Hudson Valley Happenings Blog : March 2008

I just received the following from one of my first time home buyers.  The house they bought was one that wasn't even in thier original criteria. It had a price reduction the day I was taking them out to see some other listings and I just got that feeling that this was the house for them.  It is so nice when it all comes together.   

When we met Paddy we knew right then that she was the agent for us. She was by far the best agent we have ever dealt with.  Her attention to what we wanted was remarkable.  She listened to everything we said and also had input for us since this was our first home purchase.  She always kept in our price range that we had given her and if a home was a little over our range she would mention it to us and thank god she did.  Our new home was a little over what we wanted to spend but we looked at it anyway since we were going to be in the neighborhood.  Well, needless to say we closed shortly after seeing the home.  Paddy walked us through the entire process and was wonderful.  No matter how crazy or insignificant our questions may have been she never hesitated to answer them nor frowned upon any of them.  A real pleasure of a person to work with, we would recommend her highly.  Please feel to contact us.

Regards,

Dawn Iorio & Mark Banta Sr.

If you are looking for a new home please contact me and I can help you to find what you are looking for.  If I can't help you because you are not looking in my area, I will find an agent who can help you anywhere you would like to live.  

I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy! 

Potential home buyers are nervous in this market.  There are a million reasons they don't think it is the right time to buy right now.  They hear all the bad press and get "advise" from friends and relatives that tells them to wait to buy until the market bottoms out.  They don't want to be stuck buying something that goes down in value.  They can't qualify for as much mortgage money as they could previously.  They have a house to sell and don't want to loose out by selling it in a down market.  

For the people who want to buy a new home there is no time like right now to get started.  Come on and stick your toes in the water.  It isn't as cold in there as you think and with the right attitude and a great coach you can find yourself in a new place of your own sooner than you think.  Your first step is to find an experienced real estate professional who enjoys working with buyers.  Contact me if you need help with that and I will find someone for you to work with where you are. 

Over the next few posts I will try to help you to overcome your fears and objections to starting to swim in today's housing market.  If you have specific questions about anything that is holding you back just email me and I will get some answers for you.  Bottom line is you have to live somewhere and you should be happy where that is.  You can continue to rent and pay someone else's mortgage or stay in a house you don't want to be in OR you can find a way to move forward.  The choice is yours but don't let the fear of drowning stop you from pursuing a dream.  Put on your swim-mies, get yourself a good mentor, and you will be comfortable in the deep end before you know it. 

I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy! 

•1)      Gather a "Financial Picture" of yourself: Your Monthly Income; Savings; Current Debt- Credit Card, Personal and Auto Loans; Average Monthly Expenses; and Any Gift Money Available.

•2)      Speak with a "Mortgage Representative" to get a target price range based on your financial picture.  Ask what the average monthly payment would be including principal, interest, PMI, homeowner's insurance, and taxes.

•3)      Find a "Real Estate Sales Person or Broker" you feel comfortable with to act as your agent during your search.  This agent will help you throughout the entire buying process.

•4)      Explore "Target Areas" by looking at average selling price, school district information, access to goods and services, commuting time to your place of employment, and future resale value.

•5)      Decide on your "Wants and Needs" bedroom/bath requirements, other must haves or desires, and "level of comfort with condition" - new, renovated, or in need of repairs.

•6)      Review "Available Properties" with your real estate agent and tour those that might work.

•7)      Along with your agent prepare "The Offer" to present to the seller and participate in negotiations.

•8)      Choose a "Home Inspector" who will give an overview of the house's condition and recommendations for future maintenance.  The seller is not required to make a resale house into new condition but it may be possible to get them to repair or compensate for major health and safety issues.  

•9)      Pick a "Real Estate Attorney" who will review contracts, order title insurance, and help you through the closing.

•10)  Sign "Contracts" and provide your down payment to be held in escrow until closing.

•11)  Complete "Mortgage Application" and provide the mortgage representative with all requested documents and information.

•12)  The lender will order an "Appraisal" to insure that the house is worth what they are lending you for the purchase.

•13)  A "Survey" may be required by your lender - if it is, have it ordered as soon as possible.

•14)  The mortgage will be reviewed by the "Underwriters" at the mortgage lender and will "Clear the Mortgage to Close" once all conditions have been met.

•15)  The "Closing" will be scheduled.  It is important to know that the "Closing" may not be on the exact date in the contract.  

If you are looking for a home in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York or anywhere else please contact me to help you.  If you are not in my area I will find you a buyers agent that can help you where you are.

I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy! 

The robins are back and they all decided to gather in my yard yesterday. 

There must have been over 100 of them all over. 

I wonder if they were thinking I was going to serve drinks with dinner.

Now if the warm weather would just get here! 

I'm Paddy Pizappi Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

Yesterday, I spoke about the handyman special.  In responding to some of the comments I promised to reveal the adventures in home renovation that I experienced when we purchased our current home in 2001.  First some history on the road traveled to get to the purchase of our "fixer" in Thompson Ridge NY.  This is the 6th house we have owned in 18 years.  We have bought and lived in 4 of them.  The other two were investment properties. You may ask if I was crazy to keep doing this and some days I would agree.  The purchase and renovation of each of these houses was profitable for my family but it was a lot of work and often took years to complete a house.  My husband was a building contractor for years and still works in construction so he had the skills needed to do major improvements.  But on with this story...

My husband wanted some land around his house.  We started searching in this area for something with at least 5 acres that we could afford.  This was back before I was an agent so we spent a lot of time with different agents looking for the perfect new home for us.  After going to see quite a few properties we came upon a listing that had almost 11 acres, great privacy, and a mess of a house.  The house actually had a single wide mobile home that had been completely enclosed inside the framing of a stick built structure.  It was horrible but my husband wanted it.  He made me come back to it 5 times before he finally had me convinced he could make something out of it. 

After we closed on the property we pulled a 26 foot travel trailer onto the land in June and moved into that with the 3 kids and the 110 lbs dog.  This was supposed to be a camping adventure that would not last more than a month according to my husband.  Let me tell you things were tight especially after the kids started back to school in September.  Yes we had to live in that small space for more than 4 months.  It still gives me nightmares.

What did we do to the house?  We cut the mobile home right out of the structure and removed all but one interior structurally important wall and laid down a sub-floor.  We actually walked through the house after the floor went down and drew chalk-lines where we wanted the walls to go.  We had an electrician in who was appalled at the condition of the electrical wiring.  It all had to be redone of course.  New everything had to be ordered and installed. 

It was an intense emotional and throughly exhausting experience for the whole family.  As the fall started to chill I started to worry that we would not be in the house before the snow flew.  My husband was working full time and many times worked all night on the house then left for work with little rest.  I spent all day finishing the house staining and painting.  Finally the day came when we moved out of the cramped travel trailer into our new nearly finished house in early November.  That night the hose which was our water line to the trailer froze and the snow flurries came.  We still had a lot to do but we beat the snow by a nose.

Am I happy to have done the renovations I have lived through?  Of course I am because I would not be what I am or where I am today without having those experiences.  I also know first hand how much work these projects can be and that they are not for the average home-buyer.  Believe me life in a small rectangular box with 3 kids and a dog is not something I would recommend for the faint of heart.          

If you are looking for a home in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would be happy to show you around and help you decide if a renovation project or more livable space is better for you.

I'm Paddy Pizappi  Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

Many buyers come to my office with the idea that they can save a lot of money on their first home by buying something that needs work.  They may have been searching for homes on the Internet and come across several priced well below the average for the area.  What they are not prepared for is the reality of what a handyman special needs. 

These are usually houses that need major repair.  They are most likely not livable in their current condition.  They may need electrical, plumbing, or structural repairs.  In many cases they can not be financed with a conventional mortgage due to their condition and require special financing such as a rehabilitation loan in which the cost of repairs needed are added to the base price of the house.  This can price the house right out of the buyer's maximum loan amount.

If the buyer does not have experience with house renovation or doesn't have access to someone who can help them, they will have to pay someone else to get the house ready for them to move into.  Most first time home-buyers will find major sticker shock when they speak with their first contractor. Sometimes the cost of the building materials are less than the cost to install them.

Another related cost to buying a house that needs a lot of help is the cost of living elsewhere during the renovations.  The buyer may need to continue to pay rent for several months while also paying the mortgage payments on their new house.  Can the first time home-buyer afford this? Probably not.

As you can see, I sure that a handyman special is the wrong choice for most first time home-buyers.  The easy solution for many buyers is to look for listings that need cosmetic updating.  These houses are priced higher than the "fixers" but they can be lived in as is.  Renovations and updating can be done as time and finances allow.  Most buyers will need help to see passed the 1970's carpeting or the hideous wall paper but a good buyer's agent will help them do that.

If you are looking for affordable housing in the Greater Hudson Valley of NY please let me know.  If you are looking elsewhere I would be happy to refer you to a buyer's agent who will help you find the right home for you. 

I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

Spring is a great time to look for a new home.  This spring, here in the Hudson Valley, we have a lot of houses on the market.  Buyers have a lot of inventory to sift through to find the perfect fit for them.  Most would benefit from finding one real estate professional to help them with their search.

Most buyers today begin their search for a house on the Internet.  They will look through the available inventory and call the listing agents of the properties they feel would work for them.  Often the houses they call on already have accepted offers because even though inventory is high the good properties in any price range go quickly.  Of course the listing agent will take you out to see a house they have listed but they work for the seller and will not be able to give you what you as the buyer are paying for.  What do I mean about the buyer paying? Well who brings the money to any real estate sale?  The buyer so the buyer always pays the agents no matter who they work for.

I suggest you spend some time looking through available buyer's agents rather than spending hours on a house search.  Make an appointment with the agents who interest you and choose the agent who you feel will work best for you.  Your Buyer's Agent will save you time and often money in the end because they can sort through the available inventory for you, make appointments for you, be on your side during the search and through the whole buying process.

If you are looking for a house in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I will be happy to speak with you about what I can do for you as your buyer's agent.  If you are looking elsewhere I can find you an agent who would love to interview for a spot on your buyer's team.

I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

Hello from my home in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York.  On this first day of Spring I suggest you spring into action and start your search for a new home.  It is a great time to buy.  Prices are lower and interest rates remain historically low.

If you are toying with the idea of owning your own home but don't know where to start I would like to suggest you start with a buyer's agent who works in the area you are interested in. The agent will explain the home-buying process and help you to find the other professionals you will need in order to start the search. Even if you think you are not ready you should talk with a buyer's agent so that you can learn what you need to do in order to get ready. A good buyer's agent will be patient with you and stick with you even if it takes a while.

If you are looking for a great location near to New York City check out the Greater Hudson Valley.  I would love to speak with you about your situation and help you find a path to that first home.  I will take inquiries from first time buyers anywhere and find you an agent in your target location who believes that you should start your journey now and who will help you to get there.    

 I'm Paddy Pizappi- Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

Have a great day.

Contact me for information on how you can wake up to something like this view from your front door.

Interest rates change daily and as a potential home-buyer you need to be aware that the rate quoted for a mortgage pre-qualifiation will not be the rate you may have to pay when you find "the house" two months later.  It can make the difference between being able to afford a property and being told you can not buy it because the rate has gone up.  It is vital to stay in touch with your mortgage representative during your search to insure you are looking in the right price range.

As I have said before in this blog, you need to ask questions of your lender that tell you how much the monthly payment will be on the property you are looking at.  Each property will have a different monthly payment based not only on the amount you borrow but the taxes and insurance as well as PMI you may have to pay.  You need to make your lender part of your "Real Estate Team" and stay in touch at least once a week during the search period.

You should not be making one of the most important not to mention expensive purchase of your life without a team of people who are working to get you the best.  A team of a Buyer's Agent, an involved Lender, a reliable Inspector, and an Attorney who will respond to your needs will make your experience more relaxed for you and more successful.

If you are looking for property in New York's Greater Hudson Valley (Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan Counties) please contact me.  If you are looking anywhere else I can help you find an agent who believes that you deserve the best service.

I'm Paddy Pizappi Work with Me and You'll be Happy!