About Poughkeepsie's City Of Poughkeepsie

December 31, 12 PM, Poughkeepsie - Mid Hudson Children's Museum 4th Annual New Year's Eve at Noon Celebration. Let your children "pop" in the New Year at 12 too - noon, that is! Families can enjoy music, arts and crafts and snacks including an edible New Years Eve hat and yummy punch. 75 N. Water St. Poughkeepsie Cost: $15 (884) 471-0589.

Anthony Stokes Pereira, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty is delighted to present its annual Winter Events Guide, a listing of local community events throughout the Hudson Valley. This year, the events are organized by region, and then by date, and we have also listed ongoing events in a separate section to make it easier to find great ways to celebrate the season. For updated lists of events, go to www.randrealty.com and look for our weekly events guide. Have a great holiday season!

If you would like us to include your event, email me your event and contact information at anthony.stokespereira@randrealty.com or Fax (845) 624-7137

Anthony Stokes Pereira, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty

I can help you with every aspect of buying or selling your home because I'm experienced, because I am a Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty Real Estate Professional . . .and because I care.

As your Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty Sales Professional, I will provide you with the information you need to make an educated decision.

The relationship between a home buyer or seller and their agent is based on trust, shared goals and understanding. I strive to continually improve and to do this I listen and take the needs and wants into consideration.

For assistance with any of your real estate needs, please contact me, whether it's to get started on helping you realize your goals and dreams, or just to ask a question - no pressure, no hassle, no obligation - just a friendly conversation. I would welcome the opportunity to make a difference for you.

Anthony Stokes Pereira Office: (845) 770-2188 Cell: (845) 538-7021 Fax: (845) 624-7137 Email: anthony.stokespereira@randrealty.com www.anthonystokespereira.com

It took 13 months, but we finally closed on a short sale in Poughkeepsie that I originally listed in April of 2009. It took 4 months to get an offer, but there was a nightmare process getting assigned a negotiator and then a title issue was discovered that took another 3 months to clear.

At one point, the buyers, who were paying cash, asked for their money back. All deadlines wee past, so we had to comply. But we kept in touch, and when the title issue was resolved, we told them. And they agreed to come back to the closing table.

Throughout the process, my client was a mensch. A widower, he wasn't the tidiest guy going. But he was always cooperative with showings, and if we needed a document or signature, he was on the case. He was a real pleasure to work with, and that is important to note because most sellers in a short sale are stressed to the max and often get frayed edges after a few months. Not so my client.

On July 12, we closed. It took over a year. We never had an auction date set because we kept in close touch with the lender, we kept the buyer and buyer's attorney in the loop, ( and that factored in to the buyer's returning to the deal after they walked), and we had to be tenacious. It took some serious teamwork.

I love it when hard work pays off.

First time home buyers and their saga purchasing Foreclosures and Short sales in the City of Poughkeepsie, NY

It's been many months of helping first time home buyers with an approval for an FHA loan, look for a home, find a property, make an offer, only to be rejected. It reminds me of what actors must go through in Hollywood, rejection!

It is heart wrenching for the couples who loose hope on foreclosure offers when the offer is inevitibly turned down. They are competing with investors, cash only, and buyers putting 25 percent down. Not to mention, it is a money game. Banks are looking at the bottom line and will wait it out for better offers.

To add pressure, the buyers were under the gun to purchase a house before the 8K credit was up.

We tried many strategies while shopping for foreclosures including pouncing on a listing as soon as it hit the MLS. What happens with those foreclosures is that the banks will wait 3 to 5 days when they have multiple offers or they just pass on this offer knowing that better ones will come down the road. At last, we had a break-through! The agent went on to tell me that although it was accepted, according to a lawyer, the house did not pass title on a previous offer because the wife's name was still on title. They would try to get a quick release. A week later, I receive another call saying they can't do it and they have to take the house off the market. Another house gone again!

Of course, I have been watching the statistics of listing price to purchase price. Noticing that on the average, in a downward market in our area, houses are selling 10 to 20 percent below listing price. My next strategy for my buyers was to search for homes 20 percent above thier listing price and hope to find a compassionate and motivated seller.

After a long haul, I did! I found a house I knew the buyers would love! They did and they made an offer and we were negotiating. The problem was that they did counter higher than they than they were hoping to have to do. But this figure had been discussed on many other houses and if they had done a 203K loan on some foreclosures they offered on, they would have had to spend close to this to fix the house.

They also had fallen in love with a different neighborhood closer to work but all they had found were foreclosures, unmotivated sellers, and homes priced too high.

I explained how they were in a bad position with foreclosures and Short Sales take many months to complete if they do close. I did my best to point out that the best strategy would be to buy a house from a motivated seller that they could negotiate with. I pointed out that instead of finding a dream home, perhaps looking at this as a starter home and five years down the road, they could purchase their dream home. Presenting the facts was important so they could make a sound decision on thier purchase.

The realtor for the home they were negotiating called to say that the seller was now very motivated and would do what they felt comfortable doing just so he could get on with his life and not worry about the house. They questioned why the owner was coming down in price. Why would he change his mind? I explained that it's not different than purchasing a car. Walk away and sometimes the price comes down.

My advice to first time home buyers in Poughkeepsie who have a low down payment and possibly an FHA loan and don't have a lot of room for negotiating would be to not focus on foreclosures but to look for a home with a motivated seller. That is a buyers market. I think the foreclosures are definetely more of a seller's market for someone with cash or the ability to make competitive offers with large down payments.