About Bronx County, NY

Buyer 101: COOPS -Who's Your Foe, The Board or The Banks?

This is a great question to ask while the mortgage turmoil is occurring across the US.Prior to the turmoil Coop Boards were typically harder to get an approval from, much harder than than banks. Well, as of Fall 2009 the banks are taking the lead and are making COOP buyers work even harder to get a mortgage commitment.

COOP REQUIREMENTS

If you are interested in buying a Coop apartment, there COMMON requirements that you may know of. Some are:

• Board Approval which is a review of your application (your basic profile, work family). If you fortunate you may have a sponsor unit which do not need Board approvals but have there own pros and cons.
  (Please view my next BUYER 101:COOPS PURCHASE-SPONSOR UNITS PROS & CONS)
• Minimum Down payments are typically at 10%, but less frequently, some Coops have higher minimums as high as, 20% to 25%, or more
• Income Requirement restrict individuals with incomes too low or too high depending on the Coop. Minimum income requirements are usually control the ability of buyer to afford the unit; Maximum income impairments are usually for starter Coop to promote ownership among those with lower incomes

BANK REQUIREMENTS

• PRE-TURMOIL Banks followed the 10% down format and left it up to the individual Coops to require higher down payments. As long as the person was credit worthy and had reserves in the Bank.
• MORTGAGE CRISIS is causing the banks to more restrictive than the Coops Boards. If buyer credit SCORES are not close to 700, the banks may require the buyer to have 20% down. So a basic rule to use now is if any of your scores is below 700 serious consider 20% or you may an increased likeliness to be denied the loan. Even if you have the reserves in the bank and enough income.
  
  Of course consult a mortgage professional familiar with Coops Sale in Your Area to See Best Your Option

MILTON D. JOHNSON
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
917.676.6421
www.milton4realestate123.com
www.facebook.com/milton4realestate123
www.twitter.com/milton4re123

Why Do Sellers Rush Buyers to Sign A Contract While A Buyer is Reviewing A Home Inspection?

Please understand in NYC A Seller can entertain as many offers as they wish until there is a signed contract. So, you can lose any money invested prior, for example home inspection, terminte inspection, plummers etc.

My Response:

Home Inspection:Scheduling and Review

A lot of times buyers take a long time scheduling inspection, reviewing the results and then at the end decide not to go ahead with the deal. As a result, sellers end up losing deals with other qualified and motivated buyers. Just think if you were in their sellers shoes.
Usually New Buyers do not want to make an offer and do home inspcetion when some else is doing the same

Giving The Buyer Adequet Time

On the other hand, the seller has to give the buyer enough time to do the inspection, a week is fine, and another week review and negotiate the results of the report. The review time and negotiaton time may be longer in case you need estimates for major repairs. Any longer is a waste for both parties especially if the delay is caused by both not agreeing to 1 or more terms. Move on, there are more homes out there or give in to the term(s), waiting a month to come to this realization does help anyone. Who knows, the seller may come back and say they agree after you moved on or you as the buyer may reconsider and take the deal later.

Signing The Contract

Now if the both the parties agree to certain terms have your attorney add the terms (usually called addedum) to the contract, sign it and send it to the seller attorney to be signed ASAP. Once the seller signs you have a deal, the terms of the agreement have to be met prior to closing.
Some terms to be added to the contract maybe- New Appliances, a new boiler, fixing the roof, etc.

If you delay and someone offers more money and better terms to seller and you can loss the deal and all your effort and the money you spent.

So moving quickly, but cautionously, is in the Buyer's best interest.
If the price is right move forward, if it doesnt feel right, let it go!

Buyers and Brokers, have You experieced a simliar problems? Tell Me how You Handled it?

Milton D. Johnson

Licensed Assocciate Real Estate Broker

www.milton4realestate123.com
www.facebook.com/milton4realestate123
www.twitter.com/milton4re123

Bronx homes for sale and Bronx Condos for sale, "How to choose the right agent". By Justin Cruz at Remax Voyage. Choosing the right agent is a very difficult decision to make. In the Bronx there are several choices when selling a home or condo, of course the #1 choice in my book would be myself and Remax Voyage. But if you had to choose in this day and age I think brand name is very important, and a name you could trust. In the Bronx we have Remax, Century 21, Coldwell Bankers, ERA, Exit and plenty of other fine real estate offices to choose from. The real estate office you choose should be a heavy marketer in your area of the Bronx as well as nationally. I like to think of it like going to the supermarket and having the choice of the no frill item or the brand name item, you really dont question the quality of the one you know and trust. Before I joined Remax I would always see the logo of the Hot Air Balloon on a lawn sign and I just knew that here is a home for sale. It is pretty funny when you think about it, as I write this I am trying to picture other company logos and I cant. I know the colors but that is about it, Century 21 yellow/black, Coldwell Banker blue, ERA red/white and Exit I think is a shade of green or blue.

It is not always about the company when choosing your agent in the Bronx. Besides the achievements of the agent you should always consider if you get along with this person. In the Bronx selling a home or condo could take several months and it would be nice to like talking to your agent and having good communication.

For more information on how to choose the right agent in The Bronx, call Justin Cruz at Remax Voyage 917 304-3710.

Visit my site to search all available properties in the Bronx www.BronxHomesRealtor.com

The simplest and least expensive form of life insurance
coverage is term life insurance. It provides death
benefit coverage at a guaranteed premium for a specific
period of time - usually 10 to 30 years depending upon
which product you choose.


Since premiums are low as compared to other types of
life insurance, term life insurance is ideal for new
families seeking economical protection.


While term life insurance doesn't include the
ability to accumulate cash value, it can help a family
maintain its lifestyle, cover college tuition and pay
off a mortgage in the event of the insured person's
death.


Who should consider life insurance?
Younger individuals and new families
Those seeking additional, inexpensive coverage to
complement existing policies
Someone seeking short-term coverage - for example, to
qualify for a business loan
Key benefits:
Affordability - for younger policyholders, it's
the least expensive life insurance coverage
Low risk - you know exactly what you're getting
with term life insurance
Adaptability - many policies allow you to convert to
universal life or whole life insurance policy at a later
date
How term life insurance differs from other life
insurance policies:
Provides protection only during the term of the policy,
then the coverage ends
Offers a death benefit only; does not allow for cash
value accumulation
Has a low premium that is guaranteed for a selected
period. At the end of the stated guaranteed period,
premiums generally increase significantly to keep the
policy in effect.

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PRESIDENT
WWW.RJPINSURANCEGROUP.COM
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What's the deal with all of the lazy realtors out there? A tax client of mine called me up yesterday excited that he found a house that fit his needs and had a couple of questions. A little while after I answered his questions, he called me back and said that the realtor wouldn't show him the house because it had an accepted offer the night before. Since when does an accepted offer take a property off the market? In today's day and age of deals falling through at record paces because of mortgage and credit issues, why would this lazy realtor not even show the house to the excited buyer (who happens to have plenty of cash for a down payment, a steady city job and great credit). At the very least, she would have a backup offer (or maybe a higher offer) and would have made a connection with a potential client for another property. Or if/when the "accepted offer" falls through because they never send the contract back or they get denied for a mortgage she would have a potential sale with the excited potential buyer.

Tax questions are always welcomed at Tremont Tax. You can find out more information about Tremont Tax at their website Bronx Income Tax Preparation. Being a real estate investor and licensed real estate broker, I have a specialty in tax issues for the real estate field (I can even help that lazy realtor if she needs my help).

Information about the soon to be expiring First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit can be found at my website or by emailing me at mario@theproblemsolver.com.