Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life is joining the Long Island Board of Realtors® (LIBOR) initiative, Realtors® Against Hunger, to fight hunger in our local communities. Realtors® Against Hunger (RAH) will be collecting donations of non perishable food items from September 1st – 30th. During that time period, the public is encouraged to drop off canned and dry food donations at Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life, 1 Montauk Highway, Moriches, NY 11955 between the hours of 9am to 6pm. This collection drive will support efforts to provide food to hundreds of local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs that feed the hungry. LIBOR is working with several strategic partners to ensure proper distribution of food to outlets in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties. “With more than 300,000 children and adults facing hunger or potential malnutrition in the region the Long Island Board of Realtors must respond to the needs of our communities, especially in these difficult times,” said Kathy Engel, LIBOR President.

Realtors® Against Hunger (RAH) is part of the Long Island Board of Realtor®’s “We’re More Than Realtors®” initiative that supports numerous programs and charitable community organizations. A kick-off celebration for the campaign will be hosted at Suffolk County Park in Islip at the start of the Long Island Ducks baseball game.

Food donations can be brought to Realtor Service Centers in Jackson Heights, West Babylon, Riverhead and Woodbury as well as local Realtor offices such as Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life. “We cannot stand by and watch our communities struggle. The impact of the economy and the escalating cost of fuel and other challenges is negatively impacting families throughout Long Island. Many families must now choose between paying for a tank of gas to get to work or feeding their family. We will work diligently to help our communities by filling these pantries and making an impact in the fight against hunger here on Long Island,” explained Kate Koplinka, Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life.

Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life is joining the Long Island Board of Realtors® (LIBOR) initiative, Realtors® Against Hunger, to fight hunger in our local communities. Realtors® Against Hunger (RAH) will be collecting donations of non perishable food items from September 1st – 30th. During that time period, the public is encouraged to drop off canned and dry food donations at Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life, 1 Montauk Highway, Moriches, NY 11955 between the hours of 9am to 6pm. This collection drive will support efforts to provide food to hundreds of local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs that feed the hungry. LIBOR is working with several strategic partners to ensure proper distribution of food to outlets in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties. “With more than 300,000 children and adults facing hunger or potential malnutrition in the region the Long Island Board of Realtors must respond to the needs of our communities, especially in these difficult times,” said Kathy Engel, LIBOR President.

Realtors® Against Hunger (RAH) is part of the Long Island Board of Realtor®’s “We’re More Than Realtors®” initiative that supports numerous programs and charitable community organizations. A kick-off celebration for the campaign will be hosted at Suffolk County Park in Islip at the start of the Long Island Ducks baseball game.

Food donations can be brought to Realtor Service Centers in Jackson Heights, West Babylon, Riverhead and Woodbury as well as local Realtor offices such as Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life. “We cannot stand by and watch our communities struggle. The impact of the economy and the escalating cost of fuel and other challenges is negatively impacting families throughout Long Island. Many families must now choose between paying for a tank of gas to get to work or feeding their family. We will work diligently to help our communities by filling these pantries and making an impact in the fight against hunger here on Long Island,” explained Kate Koplinka, Coldwell Banker M&D Good Life.

Home Buyers Are Ready to Move from the Sidelines: Survey

RISMEDIA, August 30, 2010—Are more Americans positioning themselves for home purchase? Although May’s data showed that home sales were down 26.8% as the home buyer tax credit concluded, a new survey conducted by Relocation.com suggests some families are opting for renting while they research—cash in hand—for deals on a new, more desirable home in their area.

Among the key findings of the survey: Of the 60% of individuals moving into rentals, 24% were previous homeowners who are renting temporarily while they look for a new home to purchase. Underscoring this finding is the fact that for many of these families, foreclosure was not the reason for moving—in fact, the number of consumers who moved due to foreclosure dropped by 70%.

Furthermore, many of these families stayed in the area (one in three made a short distance move of 100 miles or less), opting to remain in a location where they already know their schools, shopping districts and prime neighborhoods.

“While the housing market continues to flux from month to month, we’re seeing strong, continued interest as consumers looking to move start their research with us,” said Relocation.com Chairman and Founder Sharon Asher. “These findings suggest that more Americans may be poised to re-enter the housing market this year.”

The Relocation.com survey was conducted in early June 2010 and is a continuation of consumer surveys conducted since March 2009 to gauge moving and relocation attitudes and behaviors.

For more information, visit www.relocation.com.

Information Provided By: http://rismedia.com

by Steve Harney on July 30, 2010

More and more homeowners are questioning whether they should keep their homes on the market or wait until next year to sell. The thinking obviously is that next year the market will be better and therefore they will be able to garner a higher price. But, is that true? Is there any evidence that the market will come roaring back next spring? The evidence actually points to the exact opposite. Most experts are predicting that we will not see appreciation until the end of 2012 and even then the appreciation will be minimal.

The MacroMarkets LLC co-founder and Chief Economist is Robert Shiller, the founder of the S&P Case Shiller Report. Professor Shiller surveys 109 economists, real estate experts, investment and market strategists each month for the their Home Price Expectations Survey. In the July survey, it was reported:

“The consensus indicates diminished confidence in the prospects for a near term recovery … This month, 60% of the panelists projected negative home price growth for 2010.”

That percentage was up from 40% just two months ago! 

Mean Cumulative Change from Current Price

 The survey went on to say:

“The July survey results also revealed a less optimistic longer-term home price forecast. Terry Loebs, MacroMarkets Managing Director, remarked, “Although still positive, the average outlook for five-year cumulative home price appreciation fell in July for the second consecutive month, and is now in single-digit territory. This new consensus suggests a less robust housing recovery scenario.”

The experts are predicting that cumulative appreciation will not reach positive numbers until the end of 2012 and will still be under 10% by 2014.

What does this mean to you?

If you are thinking of waiting for the market to show appreciation before selling your home, you have a two year wait not a one year wait. And if you are looking for double digit appreciation, it is five years away. Perhaps it is best to sell now and get on with the things in your life that caused you to think about moving in the first place.

Information Provided By: http://kcmblog.com/

By jenirelo

Buying or renting a house depends upon the personal opinion and financial status of each and every individual. The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Buying and Renting a House:

Buying a House:

Advantages:

• Buying a house increases your asset.
• Houses have a guaranteed appreciation over a period of time.
• You don’t have to pay monthly rentals.
• Buying a house gives you a sense of ownership. Once you pay the loans taken on the house, you own the house.
• You can decorate your house in the way you like without getting any permission from others.

Disadvantages:

• You are responsible for all the maintenance that is to be taken care of.
• You have to think a lot before relocating to another place.
• You have to pay the property taxes.
• You have to pay the Stamp duty, broker’s fee, insurance costs, society charges, registration fees etc.
• Banks never finance your entire home loan. They may take care of 80-90% of your home loan requirement and the remaining amount is to be paid by you.

Renting a House:

Advantages:

• House maintenance is taken care of by the landlord
• No property taxes
• If you do not like the locality of your house, you can change it at any time. You don’t have to think a lot about relocating.

Disadvantages:

• Landlord can increase the rent.
• The landlord can send you a notice to vacate the place at any time on violation of any term or condition mentioned in the home rent agreement
• You have to pay forever
• You can’t modify your apartment

Conclusion:

Buying or renting a house depends upon the personal opinion of each individual, since both the option has its own advantages and disadvantages. Taking a decision also depends upon the financial status of the individual. For a person who desire flexibility of changes, renting a house will be a good option. On the other hand, if one is looking for a long term investment and wishes to increases his asset, buying a house will be the best option.

Buying a home is one of the smartest financial decisions most people will ever make. It offers an excellent investment prospect. If you rent, you’ll always be poor. The longer you rent, the less likely you are to buy. If you have saved some amount for the deposit, buying a house is the best option. By renting a house, you pay a lot for what you are not going to be the owner. By paying rents for a long time, you are not able to save for a deposit to buy a house.

Information Provided By: http://hubpages.com

NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY…. Give us a call today!!

We are proud to announce that Tech Sergeant James Lorenzo, son of Agent Patricia Lorenzo has been awarded the Bronze Star for his outstanding service to his country while serving in Iraq.

Click Here to see the Medal Ceremony

RISMEDIA, June 25, 2010—Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC officially launched the new version of its website, www.coldwellbanker.com, which has been in beta form since December 2009. Wholly re-thought and re-designed, the site features optimizations that completely alter and enhance the experience of searching for a home online, the company stated.

“The Internet is often the first stop for potential home buyers and sellers, so it is our goal to make the online home-searching process as enjoyable and efficient as possible,” said Michael Fischer, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “For the new ColdwellBanker.com, we looked at search functionality across various websites including, retail and music and continuously asked ourselves, ‘Why not in real estate?’ As a result, we have created exciting new ways to search for homes and real estate agents.”

The site includes a variety of new features, such as:
-BlueScape Search - Taking cues from popular music recommendation websites, Coldwell Banker developed BlueScape, a visually-driven real estate search platform to help “dreamers” find just that–the home of their dreams. Instead of limiting search options to zip code or the number of bedrooms, users begin the search by rating abstract images with a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” from landscape scenery to images of snow mobiles and taxi cabs. At any time, users can submit a query and the BlueScape technology will identify homes that are a good fit using all properties available through ColdwellBanker.com nationwide.

-Keyword Search - For those who prefer a more traditional approach to searching for a home, Coldwell Banker has added keyword capabilities to its general real estate search function so that consumers can more easily narrow down the properties they are interested in viewing.

-Similar Properties – Coldwell Banker also added a “You May Also Like” feature that offers additional homes of interest, based on a range of characteristics from properties consumers select as “preferred.”

-Expansive Use of Video - Taking advantage of the popularity of Coldwell Banker On Location, the brand’s YouTube channel which has had more than 13,000 videos posted by agents and 1.3 million video views in a bit more than one year, the new site integrates video into real estate search.

“Real estate is a deeply emotional process, despite the focus on hard numbers like square footage and price,” said Fischer. “Home buying is often driven by a gut feeling. We’ve widened the definition of real estate search to give consumers the chance to explore those intangibles.”

Coldwell Banker closely examined the reasons why consumers visit ColdwellBanker.com and what functionalities they deemed most important when determining how the website would be transformed.

“The BlueScape search platform and the ‘Similar Properties’ features were designed to help consumers in their decision-making process,” said Fischer. “While the website was in beta form, we received valuable feedback from users and continued making improvements until the site was optimized to its greatest potential.”

Additional capabilities of the ColdwellBanker.com site include:
Technology that immediately identifies the current location of visitors via their IP address, offering up homes for sale in that area; Join Us: a recruiting resource enabling brokers to promote job opportunities and create local career pages; Learn: helpful real estate news and tips for consumers, such as real-time industry articles from the Associated Press and Home File: Place for consumers to store, share and organize a limitless amount of property searches, sales associate and real estate office information and industry articles.

Coldwell Banker also included integrated video and social networking capabilities to the new site. Visitors will have access to an array of videos powered by Coldwell Banker On Location, the company’s branded YouTube channel, offering behind-the-scenes looks at towns and neighborhoods, tips and timely news on real estate topics and video listings of homes for sale.

For more information, visit www.coldwellbanker.com.

Information Provided By: http://rismedia.com

Six tips that tell you it’s time

By Michele Dawson

Figuring out whether you’re ready to buy a house — whether you’re a renter or are aiming to move up or size down — can be a daunting task. But there are signs that will indicate whether you’re ready to take the buying plunge.

If you are thinking about buying, you’re not alone. So are you ready to make the move? You might be if you:

1. Are familiar with the market. If you’ve been paying attention to how much houses are listed for in the neighborhoods you’re eyeing and have a realistic view of how much a house will cost you, you’re in good shape. But if you’re dreaming about that big corner house with no clue about it’s asking price, you may want to spend some more time becoming familiar with the market and how much houses are going for.

2. Have the money for a down payment and closing costs. The down payment is a percentage of the value of the property. Freddie Mac says the percentage will be determined by the type of mortgage you select. Down payments usually range from 3 to 20 percent of the property value. Also, you may be required to have Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI or MI) if your down payment is less than 20 percent. Closing costs include points, taxes, title insurance, financing costs and items that must be prepaid or escrowed and other settlement costs. You can expect to pay between from 2 to 7 percent of the property value. Generally, buyers will receive an estimate of these costs from your lender after you apply for a mortgage.

3. Know how much you can afford. Freddie Mac says that as a general guide, your monthly mortgage payment should be less than or equal to a percentage of your income, usually about a quarter of your gross monthly income. Also, your income, debt and credit history go into determining how much you can borrow. As a general rule, your debt -credit card bills, car loans, housing expenses, alimony and child support — should not be more than about 30 to 40 percent of your gross income.

4. Know what additional expenses will come with owning a home. This includes homeowners insurance, utility bills, maintenance costs — roofing, plumbing, heating and cooling.

5. Have your credit in good shape and make sure your credit report is accurate. Potential lenders will view your credit history — how much debt you’ve accrued, how many accounts you have open, whether your payments are made on time, etc. — to determine whether they’ll give you a loan. You should get a report from each of the three credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union.

6. You haven’t made any recent major purchases, particularly a vehicle. If you do, you may have a harder time getting a loan — or it could potentially lower the amount you’ll be approved for.

Information provided by: Realtor.com and sponsored by: Move

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5niLZXKWRTkThe Value of a Coldwell Banker Agent