If you are you current on your mortgage payments with no late payments within the past six months and no more than one late payment within the last 12 months and your loan was sold to FannieMae or FreddieMac on or before May 31st, 2009 the the new HARP (Home Affordability Refinance Program) announced on October 24th , 2011 by the FHA maybe an option for you.

YOu may be may be able to qualify for a new loan/refinance which can lower your monthly payments and help make your home more affordable in these hard economical times.

For more information about HARP, click here or call 1-800-7FANNIE or 1-800-FREDDIE.

Fillmore Real Estate is a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a global network of the finest real estate firms in the world.  Leading Real Estate Companies of the World has member firms in over 35 countries, 17 time zones, 46 languages and over 15,000 communities world-wide.

As a collective, Leading Real Estate Communities of the World had a sales volume of nearly $225 billion representing 800,000 transactions.

Using our service is easy, simply give me a call and let me know where you would like to move and Fillmore’s professional staff of relocation specialists will find the right agent for you.

Make your out of town move easier.  Give me a call today at the number below and I’ll get you connected with a real estate professional associated with one of the most prestigious leading real estate firms in the world.

Give me a call and I’ll get it done.  Or, you can start with a free market analysis to find out what your property is worth before you put it on the market.

The market analysis, which is based on comparable sales of properties like yours in your area, will tell you what current buyers will pay for your property, which is what determines its current worth.

In the same article it mentions that, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst, when you add those home owners who are delinquent on their mortgages and will likely lose their homes through foreclosure, the actual percentage of home ownership is 59.2%. “The combination of falling home  prices, limited mortgage credit, continued liquidations and better rental options is changing the way Americans live” according to the analyst. “We are slowly becoming a nation of renters” he goes on to say.

Since more and more people will be renting instead of buying, the real estate investment strategy to “buy, improve and hold” property with rental units becomes more and more attractive.  The income you will receive from rentals added to the appreciation of the properties value over time makes owning rental units a smart investment that can benefit you now and in the future.

If you want to learn more about this very lucrative and low risk way to invest your money, give me a call or email me by clicking here.

The answer to that questions is “it depends.”  The reason that you want to sell will determine whether or not its a good time to sell your rental property.

I Hate Being a Landlord - This is the reason the landlord who asked me the question above gave for wanting to sell his properties.  He has moved out-of-state and the tenants that he’s been getting over the past few years have been driving him crazy, forcing him to spend countless amounts of money and time driving back and forth from Virginia and in and out of housing court dealing with problems.  20 years ago when he started his Landlord Business he didn’t mind it, but now…

If you find that being a landlord is causing you mental stress, sleepless nights and costing money you’d much rather spend elsewhere, than for your physical and mental well-being, which it truly worth much more than money in the long run (the dead can’t spend) than it’s a good time as any to sell your rental property.

I Could Use The Money – If you’ve owned your rental property for several years and you’ve got enough equity to sell it for a profit (not as much profit as you would have gotten in 2007, but that’s neither here nor there) than nows a good a time as any to sell your rental property.

Take your profit and do what you need to do.  Whether its pay down debt, pay your kid’s college tuition, make much-needed repairs on your own place of residence, or retire comfortably, do what’s right for you.

I Can No Longer Make The Mortgage Payments - This reason for thinking about selling makes the decision a no brainer.  If you’re find yourself in financial hot water and creditors are knocking at the door (or ringing your phone off the wall which is more likely) than now is as good a time to sell as any.  Why loose your property and wreck your credit?  Sell it.  Sell it fast.  Even if you have to take a loss.

Don’t be like one seller who, while standing at the brink of financial disaster (foreclosure), refused several offers on her property because she wouldn’t “make any money”.  Now, not only hasn’t she made any money, she no longer owns the property and her credit is wrecked.  Don’t let shortsightedness ruin you.  If you need to sell. Sell.

I’m Not Making a Profit - Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out.  If you bought a rental property and because of a change in the neighborhood or because of the condition of the property (which you can’t afford or don’t want to remedy) you’re not getting the rents you need to meet your financial goals, than it’s a good time to sell as any.

There’s an old saying that says, “it doesn’t make sense to throw good money after bad” and I believe that.  If you made an investment that has not turned out as well as you would have liked, stop the bleeding and sell, even if it’s at a loss.  Calculate how much money you’re losing and will likely to continue to lose if nothing changes and determine how much you’ll lose now by selling at a loss.  If you’ll save money by taking the loss now, than it’s as good a time to sell as any, if not, hold on to it and hope for the best.

Of course there is one good reason why now is actually a great time to sell rental property. Real Estate investors are out buying in droves, and the investors I work with particularly like to buy two and three family properties. So if you are willing to price it so that its attractive to the more “frugal” investment buyers, your property will be sold in a flash.

As you can tell from my statements, I’m a firm believer that the moment you think about selling is a good time to sell when you have a good reason to do so.  You cannot time the market.  No one can.  No one really knows when this market will recover just like no one knew when the market would crash.

If you don’t need to sell your property, than hold on to it until the market recovers.  Of course it’s always better to sell high, but if you need to sell it either because of financial reasons or just sheer desire, than right this moment is a good time to sell your rental property.  Peace of mind and a stress free life is worth much more than money in my book.

Why would you want an all cash buyer as opposed to someone who has to get a mortgage from a lender?  Well here are three very good reasons:

1. Your Property Flaws May be Less of A Factor – Truth be told, almost all cash buyers are investors who are the kind of buyers who can deal with the fact that your house hasn’t been painted in 20 years, your kitchen is from the 70s, your stairs are leaning a bit to the left and the roof is obviously leaking.  The typical house buyer wants to purchase a turnkey “pretty house” and if yours isn’t (and you’re not inclined to fix the obvious problems), you might want to attract an all cash, investor buyer.
2. No Appraisal – Many real estate deals have died because the appraisal came in too low.  When you’re dealing with an all cash buyer, the buyer decides what the property is worth to him or her and once the price is agreed upon by you and your cash buyer, no one else’s opinion will hinder to the sale.
3. Cash Buyers Can Close Very Quickly - The main thing that can make the sale of a home drag out for months is the process involved in a buyer getting a mortgage.  A cash buyer can close very quickly.  I’ve heard of deals going from accepted offer to the closing table in 10 days when an all cash buyer was involved.  That’s ideal if you need to sell your property quickly.

Now that you can see the benefits of having a cash buyer interested in buying your multifamily home, how do you attract one?  Well here are some tips:

How to Attract the Cash Buyer

Information is key.  The investor/cash buyer is a real estate professional who probably owns several properties already.  They buy properties based on the numbers, not because it reminded them of grandma’s house in Georgia, so providing as much information as possible will help the cash buyer be able to see the value in your home.  Here are some facts and statistics that you, and your realtor, should have readily at hand:

Taxes – Of course, a good realtor can discover that quite easily, but why not provide that information.

Square Footage – Again, your realtor should be able to come up with this info, but you own the home.  No one knows your home like you do.

Rent Roll – If your property is occupied, letting potential buyers know how much rent they can expect to get can make the decision to buy your property a lot easier.   Also, do your tenants have leases?  When will they expire?  Will you be delivering the property vacant at closing? 

Home Maintenance & Repair History – How old is your roof?  Your water heater?  Your boiler?  Your windows?  When was your plumbing last updated?  What voltage is your electrical service? 

Oil or Gas Heat – (I’m shocked when the realtor doesn’t know this) 

Expenses – Perhaps you don’t want to admit how much you’re paying to heat your home, but that type of information will help buyers make more informed decision and perhaps get some of those who are hesitating off the fence.  Here is a list of expenses that you personally paid that you should include:

• Gas or Oil heat costs for a one year period
• Water/sewage costs for one year
• Electricity for one year
• Insurance costs for one year

Get a Realtor who works with investor/cash buyers. – If a realtor fails to ask about your rent-roll and tenant leases during the interview, you can be sure he or she doesn’t know much about selling multifamily homes to investors.

The Caveats

Of course, cash buyers are looking for a deal.  Some cash buyers are the equivalent of  “highway robbers” and are not looking to make a fair offer for your property.  When you encounter that type, don’t take it personally and counter offer a more reasonable price.  If he persists on being ridiculous, send him packing.  Not all investors are unreasonable money grubbers, so be patient.

But keep in mind that if you have not maintained your home and made the necessary repairs over the years, it might not be worth what you think.  Do the math yourself.  How much will it cost to replace your leaky roof, rotting windows and cat pee stained wood floors?

Be honest with yourself and decide how much you think your home would be worth if all maintenance item had been taken care of and subtract the cost of the repairs you know need to be made.  You might find the cash buyer/investor is not so far off the mark with the low ball offer he’s made.

If you are thinking about selling your Brooklyn, NY multifamily home and would like to know how attractive it would be to cash buyers, give me a call at the number below or email me by clicking here.  I will calculate the price the market says your home will sell for as well as figure out the cash flow a new owner is likely to get from your rentals and the ROI (return on investment).

Again, information is key.  Why not arm yourself with as much information about your multifamily home as you can?

The article states that Colby Sambrotto, a founder and former COO of ForSalebyOwner.com, spend six months trying to sell his 2,000 Square Foot 2 bedroom Chelsea condo himself. He used online listings on various FSBO websites and classified ads hoping to get the job done himself before he gave up and turned the listing over to a broker agreeing to pay 6% commission.

His licensed and experienced broker was able to attract multiple offers and ultimately facilitated the sale of Mr. Sambrotto’s apartment for $2.15 million, which was $150,000 more than the original asking price.

Can you sell your property yourself? Sometimes you can, but should you?  As the example above shows, letting a professional do it will get you much better results.

An experienced real estate professional has his or her finger on the pulse of the market and if she’s anything like me, she eats, drinks and sleeps real estate, making herself a fountain of real estate knowledge and know how.  When selling your most valuable asset, it only makes sense to hire someone who has experience.

After all, would you pull your own tooth?

But before we can answer that question, we first have to understand who determines how much a home is worth.  Is it you, the homeowner? The bank that holds the mortgage?  The answer is “no” to both those questions.

The truth is, its the buyers who determine house values when they open their wallets and make a purchase.  What a buyer is willing to pay for your house at that very moment in time is what its worth.   Not what it was worth five years ago, one year ago or even six months ago when property values are falling.  What a neighbor got for his home doesn’t determine what your home is worth and often times the improvements you’ve made have no bearing either.

Yes, the value of your home is strictly based on what buyers are willing to pay for it and we can discover what that is by looking at “the comps” or the comparables.   Comparables are properties  like yours, same number of bedrooms, same construction, same general location and so one, that have sold within the last three months (or longer if nothing similar to your property has sold recently).

So if you want to know what your Brooklyn, New York house, co-op or condo is worth I want to help. I will use my years of experience and resources to help you find that out, and I’ll do it FREE OF CHARGE and with NO OBLIGATION. To get started, click here and fill out the Home Value Report Form.

I look forward to assisting you.

You can purchase a large one bedroom apartment with plenty of light in the $285,000 to $350,000 range and an even larger two bedroom apartment for between $375,000 to $450,000.  Due to the recent recession and housing marking bubble burst, this is a decrease in pricing for the coop, which is great for anyone looking to buy now.

The Clinton Hill Co-ops consists of 12 buildings split up into two campuses, the North Campus on Clinton Avenue between Myrtle and Willoughby Avenues and The South Campus Between Lafayette and Greene Avenues. There are so many reasons that purchasing at the Clinton Hill Apartments is a wise investment, but here is a list of just a few of the positives:

1. The co-op is financially sound.  Having just refinanced its mortgage the coop has $10,000,000 in its reserve fund.
2. For 2011 the coop Board was able to hold the maintenance fee at the 2010 level.  That’s right, a co-op with no maintenance increase!
3. The apartments are large, with good sized closets. One bedroom apartments are approximately 800 Sq ft and two bedrooms are over 1000 Sq ft!
4. All of the apartments have large windows that let in a massive amount of light.  Many of the apartments have fantastic Manhattan views.
5. There is 24 hour security and maintenance staff on call 24/7.
6. Newly renovated laundry facilities are on site. Storage and Parking are available.
7. The co-op has a dedicated board that meets all requirements for shareholder meetings and handles it fiduciary responsibility of making sure all of the co-ops bills are paid.
8. The co-op is located in a section of Brooklyn that is just minutes from Manhattan.  You can go from the coop to 34th street Manhattan in 30 minutes.
9. The Clinton Hill/Fort Greene area is booming with upscale restaurants and shops, with more and more opening every month.
10. Clinton Hill Co-ops is located on one of most beautiful streets in Brooklyn, namely Clinton Avenue, which has been called “Mansions Row” because of all the historic mansions that line the tree line street. Want more trees? Fort Greene Park is just three blocks away!
11. The Clinton Hill Co-op is pet friendly. Dogs and cats are welcome.

For the sake of balanced reporting, there are few things that you might find negative about the coop, but they are in the process of being corrected.  The elevators are badly in need of a cosmetic overhaul, and the board is planning to take care of that.  The lobby of all twelve buildings are being updated and a plan to up date the individual public hallways on each floor, which are sorely in need of updating as well, is being devised.  The exterior of the buildings are somewhat drab, but the interior space, cleanliness and first rate upkeep of the interiors and landscaping more than make up for it.

Have I convinced you that Clinton Hill Co-ops is a still a fantastic place to purchase an apartment?  Here’s a sample of one of the apartments currently for sale – 209 Clinton Avenue, Apt 14E.

If you would like to see even more apartment, give me a call at the number below or email me by clicking here.

Its a very interesting article, and for you sellers, it gives a little insight into the mindset of today’s buyer. Click here to read the article.

Enjoy!