An appraiser in nearby Rockland County has done an analysis on the price changes to a typical raised ranch in his town from 1965-2008. You can see the results here on the board's online newsletter. Once you hit the link, scroll down to page 5. The results are very instructive. In the last bust (1987 correction, Savings & Loan crisis, stock market crash of 1987, early 90's recession), it took until 1998 for prices to get back to the prior peak of 1986. Prices declined for 5 years, then rose nil to very little for another 6 years.
This Great Correction is a doozy compared to those times. The drop of prices from 2007-2008 of 11% is historically unprecedented, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another decade of malaise. It is irresponsible to believe that things will be better in 18 months; we still have billions if not trillions of bad debt to wring out of this economy. New York Home sellers need to understand that they are competing with short sales, bank-owned foreclosures and other distressed situations and that their best chance of selling is to price their home as competitively and aggressively as possible.
Did you know my home's assessed value is $30,000? Or that my last home was assessed at $25,100? Over in Congers I have a listing at $589,900 which is assessed at $177,800. In nearby Pleasantville I have a listing priced at $599,900 which is assessed for only $6600. I think the last year a home sold in Pleasantville for $6600 Eisenhower was president. I could be wrong; it could have been Truman.
All over Metropolitan New York, the taxing authorities have assessments on property that run the spectrum of crazy numbers, but the one thing they have in common is this: they aren't really the estimated market value of the homes. Supposedly, there is a law that they should be, but the governments are focused on more important things, like what color to paint the lines in municipal parking lots and how to handle the fiends (you know who you are!) whose gutters and downspouts don't conform to code.
I shouldn't complain. Tax revenue is never wasted, right? They just spent who knows what in downtown Briarcliff on a gazebo and clock tower that says "Briarcliff Manor" because, as we all know, it is a public good to help all those disoriented people wandering downtown who don't know where they are or what time it is. I mean, there are none, but there could be. And if there were, we can finally help. Ossining put in a new artificial turf field at the high school. How did we ever live without it?
Of course, if you think your home is valued at $700,000 or $450,000 and the assessment is $5200 or $96,350, you could always call the assessors office and they can share with you the mathematical formula they use to translate the assessed value, and more often than not, you'll hang up the phone with a pit in your stomach once you hear the answer: You are over assessed. The fig leaf the assessor wears is a letter they send out one day a year. It's buried in there somewhere.
In the spike of home values in the earlier part of the decade, assessed values remained frozen but the tax bills and the formulae used to translate the assessments to true market estmates rose incredibly. The assessors went on a feeding frenzy at that time, raising values in the back room, but keeping the numbers on the sign out from the same. It's a funny thing about assessments; they have an easy time raising them in hot markets but they don't bother to lower them in corrections. You have to ask. Politely. One day a year.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I think they know that if they published the true estimate and not the bogus assessed value of homes that the taxpayers would storm the Bastille. More people grieve their taxes now than 5 years ago, but if people truly knew how nuts it really is they'd be inundated on appeal day, and that one day a year they allow grievances would be stretched out to a month. Regardless, the towns and cities need to do the right thing and assess homes at true market estimates, and not those ridiculous factors. It would make government more transparent, it would ensure that people pay their fair share of taxes, and it would force more fiscal responsibility on those who allocate revenues to the public good.
This building is one of the biggest enigmas in Westchester. It is located in a very affluent area (in the Edgment section on busy Central Park Avenue), but has been derelict for years. More information here and here. One of the real neat pieces of architecture you'll see in southern Westchester, it sits, year after year, with little more than the lawn mowed. This is one prime piece of real estate, and it will be a shame if and when the land is developed to replace this unique, albeit under-appreciated building.
You can search the MLS like an agent here. J. Philip Faranda is New York's Premier Short Sale REALTOR. Read Phil's short sale blog here at http://NYShortSaleBlog.net.
See J. Philip's New York Photo Blog Here.
J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, the River towns , Westchester County & the bedroom counties of New York City.
128 days ago, I sat at a dining room table in Putnam Valley, New York, just north of the Westchester County border with a young couple who were listed 4 times previously with 3 different brokerages in unsuccessful attempts to sell their home. Along the way, they got behind on their payments due to loss of income and had all but lost hope that they could avoid a foreclosure.
One of my agents, Tom Ricapito, had found these nice people quite by accident, and told them to talk to me before giving up. This was the first time they had ever heard of a short sale. I told them I had closed dozens, and they listed with my company with Tom as their agent. He later told me that our meeting gave them new hope. It is funny how these people found us quite by random chance, and not through our regular marketing. When you specialize in New York short sales, they sometimes find you.
The home was priced to reflect market conditions, and an offer came soon afterward. We prepared the selling broker for eactly what to expect- the wait, the process, everything. Nothing was left to ambiguity or chance. We communicated regularly. Less than a month ago, the short sale was approved, to the seller's relief and the buyer's pleasant surprise. They had been prepared for a far longer wait.
So, 128 days from the day they listed, the short sale closed successfully. In Westchester and Putnam counties, 128 days is relatively fast for regular listings, let alone short sales. They don't all work out like that for sure, but we can feel good when they do.
We will remain in touch with these people. Since the only problem they incurred on their credit was just some late payments instead of bankruptcy, foreclosure deed in lieu or deficiency judgment, they will be ready for to buy again in a couple of years (perhaps sooner) so long as they keep their noses clean. We intend to sell them their next home and help them avoid the pitfalls which contributed to their recent challenges. My hat is off to my agent Tom, who stayed on top of his file and made sure that he headed off any potential issues with the buyers or their agent at the pass. Communication is key.
Thankfully, there wasn't any big obstacle or memorable roadblock to this story,as there almost always is. We'll take it!
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You can search the MLS like an agent here. |
See J. Philip's New York Photo Blog Here. |
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J. Philip Faranda is New York's Premier Short Sale REALTOR. Read Phil's short sale blog here at http://NYShortSaleBlog.net. |
J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, the River towns , Westchester County & the bedroom counties of New York City. |
Driving around New York with a digital camera has yielded some pretty neat photos that I can't put on the MLS. There was the time a herd of deer dropped in on the photo shoot of a new listing, for instance.
So, I have started a photo blog, exclusively to post all the neat things I have seen in my travels. You can see it here: http://NYPhotoblog.net. There is also a link to it in my sidebar.
I have a backlog of cool things to start with, and I'll update it as I run into new sights. There is plenty of material around here.
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You can search the MLS like an agent here. |
See J. Philip's New York Photo Blog Here. |
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J. Philip Faranda is New York's Premier Short Sale REALTOR. Read Phil's short sale blog here at http://NYShortSaleBlog.net. |
J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, the River towns , Westchester County & the bedroom counties of New York City. |
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One of Westchester County's top-selling independent REALTORS. Serving Briarcliff, Ossining, Croton, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow & beyond. Visit our Briarcliff Manor office or log on- www.jphilip.com
J. Philip Real Estate is a boutique-style, independent brokerage serving all of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Rockland Counties. It is owned and operated by J. Philip Faranda, who has averaged a closing a week for the past 2 years. That's over 100 homes sold in 2007-2008, making him one of the top 5 agents by transaction total in his marketplace! The firm has offices in Briarcliff Manor, Scarsdale and Manhattan. A new branch office is scheduled to open in Nyack, NY very soon.
View all my listings on Realtor.com by clicking here.
View my listed inventory of available homes on my web page here.
Our main office is in Briarcliff Manor, NY - right between Sleepy Hollow, Pleasantville, Chappaqua and Ossining, with Croton, Peekskill, Mount Kisco, White Plains, Yorktown, Tarrytown and many other Hudson River villages in shouting distance. I serve my neighboring towns but also the "bedroom counties" of Rockland, Putnam and even Dutchess in surprisingly high volume, mainly because the largest source of buyers in those place come from Westchester.
The New York Journal News, The Real Deal, ABC News and CNBC are just some of the news outlets that have used Phil as a source for commentary or content. On May 27, 2009, ABC World News lead with a story on the real estate market that featured Phil prominently.
We specialize in residential real estate, serving the buyers and sellers of the Hudson Valley and northern suburbs of New York City. We are one of the few brokers to offer a performance guarantee. Call (866) 343-2889 for details.
Among our areas of expertise is helping clients avoid foreclosure by brokering a short sale. What makes us different from all the other firms that claim to specialize in short sales? Log onto www.NYShortSaleTeam.com to find out.
Do you have someone in or moving to the New York metropolitan area? We pay a 25% referral fee for any client you refer. We service Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess and Fairfield (CT) counties. All referrals are personally attended to by the broker-owner. Go to www.JPhilipRealEstate.net for details.
Some Frequently Asked Questions, answered in the First Person:
Q: What does the "J." stand for?
A: Joseph. My father was named Joseph Faranda and wanted to name me Joseph, but my mother did not want a "Junior." They compromised by making Joseph my first name but calling me by my middle name, which was different from my father's middle name.
Q: So what do people call you? "J?" "Jay?" "Philip?"
A:You can call me Phil. I won't be insulted if you call me J., but I'm not very accustomed to it. Some people call me J. and I don't correct them because it confuses matters.
Q: Why did you get into real estate?
A: Like many people, real estate is my second career. I never had any intention of going into it in college. I started in publishing sales for an educational concern in New Jersey, and I advanced to management rather quickly. However, they relocated me six times in seven years and I was dissatisfied with that and the compensation. My college roommate convinced me to move to Rochester and work with him in real estate.
Q: Where do you see the real estate market going in the next 2-3 years?
A: The last big correction (or crash, depending on your preferred nomenclature) was 1987. The lost value was not recouped until the mid 90's. Anyone who sees the market turning the corner in the next year doesn't understand that we have years worth of inventory on the books now and a great deal of it is foreclosed property, which suppresses prices further. And there will be many more foreclosures in the next 18 months, which means a recovery is not close at hand.
We could stabilize the market very quickly if sellers were able to simply lower their prices enough to bring the buyers back, but most cannot because they owe too much. This is why short sales are so necessary to a sustainable recovery.
Q: Who is to blame for the current real estate crash?
A: Everyone shares some culpability- government, bankers, Wall Street, lenders, speculators, and borrowers/homeowners themselves. We can argue about percentage of blame until we are old. I believe that everyone lost sight of the fundamentals because they were too self interested. Responsible self regulation by the lending industry as well as prudent governmental oversight should keep history from repeating itself.
Q: You left out real estate agents. Don't they share in the blame?
A: Real estate licensees and mortgage loan officers were the foot soldiers in the economic Waterloo we are experiencing. They are certainly paying the price for it- an attorney I know tells me that he is frequently helping real estate agents file for bankruptcy. As I said before, we are all responsible.
Q: Why are you blogging?
A: I love real estate and I love to write. My degree is in English, so I have a copy of the Elements of Style right next to my real estate books. I also feel that my commentary is credible due to the fact that I am in the field daily and not an armchair quarterback. I am one of the few real estate brokers I know with substantial mortgage experience and I am an active investor. The perspective from my marketplace is also rather unique- I straddle a very cosmopolitan New York market, suburbs, and a rather rural Hudson Valley. All that is a wide lens.
"Phil is everything you'd want in an agent ...we wish we had him here where we moved!" - Chuck and Otto, Ellenville, NY
"J Phillip's sophisticated use of technology and the Internet delivers better results than other real estate brokerages. We listed our house with J Phillip during the slow winter months at the bottom of the market. In less than a month we had two offers, and had closed the deal in less than three months. The final sale price was actually above the initial listing price recommended by the other brokers! " -Matt and Jodi, Armonk, NY
"For the record: Phil listed my house on August 1st and it was sold and closed 36 days later. The prior agency wasn't able to sell it for over a year. " -Angelo, Pleasantville, NY
"Phil, you went above and beyond. We are grateful." -Tom and Janine, Mahopac, NY
"I am very pleased with the job you did. What other previous companies couldn't do, you did all by yourself in the middle of winter. Stay in touch." Margaret, Wappinger Falls, NY
"God bless you and thanks for getting the job done." -Anabel, Peekskill, NY
"Thank you for selling my mother's home. It was a very difficult situation but you hung in there and got us out of a jam. We will use you again." Carlos, Yonkers, NY
"We are very happy and please with the job Phil did in selling our house for above full price." -Rudolph, New City, NY
" Fantastic job. You are by far the best agent we've ever dealt with and we will recommend you. We are very pleased." -Jeff and Helene, Poughkeepsie, NY
"Thank you for all your help!" -Richard, New City, NY
"I've never seen an agent hustle the way Phil does." -Vasal, New Windsor, NY
"I am amazed at what you do to get the job done. Thanks for all you did to sell my home." -Barbara, New Windsor, NY
"We are extremely grateful for the fine job you did in getting our house sold. We highly recommend you!" -Daniel and Louise, Newburgh, NY
"We are finally closed and finished! Thanks for all you've done!" -Farisha, Cortlandt Manor, NY
"Phil, that makes it two times you've helped me out. Thanks for getting me out of the spot I was in and getting my house sold. I appreciate your efforts and will recommend you in the future." -Walter, White Plains, NY
"We can't believe how fast you sold our house-and for full price! best of luck to you in the future." -Cally and Justin, Hawthorne, NY
"Phil, you did it. Thanks for getting the job done. We are relieved and grateful." -Jim and Danielle, Mt Kisco, NY
"Phil you did and outstanding job." -Joe and Madelyn, Rye, NY
"Thanks and great job. We got more than we paid for. " -William and Pat, Bronxville, NY
"Just a great job. Thank you for getting the job done when previous agents couldn't." -Jim and Theresa, Poughkeepsie, NY
"Thank you so much. I would use you again!" -Kathy, Wappingers Falls, NY
"You're the man. Thanks for getting our house sold so quickly, for over the asking price." -Sterling and Rosalind, Poughkeepsie, NY
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