What to Look for When Buying a Long Island Home

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I have helped hundreds and hundreds of families buy homes in my real estate career. Time and time again, the layout of the home is the most important factor in whether or not they decide to purchase a property. The average person isn't willing to knock down walls, so the layout is always a make-or-break decision.

This is why it's incredibly important to find what is most important to you in a home. Do you want to rearrange rooms or are you just upgrading them? This is a big difference. You can't change a home's layout very easily or cheaply, so find a home that you're comfortable with. 

If you would like more information on this topic, please don't hesitate to contact me!

What You Need to Know Before Hiring an Agent

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One of the most important things you can do when buying or selling a home is to hire the right real estate agent. There are several questions that you need to ask your agent before you hire them.

1. What is their list to sale price ratio? This tells you whether or not a Realtor is good at pricing and selling homes. Out of 100 homes, how many did they manage to sell? This will tell you a lot about the skill of the agent. My average is 90%, so you have a high chance of selling.
2. How is this person going to draw buyers into my home? Your agent will need to utilize multiple forms of marketing. I have a personalized approach for each and every seller, and this guarantees a wide audience for your property.
3. What percentage of their business is from past clients? Referrals are important, and this can tell you a lot about the customer service provided by this agent. You want someone who communicates with you throughout the entire process. This can make for a much easier and smoother home sale.

If you have any further questions about what to look for in an agent, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you!

The Difference Between Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval

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Today, we’ll talk about the difference between getting pre-qualified and pre-approved for a mortgage. When a pre-approved or pre-qualified client approaches me, I need to first find out which one they actually are. There’s a clear difference.

For pre-qualification, a buyer contacts a lender with financial information and the lender bases their decision off these numbers. This model relies heavily on information provided by the buyer directly. No pay stubs, W-2s, credit score report, or similar paperwork are involved for the lender to make this decision. While the buyer may still be honest with the lender, it’s not official.

For pre-approval, documentation is required to make a decision. This is what you really want. A buyer created a relationship with a lender by giving them required paperwork. There’s documentation attached to the information they provide. The lender has the opportunity to discuss a buyer’s work history and any debt to understand the loan. The lender then determines whether or not a buyer could afford a certain mortgage.

There’s a vast difference between the two processes! You’ll want a pre-approval letter over a pre-qualification as a buyer. If you’re not submitting paperwork, you are not pre-approved, but instead, only pre-qualified.

If you have any questions about this topic, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!

Is Now a Good Time to Sell in Long Island?

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A lot of my clients in Long Island think that the real estate market shuts down during the fall and winter, but this is not true. Traditionally the spring and summer real estate markets are the busiest, but just because they're competitive doesn't mean that it's also the best time to sell a home. 

The fall and winter may actually be the best time to sell your home, and there are two reasons why this is true. When you sell your home in the fall and winter, you have much less competition surrounding it. When you have fewer sellers in the market, your home has a greater chance of selling quickly and for top dollar.

The other important factor comes down to how many buyers there are in the market. In the fall and winter there are usually fewer buyers, but they are far more serious about purchasing your home. This means that you have an opportunity to sell in a less crowded market with more serious buyers.

What does that mean for you? It means that you can sell more quickly and for more money in the fall and winter! 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if you'd like to sell your home for top dollar this fall!

How to Buy a Home in Long Island

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Today I'll go over the steps to buying a home in Long Island. From the outside, purchasing a home may seem like a long and tedious process, but once you have a basic understanding, it seems much less intimidating. 

Get approval from a reputable lender:
This is the most important part of the buying process. Once you know how much you can afford, it makes the process of searching for a home much easier. You'll also become a much more desirable buyer in the eyes of a seller once you have a pre-qualification letter in your hand.

Find a buyer's agent: 
It's important to work with one agent and form a relationship with them. This allows the agent to find homes that you want, and it makes the process of communicating much more efficient. Define what is important to you and let your agent know.

Locate the home that you want and put in an offer: 
Once you have found a home, you need to place an attractive offer on it (a good price with good terms) and get some inspections done. You'll want an engineer inspection in order to tell you what may need to be fixed and what maintenance needs to be kept up. 

After the inspections you'll receive contracts from the seller's attorney: 
You will sign these contracts with your down payment and send them back to the seller, who will also sign them. Once this happens, you're in full contract and the loan process can begin. This will take 30-60 days in Long Island, but after this, you're a homeowner! 

This was a brief run-through of the home buying process, so if you have more detailed questions about buying homes in Long Island, please don't hesitate to contact me.

How to Increase Your Home Value in Long Island

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Sellers in Long Island always ask me about how they can quickly and easily increase the value of their home before they sell. Each home is different and will require different remedies, but there are certain things that can help all home sellers.

This might seem obvious, but cleaning and decluttering are the #1 way to get more money for your home. This is really easy, but it requires a lot of effort. We accumulate a lot of belongings, and clutter can distract buyers immensely. 

We're not saying that your belongings are undesirable, they just won't help you to sell your home. It's a good rule of thumb to throw away or pack away at least 1/2 of your belongings before a buyer comes to see your home.

Another easy thing to do before a sale is hiring a professional painter to come in and spruce up your interiors. Paint in an earth tone, or something neutral, and make sure the paint is uniform throughout your home. It's also not a bad idea to have your hardwood floors re-stained. These are some of the best repairs to make before you sell.

If you're interested, I can stop by your home and provide suggestions on how you can improve the look and feel of your home before a sale. If you do it right, buyers will not think twice about purchasing your home. 

Please feel free to contact me if you need help buying or selling in Long Island!

Don't Rely on Zillow's "Zestimates" to Sell Your Long Island Home

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Today, I will discuss Zillow's "Zestimates." When it comes to Zillow, it's important to take a step back and consider what information is gathered to make a "Zestimate."

Zillow says that their estimates are accurate by 20% give or take. If your home has a "Zestimate" of $300,000, Zillow is claiming it's accurate from $240,000 to $360,000, which is clearly a span of $120,000. Certainly, that is not accurate enough for anyone to make a wise decision when it comes to selling their home.

When you need a home value for today's market, it's very important that you contact a professional real estate agent.

Zillow's estimates are based on recently sold homes and homes on the market in your area. If you dig a little deeper though, you realize that Zillow does not know what is inside your home. They don't know what upgrades you have made, what the layout is, or what a buyer would really feel your home is worth in today's market.

If you have any questions about your home's value, please give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help you.

What Are Some Common Buyer Mistakes?

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There are a lot of different mistakes that you can make when searching for homes in Long Island. Some of these mistakes are obvious and others are not so much.

The first mistake that people often make is that they fail to speak to a lender before they start looking for homes. It's extremely important to figure out what you can afford before you start searching for homes. You should aim for a comfortable monthly payment, and not one that will leave you stretching dollars thin.

You also don't want to look at homes that you cannot afford, and then have your heart broken when you find out that you cannot purchase it.

Another problem is when you hop around from Realtor to Realtor. When you talk to lots of different agents, none of them will really have a solid idea of what you want. I think it's a really good idea to stick with one Realtor and allow them to help you. When you know them on a more personal basis, they can satisfy your needs in a more efficient way.
 

The last mistake that I see people make is that they're buying homes from a listing agent. A listing agent is working on the behalf of the seller, and will not work to get you the best deal possible. You need to have someone representing you when you buy a home, and a listing agent is not an appropriate person for a buyer.

If you have any questions about these issues, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be very happy to help you!

Should You Rent Your Home Instead of Selling?

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Once you have made the decision to move to a new home in Long Island, you may ponder the idea of renting out your previous home to a tenant instead of selling it. Most people aren't aware beforehand, but being a landlord is a full-time job, and not everyone is cut out for it. You've got to be prepared for anything when it comes to being a landlord. Today we want to discuss with you some things to consider if you are contemplating renting out your home.

The first problem you will encounter is finding qualified tenants. Then you will have to figure out how they will pay you. You also have to understand that your home likely won't be cared for by the tenants in the way you had intended. 

Also, you have to go through different scenarios to determine if you can handle all the risks involved with renting your home out. What if the tenant stops paying rent? It's not all that uncommon, and when it does you will need to determine whether you can get by comfortably without that income. 

There are many things to consider when thinking of becoming a landlord. Go through each of the above scenarios to see if the time is right for you. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!

The Secret to Handling Multiple Offer Situations

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As market activity in Long Island continues to pick up, we are going to see an increase in multiple offer situations. In order to help you make the most of these situations, we want to share some crucial information with you! 

If you're buying a home today, you may find yourself in a multiple offer situation. To have success in this situation, it's very important to be prepared. By being prepared, we mean you need to have a pre-approval in hand and understand the market value of the home. Lowball offers can really hurt you in multiple offer situations; it's more likely for a seller to consider the buyer who submits a realistic offer more seriously. If you find a home that you love, you need to educate yourself on the pre-approval process and make a serious offer. 

If you're selling in a multiple offer situation, you also need to take certain precautions. The first thing you should look at is the buyer's approval and ensure they are lending through a reputable bank. You also need to consider the down payment they can afford and their flexibility when it comes to closing. The bottom line is cash isn't always king! The terms of the offer may be worth sacrificing some money on the purchase price.

If you have any questions about multiple offer situations, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, call or email us today for a free consultation. We would love to hear from you!

What You Need to Know About Long Island Real Estate

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Thanks for tuning into my real estate video blog. I'm pleased to bring you timely information about our local real estate market that will help you to take advantage of current market conditions.

Overall, now is a great time to be buying or selling. We're seeing a lot of first-time home buyers coming onto the market because interest rates are below 4% and it's relatively easy to get financing for a home. 

Sellers should be pleased because high affordability means that they can get more money for their home when they sell it, and they can then turn around and upgrade into a larger, nicer home. 

No matter what you do - whether it's buying or selling - you can't really make a bad move in the New York real estate market. Please contact me if you need any assistance!