About Westchester County, NY

How to Repair Your Home Without Damaging Your Wallet

Some homeowners have a long laundry list of to-do repairs and, interestingly enough, many of those items don't get addressed until (or if at all) it's time to sell the house.

In hot real estate markets, repairs are sometimes not done before the sale. Remember bidding wars over properties that needed work? Well, today sellers are looking for the advantage that makes their home stand out.

While fixing up a home to sell can be costly, there are some ways to reduce the damage to your wallet.

Read more about this and other real estate related issues... BY CLICKING HERE

Below please find an excerpt from a new web site found at www.houselogic.com developed by the National Association of Realtors. This site offers a lot of good and timely advise and information covering the entire range of the home owning, buying, selling and renting issues.

This article, written by Jerry DeMuth, attempts to inform you of your options if you are unable to keep up with your mortgage payments. More such valuable content can be found at NAR's www.houselogic.com site:

"Excerpt Start"

A record high 2.8 million properties were hit with foreclosure notices in 2009. That's the bad news. The good news: About two-thirds of notices don't result in actual foreclosures, says Doug Robinson of NeighborWorks, a nonprofit group that offers foreclosure counseling.

Many homeowners find alternatives to foreclosure by negotiating with lenders, often with the help of foreclosure counselors. If you're facing foreclosure, call your lender right now to determine your options, which can include loan modification, forbearance, or a short sale.

Foreclosure process takes time

The entire foreclosure process can take anywhere from two to 12 months, depending on how fast your lender acts and where you live. Some states allow a nonjudicial process that's speedier, while others require time-consuming judicial proceedings.

Once you miss at least one mortgage payment, the steps leading up to an actual foreclosure sale can include demand letters, notices of default, a recorded notice of foreclosure, publication of the debt, and the scheduling of a foreclosure auction. Even when an auction is scheduled, however, it may never occur, or it may occur but a qualified buyer doesn't materialize.

Bottom line: Foreclosure can be a long slog, which gives you enough time to come up with an alternative. Meantime, if your goal is to salvage your home, think about keeping up with payments for homeowners insurance and property taxes. Otherwise, you could compound your problems by getting hit with an uncovered casualty loss or liability suit, or tax liens.

Read the fine print

Start by reviewing all correspondence you've received from your lender. The letters-and phone calls-probably began once you were 30 days past due. Also review your mortgage documents, which should outline what steps your lender can take. For instance, is there a "power of sale" clause that authorizes the sale of your home to pay off a mortgage after you miss payments?

Determine the specific foreclosure laws for your state. What's the timeline? Do you have "right of redemption," essentially a grace period in which you can reverse a foreclosure? Are deficiency judgments that hold you responsible for the difference between what your home sells for and your loan's outstanding balance allowed? Get answers.

Pick up the phone

Don't give up because you missed a mortgage payment or two and received a notice of default. Foreclosure isn't a foregone conclusion, but it's heading in that direction if you don't call your lender. Dial the number on your mortgage statement, and ask for the Loss Mitigation Department. You might stay on hold for a while, but don't hang up. Once you do get someone on the line, take notes and record names.

The next call should be to a foreclosure avoidance counselor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. One of these counselors can, free of charge, explain your state's foreclosure laws, discuss alternatives to foreclosure, help you organize financial documents, and even represent you in negotiations with your lender. Be wary of unsolicited offers of help, since foreclosure rescue scams are common.

Be sure to let your lender know that you're working with a counselor. Not only does it demonstrate your resolve, but according to NeighborWorks, homeowners who receive foreclosure counseling are 1.6 times more likely to avoid losing their homes than those who don't. Homeowners who receive loan modifications with the help of a counselor also reduce monthly mortgage payments by $454 more than homeowners who receive a modification without the aid of a counselor.

Lender alternatives to foreclosure

Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage companies and housing counselors, can aid homeowners facing foreclosure. A self-assessment tool will give you an idea whether you might be eligible for help from your lender, and there are direct links to HUD-approved counseling agencies and lenders' foreclosure-prevention programs.

There are alternatives to foreclosure that your lender might accept. The most attractive option that'll allow you to keep your home is a loan modification that reduces your monthly payment. A modification can entail lowering the interest rate, changing a loan from an adjustable rate to a fixed rate, extending the term of a loan, or eliminating past-due balances. Another option, forbearance, can temporarily suspend payments, though the amount will likely be tacked on to the end of the loan.

If you're unable to make even reduced payments, and assuming a conventional sale isn't possible, then it may be best to turn your home over to your lender before a foreclosure is completed. A completed foreclosure can decimate a credit score, which will make it hard not only to purchase another home someday, but also to rent a home in the immediate future.

Your lender can approve a short sale, in which the proceeds are less than what's still owed on your mortgage. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, which amounts to handing over your keys to your lender, is another possibility. The earlier you begin talks with your lender, the more likelihood of success.

Explore government programs

The federal government's Making Home Affordable program offers two options: loan modification and refinancing. A self-assessment will indicate which option might be right for you, but you need to apply for the program through your lender. A Making Home Affordable loan modification requires a three-month trial period before it can become permanent.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have their own foreclosure-prevention programs as well. Check to determine if either Fannie or Freddie owns your mortgage. Present this information to your lender and your counselor. Fannie and Freddie also have rental programs under which former owners can remain in recently foreclosed homes on a month-to-month basis.

The federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, which takes full effect in April 2010, offers lenders financial incentives to approve short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. It also provides $1,500 in relocation assistance to borrowers. Again, talk to your lender and counselor.

Written by: Jerry DeMuth, who has written about mortgages and other financial issues for more than two decades for trade publications, major newspapers, and consumer magazines. His writing has received four awards and has been included in eight non-fiction books.

"Excerpt End"

Forbes magazine recently published an article "Where americans pay most in property taxes".

The finding of the research (based on Census data) is that Westchester is the nation’s highest-taxed county with median property tax bill of $8,404! Of the top 10 counties with highest taxes, 3 are from New York state (Westchester, Nassau and Rockland), and 7 are from New Jersey!
Putnam county is no so distant #11, with median tax bill of $6,917. The closest county outside of NY and NJ is Lake county in Illinois (#15 on the list) with annual tax bill of $6,052.

These findings are really not surprising, as homes in NY and NJ are pricey - in Westchester the median home value is $581,900, three times the national average, according to Census numbers - which naturally helps drive up those bills.

But there is another factor at play here: Counties in the Census-defined Northeast region tend to be carved into an array of towns, villages and municipalities that don't derive their property taxes from state-wide levies. This results in a greater dependence on property taxes for local revenue. Because the region also has highly concentrated pockets of wealth, it takes 19 out of the top 20 spots for highest-taxed counties.

Being a researcher at heart, I have decided to "go to the source" to take a look at the bigger picture, and found The Tax Foundation - organization whose mission is to educate taxpayers about the tax policy.

The Tax Foundation website contains wealth of tax-related information (income, property, municipal etc), including a full ranking of U.S. counties by property taxes paid in 2006-08 (3-year average). This table contains the data for 1,822 counties in the United States with populations greater than 20,000 (as of July 1, 2008).

The numbers left me speechless. Of course, I knew that here in NY we pay A LOT in taxes. For the record, I pay almost twice the amount of the median Westchester tax bill (no, I don't live in a McMansion!), and some of my clients pay 3 or even 4 times the median amount! But, there are 1,822 counties on the list, and of all 1,822 - Westchester is #1! On the other side of the equation there are counties in Louisiana with median tax bill of about $100 a year! That is a HUGE difference!

Westchester County, 2006-08 (3 years average)

Annual Property Tax: $8,404
Percentage above national average: 612
Median Household Income: $111,243
Median Home Value: $581,900

Searching for historical data, I came across an article from CNN with numbers from 2005. The Tax Foundation looked at data on 775 counties from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey. It seems that the same counties were leading the list back then! Of the top 10 counties ranked by median property taxes in 2005, 5 were in New York and 5 were in New Jersey. Westchester County, ranked No. 1 with $7,337 in median property taxes paid. No. 2 was Nassau County on Long Island, with $7,025. The highest county on the list not located in either New York or New Jersey was Lake County, Ill., ranked No. 15. The median property tax paid in that county totaled $5,393.

So, the median tax bill increased since 2005 by about 20%! At the same time, as we all know, the property values went down about 20-30%! There is a disconnect here, isn't it? Can an average homeowner do something about it?

Fortunately (and this is the only positive moment in the falling property values), property taxes can be reassessed based on the current market value.

Click here for a video explaining how to lower your property taxes.

Do you have questions about information in this post or the process of lowering your taxes? Feel free to contact me, I'll be very happy to answer any questions your might have!

***digital photo above is by Salvatore Vuono

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PEEKSKILL ARTISTS, RESTAURANTS, AND FAITH COMMUNITY

COORDINATE CITY-WIDE EFFORT FOR HAITI RELIEF

‘To Haiti With Hope' Benefit to be Held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church; Concert

Features Who's Who of Peekskill Arts Scene -

5 City Restaurants Pledge Percentage of Evening Sales to Relief Effort -

A diverse group of Peekskill residents are leveraging the city's reputation as the cultural and dining hub of the region to

provide much needed relief to the people of Haiti - devastated by one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit the western

hemisphere. To Haiti with Hope is a collaborative effort of local artists, community leaders, restaurants, and the city's

faith community to provide both support and funding for relief efforts. This city-wide fundraising initiative will take

place on Friday, February 12 and culminate with a benefit concert at historic St. Peter's Episcopal Church in downtown

Peekskill.

The City's best restaurants will be donating ten percent of all proceeds from patrons who plan to attend the benefit

concert. Participating restaurants include The Division Street Grill, Reuben's Mexican Café, 12 Grapes Music and Wine

Bar, The BeanRunner Café, and Trattoria Valentia.

A cross-genre, who's who of the area's burgeoning music scene will be performing at the benefit concert. Serving as

Master of Ceremonies is Dutchess-Di, who demonstrated her diva-bona-fides when she rocked the City at its Third

Annual Jazz and Blues Festival this past summer. The evening's other diva, jazz vocalist Alexis Cole, will be

performing with her father, pianist/vocalist Mark Finkin, who's coming all the way from Saratoga Springs to support the

event. Representing the classical side of things will be the Chamber Players of Croton, whose recent standing room only

concert in Croton won the group much acclaim. Peekskill stalwart Brotha Doug will be playing piano and singing

inspirational gospel songs, while Newburg keyboardist/electronic musician Neil Alexander, who often performs with his

group NAIL at the Bean Runner Café, will be doing an electronic ambient improvisation using keyboards and laptop, and

will also be joined by Cole on a jazz selection. Regional coffee house favorite, bassist Fred Gillen Jr. will also be

singing his originals with his band.

"When human suffering of this magnitude shows itself, it's our duty as citizens of the world to do something about it,"

said Alexis Cole, an award-winning jazz vocalist who resides in Peekskill. "What better way than to bring the talents we

are so fortunate to be given and use them to provide some hope?"

The benefit concert will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 8pm, Friday February 12. The church, built in 1892

with a capacity for 350, is a neo-gothic architectural landmark in the City and is listed on the National Registry of

Historic Places. St. Peter's has a strong reputation for social action, hosting both a monthly community feeding program

as well as the City's only choice food pantry.

"The City of Peekskill has a reputation for the arts and St. Peter's has a mission to care for our brothers and sisters in

Peekskill and beyond," said Rev. Carlye J. Hughes, Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. "It's make perfect sense for

us to come together in this time of great need."

The benefit concert at St. Peter's is a free-will offering and attendees are asked to make contributions to St. Peter's

Episcopal Church. All proceeds will go to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund, which as a partner with the

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, is already engaged in immediate and long-term relief efforts in Haiti.

Restaurant patrons who plan to attend the concert need to self-identify to their server letting them know they plan to

attend the benefit. Diners are encouraged to make reservations early enough to ensure they can find seating at 8pm at St.

Peter's Church.

Posted as a Committee Member for Haiti Benefit