lost Value in 2009

reginamicaletti — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:59:26 +0000

The estimated value of the White House has dropped 5.1 percent—from $308 million to $292.5 million—in the last year, according to real estate Web site Zillow. Homes across the United States declined in value by about 5 percent, so the 132-room mansion is following the national trend.

The 5.1 percent decrease in the value of the White House is an improvement over its 7.2 percent decrease in 2008; and the nationwide 5 percent drop is a major improvement over the 11.9 percent average decrease in 2008. The White House, designed by an Irish architect and built in 1792, totals 55,000 square feet and sits on 18 acres.

Source: CNN.Com (1/21/09)