2010 July Heat Wave in Rochester, New York

As we headed into the July 4th weekend, we were all hopeful that we would have good weather to celebrate! Little did we know tha it would be this sunny and this HOT!

We are heading into our 4th day in a row over the 90 degree mark and everyone is feeling it. People who don’t have air-conditioning are heading to the lakes and swimming pools to cool off. The City of Rochester has a cool down program where in designated areas they will open the fire hyrants for the children and some adults to run through.

The Red Cross handed our 250 fans to seniors who had no air-conditioning to help them survive the heat wave. They were gone in 30-minutes! It appears that the entire country is going through this weather pattern and is trying to cope.

The weatherman is telling us that there is relief coming on Friday with a thunderstorm.

As a Realtor, I am inside showing homes more than I am outside, but even so, I can hardly stand these temperatures! For my buyers, a house with no air-conditioning is an immediate cross-off the list! I don’t know how people work outdoors in these temperatures! And of course, it becomes an easy conversation subject to bring up!

Here are some thoughts about how you can cope with this intense heat and help others.

1. Stay out of the sun!

2. Go to a movie.

3. Go to the library.

4. Slow down, avoid strenuous activity.

5. Drink plenty of fluids.

6. Limit the intake of alcoholic beverages.

7. Keep shades down on the windows toward the sun.

8. Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing.

9. Wear a wide brim hat.

10. Never leave pets or children in a closed vehicle.

11. Check on elderly family members.

Until the weather breaks,  RochesterREguy says keep cool! 

What are you doing for the 4th of July?

The talk around the office is that everyone is taking off some time this 4th of July weekend.  The market has been good for us and we have all been working very hard, especially to get those sale contracts signed before the April 30th deadline and then to get them closed by June 30th so the buyers could take advantage of the Tax Stimulus.

The market has definitely slowed down and we are now in our summer mode.  Our market does this every year as we approach the 4th of July.

Some agents that I know are going camping.  There is the comforable full amenities way of camping by using a motor home or there is the “rough-it” way using a tent and cooking over a grill or campfire.

Then there are the locations to camp at.  You can drive to the Adirondacks for some awesome camping sites, or a shorter drive to areas camps, such as Stony Brook or Letchworth State Parks.

Other agents are heading are heading to the lakes.  This could be Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario, or it could be Canandaigua Lake or Conesus Lake or one of the other Finger Lakes.

Others are staying home and catching up on some projects arond the house or gardens.  The only thing to be aware of is the hot temperatures we are going to have!  The weather forcast is calling for mid-nineties!  For us this is hot!!

I just got a call from a customer to show him a house that recently came on the market.  I’m sure other agents like myself are working in between taking some time off.

Either way, remember those who made this National Holiday possible and why we are celebrating July 4th!

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.

Whatever you are doing, be safe and have fun!

How safe is your deck?

Since we are having an early Spring this year, people will be out on their decks enjoying the weather and it may be time to look at the safety of your deck.  Decks cause more injuries and loss of life than any other part of your house.

The number of deck failures resulting in injuries has been increasing at an alarming rate!  Between August 2004 and December 2005, the US news media reported 225 injuries and one fatality from deck collapse caused by ledger connection failures.  many more deck injuries go unreported every year, some with and without injuries.

“Clearly, something needs to be done to tackle the growing problem of unsafe decks,” said Mike Beaudry of the North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA) and that’s why we are supporting this month as Deck Safety Month.

One way to approach this problem is to have a professional inspection  done which will examine every inch of your deck, provide information on your deck’s capacity limits, identify any dangerous problem areas, and give you a idea of what to keep your eye on in the future.  If your deck is an older one, it might be good to schedule regular inspections.  This is because older decks were built before the code requirements were in place.  Some of these “pre-code” decks may have deck-to-house attachments using only nails which is more suseptible to pulling away from the house.

People to contact for a deck inspection would be a Home Inspector, a contractor that build decks, or your local Town Building Inspector.

Let us know if your deck is having problems so we can pass that information along to the consumers to help them look for those areas of concern.  Also, here are a few sites to visit for more information.

Annual Deck Inspection

Residential Wooden Decks

Deck Safety Month

This past week I took a special course in Short Sales and Foreclosures from the creator of the course Frank Serio. Frank is a Broker owner of his own real estate firm in Deleware and has been in the real estate business for 26 years. He is also the President-elect for the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS).

To put it succintly, I was blown away by the incredible content of the couse as presented by Frank Serio! Hence the purpose of my blog, to try to present some of the info I received to help you to either avoid a bank foreclosure or to understand how to work thrugh it, if it has happened to you or you find yourself in this situation.

Here are some strategies to avoid foreclosure:

Be proactive about the problem when the first warning signs appear. Not only does this reduce the stres of not knowing what is going to happen, but it makes it easier for the creditors to work out a plan.

Contact your lender when you become aware that you have a problem. The last thing that a lender wants is to foreclose on the property. Financial institutions lose a significant amount of money by foreclosing on a property ($50,000+/-). Foreclosure is a lose/lose for the lender and the homeowner. It is important to be honest and forthright with your discussions and be prepared to discuss the reasons for your problems.

Read the mail! Not knowing does not solve the problem, it just delays the final result. By not reading the mail, a person avoids the opportunity to get help before it is too late.

Contact a HUD approved housing counselor or call a REALTOR for advice. Call 1-800-569-4287 to find a nearby counselor, or go to www.HUD.gov

Priortize your spending by paying for the necessities of life first. Always pay the house payment and health payment first.

Look for ways to generate cash. Sell those items that have value but are not used or needed, or seek a part-time job to get through the crisis. Not only does this reduce the emotional and financial stress, but it provides evidence to the lender that the borrower is proactively seeing a way to remedy a bad situation.

Don’t get scammed by a private “foreclosure prevention specialist,” instead go to www.HUD.gov to obtain valid information about foreclosure prevention.

Make an appointment with a REALTOR to discuss the problem and to get their advice.

How much is your Home Worth?

Whether you are selling or buying or refinancing or paying taxes, it’s important to know how much your home is worth.

Many people will tell me what their tax assessment is and think that it represents their home’s worth. Others will measure their home’s worth by comparing it with homes that are on the market or even worse, homes that have expired on the market.

The value your home has is never a fixed value. It is constantly changing with the economy. The interest rates affect it, the world economy affects it, the local economy affects it, and the real estate market affects.

Fortunately for us that live in Rochester, our home values have increased each year for the past 30 years that I have been in the real estate business until 2008 when they dropped slightly, about 1-3%.

What Realtors do to determine your home’s value is to do a CMA, comparative market analysis, which is a snapshot in time of your home. It is arrived at by a careful review of the recent sold homes that are similar to your home in square footage and features.

Usually we also have to make some additions or subtractions for features present or absent in the sold homes as they are compared to your home. This is a subjective valuation by the Realtor doing the CMA. Because of this subjective value, you could get different values for your home if you were to have several Realtors do a CMA for you.

This is why it is important for sellers who are interviewing several agents for listing their home that you don’t want to make your decision based on the highest price received from an agent, because they could be too high in their subjective additions. You need to look at the agent’s years in the business, experience, credentials, and marketing plan.

So if you would like to know you home’s worth, just call me or a Realtor in your area and we will be happy to meet with you and work up a CMA on your home.

America’s Birthday!

Woke up this morning thinking about the significance of today in the history of our country and wanted to expound on it a little further!

July 4th is a day most Americans stop what they are doing for a day and take time to celebrate with family and friends. I think we all spend some time during the day thinking about the freedoms we have and the great country we live in!

Throughout our 200+ years many people have stepped up to serve, protect and lead our great nation through adversity and strife. Many of my relatives have served in the armed forces in each of the wars and strifes we have been involved in to insure freedom around the world. I am thankful to them for representing our family to keep America strong, safe and secure.

Today as I relax from work, which isn’t very often (just ask my wife), I am going to be thankful to be living in this country and thankful for everyone who has had a part in getting our wonderful nation to this point in history. So as we celebrate this Independence Day today, join with me and reflect on our heritage.

God Bless America!

The Reality of a Short Sale!

Over the past ten days I have been working with a property that is heading towards foreclosure. To sell it, the price will need to be less than the outstanding loan balance. This is called a short sale because it will be short of funds at closing to pay the loan balance and the closing expenses.

It is obvious to everyone that there is tremendous value in this property at the listed price which is below both the assessment value and the market value. So why is it, when we finally got an offer on the property, and we got two offers, that they are another $15,000 under the listed price?

Quite simply, Human Nature!!! The buyers are in the driver’s seat and the banks need to sell the property at the price the market will bear out, however low it is! Unfortunately, they are not helping the property values for the neighborhood that they are moving into by putting a sales comparable on record at that price. But at least, they are taking a vacant property off the market by buying it and moving in.

Is the Tax Stimulus Working?

People are always asking me: How is the real estate market is? Once they know you are a REALTOR whenever they see you this question comes out. I’m not sure if they are interested in a detailed answer or a five second answer or if they are interested because they own property or a home.

Either way, I usually make it short and in most cases, put a positive spin on it because that’s just the way I am. If you know me, you know I’m a very positive upbeat person that looks on the bright side of things. I’ve always been this way!

Now, let’s get back to “How is the real estate market?” It would be good to hear from you how the tax stimulus is working in your part of the country. For Rochester, New York, it is working very well. The homes that are in the lower price range are flying off the market, getting multiple offers! It is really crazy!

From here it looks like the $8,000 tax credit is doing the trick for getting the homebuyers off the fence and into the market as first-time homebuyers. But…..we need a tax credit for the other homebuyers who are not first-time homebuyers to get the rest of the real estate market going. I believe this is what is needed to get the whole economy going with all the services that drive off the real estate industry.

So then, “How is the real estate market?” not bad, but it could be a whole lot better! Tell me how your real estate market is doing.

We need the small local investor!

I wrote up an offer this past week for a small investor to buy a foreclosed single family home in a suburb of Rochester. As I was working with it, I realized how much the neighborhood needs this “small investor!”

I had sold a home in this neighborhood a few years earlier and I was familiar with the values of the homes. At $70,000, this home was selling for $50,000 under what the average values are for this neighborhood. This small investor was going to clean, paint, carpet and repair this home, then put it back on the market for a price that would match the values of the neighborhood. In other words, flip it, a word that refers to process of buying a home, fixing it up quickly and selling it for a profit.

Nobody out there is giving these guys any assistance! Nobody is making it easy for them. They are using their cash and hard work! They are taking all the risks! The end results are a house is restored to its neighborhood value. Hopefully they will end up with a profit to make it all worthwhile too!

Think about it, who else is doing something like this with no government involvement? Next time you see one of these guys, give them a thumbs up! We need the small local investor now more than ever! Our neighborhoods need them. The economy needs them!