Lindenhurst NY Homes Under Contract September 2012 Lindenhurst NY homes under contract for 2012 is up overall compared to 2011. 19 Lindenhurst NY homes went under contract in September 2012. List prices range from $149,900 to $475,000. Nine homes are listed between $225,000 to $299,990. Seven homes are listed between $309,990 to $395,000. One Lindenhurst NY home is listed at $475,000 and two homes are listed at $149,900 and $150,000. Two of these Lindenhurst NY homes have closed already: 181 N. 6th Street listed for $149,900 and sold for $138,000. This was an REO property that was already gutted on the inside so that will make it easier for the buyer to renovate it and a little less sweat equity. It is a 3 bedroom, seven room Cape. The other home located at 60 Grove Street listed for $3... 10/13/2012

What Are Lindenhurst NY Houses Selling For? The majority of Lindenhurst NY homes are selling for between $250,000 to $2999,999 with 49 homes selling at this price point in 2012. 34 Lindenhurst NY homes sold between $200,000 to $249,999 and 26 homes sold between $300,000 and $349,999. 19 homes sold between $350,000 and $399,999, 17 homes sold between $150,000 and $199,999, and 6 Lindenhurst NY homes sold up to $149,999 Two Lindenhurst NY homes sold between $400,000 and $449,999 during 2012. It is obvious that most buyers can afford homes in Lindenhurst between $250,000/$299,999. Lindenhurst NY housing prices are at 2002 prices. Back then, the majority of homes were selling between $250,000 and $299,999. The median sales price for Lindenhurst NY is $280,000 as of September 2012. That is u... 10/13/2012

I have Issues With Misreporting Long Island Real Estate Market Reports When I read a Long Island real estate market report a few days ago, I was not happy. It was reported that the median sales price for closed sales for Long Island NY for August 2012 was $370,000 it also included the Queens NY real estate sold figures. I wasn't great with geography back in the day but I do know Long Island is made up of two counties: Nassau County and Suffolk County. Our MLS does include Queens NY for listings but geographically it is separate from Long Island. Queens NY is a borough in New York City. The Multiple Listing Service of Long Island reported the median closed sales price for August 2012:Nassau County: $435,000Queens NY: $350,000. Suffolk County: $322,400 Big difference isn't it?  August 201... 10/08/2012

Lindenhurst NY Home Buying - Are Buyers Getting Mortgages? Absolutely! You need good credit scores, no more than 40-45% debt in relation to your income, oh, and you need a job! The days of just needing a pulse to get a mortgage are gone. The chart below represents how many buyers received certain types of mortgages Since January 2012: Conventional Mortgage - 72FHA - 37Cash - 20SONYMA - 0VA - 4Owner Financing - 0Private - 0Unknown - 20 Agents in the area think there are always more FHA buyers and it's obvious more buyers are getting conventional mortgages which means 20% down for most. Some buyers can be approved for 10% down but your credit scores and income will reflect that. So for you Lindenhurst NY homeowners, yes buyers are getting mortgages. Call me today (631) 703-0201 to know wh... 10/02/2012

Lindenhurst NY Oktoberfest 2012 It's that glorious time of the year again! Lindenhurst NY is having their annual Oktoberfest. So far they are calling for showers but we will see. There are always a ton of food vendors (my favorite is the funnel cake!), clothing, jewelry, art, entertainment, beer, and so much more! This year I plan on taking photos and some videos of this great event! Century 21 AA Realty in Lindenhurst will have a booth at the Lindenhurst NY Oktoberfest as always. I will be there as well as some of my co-workers. Stop by and say hello! We love visitors! Lindenhurst NY Oktoberfest Info:When: Sunday, October 7th, 2012Where: Wellwood Avenue - starts at Reade Avenue and continues North to East/West John Street.Time: Starts at 11:00 a.m. 10/01/2012

Halloween Activities on Long Island 2012 From corn mazes, haunted mansions to scream parks & chamber of horrors, this list has it all! There are plenty of things to do this Halloween 2012 on Long Island! Peruse the list below and pick your family fun! Spooky Fest - The Woods are Haunted! F&W Schmitt's Farms Haunted Mansion & Nighttime Haunted Maze Valley Stream Fire Department Bayville Scream Park Macabre Faire Grim Gathering Halloween Extravaganza Darkside Haunted House Blood Manor - NYC North Patchogue FD Haunted House Gateway's Haunted Playhouse Sag Harbor Wailing Museum SpookyWalk at Camp Paquatuck Zombieworld Attack of the Killer Clowns (DPCC) Darkness Rising Bayville Haunted Fire House Fright Night Haunted House at Karts HauntedProps.com Presents Night of The Zombies Slim Chance's... 10/01/2012

Another Lindenhurst NY Cape Home Sold! Nothing like having a Lindenhurst NY home listing sell. Sellers are happy. Buyers are happy. I just love happy endings! Listed for $329,000 and sold for $320,000. This home is completely updated from the roof to the floors to the studs. And spacious property that is hard to find in Lindenhurst NY. If you are contemplating selling your Lindenhurst NY home but not sure what it's worth in today's changing real estate market, call me today at (631) 703-0201 I am a full-time Lindenhurst NY real estate market and am well-versed with traditional sales and short sales. 09/24/2012

How Is The Lindenhurst NY Real Estate Market Doing? Being the data hound that I am, I wanted to see how tight the sold prices are getting in the Lindenhurst NY real estate market. I know this market is changing but I was even shocked with my findings. Between 6/1/12 and 8/31/12, 83 homes sold. Sold prices range from $155,000 to $390,000 with the majority selling in the mid $200k to the mid $300k price points. Out of the 83, 53 Lindenhurst NY homes sold under $15K below list and a good portion sold at list price or above list price and there were no seller's concessions. This hasn't happened since 2005! What is going on for this to happen? We are seeing a lack of good inventory which means buyers do not have the choices they did even compared to last year. Lack of good inventory is just ... 09/24/2012

West Babylon NY Townhouse Open House Success! Today was a great day for this open house! 7 people showed up and they all actually "lingered" in this fabulous West Babylon NY townhouse. The flow was steady enough that I was able to spend quality time with all of them. How great is that?!?! They didn't feel rushed and I was calm. At times, I get a little stressed when I am with a person at an open house and others come in at the same time because I don't want anyone to feel slighted. It's nice to be with people one-on-one, stress-free. And, each person stayed in the home for no less than 20 minutes. Most people that live in the area know that homes here in the Maple Court Townhome development do not go up for sale all that often. The homeowners love living here and that includes myself. I... 09/23/2012

Town of Babylon Food Pantry Needs Your Donations! The Town of Babylon food pantry has people that go there regularly for help with putting food on the table to feed their families.Now, the Town of Babylon food pantry needs your help in order to help people in our community. They always need non-perishable foods but they are running low on the following items: Food items needed include: Pasta (one to two pounds) Pasta/Rice Dinners (Rice-a-Roni, Uncle Ben's) Brown Rice (one-to two-pound bags) Spaghetti Sauce (15 to 28 ounces) Spaghetti-Os Canned Meat (potted meat, Vienna sausages, Spam) Canned Tuna and Salmon Canned Turkey and Chicken Breast Canned Fruit, Applesauce (15 to 23 ounces) Bottled Water (15 to 20 ounces) Canned and Bottled Juices Juice Boxes Cereal and Oatmeal Toiletries (deod... 09/23/2012

You Messed With The Wrong Realtor®! In real estate, one of the worst things you can get is the call I received today from my homeowner. "Jackie, someone from XYZ real estate called last night and said your listing expired on 9/15/12". Hmmm, our listing expires a few months from now I told her. I went over to her house to check her caller ID and sure enough the agents phone number was there. They called at 8:15 p.m. which I feel is late to call anyone unless it's an emergency. I researched the phone number on my client's computer and found the name of the person who called. I then logged into our system that is for Realtors® only and discovered this agent is from a brokerage nearby. I also found that my client's phone number is on the public record so I'll have to help them get that remo... 09/18/2012

Suffolk County REO Homes For Sale Hot Sheet - Week Ending 9/9/12  There are 68 REO properties for sale in Suffolk County. Prices range from $73,800 in Medford NY to $1.89 million in Southampton NY. Not all Suffolk County REO homes go for list price but a lot come close to it so don't think you will get a steal. Asset Managers at the banks want as close to list price as possible. I have found most Suffolk County REO homes are priced to sell. I had 2 buyers last year purchase REO homes. One was in Lindenhurst NY, the other in North Babylon NY. The one in Lindenhurst was listed for $149,900 and sold for $152,000. My buyer didn't want to lose the home so he figured go a little above list and he got it! It needed cosmetic work and it is a 2 bedroom home. My first time buyer did good! The REO... 09/09/2012

What Mortgage Products Are Lindenhurst NY Buyers Qualifying For? Once again, conventional mortgages is the winner. This shows that buyers have the money to put down 15% or more as opposed to an FHA mortgage of 3.5% down. FHA mortgages came in second and Cash is third. It doesn't matter what mortgage the buyer is qualified for. What matters is that they are qualified properly. I've been hearing from other real estate agents lately that buyers are not getting approved from the lenders who qualified them.They find this out 4 weeks after going to contract. That is insane. Some buyers are getting turned down from Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America. Some are getting "prequalifed" from online companies like Quicken loans. The major banks are just that, banks. Their sole business are not mortg... 09/05/2012

Mr. Bad Manners Was at the Long Island Home Inspection......Twice! From time to time we come across other professionals that just do not like real estate agents for one reason or another. It is what it is and I take it with a grain of salt. Had a home inspection on a home my buyers were buying. At first the home inspector seemed nice. While he was inspecting the outside of the home, he mentioned that this home was extended and they did a nice job with continuing the brick work. When it's a shoddy job, you can see a black line on the bricks where the extension started. I agreed with him. Then I was met with a finger in my face yelling at me, "who is doing the home inspection, you or me?" I calmly said "remove your finger from my face or you will leave here without it". Without an apolog... 09/03/2012

Lindenhurst NY Housing Market Prices for August 2012 The Lindenhurst NY housing market is seeing a steady increase in the median sales price since May 2012. The median sales price in May was $252,000, June $260,000, July $270,000 and August $280,000. This is a good sign! I am finding that certain price point homes are in a seller's market. The $225,000 to $299,000 are in a seller's market due to there are not enough good homes in this price range. By good homes I mean they do not need a lot of work. Currently, at $350,000 and up, it is still a buyer's market. There are plenty of homes in this price range for buyers to choose from so make sure yours stands out. Call me today (631) 703-0201 to find out what your Lindenhurst NY home is worth in today's market 09/03/2012

Lindenhurst NY School District - What You Need To Know For The 2012-2013 School Year Lindenhurst NY schools open September 5th, 2012. Below is important information you need to know especially if you are new to the Lindenhurst NY School District: School Meal Programs Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals/Milk Elementary School Supplies List Middle School Supplies List Elementary School Bus Runs Middle School Bus Runs Middle School Zero Period Bus Runs Senior High School Bus Runs Lindenhurst Senior High School Info Lindenhurst Middle School Info Albany Avenue Elementary School Info Alleghany Avenue Elementary School Info Daniel Street Elementary School Info Harding Avenue Elementary School Info West Gates Elementary School Info William Rall Elementary School Info Curriculum... 08/22/2012

Lindenhurst NY Foreclosure (Lis Pendens) Filings Have Dropped Like A Bad Habit! Since 2009, foreclosure/Lis Pendens filings have dropped. Is this good news? In one sense yes. On the other hand, you would think there would be a lot more short sales and REO homes on the market in Lindenhurst NY since homeowners have this option but currently, there are 53 short sales on the market in Lindenhurst NY and 1 REO property. Definition of Lis Pendens: When you are behind in your mortgage or you owe money on a second mortgage like a home equity line of credit, your bank will file with the court a Lis Pendens which means a pending lawsuit. This is the beginning stages of the foreclosure process.By doing research, I looked into the 165 homes in 2009 that have foreclosure filings and this is what I ... 08/21/2012

Homes For Sale in Lindenhurst NY for Under $500,000 There are 24 homes for sale in Lindenhurst NY for Under $500,000. In this price range, buyers have choices since most of these homes are in fabulous condition! Sellers of these homes are in competition with each other because there aren't as many buyers in this price range as there are in lower price ranges and 24 homes on the market in this price range is a lot. Prices start at $405,000 for a four bedroom, three bath Colonial to $499,999 for a four bedroom, three bath Contemporary with waterviews on a Cul-de-Sac location. Property taxes on these homes range from $9,928 to $21,930 so make sure to keep an eye on the property taxes when searching for homes in this price range. Lindenhurst NY Sold Homes in 2012 Between $400,000 to $499,99... 08/20/2012

This is The 21st Century and I Cannot Believe We Have To Have This TalkToday I informed someone that lives near one of my listings that we have a buyer. She wanted me to let her know so I did. I was met with a question I cannot answer by law and morally I wouldn't answer anyway.I was asked if the buyer was of a certain ethnic group. Told the person that I cannot answer that question because the law prohibits me from doing so. Besides, is it really that important? Why should it be? What is the difference? Boggles my mind. My reaction is always one of surprise then I am met with, "I am not a racist!" Ok, but I think Merriam-Webster may disagree: RacistSo here we are in the 21st Century and I'm going to revisit Fair Housing: No one can discriminate in the sale, rental, financing of dwellin... 08/20/2012

Homes for Sale in Lindenhurst NY for Under $400,000There are 83 homes for sale in Lindenhurst NY for under $400,000. Only eight are short sales and no REO properties. In this price range, buyers certainly have more choices. But, if you are preapproved for a mortgage for up to $350,000 there are 53 homes you can choose from. Over $350,000 and under $400,000 you have 30 homes to choose from.The average property taxes are $9,861.00 The higher you go in price, the larger the home. Keep in mind that the larger the home the more property taxes you will pay. Sometimes, the property taxes are what prohibits a buyer from buying some of these nice homes. Mortgage bankers and banks will let you know the most you can pay in property tax when they preapprove you for a mortgage. What style of home do... 08/15/2012