What $713,250 Gets You in Eastchester, NY

 

I recently closed on a relatively new construction house in Eastchester, NY.  This house on Woodruff Avenue is conveniently located minutes to shopping, dining, the Bronx River Parkway and the Scarsdale Metro North train station.  This makes for a very easy NYC commute.  This attached home features 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3000 square feet and belongs to the Eastchester School District.  The house was built in 2001 and is in excellent overall condition.  It lacked upgrades in the kitchen and bathrooms, but it’s open floor plan in the main level and finished basement is what sold this house.  

 The property was listed at an overpriced value of $749,000.  In this market, houses have been selling a little closer to asking price.  This deal took some patience because the seller was mistakenly convinced that the house was worth very close to the asking price.  We did some investigating and discovered that the house was purchased in 2007 for $740,000.  We politely explained to the selling side that it was unrealistic to think that while the rest of the country took a large hit since then, that their house had magically appreciated in value.  It took a couple of weeks, but eventually they realized that they either had to drop the price, or sit on the house for a while.  

If you are considering selling your home, it is important to realize that whatever you believe your home was worth between 2004-2009, it is now worth significantly less.  Obviously, that is a generalization.  There are other factors to include, but having a realistic expectation of your home’s value will help tremendously in reaching your ultimate goal. 

 

Westchester County continues to support the evidence of a strong housing market.  I am pleasantly surprised that the housing market has yet to show any signs of slowing down during what is now typically the slower part of the year.  If you are looking to purchase or sell a home in the Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess area, or if you have any questions on the buying or selling process, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email.  I will be happy to help.

What $300,000 Gets You in Cortlandt Manor, NY.

I just closed on a charming turn of the century farm house in Cortlandt Manor, NY.  This house on Furnace Woods Road is conveniently located minutes to shopping, dining, Route 9, the Taconic State Parkway and only a few minutes to the Cortlandt Metro North train station.  This makes for a very easy NYC commute.  This historic home sits on 1.4 acres and features 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1600 square feet and belongs to the Hendrick Hudson School District.  The breathtaking landscape gives you the comfort of living on your own private country estate, while enjoying the suburban lifestyle of Westchester County.  As for the condition, it was an estate and was in need of a complete makeover.  

The property was listed at $325,000.  As with many properties in Westchester County, this house sold relatively close to asking price.  Keeping up with the current trend, there were multiple offers on this house.  The sellers eventually elected to go with my buyers because we had a preapproval letter that far exceeded the asking price of the home.  Not providing the highest preapproval to the selling side is a common mistake made by many buyers.  Many believe that showing you can afford much more is not a great negotiating strategy.  They feel the sellers will try to squeeze more out of them if they know it is affordable to the buyer.  This is a crucial mistake.  You can read more about that in one of my previous blog posts.        

There was a long delay in the process which tested the patience of all parties involved.  Because the house was so old, it predated the zoning department.  There was absolutely zero paperwork on file with the town.  This meant that the building department had issue a “Prior To Zoning” letter in lieu of a certificate of occupancy.  You can’t obtain a mortgage without them.  In order to accomplish this, code enforcement had to open and close permits on the house, deck, septic and electric.  If you’ve ever dealt with a local and county municipality, you know this was a slow and painful process!  At times emotions had run very high.  We had to deal with rising interest rates, extension fees and scheduling contractors.  We were clear to close TWO MONTHS before our eventual closing.

In the end, my buyers couldn’t have been happier at the closing table.  Seeing their sheer joy as they took possession of the property justified the long and stressful process that all buyers must endure on their path to home ownership.  Now they can focus on their goal of restoring the old world charm of this house.

Westchester County continues to support the evidence of a strong housing market.  I am pleasantly surprised that the housing market has yet to show any signs of slowing down during what is now typically the slower part of the year.  If you are looking to purchase or sell a home in the Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess area, or if you have any questions on the buying or selling process, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email.  I will be happy to help.

What $297,000 Gets You in Peekskill, NY

I just closed on a cozy and mint condition cape in Peekskill, NY.  This house on Hoover Avenue is conveniently located as it is less than one mile to shopping, dining, Route 9, and only a few minutes to the Peekskill and Cortlandt Metro North train stations.  This makes for a very easy NYC commute.  This 1940 cape cod sits on .16 acres and features 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 1300 square feet.  It also features an addition finishable space on the second floor which will easily turn this into a four bedroom home.   This house is tastefully updated, yet has kept its old world charm.  This house is one of the few streets in Peekskill that belongs to the Hendrick Hudson School District.

The property was listed at $299,900.  As with many properties in Westchester County, this house sold close to asking price.  The negotiation for this house was a bit out of the norm.  It had been on the market for several months without too much activity.  Under normal circumstances, a buyer most likely would have been able to purchase the property at a lower price.  However, because the house was purchased at the height of the market, if the price went any lower it would have resulted in a short sale.   This would have not been good for anyone!  My buyers new that if that were to happen, it was possible that they might never get the house.  More importantly, they’re qualification was extremely tight and with the rising interest rates, they risked not being to qualify for the loan if the rates went up while waiting for the short sale.  They gladly agreed to pay the amount needed to avoid a short sale.  The house ended up appraising and this turned into a win-win for all parties involved.  We finally closed on this property on Friday the 13^th.  There was no curse here!  This ended up being one of the nicest closings I’ve had in a long time.  Everything went smoothly.  The buyers couldn’t have been more excited to finally receive their new home, and the seller was extremely happy that the house was going to be in such good hands. 

Westchester County continues to show signs of a strong housing recovery.  If you are looking to purchase or sell a home in the Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess area, or if you have any questions on the buying or selling process, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email.  I will be happy to help.

What $720,000 Gets You in Yorktown, NY

I just closed on a unique horse property in Yorktown, NY.  This house on Baldwin Road is conveniently located just minutes from the middle of town, yet less than a mile from the Taconic State Parkway.  This makes for a very easy NYC commute.  This turn of the century farmhouse sits on 3.35 acres and features 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2500 square feet and an inground pool.  The unique features of this property are its three stall horse barn and separate cottage.  The cottage can be rented out to help pay the carrying costs of the house.     

The property was listed at $725,000, which induced a bidding war.  As with many properties in Westchester County, this house sold close to asking price.  After a very intense negotiating period, my buyer was determined not to lose this property.  We placed a successful bid of $720,000.  We finally closed on this property yesterday.  Under normal circumstances, the buyer would be moving in and enjoying the new home.  However, this sale included a lease back period and a post closing possession. 

Yorktown is one of many areas in Westchester County that has seen positive shift in the housing market.  If you are looking to purchase or sell a home in the Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess area, or if you have any questions on the buying or selling process, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email.  I will be happy to help.

Should I Submit My Full Preapproval With My Offer?

This is one of the more common questions I get from new buyers.  It’s been my experience that many buyers get too caught up in the “gamesmanship” of negotiating a sale.  They have this very paranoid belief that the other side is always out to get them.  They also tend to think that the listing agents are dishonest when it comes to viewings, offers and interest from other buyers.  Obviously, for most transactions, this is not the case.  Before I go off on too much of a tangent, let me cover why you should ALWAYS provide your full preapproval.

I understand where the question is coming from.  If you don’t know any better, it makes sense that you shouldn’t show your $500,000 preapproval letter when negotiating a $400,000 sale.  Simple logic might tell you that the seller would expect you to pay more because you can easily afford it.  You might argue that this gives you less leverage when negotiating.  However, if you are thinking this, you are be completely mistaken.

Here are two examples of why you should submit you’re best preapproval.  If you are placing an offer of $400,000 on a house that is listed at$425,000 and submit a preapproval of only $400,000 (even though you have another one valued at $500,000) you are setting yourself up for failure and heartbreak.  In this case, you have left yourself with no room to negotiate AND made yourself appear as a weak buyer in the eyes of the seller.  They are likely fearful that you are a risk as you appear to be purchasing at your absolute max budget.  In today’s world of financing, they may not want to risk working with you.  I understand the rationale is to show them you can’t go higher and that they should take your offer.  However, if they feel that their house is worth more than $400,000, they’re not going to sell it to you no matter what your preapproval says. 

Here’s the professional way to do it.  By the way, this is a true story and this property is under contract as we speak.  My buyers were involved in a multiple offer situation on a house that was listed for $325,000.  We had been looking at more expensive houses as they were preapproved for $425,000.  We placed our offer of $300,000 on the property and included our full preapproval.  The listing agent called me back later in the evening and said that our offer was tied for the highest and best.  However, the other buyer’s preapproval was only for $300,000 and ours was for $425,000.  They chose our offer because they were more confident in our ability to get the loan.

I can turn this topic into a novel, but to save you from the boredom I’ll end it here.  The bottom line is that there are no negative outcomes that can stem from submitting your full preapproval, only positive ones.  It is important to understand that the preapproval letter is not a negotiating tool.  Its sole purpose is to show a seller your purchasing power.  A seller can’t demand you to pay more if you are unwilling to do so.  On the other hand, if your technique is to submit a lower preapproval to try to influence a seller to accept your offer, your offer is most likely too low.  If it is a justifiable offer, the comps will support it.