It's not easy selling a home in today's turbulent market, but these tips from <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> experts could help you get on the path to success.

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Real Estate

re-sellingsg

As the year ends, it's become clear that some parts of the real estate world still don't work very well. That's particularly true of the appraisal business. 
 From being blamed for helping create the housing bubble to being blamed for prolonging the housing crisis, the industry has suffered greatly over the past few years. Probably the biggest debacle was the enactment (and then retraction) of the well-meaning (perhaps) but misguided Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). 
 One of the most unpopular elements of the HVCC was the requirement that appraisers work for appraisal management companies (AMCs). Unfortunately, these still exist, having been adopted by many lenders. 
 According to David Bunton, president of the Appraisal Foundation, it's "ironic" that the AMC model has gained traction. 
 "One of the big myths is that lenders are required to use AMCs. In fact, they are not. Lenders are required to have a firewall and separation between the lender's representative who hires the appraiser from the one who makes the final decision on whether the loan is approved," Bunton explained. "Out of convenience, lenders have decided not to keep this process in house." 
 John Brenan, director of appraisal issues for the Appraisal Foundation and an experienced real estate appraiser, says there are a couple of problems with the AMC model from the appraiser's standpoint. "First, there is no additional revenue to fund AMCs, so the fee that an appraiser would earn is now divided between the AMC and the appraiser. Appraisers are making less money, and they have a new middleman they wind up working through." 
 Indeed, Brenan says, AMCs are offering to produce more appraisals for less money. "They're looking to engage the cheapest and fastest appraisers. So, we're seeing appraisals done across the country where the appraiser does not have what is, in fact, required under standards we write for geographic competency," he explained. 
 Geographic competency means an appraisal has direct and deep working knowledge of an area. And that knowledge was key to being a good appraiser. 
 Here's how appraisals used to work: The agent would meet the appraiser at the door of the property with a stack of comps, and they'd discuss what was happening with sales in the local area in the past few months. The appraiser would be knowledgeable about the area, having worked in it for a long time. He or she would have direct contact with the agent, and most appraisals would come in at or just above the purchase price. 
 It worked like a charm -- until it didn't. During the housing boom, appraisers were accused of inflating home values in order to help keep banks approving more loans for bigger sums. After the bubble burst, appraisers were accused of not approving the values of enough homes, hence killing deals. 
 It's awful being an appraiser -- especially since AMCs were adopted, which have pushed down the price appraisers are paid and installed a middle company as an extra layer to "protect" the banks and the buyers. (It isn't that consumers are paying less, which is what the proponents of this model thought would happen.) 
 The upshot is that appraisers who have never stepped foot in a neighborhood and who have no historic knowledge are now paid less to do an appraisal, and the results have been, in the words of one appraiser, disastrous. 
 One real estate investor, who says he has been in the business for 38 years, has a real estate license, an MBA, and is a certified residential appraiser in California, wrote an email to us, saying, "Good luck to all those who want a loan because with the appraisal management companies (AMC) requiring lower and lower fees to stay in business, appraisers like me take fewer and fewer assignments. The appraisals will get worse and worse. I just reviewed an appraisal that did not even use the correct form, had the heating incorrect on the subject and the comps, and did not adjust for the comparables being end units." 
 That should be troubling to industry observers, participants and loud lobbying voices. 
 "Most appraisers not going to turn around a top quality appraisal in 24 hours, for half of the normal fee. So you get people who are less experienced, who have less business clientele, and they may end up driving 4 to 6 hours for $150. We're concerned about quality," said Bunton. 
 The real problem is that appraisals are as much art as a science. And, as Bunton puts it, "It's hard to institutionalize art."

reAPPRAISE12

Home appraisal flaws more frequent with rise of appraisal management companies

Home appraisal -crop

A year ago, at the end of December 2012, we saw far fewer&nbsp; "For Sale" signs. And this year, there are even fewer. 
 The surprising thing about the real estate market is its resiliency. It never fails to surprise how decisively a market turns. When it's time, it's time. And it's clear to us that 2014 is looking very good for real estate. 
 There are a few troubled spots on the horizon: Mortgage interest rates are at least one percentage point higher than they were a year ago. And, home prices are higher. That means homes are less affordable than they were, particularly since incomes haven't risen, in real terms, in years. 
 That's good news, and not so good news for sellers. It's great that home prices are rising. In part, homes that were in foreclosure or listed as short sales, have closed and now prices are rising again. But, rising interest rates (depending on how high they go), mean fewer buyers can afford to pay those higher prices 
 At the end of 2011, mortgage interest rates reached 3.7 percent, before falling back. In 2012, mortgage interest rates were about 3.3 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. We ended the year with mortgage interest rates around 3.5 percent for a 30-year fixed rate loan. This year, we will end at 4.3 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. (If you're wondering, we think these rates are still great from a historical perspective.) 
 The Federal Reserve has indicated it will now pull back its monthly spend of $85 billion in mortgage-backed securities and Treasury securities, which it did to keep interest rates at historic lows through 2015, or when the employment rate falls to 6.5 percent. The economy is improving. Third quarter 2013 GDP numbers were revised upward to 4.1 percent. The economy hasn't grown that fast in years. 
 So, with low inventory, still low mortgage interest rates, and modestly rising prices, here's what you need to do to get your home in selling shape for 2014: My classic New Year's Resolutions for home sellers: 
 -- Overcome any possible objections a buyer would have. 
 Buyers are always looking for a reason not to buy your house. Your job as a seller is to eliminate any potential objections that would stand in the way for a buyer to make an offer. If you really want to sell quickly, you'll work hard to exceed the buyer's expectation of your home as well. If your home is competitively priced, and your home's condition exceeds a buyer's expectations based on other homes in the neighborhood, you'll get an offer -- even if it isn't the offer you want. 
 -- Get your home into selling shape. 
 Cleaning your home is a must. After that, you should consider hiring a stager to give your home the television-worthy polish so many buyers expect today. (Yes, they want your home to look like something they'd see on HGTV.) Assess what other sort of work needs to be done, such as fixing things that don't work, touching up paint, or cleaning or replacing your carpets. Decide if you need to update your landscaping, and paint, clean or tuck point your home's exterior. And if you're selling in January, clear out the holiday decorations as quickly as possible. 
 -- Invite at least three agents to create a comparative marketing analysis. 
 Often, sellers simply call the agent who sold them their home to list it. While you may wind up hiring that person, you'll be doing yourself a favor if you invite a couple of other agents in from different firms. That's because each will bring different ideas to the table about how much your house is worth and what kind of marketing plan will work. They'll all have different experiences to draw on and have different buyers in mind who may want to make a quick offer. 
 -- Understand what it will take to sell your home. 
 If you live in an area littered with foreclosures, you may have to meet that price point in order to sell. Is it worth it? Probably not, but you'll have to really evaluate price and timing in order to get the most for your property. If homes have begun to appreciate, you might be pleasantly surprised. Again, a CMA will be incredibly helpful. 
 -- Be realistic about the market. 
 Find out what types of properties are selling in your area and how many days they're sitting on the market. Accept the reality of your local market and make sure you price your home realistically. Don't blame your broker if you don't get 3 offers over your list price within 24 hours of putting your home on the market. Sellers who set sky-high (or even pretty high) prices could wait months or years for an offer (one of my neighbors has been trying to sell his overpriced home for years) and may wind up with the same price they would have had if they'd priced their home correctly the first time -- or a lot less. In this real estate market, one of the worst things you can do is overprice your home from the start. The more realistic you are, the better off you'll be. 
 -- Rent if you can't sell and buy at the same time. 
 We don't recommend putting in an offer on another property until you have some serious interest in your current property or unless you have enough cash to cover the expenses of both properties for six to 12 months. It's fine to start researching other neighborhoods, but if you're not sure what you want to do, consider renting on a short-term or month-to-month lease. While a double move is a pain, and does have some added costs, it's a lot cheaper than carrying two mortgages for two years. 
 -- Read all documents thoroughly before you sign them. 
 Why would someone sign a legal document he or she hasn't read? I'm not sure, but home sellers do it every day. If you're going to sell (or buy) in the coming year, promise yourself that you'll take the time to read and understand the listing contract, offer to purchase, and loan documents for your next purchase. (If you're taking back a loan for the home buyer, have an attorney prepare the documents so you are sure to be protected.) Unless you've got cash to spare, a mistake in these documents and the warranties they contain could seriously affect your finances. 
 -- Don't be greedy. 
 One big mistake many sellers make is to get a little greedy, particularly if the first offer is above the minimum acceptable price you've set. Then the negotiation becomes a game of how much you can get. 
 Remember, a successful sale means everyone walks away feeling happy. If you get so greedy that the buyer walks away, you've let the deal get the best of you. Resolve to be reasonable and you'll end up shaking hands with the buyer at the closing. You should also know that there aren't unlimited buyers out there, and if you lose one it might take you quite some time to find another.

reSELLERS05

Sell your home faster in 2014 with New Year's resolutions

Home Price -crop

Real estate agents see it all -- from unmade beds to overstuffed garages to the "What were they thinking?" decor. 
 Over the years, they learn why some houses sell while others linger on the market, and why some promising buyers never make it to the closing table. They know how to get a better deal on the mortgage, and how much the other agents stand to make on your home. 
 The good news is, they want to share. 
 The information is useful whether you're a buyer, a seller or both. 
 In today's market, sellers are again optimistic about the value and price of their homes -- "but buyers aren't," says Ron Phipps, principal with Warwick, R.I.-based Phipps Realty, and past president of the National Association of Realtors. 
 "Your challenge as a seller is to price the house so that it is compelling," he says. 
 What does that mean? 
 "Set a price slightly below market value," he says. Just "a fraction." 
 For example: If similar homes in your neighborhood are clustered around $210,000, you might price yours at $200,000 or $198,000, he says. 
 "The longer a house is on the market, the less likely you are to get fair value," Phipps says. "So you really want to position yourself to be the one that sells, not the one that languishes." 
 And the adage of not wanting to leave any money on the table? Still valid. 
 If you're also buying a home, and you already have cash in hand, thanks to a fast sale, "that puts you in a very powerful position," Phipps says. 
 For many potential buyers, frugality ends the minute they get pre-approved for a mortgage, Phipps says. That's when they start running up the cards and opening new lines of credit to buy things for their home-to-be. 
 But that pre-approval letter is just one of the first steps in the home buying marathon, not the finish line. 
 Just before closing, a lender will re-examine a prospective buyer's financial situation -- complete with a recent copy of the credit history and other updated information. 
 If those numbers have changed for the worse (salary decrease, higher card balances, new lines of credit), then the applicant could get clocked with a higher interest rate or even lose the loan. "The number of buyers who get denied is significant," Phipps says. 
 The moral? Never get new loans or start using credit cards more heavily until after you've actually closed on the home. 
 Even better, retain your frugality until you've been in the home for a few months and have a good sense of how homeownership affects your finances, Phipps says. 
 If you're selling a home, it's important to understand the timeline, says Jeffry Wiren, principal broker with Re/Max Equity Group and past president of the Portland, Ore. Metropolitan Association of Realtors. 
 Underestimating the time it takes -- and building a schedule around those unrealistic expectations -- adds stress, Wiren says. 
 Wiren's schedule breakdown: 
 * -- Getting your home in shape: two weeks 
 * -- Average time on the market (varies widely with location and price): 2 1/2 to three months 
 * -- Negotiating after an offer: one week 
 * -- Preparing to close (assuming a traditional transaction): 30 to 45 days 
 A smart seller allows a minimum of four to six months to sell, Wiren says. 
 To prove their worthiness, sometimes prospective buyers will show a prequalification letter, Wiren says. "And that means nothing." That's because in a prequalification, lenders usually don't verify buyers' information. But preapproval involves third-party verification. 
 "'Prequalified,' that means they've talked with a lender and said, 'I have good credit and I make 'X' number of dollars a year,'" Wiren says. 
 Based on that, the lender responds that the buyer can reasonably expect to borrow a certain amount -- if those self-supplied facts are accurate and there aren't any negatives, he says. Most lenders don't research those details until the buyer applies for a loan, he adds. 
 Serious (and smart) buyers are "preapproved." That means they've already applied for the loan, the bank has verified their financial information and (if the numbers remain the same until closing), it promises to loan a specific amount at a specific interest rate. 
 Still, after an offer, smart agents will call the lender and verify that the prospective buyer is preapproved for the necessary amount, Wiren says. At the same time, that agent will verify that the lender would have no problem closing in the expected time period -- usually 30 to 45 days.&nbsp; 
<hr> 
 Mortgage rates jumped the week of Dec. 5, 2013 amid stronger-than-expected growth in the private-sector labor market. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 11 basis points to 4.55 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. 
 The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 15 basis points to 3.62 percent. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, rose 12 basis points to 4.57 percent. 
 The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose 4 basis points to 3.33 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter.

reTIPS08

Home buying, selling tips from brokers in shaky 2013 market

Sale pending -crop

Stately. Solid. Strong. 
 These adjectives can't help but come to mind when describing a brick home. It's a look that has withstood the test of time, and also is highly desirable among buyers. 
 A recent study by the National Association of Home Builders found that, nationally, consumers prefer genuine clay brick exteriors over vinyl siding, stone, stucco, wood and fiber cement. 
 Marlene Gross of Ed McNulty Realty, who has listed brick homes on the South Shore in towns such as Lynbrook and Rockville Centre, agrees that brick is often a big selling point. 
 "I think that people like the brick when they see it," Gross says. "It has curb appeal and desirability." 
 Brick can increase a home's value by 2.5 to 5 percent, depending on the market, says Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Manhattan appraisal firm Miller Samuel. 
 Brick is not just for classic Federal architecture. Stephen Sears, a spokesman for the Reston, Va.-based Brick Industry Association trade group, says what he likes most about brick is that it lends itself to varied architectural styles. Even modern architect Philip Johnson paired his iconic Glass House in New Canaan, Conn., with an all-brick structure. 
 "You can get brick going from the very, very traditional look all the way to something ultra-modern," Sears says. "It just lends itself to whatever you want it to do." 
 There's also the Big Bad Wolf factor. Especially after superstorm Sandy, some say they find security in a house that a huff and a puff won't necessarily bring down. 
 A 2004 study conducted at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University shows that a medium-size object blown by wind at speeds of 25 miles an hour would penetrate homes built with vinyl or fiber-cement siding, but an object would need to travel at 80 miles an hour to penetrate the wall of a brick home. 
 "Unlike other materials, if a high wind situation comes about or, gosh forbid, a fire, it's the brick that's left standing," Sears says. 
 In the National Association of Home Builders study, home buyers ranked energy efficiency as the most important factor when choosing their preferred exterior. Brick is a heavy, dense material that can store heat and then slowly release it, which means brick homes stay cool during the summer and warmer in the winter. 
 Brick is also low maintenance, and, while it does come at a higher price than other materials -- roughly $7,500 more than aluminum or vinyl siding on a typical house, according to the association's study -- there is savings in the long run since it doesn't need regular painting or power-washing. The mortar holding brick together does need repointing, which keeps moisture from getting behind the brick. 
 "It takes about 30 years before you would ever need your first repointing," says Gary Zaccaro, president of Ambassador Home Improvement in Massapequa, which offers brick and stone masonry designs. "Because of the turnover of homes, the average person would never have to worry about it." 
 EAST ISLIP 
 $1.495 million 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6182849.1380817031!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.JPG" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 half-bathrooms 
 Paul Diesu served as general contractor for the construction of his home in East Islip's Moorings community in 2002, and chose brick for its timeless look. "To me, brick really is not a fad," Diesu says. "You had stucco homes come and go, and bevel wood come and go, and the contemporary look. Brick is extremely stately and rich-looking. You can look at houses 20, 30 years old made of brick, and they stood the test of time." 
 LISTING AGENT Irene Lockel and Steven Rainone, Netter Real Estate, 631-661-5100. Click <a href="http://long-island-homes.newsday.com/eng/sales/detail/188-l-478-2570092/38-the-helm-east-islip-ny-11730" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for more information. 
 EAST HILLS 
 $789,000 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6182743.1380822493!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.jpg" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms 
 The charm of this all-brick Colonial is what drew seller Al Croce to it in 2006, but the energy efficiency of brick is an added bonus, which translates into energy savings. Croce says his gas and electricity bills combined aren't much more than $300 a month. 
 LISTING AGENT Monica Kranepool, Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty, 516-922-9155. 
 SEAFORD 
 $599,995 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6182294.1380823478!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.JPG" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 4 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms 
 Jennifer Kobel, who bought the center hall Colonial by the water 10 years ago and also is acting as the listing agent, says the house is at a high enough elevation that it stayed dry during superstorm Sandy. But the brick front of the 1985 house also gave the family a feeling of security in high winds. "A brick house always feels strong and safe," Kobel says. 
 LISTING AGENT Jennifer Kobel, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 516-575-7500. 
 BOHEMIA 
 $599,000 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6189690.1380819158!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.JPG" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms 
 Sellers Simon and Bozena Pasternak say they chose a brick veneer for the front of their Colonial when they completely renovated it in 2006. "It looks very attractive on a Colonial," Simon Pasternak says. The couple installed insulation between the brick veneer and the plywood, which adds extra warmth during the winter. 
 LISTING AGENT Annette Mina, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, 631-831-0163. 
 WESTBURY 
 $599,000 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6182319.1380820475!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.JPG" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 3 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms 
 This 1955 split-level is in the hamlet of Salisbury, which is known for brick construction. Jean Demetrius, who bought the house in 2001, says that when he was looking in the area, all of the houses were made of brick, though it was the in-ground pool that drew him to this particular home. 
 LISTING AGENT Nina Naqvi, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, 516-621-3555. 
 KINGS PARK 
 $399,000 to $429,000 
 <img align="right" src="http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.6182836.1380824071!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_300/image.JPG" style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px"> 
 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms 
 The Tudor style is what drew sellers Danielle and Todd Karmel to this house in 2006. "There are one or two in the whole town," Danielle Karmel says. Sellers come away with a good impression of the 1923 brick home, she adds. "Most of the people think the same way we did -- that it's unique." 
 LISTING AGENT Marie Frei-Tuzzi, Coach Realtors. 631-331-3600. Click <a href="http://long-island-homes.newsday.com/eng/sales/detail/188-l-443-2611773/24-old-dock-rd-kings-park-ny-11754" target="_blank">here</a> for more details.

LSMAIN04.WEB

Brick homes are popular with buyers on Long Island

East Islip -crop

If want to sell your home this spring, prepare for pent-up buyer demand. 
 Spring might be an even livelier selling season this year because homebuyers want to act before interest rates or home prices rise. 
 Even so, buyers insist on good deals. Even in seller’s markets, where the supply of homes for sale can’t meet demand from buyers, overpriced homes are at a disadvantage, says Lynn Findlay, a Realtor with <a href="/topics//Coldwell_Banker">Coldwell Banker</a> Residential Brokerage in&nbsp;Belmont, Mass. 
 ”We’re seeing competing offers for some homes,” Findlay says, but houses with too-high asking prices ”aren’t selling at all.” 
 Glen Gill, broker and owner at Landmark Properties in Sugar Land, <a href="/topics//Texas">Texas</a>, says three things sell a home in any season: location, condition and price. 
 ”If one of those three isn’t good, your home may not sell, but you can always compensate for a less-than-perfect location with a better price,” Gill says. 
 Here are five tips to sell your home this spring. 
 1. Pay attention to curb appeal. Gill says buyers decide within 60 seconds of seeing a home whether they want to consider buying it. 
 ”People know immediately something will fly, so you need to make sure you don’t turn them off before they get in the door,” says Gill. 
 Gill recommends trimming trees and bushes so buyers can see the house, and pressure washing the driveway, front walk, house and patio. He suggests cleaning and painting the front door because buyers must linger at the door while they wait for the&nbsp;agent to open the lockbox. 
 Findlay proposes adding colorful flowers to sell your home this spring and cleaning the windows so they sparkle inside and out. She suggests putting down mulch at least a few days before an open house so the smell fades before prospective buyers&nbsp;arrive. 
 2. Pare down possessions. Findlay says sellers need to go through all of their furniture and closets with a discerning eye. 
 ”If you have 17 sweaters, you need to pare it down to two, so your closets look bigger,” Findlay says. ”Pack up anything you want to keep, and put it off-site in a pod or a storage unit because you want your home to look like it always has plenty&nbsp;of space in all the closets.” 
 Bonnie <a href="/topics//Kyte">Kyte</a>, a Realtor with Re/Max Choice, in Fairfax, Va., suggests being mindful of your senses, especially sight and smell. 
 ”If you have dark corners in the house, get rid of clutter in those areas, paint them a light color and reflect the color with lighting,” she says. ”If you have a pet, clean the carpets and open the windows to air out the house. Clean or get rid&nbsp;of your drapes if they carry a pet odor.” 
 3. Do pre-inspection repairs. If you know a home inspector is going to find something wrong with your house, go ahead and fix it first, <a href="/topics//Kyte">Kyte</a> says. 
 Findlay says it usually costs less to fix things before a home inspection, so she brings in an electrician to make sure the electrical panel has been updated. If needed, she will also bring in a plumber before a listing goes on the market. 
 4. Price it right. Even though prices are rising in some areas, <a href="/topics//Kyte">Kyte</a> says sellers need to be reasonable and compare their homes to similar properties that have recently sold. 
 "Buyers today are savvy shoppers,” Findlay says. ”If you price too low, they’ll think something is wrong with your home. If you price it too high and have to lower your price, it will hurt you more than if you price it right the first time.” 
 Gill says overpriced homes that stay on the market for 90 to 120 days are extremely difficult to sell. 
 ”The other danger of overpricing is that appraisers are cautious and may not value your home as high as the sales price even if you find a buyer willing to pay that much,” says Gill. 
 5. Hire a marketing magician. The majority of buyers start their home search online. To sell a home this spring, make sure that professional photos, a virtual tour and a vibrant description are widely available on multiple websites, advises Findlay. She&nbsp;says more buyers are using mobile phones and tablets to search for homes, so marketing materials should be easy to navigate from those devices, too. 
 <a href="/topics//Kyte">Kyte</a> says she starts marketing the moment she has a signed listing agreement, contacting other Realtors and neighbors to let them know the home will be coming on the market. 
<hr> 
 NATIONAL MORTGAGE RATES 
 Mortgage rates inched down for the sixth consecutive week during the week of April 25, 2013 as more homebuyers contribute to the housing recovery. 
 The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points to 3.57 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. 
 The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 5 basis points to 2.8 percent. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, stayed at 3.98 percent. 
 The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 1 basis point to 2.65 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter.

reSPRING29

Selling a home becomes easier in spring 2013 as buyers rush for low rates, prices

Open House -crop

The decision whether to sell a home or to rent it out has always been tricky, but on <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a>, parts of which were devastated by superstorm Sandy, there are many obstacles to either choice. 
 There are more renters in the region because many lost their homes, so there are many opportunities for homeowners to lease out their properties. 
 At the same time, the housing market seems to finally be picking up, so it may be easier to sell a home this spring, the traditional start of the home buying season, than in recent years. 
 From Jan. 1 to Feb. 2, agents from <a href="/topics//RedFin.com">Redfin</a>, the mostly online real estate brokerage, conducted 53 percent more home tours on <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a> than they did during the same period last year, demonstrating that many more people may be looking to move. At the same time, the housing supply on <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a> from January 2012 to this January fell by 20 percent, according company, which may mean that luck could be turning for sellers. 
 Before making a decision, dissect the financial and emotional fallouts of both choices, experts say. 
 "There are many important as well as surprising things to consider when deciding whether to rent or sell your home," says Jamie Rosner, partner in the law office of Keegan &amp; Keegan, Ross &amp; Rosner LLP in <a href="/topics//Patchogue,_NY">Patchogue</a> and <a href="/topics//Mattituck,_NY">Mattituck</a>. 
<h3> 1. What is your goal?</h3> 
 The first thing homeowners must determine is whether they want the immediate cash that follows a home sale or whether they want to potentially make more in the long run via renting. 
 "Are they selling their home because they want to retire and perhaps live someplace more cost-effective?" asks Steven Labiner, certified financial planner with <a href="/topics//AXA">AXA</a> Advisors LLC in <a href="/topics//Woodbury,_NY">Woodbury</a>. This has long been a popular question with Long <a href="/topics//New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> who are considering relocating to Southern states like Florida and <a href="/topics//North_Carolina">North Carolina</a>, where the cost of living is lower. 
 Other questions that homeowners need to ask themselves, whether they are moving off the Island or not: Are they planning to use any of the equity in the home to subsidize retirement cash flow? Are they looking to reduce current expenses? Do they have the financial ability to hold the property with the expectation that the real estate market is going to increase? 
<h3> 2. What can you afford to do?</h3> 
 Knowing your current monthly living expenses is essential, says Labiner. Track how much money you're spending. Then, figure out if you can afford to rent out your home or if you need to sell. 
 "Would the rental income cover their mortgage payment, property taxes, maintenance and other unexpected costs? . . . If they sell their home, where would they live? What are the estimated costs associated with the new home?" Labiner asks. 
 If the home was purchased at the height of the market and still carries a large mortgage, there's a chance that rent may not even cover the house's expenses, says Reena Gulati, a real estate attorney and owner of Reena Gulati PLC in <a href="/topics//New_Hyde_Park,_NY">New Hyde Park</a>. 
 If residents need help answering these questions and crunching the numbers, there are local and federal sources that can help. For those with questions about their mortgage, the <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a> Housing Partnership offers free counseling in more than 150 languages. 
 For those with resources who want advice on whether to sell their home or rent it out, an accountant can be a source from a tax-planning perspective while a real estate agent is more of an expert on housing and rental prices. 
 And a financial professional can work in conjunction with the accountant and the Realtor to offer a broader perspective. 
 A financial professional would look at the big picture, such as income and expense needs and could run forecasts based on assumptions," Labiner says. 
<h3> 3. Would it be legal?</h3> 
 Before even thinking about renting out a home, residents may need to apply for a permit, Rosner says. Answers about this process and the permit application can be found in the home's town or village code of regulations (find this at the local government office). 
 Violations of these rental codes can result in significant fines. The whole permit process can be time-consuming, depending on the rules of the town. Once the homeowner has submitted the permit application, it could take a few days before the town grants a permit. 
<h3> 4. Do you want to be a landlord?</h3> 
 Some people may not be cut out for the responsibility of renting out a home, says <a href="/topics//Robert_Campbell">Robert Campbell</a>, associate professor of finance at <a href="/topics//Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>. It can affect you financially and emotionally -- and it's hard to plan for every factor that may come into play with a bad tenant who could potentially destroy your home and cease paying rent. 
 "The emotional, financial and legal risks of renting out are immense, incalculable and impossible to predict or control," Campbell says. 
 If anything goes wrong -- electrical problems, toxic substances (liquid or airborne) and structural issues that could lead to damage -- the landlord is responsible, Campbell says. 
 There are ways to minimize problems, and a licensed inspector combined with high-liability insurance might help. The length of the lease also may protect or harm the homeowner. 
 Yearly leases may sound more secure than they are, Gulati says. If the renter stops paying the rent, he can still live there until the end of the lease. Fighting a legal battle will be costly and time consuming. 
 "Sometimes, it's beneficial to do a month-to-month because you can give a 30-day warning and then you can get them out easier," Gulati says. 
 The lease terms also are important. If the landlord plans to show a home to potential buyers while it is being rented, then the number of visits by potential buyers must be outlined in the terms of the lease. "If it's not in the lease, they're not required to let the landlord in," Gulati says. 
 Making sure the lease is specific is important -- and it could wind up costing the landlord thousands of dollars if the lease isn't airtight. 
<h3> 5. Would you have regrets?</h3> 
 "To help lower your stress, consider which decision you'll enjoy more, not which is the right decision," says Anthony Centore, chief executive of Thriveworks Counseling, a <a href="/topics//Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a>-based company that provides therapist referrals nationwide. 
 This might make the best choice more apparent. 
<h3> For sale</h3> 
 This <a href="/topics//Woodbury,_NY">Woodbury</a> home is large enough for a family and for the in-laws. It has 5,600 square feet containing six bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms and a separate guest suite with its own kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. The grand, two-story entrance leads to the formal living room. The asking price is $1,495,000. Listing agent: Gary Baumann, <a href="/topics//Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate, 631-767-5894 
<h3> For rent</h3> 
 This large, private Huntington home is in the secluded <a href="/topics//West_Hills,_NY">West Hills</a> area on an acre of land. It has four large bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms, along with a covered deck and two-car attached garage. It's close to the parkway and to the train. It's available to rent for $3,850 a month. Listing agent: Peter Demidovich, Realty Connect USA, 516-714-4140 
<h3> Crunch the numbers</h3> 
 See if you can profitably rent out your home or whether you need to sell at this online calculator: forbes.com/fdc/rentorsell.shtml.

LSMAIN29.WEB

Sell the house or rent it out? What to do

bzHOME24

Robert Krier lives in a 6,000-square-foot dream home. For $600 a month. 
 Krier and his wife, Patricia, have found a sweet spot in the market. They take advantage of the glut of empty homes for sale. The couple are among a class of tenants known as "caretakers," charged with keeping unsold properties in good shape and staged to impress potential buyers. 
 For $600 monthly rent, the Kriers live in a stone house in downtown Denver that has stood for more than a century. It boasts five fireplaces, four bedrooms and a wraparound wooden porch. "It's real nice," says Krier, a 65-year-old semi-retired music teacher. 
 The Kriers are clients of Denver-based Caretakers of America, or COA. Other caretaker businesses dot the national landscape, although none are affiliated with the original in Denver, says founder Randy Bridge. He and entrepreneurs such as Tom Schmidt, who started Homes In Transition, or HIT, in <a href="/topics//Albuquerque,_NM">Albuquerque</a>, N.M., have been matching owners of vacant properties with flexible tenants since the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. 
 "We find credible, well-vetted tenants," says Schmidt. The background check includes immigration status, criminal history and credit standing. "We don't place people randomly. We look at the furnishings they own and match these individuals to the various properties in the program." 
 HIT charges $680 a month in rent, regardless of the size of the 80 homes in its stable. "Caretakers pay a screaming great rate to live in an excellent house," Schmidt says. COA's rents don't exceed $600 for its inventory of 60 homes that list for $350,000 to $600,000, Bridge says. HIT and COA make tenants pay utilities and any homeowner association fees. Tenants maintain landscaping, keep the house clean and handle minor repairs. 
 The Kriers got in the game seven years ago at the height of the housing market after the last of their seven children left the 3,000-square-foot home they shared. "We were trying to downsize, and the house sold very quickly," Krier says. The couple is now on its 11th property. They stayed in one for 18 months; their shortest stint was 90 days. 
 Bridge says all sorts of people sign up to rent as caretakers. "It's regular folks moving into the area, looking to get a feel for the market before buying," he says. "It could be people with financial difficulties, looking to get back on their feet but who can't afford a place big enough for a family." Some caretakers have relocated for a short-term job. Others are having a house built but sold their previous home faster than expected, so they need to rent for a while. 
 Tenants must be ready to show seven days a week for about 10 hours starting around 9 a.m. "These caretakers are living in a bit of a fishbowl," Schmidt says. Krier says showings average two a day when a property first lists, but the flow slows after a week or two. "You have to have the place straightened up before you leave for work, the dishes done, the bathrooms neat," he says. 
 Tenants must be ready to move on 30 days' notice, although Schmidt says it often takes longer than a month to get from contract to closing. COA can boot its clients in 10 days, but Bridge says most caretakers get a month's notice. 
 "It's a pretty cool idea," says Tracy Highspencer, an agent with <a href="/topics//Century_21">Century 21</a> Camco in <a href="/topics//Albuquerque,_NM">Albuquerque</a>, N.M. He's sold two homes that have had caretakers in them. "A lot of times, a home will show better with furniture in it than when vacant." Home-staging firms have for years been selling services to furnish vacant properties using that theory. 
 Putting in tenants takes staging a step further, even adding more "life" to a property, says Brian Sanchez, who listed his house with HIT in New Mexico after moving to the <a href="/topics//Washington,_D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a>, area for his job. "There's inherent warmth when somebody is living in a home, and that comes across." His 3,150 square-foot home lists for $570,000, and he says it would rent for more than $3,000 a month. But the headaches of becoming a landlord made that option untenable for him. 
 Sanchez is typical of the homeowners who hire caretaker firms, worried that the property might fall into disrepair or get vandalized. HIT charges them $1,500, but knocks $500 off that for every 30 days the house doesn't sell. COA charges no fee to owners. 
 Even though the housing market has shown signs of recovery, HIT and COA say they will survive even another bubble. "We've been around in good times and bad," Bridge says. That means opportunities for people like the Kriers to live in palatial homes for bungalow-sized rents will persist. 
<hr> 
 Mortgage rates inched down the week of April 18, 2013 as anxious investors sought safe investments such as Treasury notes and mortgage bonds. 
 The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 3 basis points to 3.61 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. 
 The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points to 2.85 percent. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, fell 5 basis points to 3.98 percent. 
 The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points to 2.66 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter.

reRENTING22

Large unsold homes get caretakers via matching firms

Mansion -crop

Being near public transportation can help retain a home’s value, according to a new study released Thursday by the American Public Transportation Association and the National Association of Realtors. 
 The study — “The New Real-Estate Mantra: Location Near Public Transportation” — looked at how well residential properties near high-frequency public transportation retained their value during the recession compared to other properties in a given region. 
 Judging by five regions — Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Phoenix — residential property values performed 41 percent better on average if they were near transportation with high-frequency service, according to the study. The study showed that while property values declined between 2006 and 2011, the value of properties close to public transportation showed significantly stronger resiliency. 
 Though there aren’t statistics to say the same holds true for Long Island, Kevin Leatherman, 2013 president of Multiple Listing Service of Long Island and broker at Coldwell Banker Surf in Rockville Centre, says he thinks some homes do sell more quickly if they are near a train station. Commuter or not, Leatherman says, “If somebody lives within walking distance of the Long Island Rail Road, it’s a tremendous benefit.” 
 Some couples can get away with having one car, he adds, noting it’s especially true for those coming from the city who all of a sudden need a set of wheels to get around the Island. “Some buyers see the value in paying a premium for the convenience,” Leatherman says. And as roads become more congested, living near a train station may become even more desirable.

Train access has value for real estate

real li blog 3.21.13 crp

More American homeowners will be able to use their properties as cash machines again after real estate equity jumped last year by the most in 65 years. 
 Property owners recaptured $1.6 trillion as home values climbed to the highest levels since 2007. The amount by which the value of the houses exceeds their underlying mortgages rose to $8.2 trillion last year, a gain of 25 percent, according to&nbsp;<a href="/topics//Federal_Reserve">Federal Reserve</a> data. 
 An expanding group of homeowners is able to get cash from their properties as banks show more willingness to make home equity loans with the market’s recovery. Originations for so-called junior, or second, mortgages should rise 10 percent to almost&nbsp;$83 billion this year, from about $75 billion in 2012, said Shaun Richardson, a vice president at Icon Advisory Group, a mortgage analytics firm in <a href="/topics//Greensboro,_NC">Greensboro</a>, <a href="/topics//North_Carolina">North Carolina</a>. About 6 percent of lenders eased equity-mortgage standards at the end of&nbsp;2012, the most in 18 months, according to the Fed. 
 “Lenders are starting to come back into the marketplace,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at <a href="/topics//Bankrate_Inc">Bankrate Inc.</a> “We’re not going back to the wild, Wild West we saw during the real estate boom, but we are going to see more people spending&nbsp;their equity.” 
 Americans went on a spending spree in the five years before the 2006 peak of the real estate market, tapping about $800 billion of their rising equity to spend on everything from cars and televisions to debt consolidation and <a href="/topics//Higher_Education">college tuition</a>. 
 DECLARED WORTHLESS 
 At the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, close to $1 trillion of the loans were outstanding at U.S. banks and credit unions, an all-time high, according to the Fed. In the housing crash that followed, banks wrote off, or declared worthless, about $251 billion of home equity loans, according to the <a href="/topics//Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corp.">Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.</a> 
 The year-old real estate recovery is helping to ease defaults. The volume of equity loans 90 days or more overdue dropped 25 percent in the fourth quarter to $3.2 billion from the prior period, according to the <a href="/topics//FDIC">FDIC</a>. As a result, banks are beginning&nbsp;to view equity lending as a potential source of income, rather than losses, said Stuart Feldstein, president of SMR Research Corp., a consumer-lending research firm in Hackettstown, <a href="/topics//New_Jersey">New Jersey</a>. 
 “This could be the year banks see the home-equity business return to black ink, as long as defaults continue to decline,” Feldstein said. 
 Home-equity mortgages held by banks probably will yield a 0.2 percent return on assets this year, which is the after-tax income on outstanding loans, Feldstein said. Improvements in home prices and credit quality over the next two years should put&nbsp;profit back to the pre-bust level of 1 percent to 1.5 percent return on assets, he said. 
 BANKS RETAIN 
 <a href="/topics//J.P._Morgan_Chase_&amp;_Co.">JPMorgan Chase</a> &amp; Co., <a href="/topics//Bank_of_America">Bank of America Corp.</a>, <a href="/topics//Wells_Fargo">Wells Fargo</a> &amp; Co. and <a href="/topics//Citigroup">Citigroup Inc.</a>, the top four U.S. banks by assets, hold $319.6 billion of the loans, about half of the outstanding balance of $652.6 billion, according to the Federal Deposit&nbsp;Insurance Corp. <a href="/topics//Bank_of_America">Bank of America</a> has the most home-equity loans, at $102.6 billion. 
 Unlike first-lien mortgages, banks retain most of their equity originations on their books. Only about 2 percent are securitized on the secondary market, said Feldstein. There are two kinds of home-equity mortgages: lines of credit, known as Helocs, and closed-end loans borrowed in lump sums. 
 Helocs are adjustable loans tied to the prime rate, the interest charged by banks to their most creditworthy customers, with the addition of a margin predetermined by the lender. The national average prime rate has been 3.25 percent since the end of&nbsp;2008, as measured by Bloomberg. 
 AVERAGE RATES 
 The average rate for a Heloc last week was 5.11 percent, down from 5.22 percent a year ago, according to <a href="/topics//Bankrate_Inc">Bankrate</a>.com, an interest-rate aggregator in North Palm Beach, Florida. That puts the average margin at close to 2 percent. 
 Closed-end loans, sometimes called He-loans, are usually fixed-rate junior mortgages. The average U.S. rate for a closed- end loan was 6.13 percent last week, according to <a href="/topics//Bankrate_Inc">Bankrate</a>. A year ago, the rate was 6.39 percent. Lenders usually require&nbsp;borrowers to retain at least 20 percent equity, meaning the junior mortgages added to the primary loan can’t exceed 80 percent of a home’s value, <a href="/topics//Bankrate_Inc">Bankrate</a>’s McBride said. 
 About $6.5 trillion of residential real estate value evaporated after a wave of mortgage defaults sparked the 2008 financial crisis. The median U.S. home price hit bottom in 2012 after a 33 percent drop, as measured by the National Association of&nbsp;Realtors. In February, the median price was up 12 percent from a year earlier, the trade group said last week. 
 TAKE RISKS 
 “Owners who have been sitting in their homes and watching their equity go up will be more likely to borrow and to spend, and more likely to take risks like looking for another house,” said Craig Focardi, senior research director at CEB TowerGroup.&nbsp;“Having home equity is a financial cushion to the average consumer’s personal balance sheet.” 
 A reviving real estate market added to gross domestic product last year for the first time since 2005, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis in Washington. The economy probably will grow at a 1.9 percent pace in 2013, the fourth year after the&nbsp;end of the <a href="/topics//Economic_Recession">recession</a>, according to the median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. 
 HOUSEHOLD SPENDING 
 Still, not everyone is spending. The amount households have in bank deposits, savings bonds, fixed-income mutual-funds and municipal securities increased $500 billion last year, equaling the most since 2007, according to FTN Financial, based on Fed&nbsp;data, while net household debt increased $10 billion, the least since 2005. 
 “You might qualify for a home-equity loan, but still have concerns about the economy or job security,” said Icon Advisory’s Richardson. “Or, you might be in that large group of people who need prices to come back a lot more before they qualify.” 
 Fed policymakers for four years have driven down fixed home-loan rates by purchasing mortgage-backed bonds to stimulate demand. Last week, the central bank said it would continue to buy securities at a pace of $85 billion a month in their third&nbsp;round of so-called quantitative easing. 
 At the end of 2012, the average rate for a 30-year fixed primary mortgage fell to an all-time low of 3.3 percent, according to home-loan financier <a href="/topics//Freddie_Mac">Freddie Mac</a> in McLean, <a href="/topics//Virginia">Virginia</a>. Falling rates helped to boost home sales to 4.7 million last year, a&nbsp;gain of 8.4 percent from 2011. 
 “When we see some more history of home-price stability and improving employment data, there will be more people thinking about using their equity,” said Focardi, of CEB TowerGroup. “Having equity gives a boost to confidence.”

reMORTGAGE26

Rising home values bring back home-equity loans

remortgage26

House-hunting can be so much fun and so overwhelming at the same time. If you are out looking for your next castle, it is wise to create a wish list of what you personally desire for your home, including the interiors. While viewing different houses, take a camera and a notepad to document how each compares to your list. In today's real-estate market, the features below are definitely on many homebuyers' wish lists. 
 What's in: Modern kitchens 
 The kitchen is the heart of every home and, therefore, has become the most important space for homebuyers. Increasingly, buyers want a modern open kitchen with an informal eat-in area, for both meals and homework. Center islands are desired, for their added counter space and storage. Large sinks under a window always are a hit. 
 Appliances are one of the most expensive items in a home, so make sure to look at the condition, age (including energy efficiency) and overall appearance. A lot of buyers are inclined to show status by having high-end appliances such as Wolf and Sub-Zero. As for countertops, natural stone such as granite is still popular, but quartz counters such as Silestone and Caesarstone are becoming more in demand. 
 What's out: Long, narrow galley kitchens and separate dining rooms 
 What's in: Open floor plans, numerous windows and high ceilings 
 In newer homes, buyers desire open spaces, such as the kitchen and family room having open access to each another. Superior natural lighting is on most homebuyers' wish lists, so large and abundant windows achieve this. High ceilings create spaciousness and give good lighting and decorating options. 
 What's out: Low ceilings covered in popcorn or knockdown textures 
 What's in: Durable hardwood flooring and tile 
 More and more, buyers are opting for homes with hardwood flooring and/or tile due to the resilience and maintenance. These floors also can give style and beauty to any room. 
 In older homes, original hardwood flooring may be hidden under old carpet. It's important to see what is underneath, and see if the hardwood can be refinished. Broadloom carpet may still be considered for bedrooms. 
 What's out: Different flooring in every room, dirty carpet 
 What's in: Lavish bathrooms 
 Buyers typically want at least two full bathrooms, preferably with windows for natural lighting and ventilation. They also desire walk-in showers instead of shower/tub combinations. However, at least one bathtub should be in the home. 
 For the master bathroom, most buyers wish for two sinks, a freestanding tub, a shower with a myriad of water features, and a separate water closet for the toilet. 
 What's out: Whirlpool tubs with expansive tub decks 
 What's in: Plentiful bedrooms 
 On average, most buyers want a minimum of three bedrooms, even if they are single or a couple without children. Bedrooms can serve multiple purposes, such as a home office, exercise room or man cave. Some buyers want all the bedrooms on the same level, especially if they have small children. 
 Most like the master bedroom to have some type of separation from the children's rooms and have their own in-suite bathroom and closet area. Boomers are seeking a full bedroom/bath on the first floor for aging parents, or for their own room later in life. 
 What's out: The master bedroom sharing a bathroom with another bedroom 
 What's in: Media-filled family/gathering room 
 The cocooning trend continues, as spending time with family and friends is paramount to well-being. Large flat-screen televisions and a comfortable seating area to accommodate many people are preferred by most buyers. Families now spend a lot of time on laptops and tablets while hanging out in this area. 
 What's out: Formal living rooms only used during the holidays 
 What's in: Outdoor living spaces 
 Buyers want an area to enjoy the great outdoors. This includes pool decks, outdoor kitchens, TV viewing areas and even fireplaces. Also in newer homes, there is a trend to integrate the interiors with the exterior and views, with large sliding glass doors, partitions and windows. 
 What's out: Heavy window treatments that don't permit natural light and views 
 What's in: Storage, storage, storage 
 Older homes provide less of this, whereas newer homes typically have more. Most buyers want large walk-in closets in the master bedroom. In luxury homes, custom built-in closet systems are a must. Savvy buyers also want ample closets for sporting equipment, holiday decorations, seasonal clothes and crafts supplies. If closets aren't prevalent, buyers may consider using a spare bedroom for additional storage. 
 What's out: Tiny closets with white wire shelving that yellows and becomes sticky 
 Michelle Jennings Wiebe is president and principal designer of Studio M in Tampa, Fla. Reach her at designer@interiorsbystudiom.com.&nbsp;

reTRENDS16

Tips for home sellers to appeal to home buyers

Kitchen -- cropped

Given the cold, dark and unpredictable weather, selling a home in winter requires more toil -- from shoveling to holiday decorating -- than it takes to sell in summer. 
 While the number of homebuyers drops in winter, those left hunting are generally a more serious group ready to make a deal now, brokers say. Meanwhile, competition drops as other sellers decide to pull their homes off the market and wait for spring. 
 "It is a myth that homes don't sell in the winter," says Leslie <a href="/topics//Leslie_Mann">Mann</a>, an agent with Hallmark Sotheby's International Realty in Hopkinton, Mass. "We have been really busy." 
 Here are a few tips to help home sellers enchant potential homebuyers in winter: 
 -- Crank up the heat: Cold houses don't sell. If potential buyers shiver at your open house, they aren't likely to stick around, let alone make an offer. This isn't the time to save on the heating bill. Keep the thermometer at least at a steady 70 degrees. A cold house sends the wrong message. "It doesn't need to be hot; it needs to be not cold," says Ronald Phipps, immediate past president of the National Association of Realtors and principal broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. 
 -- Get shoveling: Don't let a little snow come between you and the next owner of your house. Get shoveling, and make sure the walkway is clear. If someone has to slip and slide their way into your house, you'll lose the battle before they cross the front door. 
 If you want buyers to attend your open house, make sure they have a place to park. This can be challenging when snow banks and drifts accumulate. Don't clear just the driveway -- shovel out some spaces on the street as well, says Rona Fischman, principal broker of 4 Buyers Real Estate in Cambridge, Mass. While you are at it, make sure you don't wind up with big piles of dirty snow near the front door. "If they are concerned about breaking a leg, then they are not paying attention to your house in a good way," she says. 
 -- Build a snowman: Nothing says "welcome to your new house" more than a Frosty in the front yard ready to greet potential buyers, Fischman says. And why not get creative here? You could dress him up in a <a href="/topics//Century_21">Century 21</a> T-shirt -- or whatever your agency of choice is -- or even put the for-sale sign in his hands, she says. 
 -- Decorate, but don't go overboard: Some Realtors suggest stripping a house of all holiday decorations to avoid turning off potential buyers. But that sends the wrong message. After all, buyers are trying to get a feel for whether your house could become their next home. If your house is cold, empty and sterile, that sends the wrong message, Fischman says. 
 But be careful here. This is not the time to go nuts with plastic lawn ornaments. It might be the season to stow Santa and his reindeer out of sight in your cellar, Mann says. She recalls taking a potential buyer to see a house where the owners had gone over-the-top with <a href="/topics//Christmas">Christmas</a> kitsch. "The buyer said, 'I didn't know the Griswolds lived here.' It did not help them at all." 
 Better to focus on some lighter, classier touches, such as wrapping a garland around the banister on the stairs or putting up a wreath. "It really makes the entryway pop," Mann says. 
 -- Become a weather freak, and stay flexible: One thing you can't control during the winter is the weather. It's time to start tuning into <a href="/topics//The_Weather_Channel">The Weather Channel</a>, at least while you're trying to sell your house. When planning an open house, it's better to be prepared for weather changes. If a big storm is headed your way, maybe it's a good idea to reschedule for a new day or push a morning open house into the afternoon, Mann advises. Even if you can lure a few buyers out in the storm, a dark and dreary day is probably not the best backdrop for showing off your house. "You have to have some level of flexibility when selling in the winter," she says. 
<hr> 
 The rate on the most popular type of mortgage rose this week, despite the Fed's renewed efforts to push rates down. Rates on other types of mortgages were unchanged. 
 The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up 2 basis points to 3.52 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. 
 The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 2.85 percent, unchanged from last week. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, stayed at 3.98 percent. 
 The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage was 2.74 percent, the same as last week. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter. 
 The volume of mortgage applications increased 6.2 percent last week, compared to one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

reSELL15

How to sell a house in the winter

Winter House -- cropped

When superstorm Sandy struck, Marilyn Singer, 76, was already planning to say goodbye to the <a href="/topics//Island_Park,_NY">Island Park</a> home she'd shared with her husband Sy, 82, since they were newlyweds in 1955. The couple, who raised three sons there, had listed the home for sale six months ago and were living in their second home in <a href="/topics//Boca_Raton">Boca Raton</a>, Fla. Even though they were about to go into contract when the storm hit, the damage to their home left them shocked and without a sale. 
 "It's just so devastating. Until it happens to you, you just have no idea what it feels like," says Singer. "This may sound crazy, but you get a numbness about you. It's almost like somebody died." 
 Countless home sellers on <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a> found themselves in similar circumstances in the wake of the storms, and the question on everyone's mind is, "Now what?" 
 The market was frozen in place -- along with everything else -- in the immediate aftermath of the storm. "People were just paralyzed," recalls home seller Rick Hamberger, 57, a retired economist for U.S. <a href="/topics//Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>. 
 Although his <a href="/topics//Sea_Cliff,_NY">Sea Cliff</a> home was undamaged, Hamberger recalls how he was unable to show it due to power outages and the gas shortage. "Now it's getting better as things get cleaned up," he says. Listing agent Sandi Lefkowitz of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty agrees that activity is picking up: The home, listed for $599,000, had two showings in the days before <a href="/topics//Thanksgiving">Thanksgiving</a>. Hamberger has also received inquiries from people seeking rentals. 
 But even as the most obvious obstacles are being cleared away, sellers with homes on the market are nervously wondering what the storm's impact will be on a slowly recovering housing market. Certain market forces, such as tight lending practices and the seasonal slowdown that typically occurs toward the end of the year, remain beyond their control. Others, such as the storm's long-term effects on momentum and pricing, are impossible to predict. 
 Real estate experts are beginning to piece together what the post-Sandy real estate market might look like. Here are their tips and strategies for handling some of the unusual challenges now faced by home sellers. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Repairs to your home</h3> 
 What if the storm damage to my home is beyond what I'm willing or able to repair? 
 "You have to figure out, 'How much is worth putting into this house versus what I'll get out of it?' " says <a href="/topics//Commack,_NY">Commack</a> real estate attorney Lita Smith-Mines. If you can't or don't want to fix it and you're leaving anyway, you might consider selling to an investor, she suggests. A tree through the window won't matter to a builder who plans to take the house down to the studs, she points out. "Instead of addressing the house, address who you market it to. You may no longer have a desirable house, but you may still have desirable property," she says. 
 That's what the Singers are doing. They had their home gutted and reduced the price on the 100-by-120-foot property from $569,000 to a range of $400,876-$499,876 in hopes of attracting a builder. "The real reason why it's special is they're on a double piece of property. . . . It's two buildable lots," says listing agent Tom Tripodi of <a href="/topics//Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in <a href="/topics//Long_Beach,_NY">Long Beach</a>. "The positive is that there could be two brand-new homes built on this, so someone is going to get a great deal compared to what they were a month ago," he says. "Everybody realizes it's a disaster, and with a disaster comes loss. But with every loss, there's a gain." 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Condition of the neighborhood</h3> 
 My house was spared, but my neighborhood has unsightly damage. Should I hold off showing my home till the area is cleaned up? 
 Keep showing it, says <a href="/topics//Great_Neck,_NY">Great Neck</a> native Khashy Eyn, real estate broker and chief executive of Manhattan-based Platinum Properties. A storm-damaged roof or fence isn't the same as an unkempt yard or other signs of undesirable neighbors. "These kinds of things happen everywhere in the world . . . It's a natural disaster." 
 Riina Friedrich of Friedrich Real Estate in <a href="/topics//Babylon,_NY">Babylon</a> agrees. "I wouldn't stop showing a house. . . . It's not a secret, everybody knows what's happened," she says. The obvious exception is the hard-hit flood-prone areas. "It might be difficult to sell a house on the water if your whole entire neighborhood looks bad. I'm not showing my waterfront listings right now till they finish their repairs. I will be upfront if there's a water situation in the neighborhood," Friedrich says. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Length of time on the market</h3> 
 Should I remove and re-list my home? 
 While conventional real estate wisdom says that every day a home lingers on the market will chip away at its final sale price, analysts say that the rule of thumb doesn't necessarily apply here. That's because Sandy and the nor'easter forced the entire area into a standstill -- and when everyone around you is standing still, you can't get left behind. 
 "Houses that have a 30- to 45-day longer marketing period than they might otherwise have had without this event, they get a pass this time, because everybody is quite aware of the problems and the delays with the market that are attributable to the storms," says <a href="/topics//Jonathan_Miller">Jonathan Miller</a>, a Manhattan-based appraiser who tracks the <a href="/topics//Long_Island,_NY">Long Island</a> housing market. "It's a market-wide event." 
 Friedrich says it's even OK to leave it on the market through the typically slow holiday season. "I'm not a fan of resetting the clock. Buyers are so educated with the Internet these days," she says. Anyone who is interested in buying your home is already watching it -- and they are more interested in the price than the days on the market, she says. 
 Ken Aldrich, 66, an assistant superintendent in the <a href="/topics//Seaford,_NY">Seaford</a> School District, says that despite the storms and the holiday slowdown, he isn't taking his three-bedroom <a href="/topics//South_Jamesport,_NY">South Jamesport</a> home off the market. "Come spring, I'm sure somebody will be by who really wants to have this. They'll want to know that the water didn't bother it . . . the home is high and dry and did very well." The house, which was recently featured in Newsday, is listed for $539,000. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Buyers' concerns</h3> 
 How do I handle buyers' new concerns about potential hazards? 
 When it comes to the obvious things, such as flooding, sellers of unscathed homes have been quick to update their listing comments with phrases such as "high and dry" and "no hurricane damage." But post-Sandy sellers will also have to anticipate unprecedented questions such as, "How close is the nearest transformer?" or "Was there toxic sewage that came into the area?" To prepare for this, "you want to do some investigative work, even if the house wasn't touched by the storm. Find out what's going on in the area," says Smith-Mines. 
 Your county department of health or the <a href="/topics//New_York_(state)">New York</a> State Department of Environmental Conservation could be helpful. You could consider having your own environmental testing done so you'll have the paperwork ready if buyers request it, she says. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Damage while in contract</h3> 
 What if my home was already in contract when it was damaged by the storms? 
 Lenders are requiring reinspections, but you may be asked to provide certification for boilers, air-conditioning units and other appliances that may have been affected by floodwaters, and you will be expected to repair the home to its pre-Sandy condition or close to it, says Baldwin attorney Chandra Ortiz, a member of the Nassau County Bar Association's Real Property Committee. Stay on top of your insurer to get it resolved as quickly as possible, and work only with reputable contractors, she advises. "You want licensed and insured contractors." Call your county's consumer affairs department to confirm license information and to check for complaints, she says. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> Insurance snags</h3> 
 What can I do about insurance complications? 
 Insurance presents a couple of potential snags. For one, if you have a pending claim for damage, the buyers' insurer may want to wait till it's resolved before granting the new policy. "Buyers want to put into the contract that, 'If I can't get insurance, I won't go through with the deal, even if I get approved for a mortgage,'" says Smith-Mines. Call your insurer to find out your options. "Sellers might at times be able to transfer their own insurance policy to the buyers. It never hurts to ask," she says. 
 It's uncommon, but a significant increase in the cost of insurance could create another problem for homes in contract: The lender could pull the buyers' financing. "If the total of the tax, insurance and mortgage exceeds the ratio of the program they applied for, it's possible," Smith-Mines says. "You have to be nimble and think on your feet," she says. "The seller could say, 'I'll pay your first year's premium,' and the lender might accept that." It may be a long shot, but if it could save the deal, it's worth trying, she says.

LSMAIN30.WEB

Selling a home after superstorm Sandy

LSMAIN30 -- cropped

Struggling homeowners who owe more on a government-backed mortgage than their home is worth caught a break this week. 
 The <a href="/topics//Federal_Housing_Finance_Agency">Federal Housing Finance Agency</a>, which regulates the two mortgage giants that back a majority of U.S. home loans, announced new rules that take effect Nov. 1 aimed at making it easier to complete a short sale -- even if you're current on your mortgage payments. 
 In a short sale, your lender allows you to sell the home for less than you owe on the mortgage. It is a way to avoid foreclosure. 
 Here are the changes: 
 <a href="/topics//Fannie_Mae">Fannie Mae</a> and <a href="/topics//Freddie_Mac">Freddie Mac</a> -- the two government-owned firms involved in these changes -- will allow mortgage servicers to speed up the short sale process if you’re behind on your mortgage payments, have a credit score below 620 and experience one of several financial hardships. In the past, these borrowers would have had to submit extensive documentation to prove hardship. The new rules reduce or, in some cases, eliminate the need for documentary proof. 
 The new rules limit to $6,000 the amount paid to holders of second mortgages, such as home-equity loans. That payment is supposed to keep companies that hold second liens – who often slow the process by negotiating higher payments -- from holding up short sales, FHFA officials said. However, The <a href="/topics//Wall_Street_Journal">Wall Street Journal</a> reported that second-mortgage holders would still be able to reject a sale. 
 Military service members who get transferred automatically will be eligible for short sales and won’t have to make up any shortfall between the home sale price and what they owe. 
 And perhaps most significantly, borrowers who are current on their mortgages, but who have experienced a life change or financial hardship will have their short sale expedited. 
 Among the financial challenges that qualify as hardships: death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce, disability, moving more than 50 miles to take a job, increased housing expenses, disaster (natural or man-made) or business failure. 
 Short sales make it possible for many homeowners to walk away without having to pay the difference between what their home sells for and what they owe. 
 But having one of those life events happen to you isn’t enough by itself to get <a href="/topics//Fannie_Mae">Fannie Mae</a> or Freddie <a href="/topics//Mac_Cosmetics">Mac</a> to forgive the difference. 
 If you have the assets to cover the loss, you’re going to have to pay something or risk having your lender ask the court to issue what’s called a "deficiency judgment" against you, FHFA said. A deficiency judgment gives the lender the right to collect the difference between what you owed on the mortgage and the amount your home sale nets.

re-shortsales

New rules make short sale approval  easier

With average home prices back where they were 10 years ago and sales still sluggish, it seems as if sellers can't catch a break. But if you want to sell your home this year, there are glimmers of hope. The National Association of Realtors recently reported that sales of existing homes nationally rose slightly from the year before. Plus, the inventory of existing homes for sale fell 21 percent from the year before. 
 But even if you have less competition and better prospects, today's buyers are still a tough bunch. They're nervous and risk-averse. They want a home in move-in condition, with all the upgrades completed, because they know they can't count on a quick increase in the home's value to help them recoup money they spend on improvements. "You must find a way to improve the condition or lower the price until a buyer pulls the trigger," says Leigh Brown, an agent with Re/Max in Charlotte, N.C. 
 How long will it take to sell your home? You can get a rough idea by looking at the average "days on the market," preferably for your neighborhood and price tier. You'll find that and other market statistics on the website of the local Realtors association or from an agent. You may have some advantage if your home is in a desirable location because, say, it's in a good school district or close to jobs. 
 As a seller, you may have your own issues to grapple with -- not the least of which is thinking your home is worth more than it is. Gayle Henderson, an agent with Re/Max in Phoenix, recommends that sellers play "buyer for a day" to check out the competition in their neighborhood. It will help you be more realistic about the price you set for your home. 
 Above all, find a good agent. Don't interview just one candidate -- that's a mistake that two-thirds of sellers make, according to the National Association of Realtors. In addition to a history of successful sales in or around your neighborhood, you want total honesty -- even if it's painful to hear that you must spend money in order to sell. 
 In 2010, sellers nationwide paid an average commission of 5.4 percent, reports Real Trends, a real estate consulting firm. If an agent or the agent's firm wants to be able to represent you and a buyer in the same transaction in order to collect the full commission, try to negotiate the rate down by one or two percentage points. 
 Patricia Mertz Esswein is an associate editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit www.Kiplinger.com.

re-selling

Size up the market before you list your house

Economy Existing Home Sales

Thinking of buying or selling a home? 
 Even when both sides agree on a price, the deal could fall apart thanks to an under-appraisal. 
 Here's the increasingly common scenario: The seller lists the house for $325,000, the buyer offers $275,000 and they settle on a $300,000 sales price. A week before closing, the appraisal comes in at $265,000, the maximum upon which the bank or mortgage company is willing to lend. 
 Who's going to make up the $35,000 shortfall? 
 "This has proven to be a fairly significant problem," says Walter Molony, senior public affairs specialist with the National Association of Realtors, in <a href="/topics/Washington%2C_D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> 
 In the aforementioned scenario, the seller -- having already come down -- typically doesn't want to drop the price further. The buyer may not have the available cash, or may not be willing to pay more than the appraised value. 
 Consequently, the wheels often fall off the deal. 
 Short appraisals typically arise in a declining housing market because the lack of recent comparable area homes sales, or "comps," making it difficult for appraisers to determine the current market value of a property. 
 When home sales slow, good comps "age" fast. Add foreclosures and short sales to the mix and appraisals can run all over the map. 
 The Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC, that went into effect last May has compounded the problem. The HVCC prohibits <a href="/topics/Fannie_Mae">Fannie Mae</a> and <a href="/topics/Freddie_Mac">Freddie Mac</a> lenders from having direct contact with appraisers. 
 As a result, most lenders have opted to work through appraisal management companies, or AMCs, whose pool of residential appraisers includes those with limited training and/or little familiarity with the geographic area being appraised. 
 A rash of recent questionable appraisals has prompted the National Association of Realtors and others to call for a moratorium on the new code, Molony says. 
 "We were deluged by complaints from our members," he says. 
 "Our findings show that among successful home buyers in the last year, 12 to 13 percent experienced a contract cancellation and this is the cause. Prior to this year, that figure would have been a low single-digit number." 
 Dean Moss, broker associate with Keller Williams Realty -- Lincoln Square in Chicago, has seen six instances of "severe" under-appraisals this year. While the buyer may lose the dream house and inspection and appraisal fees, the seller is often left with a much larger problem. 
 That's especially true with <a href="/topics/Federal_Housing_Administration">Federal Housing Administration</a> or Veterans Affairs deals; in such instances, a file number is assigned to the appraisal, Moss says. 
 "So, the next buyer has to look up that file number," he says. "They can't just put that appraisal in a drawer. It puts a permanent mark on the property that impairs its ability to sell." 
 That's a bitter pill to swallow, especially if your under-appraisal is unsupported by valid comps. 
 Leslie Sellers, president of the Appraisal Institute in Chicago, says the root problem lies with the way AMCs are compensated. 
 "They are paid a fee and they make their money on the spread between what they can get paid from the bank and what they can hire an appraiser for," Sellers says. "Over a period of time, the lesser and lesser quality appraisers are the ones that end up getting all the work. 
 "As a result, we have appraisers who do not have competency in how to properly verify sales in declining markets and are using improper sales, known as comps. Many times they aren't doing fraudulent things; they just don't know what they don't know." 
 How can you protect yourself from short appraisals? Here are some suggestions for buyers and sellers. 
 If you're a buyer 
 -- Tell your lender to find an appraiser who comes from your county, or perhaps a neighboring county. 
 -- Request that the appraiser have a residential appraiser certification and a professional designation. Examples include the Appraisal Institute's senior residential appraiser, or SRA, or member of the Appraisal Institute, or MAI, designations. 
 -- Meet the appraiser when he or she inspects the home and share your knowledge of recent short sales and foreclosures that might skew the comps. 
 "Many appraisers are just pulling up data out of <a href="/topics/Major_League_Soccer">MLS</a> (Multiple Listing Service) or off the deed at the courthouse and not checking it out," Sellers says. "Most good appraisers will appreciate the information." 
 And yes, you can speak with your appraiser; the prohibition only applies to your lender. 
 If you're a seller 
 -- Get an appraisal before you list a home. Search for a qualified appraiser in your area on the Appraisal Institute website. 
 -- Use the appraisal to set a realistic listing price for your home. 
 -- Give a copy of your prelisting appraisal to the buyer's appraiser. "They won't be offended," Sellers says. "The more professional appraisers will understand that you're just trying to add more data and another perspective." 
 -- Question a low appraisal. There's always a chance the appraiser or a supervisor will take into account new or overlooked information.

re-appraisal

How to keep low appraisal from killing home sales deal

Making a home sale has never been a lot of fun but in this economy, it's even worse. 
 If you've followed the usual chestnuts about boosting curb appeal and staging your living room properly, but still aren't getting any bites, there are other ways to help catch a buyer's eye. 
 First, get an appraisal. Knowing what a professional appraiser believes your house is worth is a good reality check on a couple of fronts. 
 It gives you a realistic target price that can be factored in with recent comparable sales. It also gives you an idea of what sort of home loan a buyer can get. 
 "It takes a lot of the guesswork out of the price," says Naomi Brodbar, an agent with Weichert Realtors in Princeton Junction, N.J. "You can take any figures in the market and make them work to your advantage. With this, you know if you're in the right ballpark." 
 You'll likely pay $300 to $400 for the report. 
 Next, pre-inspect before listing. Buyers want to see that you've cared for the home during your time there. An indisputable way to showcase that is to hire a home inspector to go through the house with a fine-toothed comb and rectify any major issues the inspector finds. 
 Of course, the buyer is going to hire his or her own inspector -- but this helps convince the buyer that the home has been kept up well. It also prevents the buyer from issuing a laundry list of demanded fixes, which some buyers do in an effort to further lower the sales price after their offer is accepted. 
 Offer a home warranty.&nbsp; Everyone likes a security blanket. Home warranties give buyers an assurance that if something goes wrong with any of the major appliances, plumbing or electrical systems in the house, they won't have to shell out a lot to get them fixed. 
 As the seller, you'll also reap some of the benefits, as many plans provide additional coverage for when your house is on the market. This can be particularly beneficial when you go through the inspection process after you've accepted an offer. 
 Plans generally cost between $300 and $450, with extra charges for some appliances (such as your washer or dryer) and a pool or hot tub. 
 Then, consider cash incentives. No matter how perfect you think your house is, the new owners will want to change something about it. It could be the paint, landscaping or even the front door. 
 Acknowledging this upfront and offering a cash incentive to pay for those improvements could make your house stand out from the competition. 
 It also gives you the upper hand. Because you're setting the amount of the incentive -- say, $1,000 or so -- you can work that into your house's asking price to recoup the outlay. 
 Take care of post-move expenses. Moving is tough for everyone, so consider making the buyer's life easier by contracting a service to mow the yard through the summer. Taking care of the tab for pool cleaning is another type of incentive that you can work back into the price. 
 Remain flexible on the price. Many buyers offer their home with a floor price in mind -- one they're absolutely not willing to go below. It becomes a point of pride in what can be an emotional process. That can be dangerous. 
 In the long run, an extra $1,000 (or even $3,000) is a drop in the bucket -- and it's not worth fighting over, even if it's below your floor price. But what about an offer that's $5,000 or even $10,000 below what you were hoping to get? 
 "Buyers don't care what your minimum price is," says Leslie Nichols, a broker for Nichols &amp; Associates Real Estate in Houston. "Price is the most important thing. ... Price will overcome location. Price will overcome condition. Price will overcome everything else."

How to catch a home buyer's eye

Sold sign  4.12.12 cropped

If you rented out your home to a tenant instead of selling the house during a slow market, you might be ready to put it on the market now. The effort to sell a home can be complicated by the presence of a renter. 
 While many real estate agents recommend waiting until your lease expires and selling your home without a renter in residence, not all landlords can afford to have their home vacant for a few months during the transition. In addition, local regulations can impact the process of selling an investment property. 
 "The first thing any landlord should do is to check out the local tenant-landlord rules," says <a href="/topics/Patricia_Kennedy">Patricia Kennedy</a>, an associate broker with Evers &amp; Co. Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Washington%2C_D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> "The rules vary from one jurisdiction to another. For instance, in D.C., tenants have the right of first refusal when a home goes on the market and again when an offer comes in." 
 <a href="/topics/Patricia_Kennedy">Kennedy</a> suggests that homeowners start the sales process by communicating clearly with the tenants and asking if they want to buy the home. 
 Ben Hoefer, a Realtor with John L. Scott Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Seattle%2C_WA">Seattle</a>, says, "There are some exceptions and some great tenants that keep a place in good condition and are cooperative. But in general, having a tenant can have a negative impact on a home that's on the market. Normally, the home drops in value because of the condition of the home and the lack of access for agents and prospective buyers." 
 Selling a vacant home has drawbacks as well, including a lack of rental income while the home is on the market. 
 "An empty home can be staged with some furniture and plants," says Donald Marcy, a Realtor with <a href="/topics/Coldwell_Banker">Coldwell Banker</a> Residential Brokerage in Madison, N.J. "The bigger issues are the lack of income and the fact that the homeowner will have to pay utilities. Depending on the location of the home, there may also be concerns about security and about things like pipes freezing." 
 For homeowners who choose to sell with a tenant in residence, Marcy says landlords need to communicate clearly and try to get the tenant to cooperate. 
 "It's one thing if the tenant already wants to move, but a tenant who doesn't want to move can be hostile," Marcy says. "The owners need to explain what they are doing and why, and they need to set up a protocol for how and when the home will be shown." 
 Marcy says tenants should be told the keys won't be handed out to just anyone who wants to see the place, and that an agent or the owner will accompany prospective buyers. 
 Anyone who has sold a home knows the stress involved with keeping the home constantly neat and clean, along with vacating whenever a buyer wants to see it, but at least homeowners have the incentive of making a sale. Realtors suggest providing an incentive to tenants to get them to cooperate. 
 "Money always talks," says Liz Sidorowicz, a broker with Re/Max Signature in Chicago. "You can offer to give the tenants 50 percent off their rent for a month if they'll keep the place clean and let in prospective buyers and their agents." 
 Marcy recommends offering something such as a gift certificate for dinner for two during each month the home is on the market. "You need to ask the tenants to keep the beds made and dishes out of the sink, but you also need to remind them to keep cash, jewelry, firearms, prescription drugs and anything embarrassing out of sight of prospective buyers," he says. "Giving them some type of incentive should encourage them to cooperate with buyers." 
 <a href="/topics/Patricia_Kennedy">Kennedy</a> says reassurances about the safety of the tenants and their belongings should be given along with an incentive such as a rent rebate at settlement. "Landlords need to recognize that the tenants see the property as their home, not a commodity," she says. 
 Hoefer recommends offering a free hotel room for the renters on the weekend of an open house or some other perk that might make life easier for them.

re-sell

How to sell a home with a tenant in it

Denial is like a shiny, seductive bubble -- it offers psychological shelter from unpleasant realities until you're ready to come to grips with them. But, if you are selling your home, it can be your worst enemy, and you could be in for a long stay on the market. But someone else's wishful thinking can work to your advantage -- if you can wake up and face the facts before your competition does, and do what it takes to sell your home in the real world. 
 "The delusion is that the market is getting better," says Linda Bonarelli Lugo of Realty Executives North Shore in Huntington. That's only partly true, she says. "We are having more sales, but the pricing has not increased." 
 That is true in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County, where in February the median home sales price of $380,000 represented a 3.8 percent decrease from the prior year. <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County reported a slight increase for February -- the median home sales price was $304,250 compared to $300,000 the prior year, representing a 1.4 percent uptick. 
 Sellers want to believe their homes will be the exception; experts say good luck with that. "There's a certain kind of schizophrenia," says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president with Saunders &amp; Associates Real Estate. "Why is it the house you no longer want is worth more than market value, while the house you're dying to have should be had at a discount? It's not that I want to be rude, it's just that it's not going to happen." 
 With the coming of the spring market, it's time to burst your own bubble. Here are five things shrewd homeowners should do if they want to sell their homes this year: 
 1. BREAK UP WITH YOUR HOUSE 
 Delusion: Everyone will love my home as much as I do. 
 Reality: "The buyer sees all the other houses in the same neighborhood with the same amenity list -- the seller only sees one," says Saatchi. Tame your emotions and your ego. Feeling attached, ambivalent, proud or defensive about your home will cloud your judgment. "You want the buyer to be emotional, not you," she says. 
 So before you list, break up -- including the part where you take your stuff back. 
 Removing personal items will clear the way for buyers to picture themselves there, and it will also help you make the mental transition from owner to seller. The home should remain decorated enough to look inviting, but devoid of personal items such as family photos. That detachment is key -- it will give you the distance and perspective to make good decisions. While other sellers are still struggling to accept the realities of the market -- and making time-consuming mistakes -- you'll be able to make an accurate comparison and make yours the most attractive deal on the first try. 
 2. BE THE BOSS OF YOUR LISTING 
 Delusion: I can leave everything up to my broker. 
 Reality: It's tempting to seek out a professional who will tell you what you want to hear -- or one who promises to take over the process and wake you when it's over. You'll have to be more proactive than that if you want good results, says Saatchi. "You have to realize you're making a business transaction," says Saatchi. "You don't want the broker who says your house is wonderful and gives you a high price. You want the one who has sold houses and can be businesslike." 
 Listening to professional advice is key, but "the seller has to be participating in the discussion," says Bonarelli Lugo. Speak up, do your homework and work with your agent to make informed decisions. 
 3. DITCH THE DEDUCTIONS 
 Delusion: I don't have to do the work -- buyers will see the potential. 
 Reality: House hunters will mentally chip away at your asking price for each flaw they spot -- so declare war on the warts. Not everything has to be brand-new, but any big-ticket items that still have life left in them should be restored to their best possible condition so they don't falsely announce themselves as needing immediate replacement or repair. Why let buyers argue that they'll need a $3,000 discount to install new carpets if a professional cleaning could make yours look great for $300? 
 "Fix it if it's fixable," says Saatchi. But no faking it -- if there's a problem you won't be repairing, disclose it, she says. Use attention and elbow grease to create an overall impression of cleanliness and care. But don't go crazy; a major kitchen remodel isn't necessarily worth it because you can't predict buyers' tastes, says Saatchi. 
 4. CASH IN ON OTHERS' MISTAKES 
 Delusion: My home is worth my asking price, and my price is worth waiting for. 
 Reality: A house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Sellers are notorious for overestimating their homes' values -- then finding out the hard way that they've misjudged. Skip the long learning curve. Look at the prices of homes similar to yours that are languishing on the market and then at the prices of those that have sold. Ask yourself which group you want to be in -- then price it that way. 
 "Sold properties in the area represent the reality of what's going on," says Don Scanlon, <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Board of Realtors president. "Not what people are asking, but sold properties. Those are the facts." 
 There's more at stake here than just taking a while to sell. While you're waiting, a low sale or foreclosure in the neighborhood could strike a major blow to your home's value. 
 5. MAKE THEM SWOON 
 Delusion: It will either feel like home to a buyer or it won't, and it's out of my hands. 
 Reality: Certain homes meet all the criteria but only make the "maybe" list. Others have that special something that give buyers the butterflies -- that warm, fuzzy and slightly panicky sensation that walking out the door without making an offer could be the biggest mistake of their lives. It feels magical, but it's not -- it's physical, and you can copy it. 
 The best way to understand the effect is to visit competing open houses, or pay attention during your own house hunt. When you find a home that makes your heart sing, dissect your feelings and impressions step by step -- then try to identify the physical things that evoked them. "All our senses kick in," says Bonarelli Lugo. "Buying a house is an emotional purchase, and you have to appeal to the purchasers' emotions." 
 The source of that "homey" feeling might be carefully constructed curb appeal that can be broken down into parts -- a freshly painted front door, neatly trimmed shrubs, a clean-swept walk. The "cheery" kitchen may boil down to squeaky-clean windows that let the sun shine in and a bouquet of yellow flowers. If you can put your finger on the details that really pushed your buttons and try to replicate them, you just might be able to elicit the type of emotional response in a buyer that can translate into an offer.

LSMAIN16.WEB

The psychology of selling your house successfully

Q: How do you make people aware of an unprofessional real estate agent? I want people to be aware of this one agent who cost us a potential sale because of her unprofessional behavior. 
 A: If you’ve had an unpleasant experience with either a listing agent or a buyer’s agent, you should first contact the managing broker or owner of the firm and schedule an appointment to discuss the situation. You should calmly discuss the problem and ask the broker to resolve it for you, either by bringing in the agent so everyone can air their grievance or by speaking directly to the agent on your behalf. 
 If that doesn’t solve the problem and you have a legitimate grievance, you can file complaints with the National Association of Realtors (if the agent is a member) and local and state association of realtors. The governmental department in your state that regulates real estate agents and real estate brokers may allow you to file a complaint against the agent with that office. You can go online to the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint there as well. 
 While it may help you feel better to file a complaint, it’s unlikely that your agent will lose his or her license because of it. I suppose if the behavior was egregious, your state may take some disciplinary action. 
 But before you go down the war path with the agent, it’s worthwhile first trying to talk to the person that supervises that agent in the local office or regional office for that agency and then move up the chain of command to the owner if you do not feel your concern has been addressed property. 
 Lastly, while you say the agent was unprofessional in selling your home, there are times when a seller’s perception of a problem may not rise to a level that can actually be considered a real problem by most real estate professionals. You might want to discuss your situation with an unbiased person in the real estate industry to determine whether a problem is grave enough to merit more of your time on this issue. 
 Ilyce Glink is an award-winning, nationally-syndicated columnist, television reporter, radio <a href="/topics/Talk_Show_%28musician%29">talk show</a> host and bestselling book author. Her syndicated column, Real Estate Matters, appears in more than 100 newspapers and Web sites.

re-glink

Filing a complaint against a real estate agent

If you're in the market to buy or sell, it wouldn't hurt to brush up on the rules of engagement, especially when it comes to open houses. Here, real estate agents offer the do's, don'ts and other protocol for buyers and sellers: 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> BUYER ETIQUETTE</h3> 
 1. Be prepared to show identification and sign <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> State disclosure forms 
 Buyers attending an open house should be prepared to show a driver's license for purposes of safety and tracking interested buyers, says Ellen Zipes with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in <a href="/topics/East_Hills%2C_NY">East Hills</a>. Buyers are then asked to sign a disclosure form -- required by <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> State -- to confirm that they understand the Realtor is representing the seller at the open house. Although not mandated, Zipes says that if the buyer refuses to sign the disclosure form, the agent writes his name and address on the form and notes he refused to sign. Information is kept confidential. 
 2. Hold on to your kids 
 Better yet, don't bring them along, advises Deirdre Hutton of Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in Huntington. "But if you have no choice, don't let them roam through the house -- it's distracting and a safety concern," she says. 
 3. Skip the small talk 
 Some buyers get too chatty about a seller's artwork, photos, books, knickknacks and diplomas. They may even get competitive about children or careers, explains Reena Khera of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes &amp; Estates in <a href="/topics/Woodbury%2C_NY">Woodbury</a>. "The broker wants to make a commission, and the seller wants to sell. After you've greeted the host, get down to the business of house hunting," she says. 
 4. Dress appropriately 
 While you can leave the <a href="/topics/Ralph_Lauren">Ralph Lauren</a> suit at home, don't wear shorts and flip flops either, says Claire Calladine of Coach Realtors in <a href="/topics/West_Islip%2C_NY">West Islip</a>. Buying a home is a business transaction. "Obviously financing is the bottom line, but first impressions count," she says, especially in multiple offer situations. 
 5. Come prepared 
 If square footage is important to you, bring a tape measure, says Calladine. And always bring a pad and pencil to take notes because one's memory of a house can <a href="/topics/Blur_%28musician%29">blur</a>, she says. 
 6. Touch before you sit 
 Some homes for sale are empty and with fake furniture, such as airbeds and cardboard box couches. So make sure you check it's real before plopping on the sofa. 
 7. Don't <a href="/topics/Snoop_Dogg">snoop</a> 
 While it's fine to make sure there's enough storage space in bedroom closets, drawers and kitchen cabinets, don't rummage through them, says Khera. Just look. 
 8. Hold your tongue 
 The adage, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" also applies to house hunting. "Remember, the seller still calls the place home," says Calladine. "It's one thing to walk into a room and say, 'This room is too small for us,' versus, 'This house is minuscule.' Or just because the kitchen doesn't look like an <a href="/topics/HGTV">HGTV</a> spread, doesn't give you the right to say it's ugly." Who knows who may be listening? The seller, a neighbor, a friend? If you end up in a multiple-offer situation where price and terms are similar, you don't want the seller choosing the other buyer because he or she heard you criticize the home, warns Calladine. 
 9. Use a poker face 
 Especially if you are viewing an open house with other couples, you may not want to reveal how much you love the house, says Christele Amendola of Daniel Gale's <a href="/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">Cold Spring Harbor</a> office. Sharing too much information could compromise your bargaining position. 
 10. Ask permission before taking photos or videos 
 "Homeowners, especially those with expensive homes, may get offended, or have privacy and safety concerns," says Khera. For instance, they may not appreciate if an expensive piece of art or furniture or a child is captured in a picturetaken with a camera or <a href="/topics/Cellular_Phones">cellphone</a>. Ask first. 
 11. Gotta go? 
 Don't assume that all bathrooms are for public use. Ask your broker or the seller which bathroom you may use, says Khera. 
 &nbsp; 
<h3> SELLER ETIQUETTE</h3> 
 12. Get out! 
 Buyers are comfortable speaking in front of agents, not homeowners, and they need to visualize themselves living in the house, says Hutton. A buyer also will often feel self-conscious opening the owner's drawers and closets in front of him. The consensus among agents is that sellers would do well to leave the house when it's being shown to interested buyers. 
 13. Or fade into the background 
 If you can't leave, then meet, greet and discreetly step aside, says Gail Carillo with <a href="/topics/Coldwell_Banker">Coldwell Banker</a> Residential Brokerage in Ronkonoma. "It's important to extend privacy to the agent and buyer. However, if the seller is in hiding and makes the buyer feel ignored, that's not good either. It's a delicate balance. Make it clear that you aren't being snobby, but just want to grant the buyer privacy to view the house," she advises. Then, Carillo says, be there at the end for questions and to say goodbye. If there's some connection between buyer and seller, it can sometimes be what it takes to get a buyer who is on the fence to commit, she notes. "Buying a house is about more than just an exchange of money -- it's a personal experience, too," she says. 
 14. No pets allowed 
 Make arrangements for your dogs, cats or other beloved creatures to leave during the open house. Selling a home where pets live is difficult enough without advertising the fact that pets live there. Buyers may even be allergic. Pets are also a distraction -- you want buyers to admire your home, not your cockatoo (or look in disgust at the cage). Ideally, pets should be out of the house at a neighbor's or friend's and pet smells should be eliminated as much as possible. Be sure any visible cages and pet dishes are spotless. 
 15. Look presentable 
 It reflects on your home and housekeeping, says Marie-Denise Kratsios of Daniel Gale's Huntington office. "A buyer may wonder how a house was taken care of if the seller doesn't reflect personal decorum," she says. 
 16. Provide some direction 
 Is your house not so easy to find? Pat Nugent, owner of Marashinsky &amp; Nugent in <a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre%2C_NY">Rockville Centre</a>, suggests making sure that signs are prominently positioned at major and minor roads, where permitted by the municipality, to help buyers find their way. Attach strings of balloons to each open house sign and make sure arrows point in the right direction. Good signage can draw traffic, she says. 
 17. Keep your car out of the driveway to accommodate visitors 
 Neighbors shouldn't park in front of your house because it makes maneuvering harder and look like it will be difficult to park if they move in, says Nugent. 
 18. Set out all house-related documents 
 If you're a serious seller, Nugent says you should have available all inspection reports, appraisals, proof of major repairs and information on monthly expenses for gas, electric and oil, as well as options to rent.

Open house etiquette for buyers, sellers

reVALERIEistock001

If you thought that breaking up was hard to do, try parting with your real estate agent. It is not always so easy, especially if you signed a listing agreement. It's considered a binding and enforceable contract that usually lasts six months, says Enza Cammarasana, a <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a> real estate attorney. It allows the agent to list the house for sale and do everything possible to sell the property, including placing ads and holding open houses. "However, most listing agreements contain a cancellation clause, which varies from Realtor to Realtor and sets specific provisions for cancellation," she says. 
 Here are some points to keep in mind: 
 1. READ THE FINE PRINT 
 Read the cancellation clause carefully, and check if there's a prohibition against listing with another Realtor before the expiration of the current agreement, Cammarasana advises. While agencies are usually negotiable, be prepared that you may have to wait it out before listing with another agent. But if they are negotiable, ask for a general and unconditional release signed by the agent so that you can list immediately with someone else. 
 2. WAS HE GOOD TO YOU? 
 If your agent performed his duties diligently (held open houses, advertised actively, engaged potential buyers), certain conditions may come with the release. For example, you may be granted a release if you pay a portion of the expenses that the agent incurred, or the agent may attempt to negotiate a referral fee with your new listing agent, Cammarasana says. Customers usually want out of a listing agreement because their house isn't selling or there's a personality conflict with the agent, says Arlene Schwartz, branch vice president for the <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> office of <a href="/topics/Coldwell_Banker">Coldwell Banker</a> Residential Brokerage. "When we take a listing, I send a letter to each client to let them know that if they have any issues to call me, and that we'll try to resolve the problem within 72 hours. Give your agency a chance to correct the issue," Schwartz says. 
 3. PROTECT YOURSELF 
 Make sure, Schwartz adds, you sign a listing agreement that includes some kind of seller service guarantee to be certain that your agent does his job: advertising, a marketing plan, feedback, regular communication, availability for appointments. "Then if not, you'll have recourse to cancel your contract," she says. 
 4. GET EVIDENCE 
 While some agencies have managers who oversee all of the agents, some often don't, leaving clients to deal directly with an agent. In those cases, if homeowners want to terminate a listing contract, they'll need to prove that the agent didn't fulfill the promises outlined in the marketing plan, says Catherine Lindstadt, a licensed associate broker with Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in Huntington. "Keep the plan handy and take notes with dates of all communications -- or lack of communication," she says. Good agents will always have copies of ads as well as a detailed log of all activities (that is, showings, offers, open houses, etc.) to support their files, she adds. 
 5. AVOID A BAD BREAKUP 
 Whatever you do, don't go sneaking around buying or selling through another agent -- you'll create more problems for yourself, warns Gregory S. Lisi, a <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a> real estate attorney. You could end up with two binding contracts. "For instance, if you are in contract with Broker A for 4 percent, and you secretly sign up with Broker B for 4 percent, you could be on the hook for 8 percent in commissions. And if you don't pay Broker A, the agency has a right to sue you -- it's a straightforward breach of contract," Lisi says. "You can't change brokers willy-nilly." 
 6. WORD OF ADVICE 
 More established Realtors would probably be very hesitant to enforce a listing agreement, Cammarasana concludes. "In a business that relies heavily on reputation, good will and word-of-mouth, fear of negative publicity could greatly outweigh the benefits of holding an unhappy customer to their contract, or releasing them with the condition that they are prevented from re-listing. Most would sooner wish them well, and move on to the next sale," she says. But no matter how amenable the agency may be to letting you go, be sure to walk away with a signed release. If you have any questions, contact a real estate attorney.

LSIMP28.WEB

How to dump a bad real estate agent

While the right asking price and a buyer's ability to secure bank financing are key to selling your house, generating a lot of traffic will increase your odds of success in this real estate market. That's why some sellers and agents are pushing the envelope to entice buyers and create buzz. 
 "We've seen sellers resort to some pretty creative moves and high-profile advertising," says John Viteritti, a licensed broker, Realtor, and real estate lecturer at <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> University's School of Continuing Education, <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a> campus. "It's a buyer's market, and we have to be clever and draw attention to our listings." 
 What follows are some unusual tactics sure to attract attention: 
 1. RECRUIT A DEAD CELEBRITY 
 Get a life-size cardboard cutout of <a href="/topics/Marilyn_Monroe">Marilyn Monroe</a>, <a href="/topics/Clark_Gable">Clark Gable</a>, <a href="/topics/Frank_Sinatra">Frank Sinatra</a>, <a href="/topics/Elvis_Presley">Elvis Presley</a> or <a href="/topics/Charlie_Chaplin">Charlie Chaplin</a>, just to name a few, place it in your living room and snap a photo for your online listing, suggests Barbara <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Corcoran</a>, president of <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Barbara Corcoran</a> Inc. <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Corcoran</a> -- a real estate mogul who founded The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>, has a home on <a href="/topics/Fire_Island%2C_NY">Fire Island</a>, is the star of <a href="/topics/ABC">ABC</a>'s reality TV show "Shark Tank" and is a real estate contributor to NBC's "<a href="/topics/Today_%28NBC_Program%29">Today</a>" show -- says it gets people talking; it also gets them to stop and notice your living room when they get tired of browsing through dozens of online photos. It can be the bait that draws traffic, she says. The cutouts are widely available online for about $30 and up at sites such as elifesize.com. 
 2. HOLD A JOINT OPEN HOUSE 
 "If you really want to get attention, join hands with your competition," advises <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Corcoran</a>. Ask your agent to organize a bunch of sellers and have an open house on the same morning. "It pulls out so many people because of its convenience that a lot more houses often end up getting sold," <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Corcoran</a> says. And it's a marketing technique that not too many agents use, she notes. 
 3. GET A SIGN 
 Put a huge For Sale banner on your house, says Tom Hug, owner of Hug Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Point_Lookout%2C_NY">Point Lookout</a>. You can design such a banner from 3 feet to 8 feet online, with a picture of your house, and contact information. But be sure to check with your town regarding any signage restrictions. Prices start at $13.99 at sites such as vistaprint.com. 
 4. GO FOR BIG AD TIME 
 Ask your Realtor to promote your sale on a neighborhood billboard: traditional or electronic, highway or transit billboards, billboards in malls and on kiosks, or on park benches suggests Hug. Prices vary, but may be lower than you think. Production costs are about $35 to $5,000, or $1 per square foot, but do not include rental fees, which are usually month-to-month for a few hundred dollars depending on area traffic and billboard size. 
 To attract attention to some of his listings, Hug says he has used a 12-foot blimp that says "OPEN HOUSE" that is attached to the ground in front of properties for sale. "And every summer I run air banners from <a href="/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> Airport to <a href="/topics/Atlantic_Beach%2C_NY">Atlantic Beach</a> to advertise. 
 "It all creates excitement and gets my listings out there," he says. 
 5. LOOK TO HOLIDAYS FOR HELP 
 To increase traffic at one of her listings, Karin Hendricks of <a href="/topics/Coldwell_Banker">Coldwell Banker</a> Residential Brokerage in <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> says she will be giving out <a href="/topics/Halloween">Halloween</a> candy at her open house this weekend and on <a href="/topics/Halloween">Halloween</a> to keep the kids happy. And Cheryl Goldman of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes &amp; Estates in <a href="/topics/Woodbury%2C_NY">Woodbury</a> will be giving away free turkeys at an open house she's throwing for <a href="/topics/Thanksgiving">Thanksgiving</a>. "For <a href="/topics/Christmas">Christmas</a>, I'm going to hire a Santa and have photos taken with the kids who come along with their parents," says Goldman. Prospective buyers need incentives to go house-hunting -- especially during the winter months, she says. 
 6. HOST A GARAGE SALE 
 But do it the same day as your open house to increase traffic, suggests Bernard Caprera of Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>. "Because we have the For Sale sign on the property, we get questions about the house, and I'm ready to hand out fliers and show the property to anyone interested -- it may be for themselves or someone they know," he says. "You never know how you can generate a lead." He notes that people who already live in a neighborhood are often its best promoters. 
 7. DO A CHARITABLE EVENT 
 A civic-minded Realtor may draw more clients. "I've asked buyers to bring cans of food to open houses for <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Cares, the <a href="/topics/Harry_Chapin">Harry Chapin</a> <a href="/topics/Food_Bank">Food Bank</a>. I'll even turn an open house into an art show by bringing in stacks of artwork for sale and giving a portion to a local charity that supports the arts," says <a href="/topics/Susan_Miller">Susan Miller</a> of Realty Connect USA, based in Huntington. 
 8. PROVIDE SUSTENANCE 
 Looking for a home can be exhausting -- especially with kids in tow -- and buyers welcome a little energy and distraction, says Stephanie Cullum of Coach Realtors in <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>. "One tactic that I've found fosters good will and is a good reminder about the house is handing out candy bars and water bottles with pictures of the house for sale as the wrapper, along with a color brochure and floor plan of the property." <a href="/topics/Barbara_Corcoran">Corcoran</a> says she is a fan of posting a latte cart in front of an open house. "It's a gimmick, but clever, because you're getting people's attention," she says.

LSMAIN28.WEB

Unusual ways to sell your home in today's market

I've been hearing lately from homeowners who are preparing to list their homes for sale. 
They know the market isn't great, but they've been waiting for a year or two to move on with their lives (this is known in the industry as "pent-up demand") and have decided to go for it. 
Whether your home is priced at $100,000 or $6 million, there are a couple of basic truths to listing a home in today's market. Keep them in mind when preparing to list your home for sale. 
The first truth is that today's homebuyers are far less forgiving than they were in the past. There was a time when sellers ruled the market. And they didn't have to do much in order to sell. Cleaning, decluttering and packing away unused items were optional. You didn't have to stage your home so it looked <a href="/topics/HGTV">HGTV</a>-ready. And you might not have had to negotiate with a buyer over items that came up in a professional home inspection. 
Today, homebuyers have their choice of homes for sale. They can choose a lower-priced foreclosure or short sale over your more expensive home and then build in value by renovating to their own standards and taste level. They can buy in a better neighborhood than they could afford before. And they expect your home to be in perfect condition. 
An extremely strong homebuyer's market means sellers have to be on their toes. They'll expect you to sweat the small stuff along with the big stuff. And if you decide not to toe the line, don't be surprised when they move on to the next property. 
The second reality of today's market is that sellers must create a value proposition for potential buyers. 
As a seller, your job is to overcome any obstacles to a sale. Dealing with the buyer's state of mind should be a top priority. 
Today's buyers want to feel as though they're getting the deal of the century. You can help them along the path by creating what business calls a "value proposition." Essentially, that means helping them feel as though their money is extremely well spent. 
To that end, staging your home will help make it feel more put together and have better flow. Renting a storage "pod" to help clear out closets, the attic, and your garage will help them feel that your home is bigger (and allow the buyer to feel as though he is getting more for the money). 
Hiring a professional home inspector to take a look at your home before you list it for sale (also known as a "prelisting inspection) to point out potential problems with your home will allow you to fix them before a buyer even crosses your threshold. If you eliminate those issues in advance, your prospective nervous buyers will see that your home is in excellent condition. 
When your prospective buyer looks at your home, it will look great. And when the buyer undertakes a professional inspection of your home, it will pass easily. 
What will make your home stand out from the competition? Visit other homes for sale in the neighborhood to figure out where you can add value for a buyer. If all the homes for sale are identical, can you make yours stand out by replacing your carpet and repainting the walls? 
At the end of the day, you just want the buyer to believe your home is a better deal than the one next door. 
(Ilyce R. Glink's latest book is "Buy, Close, Move In!" If you have questions, you can call her radio show toll-free (800-972-8255) any Sunday, from 11a-1p EST. Contact Ilyce through her Web site, www.thinkglink.com.) 
(c) 2011 ILYCE R. GLINK. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

How to prepare a home for sale

A word to the wise: If you want traffic when you put your house up for sale, craft your house ad wisely. Those are the findings from a study at the University of Guelph in <a href="/topics/Ontario">Ontario</a>, where the wording of more than 20,000 Canadian home listings was dissected. According to the research, a listing's phrasing even affected sale prices and the length of time it took for the listings to close. 
Ehsan Nikbakht, a professor of finance at the <a href="/topics/Frank_G._Zarb">Frank G. Zarb</a> School of Business at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>, says such research makes sense - especially in today's buyer's market. "It's no secret that human beings react to words, and any edge that a seller can gain - starting with the house ad - is key," Nikbakht says. 
Whether you're trying to sell your home yourself and writing your own ad or using a Realtor who will write it for you, it's important to get acquainted with the ad lingo that works. What follows are some words to use - and others to avoid. 
While not an exact science, some words seem to give a listing more power than others. "Beautiful" rather than "move-in condition" translated on the average to 5 percent or more on the sale price - that works out to $15,000 on a $300,000 house. 
Words that denoted "curb appeal" or general attractiveness - such as good neighborhood or excellent upkeep, for instance - helped property sell faster than those that described "value" and "price." 
"There's usually something that can be said in a positive way which will force a buyer reading an ad to see opportunities," says Catherine Lindstadt, a licensed associate broker at Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in Huntington. "It's important to help a seller elaborate on their home's assets with details and to give the buyer a visual," Lindstadt adds. 
She says she turns "spacious" into "open floor plan," "vaulted" or "high ceilings" or "spacious layout." A fireplace can get more credit if it's described as a "traditional wood-burning fireplace with designer built-in bookcases," she says.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
<h3>A spin is important</h3> 
"If a seller tells me their home was decorated by a decorator, I may say, 'professionally designed,' '<a href="/topics/Pottery_Barn">Pottery Barn</a>-inspired,' 'designer decor' or 'gourmet kitchen,' " she says. "It's also important to use proper terminology to enhance a feature. For example, heated floors in a master bathroom should be 'radiant heating' and 'spalike master bathroom.' If an owner claims there's nothing new, I may say, 'lovingly maintained,' " Lindstadt says. 
To make sure they are writing an accurate ad, all Realtors should do a walk-through of the house they are selling, says Vicky Reynolds, owner of Norma Reynolds <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty based in Westhampton. 
"A homeowner may not have considered an office room a bedroom, or counted the half-bath, or they may have overstated the newness of the kitchen," she says. "I ask my customers to tell me about Christmas mornings, birthday parties and pancakes in the kitchen. A good Realtor will create a little romance in an ad because every home has it." 
Phil Raices, owner of Turnkey Real Estate in Great Neck, says there can be exceptions to the so-called rules. 
"As a Realtor, you have to know the area you represent and what adjectives and key phrases will get your phone to ring," he says. "For example, there's a demand for people who want to be near a bus or a train. Those words will attract people who want co-ops or condos near the center of town in Great Neck. But if you're looking for a house with land and privacy, words like 'close to transportation' may not be appealing, even though those people also want an easy commute. In those cases, I'd stress 'close to worship, parks, or schools.' "&nbsp; &nbsp; 
<h3>Words to avoid</h3> 
Also, he says, words like foreclosure, short sale, REO, bankruptcy, auction, wholesale or below wholesale may not be a draw in all neighborhoods, but in some it's a magnet - especially to investors who didn't suffer during the recession. 
"They know it means it could be a good deal saving them 30 to 50 percent of the asking price, even if they have to put money into the house," he says. "Everything these days is about price and timing, and combined with a properly worded add to the right population - that's synergistic." 
A study from the University of Texas at San Antonio titled "Real Estate Agent Remarks: Help or Hype?" analyzed agent "comments" or "remarks" section on the Multiple Listing Service and its impact on selling price and time on the market. These are sections where the agent can add extra information about a property. The study found that comments that state facts about a house are associated with increased selling prices. 
"Buyers are attracted to amenities that can be verified - new roof, new carpeting, updated kitchen, beautiful landscaping, golf course community, lakefront, waterfront, gated community," says Marie Montchal, a licensed associate broker and senior vice president of relocation and ancillary services at Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty Relocation Center in Huntington. 
Other factually verifiable assets might include finished basements or cul-de-sacs. 
Ginny Pergola, a broker and manager of Point to Port Realty in Port Washington, cautions against being deceptive. 
"I don't use the word 'waterview' unless it honestly has a waterview - and, I don't mean from the third-floor attic window when there are no leaves on the trees. If a property has a waterview, it has to be fully visible from someplace in the house." 
She says she thinks the word "new" can be tricky. 
"I know that 'new kitchen,' 'new bath,' 'new roof' and 'new windows' is inviting, but I have a guideline of two to three years, or "newer" if it's older than that," she explains.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
<h3>Tips for writing an ad&nbsp;</h3> 
The National Association of Realtors offers the following tips: 
1. Start with a strong opening statement about the home, whether it's "Charming cottage" or "Entertainer's delight." Sell those features in the headline. 
2. Mention the one or two key benefits that will attract buyers' attention and spark their interest in the first 10 words of the ad. 
3. Include the salient facts about the property, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the asking price. 
4. If selling the house on your own, be sure to include your name, telephone number, e-mail address and website. 
5. Use words that appeal to the emotions and senses - that is, feel, see, enjoy. 
6. Avoid abbreviations and <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> jargon that the average consumer won't understand, such as "HDW" (or hardwood floors) and "CTH" (for cathedral ceilings). 
7. Be accurate. Prospective buyers are bound to feel disappointed or manipulated if the home doesn't match your description. 
8. Close with a statement encouraging the prospect to contact you. "Call today" is good. 
9. Keep a notebook of attractive home descriptions from the Multiple Listing Service or newspapers and other property ads, so you'll get ideas for writing blurbs.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
<h3>Words that bring money in&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3> 
-- "Gorgeous" : Everyone wants a pretty house. 
-- "Move-in condition" and "turnkey": These phrases communicate cleanliness and that your house can be moved into with minimal fuss, speeding up sales time by 12 percent. 
&nbsp;-- "Lovingly maintained" : Means, "I'll save money on repairs." 
&nbsp;-- "Beautiful landscaping": This fires the imagination. Curb appeal attracts interest because a buyer believes the inside will look good, too. 
&nbsp;-- "Granite":&nbsp; The common countertop and floor material equates with luxury. 
&nbsp;-- "Gourmet":&nbsp; This is a draw for a cook, who might imagine a beautiful kitchen to work in. 
&nbsp;-- "Must see":&nbsp; A phrase that attracts attention &nbsp; 
<h3>Words that might lower your price&nbsp;</h3> 
-- "Motivated" and "must sell": These can be loosely translated as, "I'm already willing to lower my price before the buyer even sees it." A wiser choice might be, "Priced to sell." 
&nbsp;-- "Good value":&nbsp;It may sound like it's a good value for an unappealing property. "Market value" or "aggressively priced" might work better. 
&nbsp;-- "As-is":&nbsp;This can be interpreted as, "The house is a mess, and the owner can't do anything with it." Try, "Needs TLC" or, "Needs sprucing up." 
&nbsp;-- "Starter home": Don't use this expression, the research warns. Instead, let buyers decide if they want to live and die in the house or use it as a steppingstone. 
&nbsp;-- "Vacant":&nbsp;Stage the house; don't let it be shown empty. 
&nbsp;-- "Oversized":&nbsp;Large homes are a white elephant. Experts suggest using "good layout" instead. 
&nbsp;-- "Small": Your home or condo may be cozy, but don't call it small. 
&nbsp;-- "Basement": "Lower level" is more appealing. 
&nbsp;-- "Appliance credit":&nbsp;If your appliances are on their last legs, replace them before putting your home on the market and advertise, "New appliances." 
&nbsp;-- "Near a bus line" or "near a train line": People don't like to imagine the fumes or noise. "Easy commute" is smarter. 
<h3>Beware of violating fair housing laws&nbsp;</h3> 
The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful for a Realtor or even a person selling his own home privately to "make, print or publish" any statement that "indicates" any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, says Enza Cammarasana, a Northport <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> lawyer. You can be subject to fines and even lawsuits if you violate the law. What follows are some minefields to avoid: 
Race: You cannot promote a particular minority. 
Religion: Do not mention a nearby church, temple or mosque. Near houses of worship is OK. 
National origin: You cannot say that members of the community are predominately from a specific country. 
Sex: Bachelor apartment can be viewed as discriminatory against women, as can mother/daughter, which can be seen as discriminatory against men. 
Handicap: Mentioning walking distance to a market, train or park is arguable if a buyer is unable to walk. 
Familial Status: Saying "perfect for couples with kids" discriminates against those who don't have children. 
"These restrictions make me more creative when writing ads and also more mindful of customers with disability issues, for example," says Bobby Herrick, associate broker with <a href="/topics/Century_21">Century 21</a> American Homes in Bay Shore. "Sometimes, those of us without disabilities wouldn't understand how describing a home as 'walk to train' could possibly offend someone who is unable to walk. Nevertheless, it can. Even mention of 'No Smokers' for a rental property is illegal, but 'No Smoking' is OK. It can get tricky, but there are guidelines we must abide by."

LSMAIN25.WEB

Making 'House for sale' sing in your ad

People spend more than 700 billion minutes on <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a> each month. The <a href="/topics/Itunes">iTunes</a> App Store has surpassed 500 billion downloads. And 94 percent of home buyers between the ages of 25 and 44 use the Internet to search for homes. 
It's safe to say that being tech-savvy is no longer optional in the <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> market -- it's a requirement. And new technological tricks of the trade are surfacing all the time. 
"It's almost never-ending, the amount of new things coming out," says Beth O'Connor, director of technology training for the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. The latest gadgetry allows for greater listing exposure, more sophisticated market analysis and better communication between agents, buyers and sellers -- and typically it's all included in the broker's general marketing budget. 
Not everyone embraces these changes, says Matthew Shadbolt, director of Internet marketing for The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>. "For example, there are some clients that are not on e-mail, or even online, or simply prefer not to work with an agent that way," he says. "They prefer a more face-to-face, personal relationship throughout the process." 
But even if tech talk is not your cup of tea, your agent should be fluent in the hottest means of communication at any given time - because that's the language most of your target audience will be speaking. And digital dexterity can make all the difference when it comes to making your listing stand out from the crowd. 
Here are five <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> tech tricks to watch for: 
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<h3>1. Virtual staging</h3> 
What it is. Digital enhancement of photos to make a home appear staged. 
How it works.&nbsp; Sites such as virtualstagingsolutions.com charge a one-time fee of about $200 for three photos, which the agent typically pays for out of your listing's marketing budget. The agent uploads your pictures and receives digitally enhanced ones within a few days. But those sites tend to have a limited stock of images, says Diane Saatchi of Saunders &amp; Associates in Bridgehampton. For luxury properties, the agent may opt to pay for a more customized approach. Prices at Manhattan-based Revel Inspired, which Saatchi used for a&nbsp; Water Mill home, start at $299 per room for photo rendering of a vacant property, and $599 per room for 3-D modeling of an occupied or otherwise challenging home. It's less costly than physically staging or renovating the home. 
Why you want it.&nbsp; When staging isn't a practical option, virtual staging can go a long way toward helping potential buyers visualize themselves in a home. "A lot of people don't have that mind's eye, but you can send these guys photographs and a floor plan, and within days they have it 'decorated' for you," says Saatchi. 
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<h3>2. Listing syndication</h3> 
What it is.&nbsp; A number of sites, including zillow.com, trulia.com, realtor.com and cyberhomes.com, receive automatic feeds from the Multiple Listing Service website. But for a more customized approach, agents can elect to use a listing syndication program that allows them to extend the feed to additional sites and get detailed feedback. 
How it works. Brokers subscribe to a syndication service and absorb the cost into their marketing budget. ListHub is one such service. "We have 50-plus sites that we have ListHub monitor for us," says Bettie Meinel of Laffey Fine Homes in Greenvale, which uses the service for every listing in every price range. "They watch and see who's clicking the listings. Are they looking at the listing, clicking through to see the pictures, to see additional details, to make appointments?" 
&nbsp;Why you want it. This information helps determine which sites generate the type of results sellers are looking for, she says. For instance, if five recent sales in your price range originated with Zillow searches while Realtor.com only managed to generate a couple of showings, where would you want your agent to spend your listing's marketing budget? 
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<h3>3. Mobile technologies</h3> 
What they are. There are a host of them. Smart-phone apps, Web content formatted to fit a handheld screen, mobile alerts and always-on access to your agent, to name a few. 
How they work. Agents make themselves constantly available with cell phones and texting. And many firms -- including <a href="/topics/Century_21">Century 21</a>, <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty and The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>, to name a few -- have developed their own mobile apps, downloadable from sources such as the <a href="/topics/Itunes">iTunes</a> Store, <a href="/topics/Android">Android</a> Market or Amazon Appstore. 
Why you want them. If your agent isn't providing the same type of instant access, buyers will go elsewhere. Mobile apps also provide valuable feedback about the users, which helps agents tailor their marketing strategy, says Matthew Shadbolt of Corcoran. 
For instance, Corcoran tracks differences in the usage of the firm's website versus its mobile apps and the use of the <a href="/topics/Android">Android</a> versus the <a href="/topics/iPhone">iPhone</a>, and uses the smart phones' <a href="/topics/Global_Positioning_Systems">GPS</a> component to learn more about where buyers are conducting their searches. 
Details like these help agents zero in on the most likely buyers for your property. For instance, if the mobile apps indicated that people in Brooklyn were more likely to buy a home in your area than people in downtown Manhattan, your agent might do more advertising targeted to Brooklyn. 
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<h3>4. Global marketing</h3> 
What it is. Making listings available in other languages and in other nations. 
How it works. Referral and translation services increase a listing's global exposure. For instance, Long Island's Multiple Listing Service uses Immobel, a service that connects the site to international markets and offers all the content in multiple languages. Brokers have the option of paying a monthly fee starting at $29.99 to go the extra mile and offer Immobel's service on their own websites. There is typically no additional cost to the seller. 
Why you want it. "If they do that, their sites get indexed by the international search engines," says Janet Choynowski, Immobel chief executive. That's important because potential buyers aren't only in the United States, and content that's only provided in English doesn't even show up in non-English search engines. 
"In this market, it's very important because you do a lot of international business and have a lot of multicultural residents, and that's not a market to ignore either." Some 71 percent of all Internet traffic is not in English, Choynowski adds. "That is a big chunk of buyers to overlook," she says. 
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<h3>5.Social networking</h3> 
What it is. Making use of popular social platforms such as Twitter and <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a>. 
How it works. Not everyone agrees on the best ways to use these tools for <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a>. Internet marketing director Matthew Shadbolt says Corcoran uses it to offer neighborhood information to potential buyers. 
Immobel favors a more aggressive approach: Next month, the company will partner with MLSLI to roll out <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a> IDX; subscriptions for agents and brokers start at $19.95 a month (there’s no cost to buyers or sellers). 
Instead of merely providing a link to an outside site, this application will give users all the functionality of the Multiple Listing Service — searches, maps and broker information — without leaving <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a>. 
Why you want it. It maximizes your exposure through “viral” sharing of listings, says Janet Choynowski of Immobel. Listing alerts get posted to the user’s wall, so every friend in the user’s network sees it. And any time one of those friends shares the listing with a friend or clicks “like,” every <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a> friend of that user will see it, too. “Those listings pop up all over the place,” she says.

LSMAIN21.WEB

5 tips on using technology to sell your house

Selling a home in a buyer's market can feel like you're playing a game you can't win. But buyers don't necessarily hold all the cards. "You have to be able to see it from both sides of the table," says Jeffrey Stanton, who teaches a Realtor certification course in negotiation. Armed with information and a smart strategy, you can play your hand wisely and get the best value for your home. 
 First, determine the best price you can reasonably expect given the home's market value and the minimum you can accept. All negotiation will take place somewhere in between those two limits. Your goal is to stay as close to the top of that range as possible. 
 Next, count your bargaining chips. A buyer's position is weakened and yours is strengthened by anything the buyer wants that you're able to provide or withhold. "Price is one of the many things you negotiate for, but you need to make the pie bigger," says Stanton. Additional slices might include flexibility with the closing or move-in dates, extra items for sale, cash concessions, bragging rights - even the deal itself, since you can always walk away. 
 Finally, map out your strategy - privately. "The seller should make a plan: These are the items I really want, these are my giveaways," says Stanton. Seemingly unimportant items may turn out to be valuable, so remember two rules: Never reveal what they're worth to you and never give any away. Trade them - grudgingly. You can offer your chips to get stalled talks moving again, to preserve your bottom line or even to use as a deal-closer. 
 With a plan in place and your chips in hand, you're ready to talk turkey. 
<h3> BARGAINING CHIPS</h3> 
<h4> 1. Price</h4> 
 WHEN TO USE IT: Throughout the process. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: The first time the price chip comes into play is when you list your home. Look up similar homes that have sold in the area recently with online tools such as the sold properties link on the Multiple Listing Service site (mlsli.com/search sold.cfm) or Newsday's recent home sales search tool (longisland.newsday.com/<a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a>/sales_search.php). Use those prices to zero in on your home's market value and to weed out lowball offers. Padding your asking price to leave room to haggle is not helpful, says Lynne Kleinman of Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty in <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a> - instead, price it to attract multiple offers. "You're putting yourself in a position to be bid up if you've chosen the correct number." 
 When you receive a written offer that's in the ballpark, you may use a price adjustment as part of your counteroffer. A small move tests the water; a big reduction announces your willingness to negotiate, Stanton says. You can reduce the price more than once to nudge the discussion along, but in a strategic pattern: Your price concessions should get smaller and smaller as the deal progresses. This signals to the buyer that you're approaching the bottom. 
 2. Bragging rights 
 WHEN TO USE IT: When the buyer shows a competitive streak. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: "Sometimes in order for you to win, you have the make the other party feel as if they've won," says Stanton. "A lot of people are competitive negotiators who want to win by taking that very last thing off the table." 
 And it's not just about ego - it's also about nerves. Buyers who fear they could have gotten a better price are more likely to get cold feet, which could jeopardize the deal. 
 Satisfy the buyer's need to win with a pattern of increasingly stingy price concessions. This creates the reassuring and gratifying impression that you've scraped the barrel and given up every last crumb of value - even if you haven't. 
 To enhance this effect, trade away any other chips with conspicuous reluctance, regardless of their actual importance to you - and try to get something you secretly do care about in return. 
 3. Financial incentives 
 WHEN TO USE IT: When you've got a serious buyer and lack of funds is the only obstacle. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: Consider a seller's concession to bridge the gap: If the price is $300,000 and the buyer needs $6,000 for closing costs, you would pay those costs upfront but raise the price to $306,000. "The purchase price is artificially inflated so the buyer can finance an additional cost," says Chandra Ortiz, an attorney on the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County Bar Association Real Property Committee. This allows the buyers to make a bigger down payment, or pay points for a lower interest rate, which could increase their purchasing power to close the deal. 
 There are limitations and risks: The lender will appraise the home and restrict concessions to a certain percentage of the appraised value, which may turn out to be less than the purchase price you and the buyer agreed to. "When it doesn't appraise at that figure, the bank won't give additional money to cover the concession," cautions Ortiz. Include language in your contract to protect yourself from having to pay the concession if the appraisal is low, she advises. Also note that a higher price will cause your transfer tax payment to go up - make sure the buyer agrees to pay for that, she says. 
 4. Timing 
 WHEN TO USE IT: When the buyer is on a deadline and you can be flexible - for a price. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: "The way it works is whoever has the shorter time frame isn't negotiating from a position of strength," says Stanton. Buyers often want or need to close or move in by a certain date - they may be trying to get into their new school district before September, for instance. 
 If you have the ability to help them meet their deadline, you've got currency. Keep it in your pocket and remain noncommittal about dates until you need that extra push. 
 For instance, if your buyer is considering a competing property but the other sellers can't vacate soon enough, that closing date could become the deciding factor. It can also help your bottom line, Stanton says. "If I know you have to be in by the first, that may be more important to you than price." 
 5. Extras 
 WHEN TO USE IT: Periodically offer these in place of price reductions, or along with smaller reductions. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: This chip could fall into your lap during talks - or it could take some creativity on your part. Pay attention; if a buyer shows interest in something, such as a piano or window treatments, you've got yourself an unexpected chip. 
 The best kinds of extras are those that are of little value to you, but could matter a lot for the buyers. For instance, if you're leaving a grassy two-acre property for a maintenance-free condo, you won't be needing that ride-on lawn mower anymore - but your buyers sure could use it. Swap it for a more favorable deal. A home warranty is another good one; it may only cost you a few hundred dollars, but it provides a <a href="/topics/Benefit_%28designer%29">benefit</a> that could be far more valuable to the new owners. Get something in return for it, even if you planned all along to include it in the sale. 
 6. Your Plan B 
 WHEN TO USE IT: When you've exhausted your chips without reaching an agreement - or you suspect the buyer is bluffing. 
 HOW TO PLAY IT: "Buyers feel like they have all the time and all the choices, but when they feel a sense of urgency because another couple wants that house, then the seller holds the cards," says Diane Saatchi of Saunders &amp; Associates. 
 Use smart marketing to level the playing field. Pricing, staging and photography are key to attracting buyers - and offering a higher fee will get the agents' attention, Kleinman says. "Brokerage fees speak very loudly to the agents who will be showing your house." More showings could translate into more offers - and a better bargaining position. 
 Reserve the right to keep showing your home if the deal is contingent upon the buyer's home getting sold and look into the possibility of renting out the place. This will ease your pressure - and, if all else fails, it allows you to walk away. It's not easy, but sometimes that's your best option - either your buyer will reconsider, or you'll get yourself out of an unacceptable deal.

LSMAIN03.WEB

For sellers only: How to play your cards right

Home Prices

When the housing figures are released each month, many consumers are faced with a profusion of confusion. Existing home sales are up slightly - no, they're down again. Median prices improved slightly over a year ago - wait, that was last month. New home sales dropped sharply after the federal tax credit expired, but they're up again - for now. 
Well, one thing's for sure: It's a whole new game of "The Price is Right." Long gone are the halcyon days of setting your asking price by looking at comparable home sales over the last year - and adding 10 to 20 percent to those prices. 
"There's a new mindset of austerity," says Jonathan <a href="/topics/Jonathan_Miller">Miller</a>, president of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan-based appraisal firm that produces closely watched quarterly reports on the Long Island housing market. "You need to price within a few percentage points of what your house is worth. You can't just put down a price and see whether you get a bite." 
Still, many sellers remain stuck on what their house was worth at its peak, three or four years ago. "They see anything off the peak as a loss," Miller says. 
While most experts agree that the housing market is still struggling, predictions vary on when things will start to turn around. 
"We're coasting along the bottom," says Bethany Marten, owner of the Home Buyers Resource Center in Baldwin. Marten notes that while many new foreclosures are still coming on the market, many buyers are now willing to pay the full asking price for those properties. "When I see good properties in foreclosure selling for over the full price, that's when I know the bottom has been reached," she says. 
In recent months, prices seemed to have stabilized somewhat. The median September sales price for Long Island was $370,500, eking out a 2.2 percent gain over the previous year. 
But local price trends varied widely, according to a report from Realty Connect USA, a Woodbury-based brokerage. In Nassau County, for example, average September prices fell in 34 communities compared to a year ago but posted gains in 25 communities. In Suffolk, average year-over-year prices dropped in 63 communities but increased in 39 areas. 
Miller sees some of the bolstering of the market as "a false positive," created by the federal tax credit for home buyers, which expired April 30 but was extended to those who closed on a sale by Sept. 30. 
Steve Harney, a former Long Island broker-owner who lectures widely on <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> trends, predicts that prices will continue to slide. Demand for housing will likely remain constant, but there will be a dramatic increase in supply from the continued flood of distressed properties being put on the market. "We won't see prices [overall] go up until 2012," he says. 
So Harney's basic strategy for sellers: Look at comparable home sales over the last 90 days - and deduct 10 percent. 
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<h2>Westbury</h2> 
4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths 
LISTED AT $435,000 
SOLD FOR $415,000 
(accepted offer within two weeks) 
The sellers made minor repairs and cosmetic touch-ups, besides "decluttering" the house, says Susan MacDonald, an agent with Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty in Garden City. Initially, the sellers wanted to list higher, say, $459,000. At that price, MacDonald and sales partner Patricia Cadavid told them: "We felt we were going to lose a large pool of potential buyers. If you price it right, you can create a lot of excitement." The house pulled in "a lot of traffic" on the first couple of weekends, MacDonald says. When buyers see a lot of other buyers, she says, they tend to respond quicker to the prospect of losing a good house. 
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<h2>Centerport</h2> 
3-bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths 
LISTED AT $479,000 
SOLD FOR $475,000 
This home had small rooms and needed a new kitchen, but it also had the ingredients of a charming place people liked, says Bob Hyne of Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate, the listing agent along with his wife, Ruth Ann. An offer was accepted in one week. The key was in the advertising - "A Sea Captain's Cottage," Hyne says, alluding to local lore that the home was used by various seamen who came ashore during the community's heyday as a bustling commercial port. "Phrases like that appeal emotionally to people," he says. 
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<h2>Lindenhurst</h2> 
4 bedrooms, 2 baths 
LISTED AT $370,000 
SOLD FOR $373,000 
Before setting the price, agent Bob Meade of <a href="/topics/Century_21">Century 21</a> AA Realty in Lindenhurst sat down with the sellers and first asked how they would feel about a price of $300,000. Would the house sell? Absolutely, everyone agreed, but "that would be a steal." So they began bumping up the potential price - $320,000 . . . $350,000 . . . eventually up to $400,000, and asking the sellers what they thought. "You could see their body language start to change," Meade says, uncomfortable that the price might be too high. "It was pretty clear we needed to be around $370. I had plenty of data to back that up." Meade advertised the house for about 10 days before holding an open house. (There were no showings until the open house - that can help "create a frenzied effect," he says). They went to contract within two weeks. 
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<h2>Woodbury</h2> 
4-bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths 
LISTED AT $799,000 
SOLD FOR $785,000 
This 45-year-old house was "in terrible shape but had great bones and was in a great neighborhood," says listing agent Craig Bell of Realty Connect USA. He persuaded the sellers to hire a professional stager. The stager painted the entire house, ripped out old rugs, refinished wood floors, cleaned everywhere and brought in her own furniture - an investment of about $14,000. "Craig didn't sugarcoat things," says Scott Gilbert, who handled the sale of the home for his mother and stepfather. "He said, 'If you really want to sell the house, you have to fix it up so it's appealing to a buyer. . . . People need to walk in and picture themselves living in your house.' " (Three offers were made the first weekend of showings.) Gilbert had some trepidation about selling in today's market, but says that by staging, "we got 10 percent more than we would have gotten." 
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<h2>Four top tips to sell a home</h2> 
Here are some additional tips to help sell your house in today's tough market: 
 1. Make your home 'the shiny penny' Buyers are looking for a reason to eliminate your house, says Bart Cafarella, president of Realty Connect USA in Woodbury. "Your home needs to stand out in the crowd," he says. "It's like a dating service - why would someone pick you?" Conversely, you can also sell a "dirty penny" - a disaster house - if it's priced right, says Fern Karhu, executive vice president of RealtyConnect. "It needs to be offered well below market value." 
 2. Stress the home's cost, rather than price Ultimately, it's not the total price that matters, it's the monthly payment, Steve Harney says. It's like buying a car - people need to be comfortable with the monthly payment, which includes financing charges. Even if prices continue to fall, it may be cheaper for buyers to make a move now. By the time prices bottom out, the economy will likely improve, pushing up mortgage rates, so a "cheaper" house may end up costing more for market-timers. 
 3. Presentation is critical Curb appeal is your first concern, then the general exterior appearance, Karhu says. The upkeep of the house is also critical. "If you don't present properly for what today's consumer wants, it will affect the price," she says. 
 4. Don't "over-improve" your house List your house at the lower range of the median price the market is paying in your area, Bethany Marten says. That may mean putting in a finished basement with an outdoor entrance (perhaps for a relative or teenage kid), instead of a "killer kitchen" with granite countertops.

LSMAIN05.WEB

The new rules of pricing your house for sale

That new-car smell. The latest fashion. A theater debut. There's something irresistible about the newest thing on the scene - and <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> is no exception. Like the proverbial 15 minutes of fame, your home's first week on the market is a moment in the spotlight that won't happen again - so it's crucial to make the most of it. 
A new listing has two major perks that smart sellers won't want to miss out on. The first is your bargaining position: It will never be this good again. It's an inescapable reality of any sales negotiation that once you've named your opening price, you've got nowhere to go but down - and the longer it takes, the lower the price may go. Indeed, in the first half of this year, Long Island homes spent an average of 119 days on the market, and the average contract price was 6.45 percent less than the original asking price, according to <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel. For a seller asking $350,000, that's a $22,575 discount. In the same time period for 2006, the average time on the market was 86 days and the listing discount averaged 4.1 percent. 
The second advantage to the first week is the marketing blitz that occurs - effortlessly, and at no extra cost to the seller - when a home is entered into the Multiple Listing Service. Thanks to an endless array of electronic gizmos, apps and alerts, the moment a new home is listed, everybody knows it. "It is instantaneous," says Cyndi Sheppard of RE/MAX Alliance in Miller Place. "Whatever sites your office is involved in, they all feed off the Multiple Listing automatically." 
Having your home announce itself to your target market at its moment of peak value is big exposure - and it only happens once. Here's how to capitalize on that new-listing luster before it fades: 
<hr> 
1. Don't jump the gun Even if you want your house sold yesterday, don't make the mistake of rushing it onto the market before the property and your selling strategy are anything less than perfect. There's a lot of preparation - from prettying up the place to pricing it properly - that needs to take place. "Unless the sellers are really savvy and have done all this ahead of time, it's premature," says Krae Van Sickle of The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>. "You should hire somebody and figure out what's necessary, and then go on the market once you've got your show ready for prime time." 
2. Hire a pro, or think like one There are 7,996 homes for sale in Nassau and 11,713 in Suffolk, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. "With all the competition, you have to make sure that the marketing of the home is perfectly in place," Sheppard says. If you're not using an agent, you should be aware of what they're doing for your competition. "The listing agent is hired by the owner to give them information, consultation, to do management, arrange showings and marketing," Van Sickle explains. The marketing can include everything from professional photography and virtual tours to holding open houses. 
Appealing to potential buyers is only half the marketing equation, says Karen Mazzola of Realty Connect USA. "It also needs to be accepted by the other <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> brokers and agents out there, so they'll view it as an exceptional piece of inventory." 
To attract all those agents, "Make sure you've done your homework, and make it really easy for the selling agent to answer all the buyers' questions," Van Sickle says. 
Get it right the first time, and you've got yourself an extended sales team, Mazzola says. "Basically, they're working for our homeowner as well." 
3. Price it right Sellers, understandably biased, are notorious for overestimating the worth of their homes. But this is no time to be sentimental - it's time to be pragmatic. "Price is a moving target," Van Sickle says. "You need to have a sober market analysis done by somebody objective. The agent should give the owners the raw data, and they should listen to the interpretation. The agent has to do a very thorough and considered market analysis to judge what price it should be." 
Most buyers' agents won't bother showing your house if the price is unrealistic - they'd rather put their time and effort into the ones that are most likely to sell. An overpriced home isn't a good bet for two reasons. The first one's obvious: What buyer wants to overpay? And second, even in the unlikely event that a buyer falls in love and agrees to a price that's above market value, the lender may not. 
If your place is more expensive than comparable ones in the area, or if similarly priced homes are offering more for the money - the same model house with a newer kitchen, for instance - rethink that number before you list it. 
 4. Get ready for your close-up One of the biggest blunders sellers make is to list a home without photos, figuring they can add them later. Don't do it, Sheppard warns. When agents and buyers receive a new listing alert, they expect to see interior and exterior photos immediately - and good ones. If they don't, they'll likely pass it over and never look back, she says. By the time you get around to posting the pictures, you've missed your shot: Newer listings will be getting all the attention. 
"The photograph is extremely important these days," Van Sickle says. "So many people are making a huge amount of their judgment based on the photos on the Internet." 
You want your house to explode onto the electronic scene looking impeccable. The interior shots should depict a home that's spotless and clutter-free. Outside photos should be in season, with a manicured property for inviting curb appeal. "Take four or five different angles to see which looks best," Mazzola suggests. 
 5. Set the stage Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in your house, and it's your job to remove any obstacles that might cloud that vision. Stage the place carefully, putting your home's best face forward - not your family's. "When you're selling a house, less is more," Mazzola says. "You want to depersonalize it so the buyers can picture themselves there. You don't want too many personal things up and hanging. It distracts them. They're supposed to be looking at the house and they end up looking at your pictures and your plaques and your history." 
Patch up any problem areas before showing the home, Van Sickle advises. "You'll end up taking a huge discount if you don't fix it up properly," he says. "The first thing they look for is the defects. If they don't see any defects, then they walk in and begin to see themselves in the house," Van Sickle says. 
Follow your agent's advice, or consult a professional home stager for tips on how to make your home look its best. "You're trying to do the superficial things mostly, the things that make it present well," Van Sickle says. "Buyers have choices. The ones that are best presented are the ones that will sell." 
<hr> 
A picture is worth a thousand words 
The owner of this four-bedroom <a href="/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> home received an offer within a week of listing the home, and was in contract in 19 days. The house sold for $470,000 - 5.8 percent below asking price. 
The home was first listed with another broker for $529,000 using the photo at right. When it didn't sell after nine months, the owner let the listing expire and hired Tracy Boucher of Coach Realtors. 
"There was nothing wrong with it, but it didn't look good on the Internet," Boucher says. 
It was off the market for a week, during which Boucher and the owner made a few tweaks. "I came in, we repriced it, put in the mulch, trimmed it up and reshot the house with a wide-angle lens," she says. 
Boucher is very particular about what to include in a shot - and what to exclude. "We try to shoot to get most of the house in, never the street," she says. She forbids cars, trash cans and toys. 
The professional photographer noted the direction the home faced, then waited for the optimum time on a sunny day and took the photo at a new angle from under the tree so the house wouldn't be obscured. 
Home stager Lynne Kleinman explains why the new shot works. "You want to see the architecture of the house. It's a very appealing line," says Kleinman, who co-owns Accent Home Staging &amp; Organizing in Great Neck with Ellen Blank. "The way they took it makes you want to walk in." 
"His house was pretty clean, but it just needed a fresh perspective - and it worked," Boucher says. 
<hr> 
 Did it wrong the first time? Try again 
Missed your big moment? All is not lost - but now you'll have to work twice as hard to stay competitive, says Cyndi Sheppard of Re/Max Alliance in Miller Place. "Constantly find things to do with your listing to bring it in front of the eyes of the buyers," she says. Here are three changes you can make that will keep your house in the running: 
 CHANGE YOUR PHOTOS A dated-looking picture tells buyers it's an old listing - and makes them wonder what's wrong with the house. If the tulips were in bloom when you took your exterior shot, it's time to replace that image. "Change the pictures with the seasons," Sheppard advises. 
 UPDATE THE DESCRIPTION This one's most effective if something has actually changed - you've given the place a new paint job, for instance, or scheduled an open house. But even if you just rewrite the description to highlight your pool in the summer, or the fireplace in the winter, the update might get your listing a second look. 
 IMPROVE THE HOME - OR DISCOUNT IT 
"If it's not mint, start working on it," Sheppard says. "If it's not mint and you can't work on it, then you have to do a price reduction." It's painful, but sometimes necessary. "Just reduced" may not have the same ring as "new listing," but there is a bright side: Your home will be "new" to the eyes of every buyer in your new, lower price range.

LSMAIN01.WEB

A new listing gets the spotlight: make it sing

There's a certain word beginning with F that nobody wants to hear these days - foreclosure, or lender repossession of a property on which the mortgage hasn't been paid. It's costly and time-consuming for lenders, humiliating and financially devastating for borrowers. 
 One way to avoid it is to try for the somewhat less-offensive S-word - a short sale, or a sale in which a property is sold for less than what's owed on the mortgage. This month, short sales are on the path to becoming a little more attractive and easier to accomplish, thanks to the federal <a href="/topics/United_States_Department_of_the_Treasury">Treasury Department</a>'s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program. 
 The program offers financial incentives to both the borrower and the mortgage servicer - that's either the lender or a company hired by the lender to collect the payments and handle the accounting for your loan - in exchange for averting a foreclosure. The program also provides preapproved terms for a short sale. The servicer accepts the partial payment in full satisfaction of the loan. You can search a list of participating mortgage servicers at making homeaffordable.gov. 
 "I don't know if HAFA is the greatest thing that ever happened, but it's a good thing," says Phil Tesoriero of Exceptional Homes Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a>, who created the short sale certification course taught by the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Board of Realtors. The introduction of the program has prompted lenders to begin circulating their own short sale policies - even those that aren't participating in the program, he says. 
 "Short sales were basically the Wild West before - banks did whatever they wanted to do. I'm not sure those days are done, but we're coming a long way," Tesoriero says. 
 The National Association of Realtors reports that the number of short sale requests is on the rise, and not all servicers are equipped to handle the demand. In the absence of uniform procedures, members have reported difficulties with unresponsive lenders, lost documents and processing delays. 
 If you're in financial trouble and your mortgage is under water - or you owe more than your home is worth - here are six things you should know about short sales and the new federal program. 1. Where do I start? 
 If you've missed mortgage payments, or anticipate missing them in the near future, your first step should be a call to a HUD-approved counseling agency (to search for one, visit the HUD website at hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc). "We go over their budget, we go over their income, review the situation and try to see what we can do. If we can intervene with the bank on their behalf, that's what we do," says Carol Yopp, program director at the nonprofit HUD-approved <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Housing Partnership, which provides free counseling. 
 If a short sale is deemed the best course of action, get legal advice from an attorney with short sale experience before doing anything else, Yopp says. (See resource list for more information.) A licensed <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> broker can help list and sell your home. Look for one with the "SFR" certification, which indicates completion of the training course in short sales and foreclosures offered by the National Association of Realtors. Commissions and fees are paid out of the sale proceeds, Tesoriero says. 
 2. I have a buyer already. How do I request a short sale? 
 If you've already listed your home on the market and you receive an offer that's less than what you owe, but more or less in line with market value, you can submit the offer with a short sale package to the mortgage servicer. A broker or attorney can help you assemble and submit the package according to the servicer's requirements and make the most convincing case for a short sale. Remember, from the lender's perspective, the goal of a short sale is to mitigate the lender's losses - not yours. Being under water is typically not a good enough reason; lenders don't want to take less than the full payment unless your package also demonstrates a financial hardship that makes a partial payment look more attractive than the alternatives. 
 3. Am I eligible for the new federal program's short sale option? 
 Eligibility for Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is a prerequisite for the program: The property has to be your primary residence, the loan must have originated before 2009 and the unpaid principle balance for a single unit has to be no more than $729,750. Your monthly mortgage payment has to total more than 31 percent of your gross monthly income, and you have to prove that you can't afford it due to financial hardship. 
 You'll be considered for a short sale after you've tried unsuccessfully to complete a loan modification under HAMP, or if you're HAMP-eligible and request a short sale. If you qualify, you'll be notified by mail within 30 days, and you'll have two weeks to respond. 4. What are my responsibilities? 
 If you sign a HAFA short sale agreement, there will be a pre-sale assessment in which the lender determines the home's list price, or the minimum amount it will accept after sales costs. It's your job to list and sell the home at the approved price in an "arm's length" transaction - meaning you have no relationship to the buyer. You'll have to maintain its condition and be cooperative about showing it. 
 The servicer has the right to expect partial payments - up to 31 percent of your monthly income - while it's on the market. You'll also have to be able to provide the buyer with a clear title, which means negotiating with the lien holders to clear any additional judgments or liens secured by the house, such as a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit. 
 5. What are the perks? 
 If you follow the procedure precisely and submit a fully executed sales contract at the approved price, along with all required documents, the turnaround time for a short sale approval or denial is only 10 days. The mortgage servicer receives financial incentives from the federal government to allow a portion of the gross sale proceeds to be paid to help clear subordinate liens. 
 And once the short sale closes, you'll have no further responsibility for repaying the mortgage - this would not necessarily be true for short sales conducted outside of the HAFA program. You also will receive $3,000 toward relocation expenses. These benefits have to be reported to the IRS - both the debt forgiveness and the relocation check may be considered taxable income. 
 6. What's the fallout of a short sale? 
 No matter what you may have heard to the contrary, your credit score will suffer. In fact, if you've missed payments on the mortgage or other bills, a fair portion of the damage was done before you ever got to the point of pursuing a short sale. The term "short sale" does not appear on the report - that's merely the phrase used to describe the deal you negotiate with the lender - but the status for the account will show that it was settled for less than what was owed. 
 There's no way to generalize the negative impact of a short sale on a credit score, since each situation is different. The only thing that's true across the board is how long it remains on the report - seven years. 
 Need help with a short sale? 
 The <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County Bar Association (nassaubar.org) 
 Volunteer attorneys will answer mortgage and foreclosure questions at free clinics from 3 to 6 p.m. May 10 and June 15. Call 516-747-4070 for reservations. 
 The <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>/<a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> Law Services Committee Inc. 
 (nslawservices.org) 
 The committee provides free legal services to the poor. Call 516-292-8100 in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>, 631-232-2400 in western <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> or 631-369-1112 in eastern <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>. 
 Homeowner's HOPE Hotline 
 The 24-hour hotline offers free HUD-certified counseling services in English and Spanish. Other languages are available by appointment. Call 888-995-4673. 
 National Association of Realtors 
 Download HAFA guidelines and forms at realtor.org/government_affairs/short_sales_hafa. 
 Touro Law Center 
 (tourolaw.edu) 
 Law students, under the guidance of a law school faculty member, assist homeowners for free with legal filings and negotiations in the Mortgage Foreclosure &amp; Bankruptcy Clinic. Call 631-761-7000 for more information. 
 <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Housing Partnership 
 (lihp.org) 
 Free HUD counseling sessions are available by appointment. Call 631-435-4710. 
 Annual Credit Report Request Service 
 Federal law gives you the right to get a free copy of your credit reports from each of the three national consumer reporting companies once every 12 months. Visit annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228. You also have the right to see your credit score. For that, they can charge a fee of about $8; the price may include information on how to improve your score.

Short sale primer: New rules may help homeowners

Short sale 

You have a baby on the way and your kids are wedged into their rooms, risking life and limb, in danger of being crushed under an avalanche of mega toys. And your mother-in-law is moving in. You need three more bedrooms, but do you also need more than one bath? 
When faced with such space needs, <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>ers are thinking hard about whether trading up or renovating would be the better investment. 
Much of the problem is that many homeowners lost equity in their homes since the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> market dipped last year. "They may have had $200,000 in equity, and now they only have $100,000," says Bob Brennan, president of Brennan and Priest Inc., a <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook%2C_NY">Stony Brook</a> contractor. 
The cost of moving is estimated at about 10 percent of the price you'll pay for your new home, says broker Lisa Lauricella, with Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty in <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>. 
You have to weigh that against the cost of the average expansion or major renovation, which can easily top $100,000, according to several <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> contractors. Either choice could cost big bucks, but is one way more economical than the other? Is there a way to find the tipping point, where it makes more sense moneywise to move than improve? 
To complicate matters further, <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> agents and contractors stress that the factors aren't only economic. It's important to acknowledge the choice to move or stay is also emotional. 
If you're happy and content with the neighborhood, the school district, your proximity to the gym or shopping, and you just need an improved kitchen or another bathroom, or a bigger family room, you might opt to stay, says Lauricella. 
But, she adds, if it is a matter of needing "another thousand square feet, you might consider moving." 
Here are some tips from contractors and <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> agents that may help you decide. 
IF YOU DECIDE TO RENOVATE 
Look closely at competing properties in your neighborhood to avoid overimproving. 
If your home is worth $1 million, and the houses in your neighborhood are worth $1 million, and you add $300,000 in improvements, you may not get the capital back out, experts say. "It has to do with how banks assess the homes in a neighborhood," cautions Nava Mitnick, a broker who works out of Daniel Gale's <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a> office. "You may face some losses." 
Watch your budget. 
In a renovation, prices can snowball fast. "A $300,000 renovation could easily become $500,000 or $600,000," says Andi Levine, senior vice president of June Shapiro Laffey Associates in <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>. Her advice: "Add an extra cushion in the budget for unforeseen things." 
ESTIMATED COSTS OF SELLING 
ATTORNEY FEES: Between $500 and 1 percent of sales price 
APPRAISAL FEE: $300 to $900 
PROPERTY TAX ESCROW ADVANCE: Most lenders require that six to eight months of property taxes be held in escrow, and the lender assumes responsibility for paying the taxes. 
MORTGAGE POINTS (IF ANY): Each point equals 1 percent of the mortgage amount 
ORIGINATION FEE (IF ANY): This activation fee associated with processing the loan amounts to about 1 percent of the mortgage 
BANK ATTORNEY'S FEE: About $600 
HOME INSPECTION FEE (optional to the buyer): $500 and up, based on the size of the property 
'MANSION TAX' (on purchases of $1 million or more): 1 percent of sales price ($10,000 and up) 
NYS TRANSFER TAX (A SELLER'S EXPENSE): .4 percent of the sale price 
REAL ESTATE COMMISSION: Usually between 3 percent and 6 percent of the sale 
MOVERS' COSTS: $5,000 and up 
SOURCE: Marie Montchal, senior vice president of Relocation and Ancillary Services for Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty 
ESTIMATED COSTS TO RENOVATE 
Master bedroom suite expansion: $75,000 to $150,000 (500-square-foot addition includes exterior finishing, windows, electrical, heating and plumbing, interior finishing, including floors, walls and trims, with high-end shower, tile, quality fixtures and flooring in bath) 
Midrange hallway bath: $7,000 to $15,000 (5-by-9-foot room includes plumbing, electrical, fiberglass or ceramic one-piece shower, sink, toilet, vanity, quality fixtures, ceramic or wood floor) 
Upgraded hallway bath: $20,000 to $35,000 (5-by-9-foot room, with extras that include glass shower door, upgraded tiled shower, built-in linen closet, electric mat heating in floor, wainscoted walls, as well as upgraded wall tile, upgraded lighting, and plumbing fixtures) 
Midrange kitchen renovation: $25,000 to $40,000 and up (includes new cabinets, 10 to 15 feet of granite countertop, electrical upgrades, including new light fixtures, ceramic or wood floor and a midrange appliance package) 
SOURCES: Scott Wilson, owner, Scott Wilson Cabinet Maker, <a href="/topics/Centerport%2C_NY">Centerport</a>; Matthew Pantofel, president, BJC Contracting Co. Inc., <a href="/topics/Brookville%2C_NY">Brookville</a>; Sal Ferro, president, Alure Home Improvements, <a href="/topics/East_Meadow%2C_NY">East Meadow</a> 
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF 
How much more space do you need? 
Is it only one bedroom or do you need a master suite, a large family room or extra space in every room? 
Are you happy where you are? 
Think about your house, your neighborhood, your neighbors, your school district and your proximity to the railroad, parkways, shopping and place of worship. 
How much equity do you have in your house? 
If you have a lot of equity, you might consider moving, taking advantage of the value offered in lower home prices. If you have little or no equity, you might want or need to stay where you are. 
What is your budget? 
This will be key in deciding what you can and cannot do. 
Do you have property on which to expand? 
Check with local zoning requirements to see if the property has the proper setbacks to expand.

ny-lsre1210

Need more space? Do you move or add on?

PHOTOS

Visit the Web sites for <a href="/topics/Nassau">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk">Suffolk</a> set up by the <a href="/topics/Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency">Federal Emergency Management Agency</a> and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
For Suffolk, it's suffolknyfloodmaps.com. For Nassau, it's nassaunyfloodmap.com. Note that it's "maps," plural, in the Suffolk URL, but "map," singular, in the Nassau Web address. These maps were designed to help homeowners and business owners determine their properties' flood potential, but do not show the changes taking effect in the flood plain borders. 
 Once there, type in your address, including ZIP code. An aerial photo of where you live will appear, with instructions to click on the "report" icon. 
 Then click on your building in the aerial photo.
 The report that comes up will show the "effective" zone - that is, the current flood proneness rating, with "X" being the lowest risk, "AE" being higher and "VE" being highest because it is subject to wave action. The "proposed" zone is the rating under the new maps. 
Reporters who tested the system were able to bring up a report for an address in Freeport using both Internet Explorer and <a href="/topics/Mozilla_Firefox">Mozilla Firefox</a> Web browsers. 
Note, the state says the browser must have pop-ups enabled for the report to appear.
For a time, that easy interactivity had been removed. Maureen Wren, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said it was intended to be temporary.
Some homeowners complained to Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.), who promised to try to get the feature restored. "The disabling of the Web sites has led to confusion surrounding the newly drawn flood maps and inability for many Long Islanders to easily access the new information," he said in a statement.
Last Wednesday, Wren said the department had decided to restore the interactivity.

Long Island

Nassau

BZMAPS09

Is your property in a flood zone? How to find out

Here are five typical projects included in the survey, along with advice from <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a> <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> experts and other professionals. While projects tend to recoup less than 100 percent of the money invested when the home is sold, experts point out that projects like these can mean the difference between a timely sale and a home that lingers on the market. 
NOTE: Project totals and descriptions come from Remodeling magazine, which calculated the costs based on the price of labor and materials in the mid-Atlantic region of the country. 
DECK 
Project: Add a 16-by-20-foot deck supported by 4-by-4 posts on concrete piers. Include a built-in bench and planter, three-step stairway and railing with posts and balusters. 
Cost: $10,676 
Amount recouped on resale: 83 percent 
What the experts say: Surprisingly, although a deck is one of the cheapest home- improvement projects, a number of <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a> real estate agents are of the opinion that it's often not worth the effort. "If a deck is old or rotting, you're better off just tearing it down," says Mark Malsky, owner of <a href="/topics/Babylon">Babylon</a>-based RE/MAX Signature Real Estate. "No deck is just as good as a new deck, even if everyone else in the neighborhood has a deck. Most buyers can imagine what a deck would look like and cost." 
SIDING 
Project: Replace 1,250 square feet of existing siding with new fiber-cement siding - a more upscale and durable siding. It should be factory- primed and -painted. Include all 4/4 and 5/4 trim, using either fiber-cement boards or cellular PVC. 
Cost: $13,359 
Amount recouped on resale: 86 percent 
What the experts say: This kind of project falls squarely in the realm of curb appeal - the kind of project every real estate agent tends to favor. Outdated - or, worse, damaged - siding can be a liability from the moment the buyer sets eyes on the home. This is where it's worth spending money and, comparatively, the price of the project is still on the low end. With painting, siding is "the No. 1 place to make an improvement for a sale," says Dottie Herman, president and chief executive of <a href="/topics/PRUDENTIAL">Prudential</a> <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate. 
WINDOWS 
Project: Replace 10 3-by-5-foot double-hung windows with insulated, vinyl windows. 
Cost: $11,083 
Amount recouped on resale: 77.8 percent 
What the experts say: Windows are like siding - extremely important in first impressions. As a prime curb-appeal project, they return a high rate on dollars spent. "What you notice first is usually the impression that lasts," says Hofstra's <a href="/topics/Robert_Campbell">Robert Campbell</a>, who teaches real estate. "Windows are always important." 
BATHROOM 
Project: Add a new bathroom - in Remodeling magazine's example, it is 6 by 8 feet. Include a marble vanity top with molded sink; standard chrome faucets; fiberglass tub/shower with ceramic tile surrounding. 
Cost: $40,290 
Amount recouped on resale: 55.4 percent 
What the experts say: The return on investment numbers here is not great, but local experts suggest you not base your decision on numbers alone. "It's like trying to convince someone to continue investing in a stock that is declining in value," says <a href="/topics/Robert_Campbell">Robert Campbell</a>, who teaches real estate and finance at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>'s <a href="/topics/Frank_G._Zarb">Frank G. Zarb</a> School of Business. "Except you already own the home," he says. And spending the money on a project may mean the difference between a quick sale and a home that lingers on the market for many months. So those who look at just the numbers to calculate a return are probably missing the point, he says. 
KITCHEN 
Project: Update kitchen - in Remodeling magazine's example, it's 200 square feet - with 30 feet of cabinetry, as well as countertops, sink and faucets. Replace cabinet fronts with new wood doors, and change drawers and hardware. Install new energy-efficient appliances. Replace flooring. 
Cost: $21,908 
Amount recouped on resale: 77 percent 
What the experts say: Dottie Herman, president and chief executive of <a href="/topics/PRUDENTIAL">Prudential</a> <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate, points out that money spent on renovating kitchens and baths can be crucial. "People notice an outdated bath or kitchen very quickly," she says. "But you don't want to do anything out of the ordinary. " A restrained approach is best. "We recently had to sell a home where the seller had just built her dream kitchen. What she didn't realize was that her favorite yellow was not to everyone's liking," Herman says.

ny-hocov5856684sep26

Five things to improve your home's value

The aroma of chicken and rice floats through the air. Ramon Tavarez, who speaks Spanish, says through his real estate agent that the Melito kids next door often come over to eat, and, judging from the smell, who can blame them? But it's not just the food that draws them: It's the company. 
There is a good relationship between the neighboring families on Davison Street in <a href="/topics/Oceanside%2C_NY">Oceanside</a>. Tavarez, the owner of a landscaping business, even does Lisa and Jimmy Melito's yard work for free, says Maria Carrasquillo of Coldwell Banker Beach West in <a href="/topics/Long_Beach">Long Beach</a>, interpreting for her client. 
But both homeowners happen to have their Dutch Colonials up for sale, and each says they think their house is a better deal. 
"The kitchen is not updated like ours is," says Lisa Melito, 40, a medical assistant. "And I think we've gotten a lot more traffic than them." 
Tavarez says, through his agent, that the Melitos' house is not updated like his is. 
Tavarez has had his house on the market for 17 months. The five-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house had been listed for $525,000. The asking price is now $495,000, a price Lisa Melito says she believes is a mistake. The Melitos' three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house is listed for $399,000, down from its original price of $439,000 when they listed it 15 months ago. 
Both families say the other does not pose a threat, and that they are appealing to a different type of buyer. But, being next-door neighbors, they share a lot of traffic flow and, admittedly, often are compared, nonetheless. 
Prices are dropping 
According to the April housing figures from the Multiple Listing Service of <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a>, in just a year the median closing price for home sales on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> and in <a href="/topics/Queens">Queens</a> has dropped from $440,000 to $415,000, or 5.7 percent. (In <a href="/topics/Nassau">Nassau</a>, the median price decreased from $473,800 in April 2007 to $447,000, or 5.7 percent; in <a href="/topics/Suffolk">Suffolk</a>, the price went down from $400,000 to $370,000, or 7.5 percent.) 
Some agents predict prices will soon drop even lower in this flurry of foreclosures and stagflation, a combination of inflation and a sluggish economy. 
There's been a 7.8 percent increase in the number of houses on the market. In April there were 36,790 houses for sale on Long Island and in <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a>. In April 2007, there were 34,129. In <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>, it would take nearly 14 months to sell all 10,486 residential properties on the market, based on the current pace of sales; in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>, it would take 18 months to sell all 14,809 properties; the 11,495 listings in Queens would take almost 19 months. 
"The market is a little more flooded than usual," says Chris Montalbano, a licensed sales associate with Century 21 Prevete Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">Levittown</a>. It's common, he says, to see neighboring houses for sale. "It generally helps one seller and hurts the other." 
The Melitos have had five open houses and Tavarez has had more than eight, their agents say. "We try to do them every other week because every week looks desperate," says Carrasquillo, who is co-listing the Tavarez house with Leonilde Simonetti. Both families have had several offers, but no follow-through. Sometimes the offers have been too low; other times potential buyers lost interest. 
The Melitos' agent, Michael Karlen with Hal Knopf Realty Inc. in Oceanside, says the situation has nothing to do with the house or its price. "It's just a matter of the right buyer coming along," says Karlen. Still, says Lisa Melito, "It's so frustrating - so frustrating. We thought it would only take a couple of months. And we were prepared not to register my son for kindergarten because we thought we'd have moved by now, which is hard on the kids." 
As 3-year-old daughter Kayla squawks capriciously on her lap, Melito notes that she wants to move to <a href="/topics/New_Jersey">New Jersey</a> to be near family and to spare her husband the two-hour commute to his job there as an elevator mechanic. 
Tavarez's sons, daughters and grandchildren watch television in his living room as one of them strums a guitar. Though at the moment the house is filled with family, Tavarez's kids no longer live with him. So Tavarez says through his agent that he wants to downsize. Carrasquillo explains, "There's no rush, but he wants the money." 
In the 2 1/2 years he has lived in the house, Tavarez says he put two bedrooms and an office in the basement, did all the wood paneling, painted, refurbished the fireplace, reshingled the roof and transformed a living room closet into a half-bath. 
The Melitos say they have also updated nearly everything in their home, even adding a deck - all of which they now say they expect to lose money on. "We did put a lot of work into it and made it how we like it and we would have gotten a lot more money for it if we had done this a couple of years ago," says Lisa Melito. Now, she finds it a hassle to constantly keep the house pristine for showing. 
Peter Kavanaugh, a licensed broker associate with <a href="/topics/Woodbury%2C_NY">Woodbury</a>-based Shawn Elliot Luxury Homes &amp; Estates, has seen the race to mop and toolbox first-hand. He has two listings on the same street in <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>, both with a house next door for sale. "It turns into a little more competitiveness between the sellers, and then you see one of the sellers cleaning up and doing a little more to get it sold," he says. 
Dominick Picarello, who listed his Colonial in August, knows all about that kind of rivalry. Picarello, 39, an IT manager for <a href="/topics/New_York_University">New York University</a> Medical Center, says the contract on his <a href="/topics/Mount_Sinai%2C_NY">Mount Sinai</a> home was all but signed when the would-be buyers decided to buy a house two doors down for the asking price on the day it was listed. Picarello says his neighbors asked a few thousand dollars less than what he had agreed on with his buyers. "They underpriced it tremendously, which is completely within their right," says Picarello. "It was too good to pass up; I almost don't blame the buyers." 
Agents compete, too 
Picarello says it's not just sellers competing, but agents as well. The houses were both listed with Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate, but with different offices. 
Maddy Byer, manager for Prudential's <a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">East Setauket</a> office, says she is unaware of the situation, but says, "If there are 20 houses for sale and a consumer chooses one, we're not in control." A representative for the other Prudential office, in <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>, could not be reached for comment. 
Picarello says he did not renew his listing with the realty company when it expired April 15. He is trying to sell the house himself and has lowered the price from $599,990 to $589,000. 
Rob Schmidt, another soldier in the battle for buyers, grew up in his <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a> neighborhood. Before buying his house on Bernard Drive, Schmidt, a Local 28 Union sheet metal worker, lived eight blocks away, then two blocks away. 
"It's a great place to live," says Schmidt, 47, whose kids attend W. Tresper Clark High School, the school he went to. 
When he and wife, Peggy, a stay-at-home mother, decided to move the family to <a href="/topics/North_Carolina">North Carolina</a> for a job opportunity, he was surprised to see that his neighbor's house was still on the market, after thinking it had sold when the sign came down. 
He says he and his wife "were talking about it and we know what we're going to do and then we come home and see the sign is up and we're like, 'Oh, great, now their house is for sale at the same time,'" Schmidt says. Both houses went on the market more than three months ago. 
Schmidt says he has a friendly relationship with his neighbor, Catherine Nocerino. "I try to help her take out her trash, but she won't let me. She wants to do it," Schmidt says. 
Nocerino's daughter, Kathy Joyce, listed the house for her. "The first thing I thought when I saw the other house go up for sale was, 'Oh, great, competition," says Joyce. "But then my Realtor said to me, 'No, maybe it will be a good thing,' because they are priced higher than me." 
Schmidt's house is listed for $599,999, and Nocerino's for $549,000. 
There are only four models of houses in the neighborhood, which, Schmidt says, can make standing out even more difficult. But he notes that his open floor plan, hot tub, new driveway and fourth bedroom help set his house apart from the rest. 
"The house behind me is for sale, the house on the corner is for sale, so it's not like it's me and [the neighbor]," says Schmidt. He has noticed that many of his buyers also toured his neighbor's house. "I don't blame them," Schmidt says. "I did it, too, when I was visiting North Carolina." 
If it happens to you . . . 
Real estate agents offer this advice for homeowners who find themselves competing with their neighbors for a house sale: 
Check out your neighbor's house. And compare it to yours so you can price your house competitively. 
Coordinate open houses with your neighbor. Chances are, you will both add to each other's exposure. 
Join forces with your neighbor. "I would suggest listing with the same office because they will probably try to show both properties at the same time," says Chris Montalbano of Century 21 Prevete Real Estate in Levittown.

Business

ny-bzremain095677456may09

The competition next door

ap.org:75347e0c25ef4800bc5be256ed1e48c9

The words "open house" plastered on a sign or shingle don't attract the same number of prospective buyers they did 10 years ago. These days, many serious buyers prefer the virtual open houses of craigslist, MLSLI.com ... well, name your favorite Web site for house-hunting. 
"Before the Internet, open houses were hugely effective," says Peggy Moriarty, associate broker at Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty in <a href="/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">Cold Spring Harbor</a>. "People used to come into my office and say, 'I'm looking for a three-bedroom home in <a href="/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">Cold Spring Harbor</a> for so many dollars. And they went blind. &nbsp;. . . Then the Internet came about, and it's totally amazing how it's transformed our business. Now people use the Internet as their open house every day." 
&gt;&gt; <a href="http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/selling-tips-1.1649432">Selling tips: Advice from real estate experts to help you sell your home</a> &gt;&gt; <a href="http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/buying-tips-1.1647973">Buying tips: Experts offer pointers to help you navigate today's homebuying process </a> &gt;&gt; <a href="http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/money-and-finance-1.1649652">Money: Learn more about mortgages, taxes and other real estate money matters</a> 
Not that it keeps agents from doing business the old-fashioned way, especially when many sellers still ask their agents to hold an open house. "Sellers still think things are like they used to be," says Seth Pitlake, a licensed sales associate with Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Merrick%2C_NY">Merrick</a>. 
For agents like Jamie Winkler, owner of Winkler Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a> and <a href="/topics/West_Islip%2C_NY">West Islip</a> and co-owner of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> edition of The Real Estate Report (lirealestate report.com), a company that reports on local <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> transactions, open houses are still a great way to bond with potential buyers. 
"They can only help you and never hurt," she says. "Because there are so many houses on the market, a lot of buyers prefer to visit open houses rather than go to many different brokers. It's good for the buyers and for the agents. This way they can see who they connect with. The worst thing is that you get an agent who has to sit there for three hours and gets no deal. So they're bored, but there's nothing more negative than that." 
But some brokers did manage to come up with a few negatives - security issues, nosy neighbors and lack of serious bids, to name a few. 
But do the pros outweigh the cons? 
You decide. 
PROS 
Open to all It's not just prospective buyers who come to an open house, but also brokers who might want to team up on the sale and usually provide advice on ways to help a home sell faster. 
"A lot of the smaller brokers may not have a lot of inventory to capture buyers, so this way they have someone to work with," Pitlake says. 
Moriarty agrees. "There are three people you sell a house to - first the broker community, second is the buyer community and third is the bank. Unless you can sell to all three people, you're never going to sell that house." 
More exposure The chances of a serious bid may be slim, but an open house usually will draw people, particularly if the house is priced right. 
"Pricing has to be very sharp in today's market, anyway. If you have a new property and you're putting it out with an open house for the first time, you should check all of the comparable homes in the area," Pitlake says. "If your price point is 5 percent under the comparables, you'll take all of those customers away from the competition." 
Actual browsing The Web may be the fastest way to find a home, but nothing beats actually walking through a house and seeing it firsthand, say some agents. 
"Looking on the Internet, you don't see how the light comes through the kitchen or how the patina on the molding looks," Moriarty says. "If I was a really serious buyer, I'd be looking at every single house in my price range in the area. A lot of people don't want to make appointments with a Realtor. They like the advantage of just going to an open house." 
Finding new customers Open houses are often the place where a potential buyer can wander in from the street. 
"Yes, you get the nosy neighbors who drop in, but it's amazing how many people move to another house in their own neighborhood, so these are also potential customers," says Regina Koller, communications and community relations coordinator for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in <a href="/topics/Hauppauge%2C_NY">Hauppauge</a>. 
CONS 
Rarely produces a bid What brokers seem to agree on is that open houses aren't a great tool for selling a particular home. 
"I've been selling <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> for about 10 years. I think I sold one home through an open house," says <a href="/topics/Dallas">Dallas</a> Moore, a broker at Happy Homes Realty in <a href="/topics/Middle_Island%2C_NY">Middle Island</a>. "An open house works more for the agent, as far as generating new buyer leads. They don't necessarily help the homeowner, but [very often] the buyers who come to an open house usually buy another property from that broker." 
Nosy neighbors Hosting an open house has always been a magnet for attracting curious neighbors -- just don't expect them to be friendly with an offer. 
"You always get the nosy neighbors down the block or the bicycle rider or the people walking the dog or their baby down the street," Pitlake says. "That's just an outcome of having an open house. People are always interested in what's going on next door." 
Security concerns Having an open house is basically an open invitation for anyone to enter your home, so hide the valuables and breakables. Last year, two Hamptons women pulled a string of thefts at open houses in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>, slipping everything from a Tiffany clock to a bottle of Champagne into a large handbag. Many brokers now require potential buyers to show a form of identification or sign in before getting to look at a house. 
Too much stress With the housing market so tight these days, first impressions are more critical than ever. Hosting an open house is just one more thing to drive a seller crazy. 
"Sellers are always concerned about buyer response and what impression they're making," says Mark Malsky, a broker for RE/MAX Signature Real Estate in <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a> and <a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">East Setauket</a>. "Buyers can limit stress by limiting the number of open houses they have. ... 
Holding the same open house over and over again can send out the wrong message -- that there's something wrong with the house. Open houses should be held when they're most advantageous to the seller."

re-openshoue1212

The pros and cons of holding an open house

Sellers already are scrambling to find buyers who are willing to pay a price they want. Now comes word from Realtors and real estate attorneys that some sales are going into contract but never make it to closing. It is unclear exactly how many <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> home sales are falling through. But Edward Taylor, a <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> attorney specializing in real estate, said that in the past month, one-quarter of the homes he handled that had gone to contract did not end up at the closing table. (The National Association of Realtors, which usually doesn't track this data, did a quick survey in August 2007 and found that the range of deals falling through was 10 percent to 30 percent of all transactions nationwide, says spokesman Walter Molony. A major reason deals are falling apart is that some buyers can't qualify for mortgages. But other problems are arising because would-be purchasers have lost their jobs or are concerned about job security. Also, bank requirements for obtaining mortgages have been changing, and some applicants who do receive mortgage pre-approval may no longer be eligible for that particular loan after the contract signing, says Sheryl Hecht, a licensed saleswoman with the <a href="/topics/Dix_Hills%2C_NY">Dix Hills</a> office of Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate. If you've had a contract that never made it to closing or are one of the many sellers who have had offers that never even made it to contract, here are some options to consider: REQUIRE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT DOWN AT CONTRACT The 411: A few lending institutions still will lend money to those buyers who can put down only 3 percent or 5 percent, according to Mark Malsky, owner-broker with RE/MAX Signature Real Estate, which has offices in <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a> and <a href="/topics/Setauket%2C_NY">Setauket</a>. But it is preferable for the seller that the buyer be ready to put down 10 percent at contract to make a mortgage commitment more likely, says real estate attorney Neil Garfinkel, partner at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson, LLP, which has an office in <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a>. And, by having your attorney write the contract to require 20 percent down at closing, you are even more likely to have a buyer actually get a mortgage commitment than if only about 5 percent is put down, Taylor says. Pros: You get to keep more money in your pocket if the deal dies. Cons: You may eliminate some buyers. Also, getting to keep the deposit is "not a slam-dunk," says Garfinkel, because purchasers still could want some of their money back and may want to take you to court. KEEP THE DOWN PAYMENT The 411: Most contracts are contingent upon a buyer getting a mortgage, points out attorney Barry Landsman, who is of counsel at the <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>-based law firm of Pryor Cashman, LLP. If someone cannot get a mortgage and cannot close, you are required by most standard contracts to return the down payment. However, if the purchasers find another home they prefer, are just too scared to go ahead with the deal because of concerns about the economy or back out for any other nonmortgage-related reason, you are legally entitled to keep the down payment, Cashman says. Pros: You have this money in your pocket to use until another buyer comes along. Cons: You're back to square one. TRY TO SAVE THE DEAL The 411: "If you need to sell and a buyer is getting nervous to close the deal because of price, find out at what price the buyer will come back to the table and renegotiate the deal," suggests Diane Saatchi, senior vice president in the <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a> office of The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>. "In this market, there may not be another buyer waiting right outside your door, so it may be worth doing this." Pros: This may allow you to seal the deal and have your home sold. Cons: You are selling your home at a lower price than you anticipated. FIND ANOTHER LENDER| The 411: If a buyer has enough money to close the deal and is gainfully employed but is still having difficulty getting a mortgage, postpone the closing if you can and have the buyer try working with another lending institution, says real estate lawyer Sandra Radna, a partner in the <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a> law firm of Radna &amp; Androsiglio, LLP, which has a <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> office. Some sellers recently have found themselves in this position when their buyers' bank folded, says David Saracino, president of Select Service Abstract Inc., a title insurance company in <a href="/topics/Merrick%2C_NY">Merrick</a>. Pros: You may be able to save the sale. Cons: Other lenders may be just as difficult or unpredictable. PUT THE HOME BACK ON THE MARKET The 411: If a purchaser loses his job or just does not have the funds to close (even at a renegotiated price), it is time to move on and put the house back on the market, Taylor says. If you already lowered your asking price in the deal that fell through, keep the home at that selling price rather than going back to your original selling price, says Malsky. Keep your own list of everyone you showed the house to and contact them again, Radna says. And be patient. Deals that used to take one month to seven weeks to close are now taking three to four months, she adds. Pros: The next deal could work. Cons: Your home is back on the market. TRY SELLER FINANCING The 411: If you have a buyer who has a steady job and a good income but was still turned down for a mortgage, provide the mortgage to the purchaser yourself, Garfinkel says. This could be a short-term loan, for maybe just a couple of years or so, until it becomes easier to get loans, and then the buyer could be required to refinance and pay back the seller, says Terry Sciubba, owner of four Sherlock Homes Realty offices in <a href="/topics/Sea_Cliff%2C_NY">Sea Cliff</a>, <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>, <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> and <a href="/topics/Glen_Head%2C_NY">Glen Head</a>. "The seller would serve as a bank, in essence," Garfinkel says. "We are just starting to see some of this happening in a small way." Pros: You've sold your house in a tough market. Cons: This is recommended for only those sellers whose home is paid off and who do not need the cash from a sale to buy another home.

Things to Do

HOCOV

How to keep a sale from falling through

If your real estate agent barely knows how to use e-mail, you might want to consider finding someone who does. 
That's because many are harnessing Web-based tools to help sell homes in this tough market. After all, 87 percent of recent home buyers in the <a href="/topics/United_States">United States</a> say they used the Internet as a resource during their home-buying process, according to a recent study by the National Association of Realtors. And, the same research found that nearly one-third first learned about their newly purchased homes from an online resource. 
Here are five tech-savvy strategies agents should be using now to help sell your house: 
LIST EVERYWHERE 
In recent months, agents have been promoting listings through as many Web sites as possible. 
Bettie Meinel, vice president in charge of training and recruiting for Century 21 Laffey Associates in <a href="/topics/Greenvale%2C_NY">Greenvale</a>, says her agency pushes its listings onto 25 other Web sites. 
The National Association of Realtors has even come up with an "E-pro" designation for agents who complete a 45-hour course in which they learn about online real estate information sources and referral networks. They're taught basic computer skills, from sending e-mail attachments and downloading photos, to more advanced techniques such as creating online home tours and hyperlinks to their Web sites. Some 40,000 agents in the <a href="/topics/United_States">United States</a> have gotten the E-pro designation, according to the National Association of Realtors; six (possibly a few more) have it on <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a>, says a spokeswoman for the Multiple Listing Service of <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a>. Meinel, who holds the designation, says she doesn't think it has caught on in a big way here because many agents are already fairly tech-savvy. However, a spokeswoman for the Realtors' group suggests that it might be because there are no continuing education credits available yet in <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> for the E-pro course. 
L.P. Finn, director of corporate services for <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a>-based Coach Realtors, suggests sellers ask agents for a list of sites where their home will be listed. "If they [brokers] can't cast a big net using the Internet, they're not doing their job," he says. 
Amy Bohutinsky, vice president of communications for Zillow.com - one of the nation's largest real estate Web sites, with 5.5 million monthly visitors - says agents should include detailed information about a home and neighborhood as well as many, many photos. "That first impression is online," she says. "That first impression needs to be stellar. People are used to finding lots of information online." 
In addition to paid sites such as Newsday.com, there are free sites, including the ever-popular <a href="/topics/Craigslist.org">Craigslist.org</a> and newer ones such as Postlets.com, which links listings to free real estate sites and social networking sites. 
DO SOCIAL NETWORKING 
Agents are placing listings on <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a>.com , <a href="/topics/Myspace">Myspace</a>.com and <a href="/topics/Twitter_Inc">Twitter</a>.com as well as the more business-oriented <a href="/topics/LinkedIn_Corp">LinkedIn</a>.com to promote homes to customers and other agents in their network. Sellers also can post listings on their own profile pages on these networking sites to spread the word among their friends and family members. 
"Two weeks ago, I had a <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a> pizza party in my office, in which several of my agents created their <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a> accounts, profiles, etc.," says Valerie Van Cleef, branch manager of Coach Real Estate Associates in <a href="/topics/East_Norwich">East Norwich</a>. "Some of the agents are now using <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a> every day to promote their open houses, upload photos of properties they represent, post links to informational articles about the Housing Stimulus bill and other timely issues, and also joining real estate clubs on the site, benefiting from broker-to-broker referrals that way." 
Many real estate pros also use Activerain.com , a networking site for agents. It includes blogs by professionals on timely real estate topics. Agents can ask one another questions and send each other leads, typically in exchange for a fee. Plus, they can keep their peers apprised of what they're doing, from attending industry conferences to running open houses. 
"Agents from all over the country are sending me referrals," says Century 21's Meinel. "It's a way of getting leads you might not be getting otherwise." 
USE REAL ESTATE SITES 
Consumers rely on Trulia.com , Zillow.com and other real estate sites to research properties and determine what they're worth, based on sales of comparable homes. Agents are enhancing their own listings on these sites to get in front of these consumers. The sites also allow agents to post their open houses. For consumers, "it's a forum to get information in an easy, friendly way with no obligation," says Coach's Finn. 
Agents can provide a "feed" to Zillow.com, automatically pushing their listings to the site for free. The listings can include the agent's logo, personal photo and contact information. Each listing can have up to 50 photos and a link to a virtual tour. 
On Trulia.com agents can pay a fee to have listings featured prominently. 
Many agents are encouraging customers and prospects to set up an account on Listingbook.com, which has Multiple Listing Service properties for sale. The site provides updates on home listings every 45 minutes, including price changes (and a history of them), sales, homes that go to contract and new listings that fit a user's criteria. Agents also use Listingbook to promote open houses. 
"Listingbook is a fabulous tool. I call it the MLS on steroids," says Coach's Van Cleef, who says one of her prospects has logged on to Listingbook 926 times in the past nine months. 
Listingbook can also provide valuable market intelligence to agents. "I have a $314,500 listing in <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>; 300 people got the e-mail but only seven showed up [for the open house]. That says they [sellers] may need to adjust the price," says Century 21's Meinel. 
Other real estate sites worth checking out include Realtor.com , the official site of the National Association of Realtors, and Homeagain.com , a real estate information and marketing site. 
Consumers search listings and look for agents on these sites and on the Multiple Listing Service of <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a> - MLSLI.com - which also provides recent sales. 
CREATE VIDEO TOURS 
Virtual tours have been around for some time, but in the past year agents have been using videos instead of photos and putting virtual tours on YouTube, the video search engine. When a home seeker types keywords, such as "condo, <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a>," into youtube.com, listings with video virtual tours come up. Agents are hiring specialists to create virtual tours (at no cost to the customer) or doing it in-house, says Century 21's Meinel. "Most consumers click on those first [listings that include virtual tours]," says Meinel, explaining that Web site operators monitor such activity. 
Typically, a home's virtual tour on youtube.com is linked to the agent or homeowner's profile page on Facebook and other networking sites, as well as the Realtor's home page. "You have to put your pictures wherever the buyer's going to be," says Mollie Grossman, <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>-based director of sales for Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate. 
TEXTING 
Many agents now offer prospective buyers the option to have listings sent to their BlackBerries or other smart phones. A text-messaging number often is listed on the "for sale" sign. Buyers can instantly receive information and schedule an appointment to see the home. 
Unlike ordinary e-mails, these messages beep as soon as they arrive. "Texting is urgent and instant," says Pierre Calzadilla, senior manager of strategic partnerships for Trulia.com, who recently gave a presentation to <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> agents at Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Texting buyers about a hot listing is "a great way to drive a quick response," he adds. 
Century 21's Meinel says texting is also a valuable tool for her agents to communicate among themselves and expedite sales. "You can text all your agents at once. We alert agents about open houses and new listings immediately," she says. "We probably use it [texting] more for in-house than for consumers." 
SELL-IT YOURSELF WEB SAVVY 
Home sellers who don't hire agents are using many of the same online tools as the pros. An example is FSBO.com in <a href="/topics/Atlanta">Atlanta</a>, a site where sellers can list homes "for sale by owner" starting at $69.95 for nine months and have the house put on Multiple Listing for $299. 
"The old days of looking through newspapers or looking for yard signs are over," says Michael T. Malkasian, FSBO.com president. 
When you list online, information is updated in real time. There's no space limitation as there is with print ads. Sellers can include as many photos and videos as they like. 
FSBO.com is about to launch a text messaging service so sellers can send listings to potential buyers' smart phones. "It will use a five-digit number, like voting (for a winner) on '<a href="/topics/American_Idol">American Idol</a>,'" he says. Home sellers are assigned the five-digit number for their listing. Would-be buyers send a text message to that number to receive the information on the home. 
Other for-sale-by-owner Web sites include Byowner.com , Forsalebyowner.com and Salebyowner.com

ny-hocov6083345mar27-copy

Five Web-based strategies for real estate agents

So after 40 years in your home, you've decided to sell and move to the Sunshine State. Or, after months of schlepping to open houses, you're zeroing in on your dream home - and can't wait to move in and change everything. 
Congratulations - but, wait a minute: The experience of selling a home can be fraught with pitfalls. That's particularly true in this market: Though buyers have the advantage, both sellers and buyers are jittery about the economy and unsure of where the market will go from here. 
Local experts - <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> agents, mortgage brokers, bankers, real estate attorneys - offer some cautions along the way: 1. Shop for a broker 
Not all real estate brokers are alike - watch out for the bad ones. 
There are lots of agents out there vying for your business, so take the time to find a good one. 
They're not all alike, says Elysia Prinz, manager of the <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a> office of Coach Realtors. "Who has the most signs up in town?" she says. "That shows whether the broker is popular." Ask people you know for recommendations. 
When brokers present a comparative market analysis, ask how they will showcase your house - how it will be marketed in the newspapers, on the Internet, and on how many sites. Check out a broker's Web site to see in what details houses are presented: Are there lots of pictures, floor plans and other details to draw in buyers? 
Also, educate yourself about what houses have sold for in your neighborhood so you can beware of a broker who suggests - just to get your business - that you overprice your home. 
2. Hire a lawyer 
Fools act as their own attorneys in real estate, too - don't sign anything without an attorney's OK. 
You might think a real estate attorney is expensive, and that you should wait until closing to hire one, but you'd be wrong on both counts, experts say. 
They might charge by the hour for a divorce or other action, but on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> they commonly charge a flat fee for real estate work, says David Sappé, an attorney in <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a> whose practice emphasizes real estate. (These fees often fall between $1,000 to $1,500 - thousands less than a broker's commission.) 
From the start, an attorney will examine any contract you sign - even with a Realtor. "I tell clients, whether they're buying or selling, don't sign binders presented to them over the table over the weekend," Sappé says. Sellers might feel pressed into a quicker closing deadline than is comfortable, or be talked into making unnecessary repairs that a lawyer never would allow - and it's much harder to undo these mistakes after the fact. 
3. Listen to your agent 
Don't be stubborn about the price, or your house may sit for months and months with no offers. 
You want to sell your home in a buyers' market? Then listen to the price your agent suggests, even if you think it should be higher. 
"Pricing in this market is key," says Rick Hoffman, senior regional vice president of the East End for The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a>. "Any house in any market can be sold - it's all about the price." 
If there are a lot of houses for sale in your neighborhood and you decide to sell at a similar price to your neighbors', "I would say, don't fall into that trap," says Hoffman. "I'd say, price it a little lower. Those other properties will help you sell your house. 
"Look at other things that are on the market," he says. "They're all going to be negotiated 10 percent down, so why don't you price it 10 percent lower in the first place - and you're going to get a lot more interest. Let your neighbor sell your house for you." 
4. Keep current 
A buyer's preapproval dated three months ago may not be worth the paper it's printed on. 
You don't want to end up with a potential buyer whose credit rating plummets because of a few missed payments and can no longer get that mortgage. Or with a mortgage company that - well - goes away. 
It's a different lending market, so even buyers who were prequalified when they started their housing search a few months ago may not qualify under new guidelines. Or, because of the volatility of the subprime mortgage crisis and of banks teetering on the brink, a program the buyer was approved for as little as 90 days ago may no longer exist, warns Robert Bram, senior loan officer for Preferred Empire Mortgage Co. of <a href="/topics/Melville%2C_NY">Melville</a>, an affiliate of Prudential <a href="/topics/Douglas_Elliman">Douglas Elliman</a> Real Estate. He suggests that sellers ask the buyer for "an updated preapproval, [dated] within 30 days, from a reputable mortgage company or bank." 
5. Deal killers 
Don't frighten potential buyers away. 
Keep the scares for <a href="/topics/Halloween">Halloween</a>: Environmental "hot spots," such as underground oil tanks, or other serious issues with household systems - electrical wiring that's not up to code, for example - may be real deal killers after an engineering report. "When it comes to a buried oil tank, it's best to unearth this potential problem and install an above-ground tank before you put your house on the market," says Donna Spinoso of Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty in <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>. 
"In this market, I'm finding that we need to sell the house as many as four or five times to the same customer," says Michael Daly, principal broker for Beach Properties of the Hamptons in <a href="/topics/North_Haven%2C_NY">North Haven</a> and author of <a href="/topics/The_Hamptons%2C_NY">The Hamptons</a> Real Estate Blog (thehamptons .<a href="/topics/Wordpress">wordpress.com</a>). "With all the negative media and insecurity in the market, buyers are skittish and looking for any reason to walk away from a deal." 
Don't give them a reason. 
"I sometimes recommend people get their house inspected by an engineer before putting their house on the market," says Michelle Cohen, associate broker/executive vice president of <a href="/topics/Century_21">Century 21</a> Laffey Associates, <a href="/topics/Greenvale%2C_NY">Greenvale</a>. 
Find out what's wrong, and fix it. Cohen says she advises sellers to "get their home into tiptop shape" - adding not to forget to get all necessary Certificates of Occupancy. Their lack can hold up a closing - the towns are far stricter than they used to be about enforcing C of O's, and they're taking far longer to process them, she says - adding that not having one can even kill the whole deal. 
6. An open book 
Don't be cagey about your house - buyers will think you're hiding something. 
With today's smarter - and warier - buyers and increased competition, your house needs to be an open book. 
<a href="/topics/John_Watson">John Watson</a>, associate broker and certified appraiser for <a href="/topics/Brown_Harris_Stevens">Brown Harris Stevens</a> in <a href="/topics/Bridgehampton%2C_NY">Bridgehampton</a>, says that the sale of a house for $5 million fell through last year because "the seller would not issue a contract for sale that would allow the buyer to perform their inspections, which made the buyer very nervous. The buyer's exact words were, 'What is he hiding? What is the matter?'" The seller still hadn't signed a contract after a tense two weeks, Watson says, and "the buyer was still uncomfortable, to the point that he pulled out of the deal." 
Watson says that sellers should always allow buyers to perform inspections, surveys or more in-depth environmental or engineering reports to learn about the house. "And buyers should always investigate what they are buying so that they are comfortable with the transaction," he adds. "Of course, all of this should be performed under the advice of an attorney." 
Meanwhile, the house in Watson's example, he says, "is still for sale, one year later." 
7. Clean up the mess 
If you neglect curb appeal, your house may look neglected. 
In a different market, you might have been able to get away with showing a shabby, messy house with obvious flaws. But the competition is fierce, so you have to make the house look its best. 
A fresh coat of paint, cleaning up, taking junk out of rooms and closets and fixing little plumbing leaks, a small crack in a window or anything grungy is essential. "With more homes for the buyer to choose from, it is important to have the home looking its best for potential buyers," says Whitney LaCosta, branch manager of Coach Realty's <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> office. 
Look at prime properties in real estate magazines, home magazines and the like for ideas, ask your agent for suggestions or contact a home stager - usually, a designer who knows how to arrange a house so it looks great. 
Make it stand out. Make it pretty. 
8. Sell first 
Never, ever, buy before you sell - unless you have oodles of cash lying around. 
In a sellers' market, you might have been able to put up a for-sale sign, choose from several heady offers right away and bid on your next house, in a snap. 
For now, that day has gone. 
"The biggest pitfall I see is when sellers do not listen," says Kathryn Martin, licensed associate broker for Century 21 Northern Shores in <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a>. "I tell them to get their home on the market and headed toward contract. In the interim, I suggest it is OK to go out and look at homes just to get educated to the market, but not to fall in love with anything. 
"It is such a pressure cooker they put themselves into when they move forward on a purchase without having sold their primary property," Martin says. "And now with the banks being so tight with requirements, it is near impossible to make it work. For most of the people, the mantra is, do not buy until you are in contract to sell." 
9. Price it right 
Don't spurn a reasonable offer - it could be your only one, especially in this market. 
"Historically, more often than not, your first offer is often your best offer," says Hoffman of The <a href="/topics/Corcoran_Group">Corcoran Group</a> - and, by and large, that truism holds today, he adds. "Negotiate with that person and try to work with it if it's reasonable. If it's really insulting, no - but if it's reasonable, don't get insulted and walk. You could lose your buyer." 
Sellers should realize that the days of the big windfall are gone, says Joan Silverman, an attorney in Northport whose practice concentrates on real estate - and that, most likely, they already have received good value from their home. "You have to be realistic," she says. "You lived in that house, you had the value of living there for all those years. It provided you with housing, and probably at a reasonable cost, too." 
So, while you don't need to give your house away, she says, you may need to learn to be happy with a lower price.

LSMAIN

9 pitalls for sellers to avoid

With personal budgets and lending standards tight during the economic downturn, Long Island's home sellers are competing for every would-be buyer this spring, local <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> experts say. 
Those experts point out that it's more important now than ever for sellers to take steps to help their homes stand out from the crowd. With that in mind, here are seven points to consider when attempting to sell in this buyers' market. 
1. Declutter and depersonalize 
ADVICE Before showing a home, sellers should clear cluttered rooms, place personal items in storage and "neutralize" bright paint with tans or beiges, Lindenhurst-based home stager Christine Doukas says. This can help buyers visualize themselves in the home, she and others say. 
WHY IT MATTERS Bowling trophies and bright red paint only serve to distract buyers from the details of the home that are important to the sale, Doukas says. "Knickknacks that you love, all of that stuff needs to be removed so they [buyers] can see the details like the molding or hardwood floors," she adds. 
Buyers often are similarly distracted by clutter like shaving products in the bathroom, piles of clothes in the bedroom or stacks of electronics in the office, Doukas says. 
The focus should not be on the owners' personality and taste but on square footage and architectural detail, Doukas says. Sellers should inspect their homes as if "they're snooping in their neighbor's house," she adds. "People are very quick to judge everybody else. They should judge themselves." 
2. Order a pre-listing inspection 
ADVICE Hire a licensed home inspector to examine the house before listing it on the market. Jim Freebody, owner of National Property Inspections in <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a>, says sellers' inspections go for, on average, $350 to $400. 
WHY IT MATTERS Issues - from big problems like a buried oil tank to smaller ones like faulty wiring - will surface eventually, real estate experts say, so it's better policy to identify and address them early. A pre-listing inspection can help identify those issues, Freebody says. 
Sellers who find out, for example, that their 17-year-old roof may need to be replaced can be upfront with potential buyers and drop the listing price to reflect future costs. 
Potential buyers surprised by defects they learn about through an inspection later in the purchasing process often become wary of the property and may abandon the deal, Freebody and other real estate experts say. 
"What hurts the sale is not the fact that your roof is old," Freebody says. "What hurts the sale is when the buyer who fell in love with the house shows up with an inspector and finds a whole bunch of things they didn't know about." 
Many problems, like that wiring, can be fixed before sellers show the home. 
3. Price home to market 
ADVICE List the home at a price consistent with today's market conditions. Frank Urso, president of the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island and owner of Long Island Village Realty in <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>, insists that sellers consult a Realtor to determine an appropriate listing price. Many homeowners also look to real estate sites such as Zillow.com, Trulia.com and MLSLI.com to research recent sales in their neighborhood. 
WHY IT MATTERS Sellers must reject the common misperception that their home has been exempt from the market's downturn, Urso and other experts say. Real estate prices across Long Island have fallen about 20 percent in the past two years, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, and, with buyers looking for bargains, overpriced homes will languish. 
"You want to attract buyers, not lookers," says Urso. "Perception might be, 'My house is worth a lot more.' Reality is, over the last six to eight months, prices have dropped. You have to aggressively price. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be on the market." 
In fact, says Bonnie Doran, a licensed associate broker in the <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a> office of Daniel Gale <a href="/topics/Sotheby%27s">Sotheby's</a> International Realty, excessive time on the market can devalue a home. "The closer you price a house to market value, the more you're going to realize," Doran says. "Once the house has been on the market a while, it seems tired." 
4. Timing matters 
ADVICE Consider pricing, but don't stop there. Doran says that marketing a home should be a deliberate process that takes into account elements like timing. 
WHY IT MATTERS Strategically timing a listing - deciding precisely when a home hits the market - can help the seller ensure his or her home will draw an ideal amount of attention, Doran says. 
Generally, marketing a home around holidays when brokers and buyers are busy is a bad idea, she adds. But deciding when to list a home can be more nuanced. Listing on a Saturday can be less successful than listing on a Wednesday, for example, when brokers are at their desks, monitoring new homes entering the market. 
"You'll get a larger audience" midweek, Doran says. 
Sellers eager to put their home on the market should consult a real estate professional, Doran says, and, in some cases, consider waiting. Even a few days can make a difference in helping avoid a "flat presentation." 
5. Find those occupancy certificates 
ADVICE Gather important paperwork before listing a home. Missing certificates of occupancy can be particularly damaging when hoping to close a sale. 
WHY IT MATTERS Occupancy certificates - documents from a town certifying building code compliance - are issued after a homeowner constructs a second-floor deck or an in-ground swimming pool, for example. If a homeowner failed to certify such a project, documents will be noticed as missing by the buyer's attorney or another professional involved in the sale at some point during the purchasing process. 
Obtaining certification requires a visit from an inspector and can take a significant amount of time, particularly if the project does not meet conditions of the building code. 
"In an environment like this, buyers extremely nervous and flighty," says real estate attorney Paul Craco, a partner at Craco &amp; Ellsworth in <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>. "They are looking for any excuse to ask for renegotiation. Everything you can do to avoid unnecessary bumps in the road is advisable." 
6. File an assessment protest, if necessary 
ADVICE Keep an eye on the home's tax assessment. Homeowners who feel their home is overassessed should file a protest, says Willets Meyer, a partner specializing in property taxes at the law firm Farrell Fritz in <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a>. 
WHY IT MATTERS A property assessed at a value higher than its perceived market worth can be unattractive for buyers sensitive to tax costs, Meyer says. 
In <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County, the county assesses properties; town governments handle property assessments in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>. 
Buyers can inherit a protest in progress from a seller if the sale goes through before a decision is made. Having a protest in progress can, in fact, be reassuring for a potential buyer, Meyer adds. 
"The seller may be off in <a href="/topics/Florida">Florida</a>," Meyer says, "But if he can at least say, 'I started the protest process,' it's going to definitely help him sell the house." 
7. Homes should feel lived-in and 'loved' 
ADVICE Lastly, sellers should remember to cater to the emotional side of home buying, experts say, by creating a familiar atmosphere and addressing appearance issues before inviting would-be buyers into the home. 
WHY IT MATTERS "Oftentimes, people believe that buying a house is an intelligence decision," says Doran, the Daniel Gale broker. "Actually it's very much an emotional decision. It's the feeling they get. Does the house talk to them?" 
Displaying fresh flowers when showing the home or popping cookies into the oven are a couple tricks professionals use to make potential buyers feel comfortable, Doran says. Filthy welcome mats and faulty doorbells have the opposite effect, adds Doukas, the home stager. "Repairing your home is loving your home," she explains. "Nobody wants to buy your dirt."

Helping a house say 'choose me!'

Home

Few <a href="/topics/Real_Estate">real estate</a> terms carry as much negative and emotional baggage as "foreclosure" - a word that inevitably signals some family's financial distress that has resulted in an eviction or abandonment of their home. In many cases, homeowners with little or no equity in a house find themselves falling behind in their mortgage payments for a home now worth less than the money borrowed to purchase it. For some, the ruined credit and loss of a home that are part of the foreclosure experience are nonetheless preferable to the pressure to keep up those now impossible payments. 
The depressed housing market has seen some parts of the country - such as Stockton, <a href="/topics/California">Calif</a>., and <a href="/topics/Detroit">Detroit</a> - swamped with bank-owned homes for sale. 
Here on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, in both <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> counties, there's been a gradual but nonetheless substantial increase in the number of foreclosed homes for sale. For a number of years until the middle of 2006, about 25 homes per week were foreclosed and added to the inventory as bank-owned homes for sale in each county. Those numbers have doubled in the past two years to about 50 per week per county, and, says Pat Ammirati, president of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Real Estate Report, the numbers have not leveled off. 
But while the word "foreclosure" carries ominous connotations for most, it also is misunderstood by those who think a foreclosure represents a threat to home values in their neighborhood, or by those who think buying a foreclosure represents a bargain. Those who imagine that a foreclosure offers an opportunity for a fast purchase are likely to be surprised, as well. 
Here is a look at some of the myths of foreclosure, according to Danielle Babb, co-author of "Finding Foreclosures" (Entrepreneur Press, $21.95): 
MYTH A bank-owned home is an opportunity to buy a home for pennies on the dollar. 
REALITY Although banks don't want to be landlords, they are under a great deal of scrutiny following the subprime loan debacle, a level of scrutiny that won't permit them to give away homes at bargain prices. Like any other business, a bank wants a good price for the sale of any asset. 
MYTH A foreclosed home for sale in my neighborhood represents a threat to home values in the area. 
REALITY If the bank is trying to get full value for the property, and assuming the area is not overwhelmed with foreclosed homes for sale, the property for sale is not much different from any other kind of sale. 
MYTH The bank is not going to take care of the property. 
REALITY The most common complaint is that grass isn't cut. But that can happen even when the home is occupied by an eccentric or reclusive neighbor. And while it's true that banks are not in a position to do a great deal in the way of maintenance or improvement, the home does represent an opportunity for an investor. If high grass is a problem, call town hall. If it continues to be a problem, take turns with neighbors cutting the front yard. In areas where high foreclosure rates have offered opportunities to squatters and vandals to steal copper piping, neighbors are encouraged to call the police. So far, these extremes have not been problems on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, according to Adam Waldman of Re/Max Best in <a href="/topics/West_Babylon%2C_NY">West Babylon</a>, whose agency handles a number of bank-owned homes among its listings. 
MYTH A foreclosed home offers a quick sale because banks don't want to own homes. 
REALITY Although banks don't want to own homes, most banks were not prepared to have so much inventory on their books, and it's taking them a long time to act, even on offers for the full asking price. Some full-price offers can take three to six months to wend their way through a bank's bureaucracy in search of a decision. 
MYTH You can negotiate a deal with a bank just like any other home purchase. 
REALITY Bank-owned homes almost always carry the telltale phrase "sold as is." That's their way of saying, "Don't think you can negotiate your way to having the deck repaired or the roofing replaced before you go to closing." A private homeowner may be open to such negotiation, but not a bank. The most you can expect is a credit on the sale price that will allow the buyer to spend money repairing the property after the sale. 
MYTH Foreclosed homes offer a great opportunity for first-time buyers. 
REALITY Since foreclosure sales take much longer because of the banks' bureaucracies and backlogs of inventory, and since the prices are at best about 5 percent lower than the rest of the market, a figure more than offset by the work and improvements needed, a great many first-time buyers become quite frustrated trying to buy a foreclosed home. 
Foreclosed homes are more attractive to investors and handymen who can afford to wait while the bank moves at its own speed. They are attractive to buyers who have no deadline to move in. 
If foreclosed homes are not such a great bargain in this depressed market, what is a bargain? Experts like Babb say the best deals are in short sales - sales in which the homeowner is having trouble making payments but not yet in foreclosure. In a short sale, both the bank and the homeowner have agreed to take a negotiated lower price for the sale of the home to avoid foreclosure. 
Short sales require that the bank be willing to accept less than the amount called for in the mortgage, so this means the bank is a third party to negotiations that in other sales involve only the buyer and seller.

ny-re1210

Foreclosure myths and realities

0KUFV29C.JPG

Yes, <a href="/topics/Wall_Street">Wall Street</a> is unpredictable. But now's the time, experts say, to take a deep breath and review the nuts and bolts of your finances to help protect your greatest asset - your home. Here are seven ways. 
1. Maintain your home 
"Even if you don't want to move right now, you should always try to protect your home by maintaining or appreciating its value," says Chari Biton, a sales associate at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a> office. Biton suggests staying on top of essential repairs, such as roof and gutter maintenance, to avoid costly fixes from leaks, and cleaning and upgrading heat and air-conditioning units. According to Realtor Magazine's 2007 "Cost Versus Value Report," the home-improvement that showed the greatest return at resale is a minor kitchen remodel. Other high-value projects include: siding, a wood deck, and windows - reflecting the importance of curb appeal - and insulation. If you keep up your home, you'll be more likely to be rewarded when you want or need to sell, even in a pinch. 
2. Get mortgage help 
Ask your bank about a loan modification if you're having difficulty making your mortgage payments. "Contact your lender immediately to pursue options before you fall further behind," says Michael Fusco, a spokesman for Chase Bank. To be considered for a loan modification, Chase asks borrowers to provide up-to-date information, including their two most recent bank statements, two most recent pay stubs, most recent federal income tax return, and a hardship letter. 
3. Pay attention to the deed 
"If you are in a position to buy a home during this difficult financial time," says Douglas Spector, attorney and partner at Rothkrug Rothkrug &amp; Spector in <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>, "discuss with your lawyer about whose name to put the deed under." First, Spector advises business owners to form an entity such as a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC), as opposed to owning the business directly in their name. This protects owners from personal liability. That means judgment creditors of the business can only come after the assets of your business, and not your personal assets - such as your home. "It may also be wise to put your deed under the name of the spouse who is not the owner of the business to further protect your home," says Spector. "And, if you've owned your home for a long time," advises Spector, "it would be a smart time to revisit your deed and reconsider whose name it's under." Why? Over time people's homes tend to appreciate in value, and similarly over time businesses grow and change. While your potential personal liability may have been minimal when you bought your home, your exposure may increase dramatically over time. Another way to protect your home against future judgments is to ask your lawyer about establishing an irrevocable trust - that means it can't be amended, revoked or changed, regardless of any lawsuits that may be brought against you. 
4. Get life insurance 
If the main breadwinner in your family suddenly died, would you want to have the choice to stay in your current home? "I'm a strong advocate for taking out life insurance based on the same formula that the courts would use in a wrongful-death suit," says Allan Mendels, a chartered insurance underwriter and financial consultant of Mendels &amp; Associates in <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>. "It's called human life value - and estimates your future earning potential based on your age." For example, if you are under 40, you would take out a life insurance policy 20 times your current earnings; age 40-50: 15 times your current earnings; and age 50-60: 10 times your current earnings. And if you are over 60, it would be one to two times your current net worth. "That might sound like a lot," says Mendels, "but if you want to stay in your home and still send your kids to college, it's right on target." Mendels suggests asking your insurance agent to discuss the pros and cons of term life versus permanent life insurance. 
5. Disability and foreclosure 
Did you know that disability causes nearly 50 percent of all mortgage foreclosures? "Unfortunately a lot of people don't think about disability insurance, which can protect your family and your home in the event of a medical illness or accident to the main breadwinner," says Mendels. Consider a policy that pays even if you return to work but lose income because you can't work to full capacity. "Disability insurance is especially relevant to people who are self-employed, in sales, or professionals who could do some but not all their duties after an illness or accident," he adds. The younger you are when you apply for life or disability insurance, the cheaper it usually is. 
6. Personal guarantees can spell trouble 
If you are creditworthy enough to get a business line of credit from a bank, make sure you don't take more than you can handle, warns Spector. "Most of the time, a personal guarantee will have to be signed - which means that your house will be up for grabs if you default on your business loan and you hold title to your home," he explains. And many people don't realize that personal or business lines of credit don't have to be renewed at the expiration of their term, or may under certain circumstances suddenly be frozen by a bank. That means you would have to repay the used amount, and no longer have access to more credit. So, don't use more than you can realistically afford to pay back - otherwise, you could lose your business and/or your home. 
7. Keep a cash reserve 
To keep paying your monthly mortgage in the event of an emergency, Stuart Pastrich, certified financial planner and managing director of the Compass Financial Group in <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>, advises families to have a cash cushion of at least three to six months of monthly expenses - in CDs, money markets, and or saving accounts. " However, in today's times," suggests Pastrich, "you should strive to put away - in safe and secure investments - around one to three years' worth of monthly expenses." Why do you need an emergency fund? For starters: <a href="/topics/Unemployment">unemployment</a>, accidents, illness or a major home repair could put you behind on your mortgage very quickly. Studies show that those without emergency savings are more likely to accumulate debt and enter foreclosure.

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