From the category archives:

Mortgage Pits

Bull vs. Bear: the NYC Real Estate Market, Fall 2010 … which camp are you in?

by Honeycrisp September 29, 2010

With the Fall sales season upon us, arguments around where the market is heading are heating up, awakening bulls and bears on both sides out of their summer slumber. Here is a brief overview of what we’re hearing from each: Bullish perspective: The worst of the housing downturn is clearly behind us, with clear signs [...]

Read the full article →

Astrology for sellers: why this may be a good time to list your apartment

by Red Delicious September 27, 2010

With Labor Day behind us, owners all over the city are wondering whether they should sell now or hold off the listing of their property. Now may well be an opportune time to dive into the market head first. For one, the Fall season wakes up many buyers from their summer slumber, bringing added traffic [...]

Read the full article →

The purchasing power of today’s interest rates

by Honeycrisp September 22, 2010

Yes, interest rates are at historical lows … again. And buyers are hearing talk of them having nowhere to go but up … again. But seriously, now: we can’t foresee them going much lower (ergo the calls on Wall Street that the bond rally may be coming to an end), and apparently other sources would [...]

Read the full article →

How deep are NYC’s all-cash pockets?

by Red Delicious August 13, 2010

Market reports, anecdotal data and the media have all pointed to the high-end market having picked up. The increased activity we’ve been seeing has been greatly fueled by a preponderance of all-cash buyers. They have been coming out of the woodwork both out of necessity and negotiability. On the necessity front, today’s tight financing environment [...]

Read the full article →

To cash or not to cash: should you purchase a property with cash if you can or finance a portion of it?

by Red Delicious July 28, 2010

We have encountered many buyers out there who are hemming and hawing as to whether they should pay all cash for a purchase or take advantage of today’s low interest rates. Even if you have the wherewithal to purchase a property outright, you may still value your liquidity over any purchase discount you may receive [...]

Read the full article →

How much is a mortgage contingency worth?

by Honeycrisp July 2, 2010

Weighing all-cash versus mortgage-contingent offers Put another way, how should a seller compare and respond to an all-cash offer versus one requiring bank financing? In these days of increased competition over well-priced properties, it’s not uncommon to receive a flurry of offers in the first few weeks of a listing. Aside from following the tried [...]

Read the full article →

How low can interest rates go?

by Red Delicious June 28, 2010

Wherever you turn, you can’t help but hear that mortgage rates are at historical lows. Rates for 15- and 30-year loans are hovering around 4.4% and 4.9%, respectively. At first, it was the Fed working to keep rates low via Mortgage Backed Securities purchases. More recently, the Greek and then the broader European debt crisis [...]

Read the full article →

Up close with Jonathan Miller on the decreasing quality of appraisals today

by Honeycrisp June 25, 2010

With the front and center impact of appraisals on the sales market, we had a theory that we wanted to test with Jonathan Miller, blogger and appraiser extraordinaire as President and CEO of Miller Samuel. Our thesis was that, in markets with upward momentum, appraisals will always under-estimate home values based on the reliance on [...]

Read the full article →

FHA Concession Limits Halved: How will developers adjust?

by Red Delicious June 23, 2010

At some point this summer, the FHA is going to cut maximum “seller concessions” from 6% of the home price to 3%. Such concessions mean that the sellers (generally the sponsors of new developments) pay for costs associated with the sale of an apartment, including loan origination, transfer taxes, or entire closing costs altogether. When [...]

Read the full article →

How to make sure your rate lock doesn’t expire when you need it most

by Honeycrisp June 6, 2010

With closings taking longer and longer, often up to three months for co-ops, it can be very difficult to manage locking in a good interest rate without growing new gray hairs. This is because there are penalties associated with extending that rate lock AND a higher price for locking in a rate at longer than [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →