Great Neck News Manhasset Times NHP Herald Courier Port Washington Times Roslyn Times Williston Times Promoted       Business All Things Real Estate: How has the Nassau County real estate market... Business All Things Real Estate: How has the Nassau County real estate market been doing? By theisland360.com- July 12, 2024 Phil Raices   Year over year the real estate market has done fairly well considering the average selling price, which as of June 2024 was $1,042,353. The average median selling price was $801,000, which means half of the homes sold above and half sold below the median sale price. The average original listing price was $1,053,617. The median original listing price was $799,000. We had 2.6 months of residential inventory as of June 2024 (the number of months it wo... 07/13/2024

    All Things Real Estate: Verifying permits can save you from buying a money pit By Philip A Raices- June 30, 2024   Phil Raices   You’ve looked at 30-plus homes and are getting a bit concerned, tired, and depressed that you have not found one to meet your needs. You think you have a deal and then get outbid. Worst of all, suddenly right before you sign your contract, another offer is provided that is not subject to an inspection and is waving the mortgage contingency. Your offer is subject to mortgage approval and an inspection. It’s disappointing and challenging that you aren’t in a position to waive those important items. You are now experiencing what many purchasers lately are experiencing over the last few years; many are losing their deals for the former and latter reasons and t... 07/05/2024

Phil's Home NewsQuick Quiz Each month I'll give you a new question. Just reply to this email for the answer. How long is the biggest swimming pool in the world? Reply to this emailAsk the Agent What Is a Buyer Agency Agreement? When a buyer and an agent agree for the agent to represent the buyer in the purchase of a home, that agreement is called a buyer agency agreement. The buyer has no obligation to continue working with the agent if the agent is not performing per the agreement.The buyer needs to make sure the right conditions are outlined in the agreement. A buyer agency agreement usually spells out the duties the agent has towards the buyer in finding and closing a home. The buyer can participate in negotiating the terms of the agreement. Buyer agency agreements have typical term ... 06/24/2024

Turn Key Real Estate Phil's Home News The purpose of this uplifting newsletter is to provide you with a change of scenery through heartwarming stories, and insightful advice as well as give you a smile for a few minutes. I hope you enjoy it! If you know of any local families or organizations that are especially in need at this time, please give me a call or reply to this email. I will do my best to spread the word!Moments Links You Can Use Now Summer Vacations As we enter the summer season, it’s probably high time you began making sunny plans! Whatever your vacation preferences, if a vacation is top on your agenda this year, perhaps we can help with a few ideas. First up, if you’re looking to go green and save on air miles, here are some of the best places in the US for a dream domestic... 06/24/2024

All Things Real Estate: A pre-inspection can save you money and your sale By theisland360.com- June 17, 2024 0 Phil Raices   However, I remember when my daughter gave me a mug when I was 60, 12 years ago, that said, “You’re not 60; you’re 18 with 42 years of experience.” I am older now, but I still feel like I am 18 and in the best condition of my life! No one likes to spend money foolishly. However, spending wisely on a pre-inspection can save you thousands of dollars and minimize the stress when selling if your home is 20 years or older. Hiring a certified home inspector or professional engineer will be a prudent and smart activity. This will ascertain what is right, but more importantly, what is wrong with your home. Knowing this before putting your home on the market will educate yo... 06/18/2024

Renovate and expand, buy another, or build new? By theisland360.com - June 9, 2024 0 Phil Raices  Share  Tweet  Pin  Email  Share You’ve been in your current home for longer than you anticipated.  Your family is growing and you need more space and potentially more tax deductions to reduce your taxable income. You need to decide whether to expand the footprint of your home and increase the living space, find another home to renovate or buy a piece of land to build a new home. Staying put and doing the necessary expansion and upgrade to increase the size of your home is possible, but at what cost? Finding a piece of land in your local area just might be feasible if you reside in Suffolk County, but it is somewhat doubtful within Nassau County. Lastly, finding a reasonably priced house in ... 06/11/2024

The $64,000 question is what are you willing to do to make that goal come to fruition? How can you save more money regularly to make your dream of homeownership come true?  The name of the game is called “Sacrifice.”Think of whatever other activities you can do to squirrel away your money for your down payment.  So many of us are spoiled with conspicuous consumption as this is, unfortunately, what our economy is based on and dependent upon.Games on a hand-held device or computer for the children will go a long way toward keeping them occupied.  However, the games my children played way back when they were growing up were Candyland, Battle Ship, Monopoly, and Scrabble.Before computers and computer games, having fun with Hide and Seek, tag, duck, goose, hopscotch, baseball, football and s... 06/01/2024

Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X are struggling to be first-time homeowners.  However due to steep student loans, credit card debt, and salary levels, they are unable to save enough for a down payment, let alone pay back the money they owe.This has become particularly challenging over the last 10 years as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a paradigm shift not ever seen before. People were leaving large populated and crowded cities to escape being near other humans to reduce the possibility of becoming infected.Those who could exit probably were in much better financial shape than most.  They began gobbling up the available housing stock, on Long Island and across the U.S., causing prices to spike and escalate at an abnormal rate.So as inventory was reduced year over year during the last fou... 06/01/2024

Not being able to pay your mortgage is an experience that 95,349 families and individuals throughout the U.S. have been dealing with in the foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2024 according to ATTOM.COM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data.This is a 3% increase from the previous quarter, but down less than 1% from a year ago.  However, March 2024 showed 32,878 U.S. foreclosure filings up 3% from the previous month but down less than 1% from the previous month and 10% less from a year ago.Those major metro areas with populations of 200,000 or more that had the largest numbers of foreclosure starts in the first quarter including NYC, NY (with 4,404 starts),  Houston, Texas, (with 2,977 starts), Chicago, Illinois(2,867 starts), Los Angeles, Ca.(2398 forec... 05/30/2024

I was attending our Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C.this month.    I had been contemplating a very beneficial idea for those end-users who want to purchase a foreclosure to be able to reside in the home.There is a major dilemma, however, confronting those eligible first-time individual and family purchasers seeking grant money from local, state and federal programs. Who benefits the most from foreclosures, investors or end-users?Currently it is the investor.  Unfortunately, investors offer nothing to the community other than raising prices, after they fix and flip the home and put it back on the market to be resold once again, or adding one more available rental to the local market, thereby reducing the availability of homes for sale.The end-user who wants to purchase will build... 05/30/2024

By Philip A Raices  -May 10, 2024  0 Long Island is still on “fire” with a multitude of cash purchasers as well as those that have commitment letters from their lenders.  However “Cash Is Still King” and still rules in the world of real estate transactions. I received $35,000 over the asking price on a property in Levittown a few weeks ago, which actually “shocked” the Trustee of the Estate.  I had sold the owner’s previous home 10 years ago, but she had recently passed away.  But  I had stayed in touch over the years. One of the most crucial and critical thing that I have learned, absorbed and practiced over 42+ years, was to “stay in Touch” with current and past clients.  I learned this while performing this most important facet in growing my previous business of landscape design, li... 05/16/2024

All Things Real Estate:  By Philip A Raices - April 15, 2024 0  Share  Tweet  Pin  Email  Share I have dealt with literally thousands of buyer and seller clients over the last 42-plus years, listening to their specific “needs and wants” in finding a purchaser for their homes and buyers in their search for their “next place to call home.” The one common denominator was the location, location and most importantly the school district. Even for those downsizing or who were empty nesters, the majority weren’t concerned or gave little thought to schools being of any importance.  I conveyed to them that the better the schools, the more stable the prices and potentially greater resale value. I have found and truly understand the importance of an excellent above-average education; the accompanyi... 04/24/2024

Many Realtors went up to Albany on March 27-28.  This was our yearly pilgrimage and ritual to discuss and have a dialogue concerning proposals for new laws and regulations and their effect on real estate.  It was also the chance to explore current laws and ways to enhance and upgradethem for the current business environment in New York State.Their effect can be dramatic and costly for consumers and purchasers.  Laws that are enacted sometimes harm Realtors involved in the real estate industry in New York State.One of the major topics was the power that co-op boards have over purchasers, especially having to fill out an immense amount of paperwork providing a large amount of personal information. This is not a requirement when buying a condominium, townhouse, or HOA.As many as 1,500 page... 04/08/2024

Philip A Raices -April 8, 2024   In the current real estate market, purchasing a co-op has been challenged by the rules and regulations that go hand in hand with completing the required board application and successfully passing the interview. Acceptable income, credit, and debt-to-income ratios will go a long way in reaching that happy ending. However, all boards in Nassau County have no outside oversight and accountability, as Suffolk County does. When a board turns down an applicant there, the board must respond within 45 days to explain to the respective applicant the reason or reasons why. In Nassau, there aren’t regulations that provide feedback to the purchaser when they are turned down. This allows those few who may indiscriminately decide not to allow a buyer to purchase. Disc... 04/08/2024

 Share  Tweet  Pin  Email  Share If you haven’t seen or read the recent news, I will tell you the two colossal stories.  The National Association of Realtors settled its case with the Justice Department concerning the “supposed” fixing of commissions.  It was a whopping $418,000,000.  However, Berkshire Hathaway is the only brokerage that is appealing their case, as Warren Buffet has unlimited funds of $135 billion in cash and assets to pursue fight to prove his company’s innocence.Whereby, the ex-president penalty was considerably more.  He has to come up with 110% of the charges of $454 million by about March 25 or lose the opportunity to appeal his case!  However, we know what happened with that deadline as it was pushed out another 10 days.  It's quite remarkable, but quite normal ... 03/30/2024

It’s time to start thinking about the exterior of your home as we have been somewhat cooped up inside during the winter months and have longed for the warmer days ahead. But based on my gas bill, it’s been a fairly mild winter and it wasn’t as cold as one would have anticipated. Thanks to global warming, I appreciate it a lot. But not really! Does your lawn appear, gray and wishy-washy? Did you do your winter fertilization, as I suggested in a column last fall? Did you apply an anti-desiccant to your winter wind-prone and now slightly burned shrubbery, again as I suggested last fall? If you notice brown leaves on all your non-deciduous (trees and shrubs that do not lose their leaves or needles) plantings, it’s too late to do anything about it right now. However, you can begin to do a l... 03/24/2024

 February 23, 2024 Well, we are now into 2024 and interest rates have come down from the high of 8%+ in 2023, and now according to https://WWW.NerdWallet.com, 30-year fixed rates w/full doc loans are vacillating in and around 7%-7.9% APR depending on one’s income, credit and debt/income ratios as well as the lender. Fifteen-year rates w/full doc loans are hovering around a low of 6%+ APR.  Many of the expert economists are not 100% confident that they will go down and some even contemplate that they could even still increase, depending on the inflation numbers. One thing is for sure,  our government says inflation has increased and is hovering around 3.9% in February; affected mainly by consumer spending, supply-chain shortages, and I believe even unemployment.  Their numbers don’t con... 02/23/2024

Our Global Committee had an excellent networking and celebration on February 12, 2024, for the Lunar New Year, Year of the Dragon event @LOL Barbecue 66 Middle Neck Rd Great Neck NY  11021 (516) 708-1682.  This was the first time that I had ever eaten Korean Cuisine and was curious as to the different tastes and delicacies that they would offer.   It was set up to be a smorgasbord self-serve-styled venue.  What I discovered was so very tasty and well-presented cuisine.  The barbecue ribs, which I found out is what Korean food is known for as a specialty, were supreme.  The meat just rolled off the bone, just like excellent barbecue ribs.  There was the spicy and delicious string beans with some amazing sauce, that I couldn't get enough of.  They also had a popcorn-type chicken dish that... 02/19/2024

Part 2This is the second part of the column on my 2015 search as a Nassau County Realtor for a summer rental for a mystery client who wanted what at first appeared to be the impossible — a tub in the master bathroom.We kept looking high and low for that special place to call home for our well-heeled client and nothing was going to stop me.  In the meantime, our MLS auto-prospect search would identify any new listings regularly that would meet the criteria and would immediately send them out to the associate.In addition, my assistant Gloria literally made a multitude of calls to other offices, brokers, associate brokers, and agents over three weeks to see if they had any pocket listings that they would consider sharing that were not listed on the MLS system.  We kept striking out every d... 02/17/2024

Part IOn June 3, 2015, I received a call from a gentleman who was inquiring about assisting him in tracking down a rental for August for his client. His client was coming to New York for a project he was involved with, but he was clandestine and very secretive about the project. I thought maybe this was something illegal or possibly something dealing with the stock market or a financial project.Maybe it was like one of these Nigerian scams, where they have $20 million that they want you to deposit and I would get paid a percentage.  But then again, this person’s client was going to be living somewhere on Long Island, so I figured this wasn’t one of those scams, but I needed more of an explanation to understand the specifics.He continued to describe what his client needed.  A home, prefe... 02/09/2024