The Housing Bill has passed in the Senate with some Republicans grousing that it is an unfair bailout at the taxpayer’s expense. Some highlights: Increase the Federal Housing Administration’s role. Establish a stronger regulator for the GSEs. Permanently increase “conforming loan” limits. Create home-buyer credit. Bar down-payment assistance for FHA loans. Create an affordable housing [...]
Archive for July, 2008
Thoughts on the Housing Bill
Posted in government, tagged FHA, freddie mac, housing bill. fannie mae on July 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Flash! Housing Sales are Down!
Posted in Selling, The Market, tagged westchester real estate on July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Our local paper, the Westchester Journal News, ran a story yesterday on how housing sales in Westchester have plummeted. Nothing new or earth-shattering here, except for a curious plug of one of the subject’s homes currently on the market. I have had my own clients featured in the paper, but the photographers were always unwilling [...]
Bitner on The Subprime Mess
Posted in Mortgages, tagged Richard Bitner, subprime mess on July 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Interesting video commentary from Richard Bitner, author of Confessions of a Subprime Lender.
Are Agents Needed?
Posted in FSBO, Selling, The Market, tagged for sale by owner, FSBO on July 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
US News is hosting a debate of sorts on the value of using an agent. The person on the side of not needing agents is a VP of forsalebyowner.com, a site whose point of view should be obvious. I have a skin in both games. I will repost my comment here: Ah, if all agents were [...]
Another Reason to Dislike Vacant Houses
Posted in Jerks, tagged Greenburgh orgy on July 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Aside from safety and blight, they seem to be attracting orgies…which include Catholic school principals. A man named “Jim” arranged the backyard group-sex romp that ensnared a former Catholic school principal from Ossining, police say, and he may live near the home where the tryst took place. “I think we’re going to grab grab ‘Jim’ [...]
Calling Sammy Hagar
Posted in Me Myself and I, tagged speed limits on July 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
My business takes me through 6 counties and I drive over 40,000 miles a year. All the talk of lowering the speed limit to 55 vexes me. Setting me back 10 minutes per hour driven is not a patriotic sacrifice, it is a costly homage to an already debunked nanny state idea that I always [...]
Is Your Agent “Crummy?”
Posted in Jerks, Tales from the Trenches, tagged crummy agents on July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
US News and World Report lists 6 warning signs. I could list 7-20 for them but the first six should suffice in weeding out plenty of those who hurt the profession. Sign number one is also my pet peeve: If the communication isn’t there, the relationship won’t work. So if your agent doesn’t return your [...]
On Government Bailouts
Posted in government, Mortgages, tagged fannie mae, freddie mac, government bailouts on July 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Uncle Sam is stepping in to aid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. One might question the wisdom of government bailing out mortgage companies. In this case, I don’t. Fannie and Freddie are part of the solution, not part of the problem. By definition, they were not sub prime lenders. They just bore the brunt of problems [...]
Wall Street Journal on Selling Your Home
Posted in Selling, tagged selling your home on July 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The article offers 7 guidelines for those who cannot wait for the market to recover before selling. I particularly like number 4: 4. HIRE A TOP REAL-ESTATE AGENT. Get the best, most aggressive selling (listing) agent you can find. When everything was selling before it even hit the market, of course, you didn’t need the [...]
XLI
Posted in Me Myself and I on July 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
41 years ago today I entered this world. About 6 months earlier, my three older brothers had asked for a dog. I’d call that under promising and over delivering. I have to say, so far so good. I am married to a beautiful woman, we have 4 wonderful children, a great home, and we run a successful, [...]
-
J. Philip Faranda Broker-Owner (914) 723-8900
Categories
Archives
- June 2011 (2)
- February 2011 (3)
- January 2011 (1)
- December 2010 (1)
- November 2010 (1)
- September 2010 (1)
- August 2010 (1)
- April 2010 (1)
- February 2010 (1)
- January 2010 (6)
- December 2009 (11)
- June 2009 (1)
- May 2009 (3)
- April 2009 (2)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (5)
- January 2009 (7)
- September 2008 (1)
- August 2008 (3)
- July 2008 (19)
- June 2008 (30)
- July 1967 (1)
Tags
Pages
J. Philip Faranda
