The rise of wireless technology seems to be coming with a price, declining property values, at least to the residents of the Merrick and other communities in the town of Hempstead. The reason is because of the ugly wireless boxes posted on lamp posts in front of homes. The company called NextG from California has posted orange boxes in other to deliver their wireless service.

Several residents and a residential group called Merrick Gables Association have engaged in a lawsuit against the town of Hempstead. Apparently, because NextG is recognized as a utility by the state of New York and the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, allows which prevents localities from disallowing the placement of public utilities,  the lawsuit has very little merit.

What does this mean for those looking for a home in these areas: When looking for your home, this could be construed as bargaining power to talk the homeowner down some in price! Of course, you need to consider whether YOU would want these boxes in front of your home.

Even if you do not mind these boxes in front of your home and everything looks acceptable, you might want to complain to the homeowner about these boxes and negotiate a lower price!

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyerbroker.com or www.bestbuyersbroker.com

A rash of positive housing data has given some analysts hope that the housing market has bottomed and an economic recovery is underway. But the soaring unemployment and rising mortgage rates could lead to a double-dip plunge for the housing market.

Home prices rose on a monthly basis in May for the first time in nearly three years, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The improvement in the Case-Shiller index followed the release of several equally optimistic government reports that showed increases in home sales and housing starts, and a decline in inventories.

Home construction unexpectedly rose in June as well. Housing starts increased 3.6% from May to a seasonally adjusted 582,000 annual rate. And even while more houses were built in June, the number of available homes on the market went down.

The federal government’s effort to lower the cost of borrowing has been a big reason why the housing market has been able to stabilize over the past few months.

Mortgage rates fell to a record low 4.78% twice in April after the Federal Reserve announced its plan to scoff up mortgage backed securities. That led to a surge in mortgage and refinancing applications. But now it appears the Fed’s effort to reduce borrowing costs is losing momentum.

Higher mortgage rates aren’t the only thing daunting potential homebuyers either. Soaring unemployment also poses a threat to the housing market by eroding disposable income and consumer confidence.

The gains made in the housing market have been encouraging to many analysts and investors. But with Americans facing heavy job losses and higher mortgage rates, it’s hard to imagine how they will be sustained.

Only time will tell, of course, and as with every recession before this one, no one will know exactly where the bottom is until it’s too late, and we’re all looking back and recognizing that the bottom passed months ago.

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyerbroker.com or www.bestbuyersbroker.com

Low interest rates and a depressed real estate market have some affluent parents asking financial advisers if buying their children a house could accomplish a one-two punch of moving assets out of their estate while grabbing a good deal on property.

The answer is, not exactly.

While parents may get a bargain on real estate, purchasing a home for children may not get them the best bang for their estate-planning buck, particularly if that estate is sizable and includes income-producing assets like securities or a private business interest.

As the federal tax law currently stands, a married couple can give, during their lifetimes or leave to their heirs at death, $2 million before any tax is owed. “A home isn’t an income-producing asset, so it makes more sense to save the $2 million lifetime gift exclusion for other estate-planning techniques which can generate a lot more upside in the future,” said Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst with Wolters Kluwer, a business that provides tax and legal information.

Instead, advisers say parents intent on helping their children become homeowners consider a cash gift instead.

Individuals are allowed to gift up to $13,000 per person in a given year without dipping into their lifetime gift tax exclusion. That means a couple could give their daughter and her husband $52,000 a year to go toward mortgage payments or the down payment, while removing some assets out of their estate each year. In this situation, the kids would have to buy the home, but would get another break this year: Qualified first-time home buyers who purchase a home before Dec. 1st are eligible for an $8,000 tax credit. This may apply for parents and children who buy the house jointly, although the credit begins phasing out at a modified adjusted gross income of $150,000 when married and filing jointly.

There are other options, like making the kids a loan.

The government sets minimum rates for loans, among family members and others, to not be considered gifts. Those rates now are historically low, ranging from less than 1% to about 4 1/2% depending on the loan term. This method doesn’t actually move money out of the estate, thus freeing up the $2 million exclusion to pass on other assets that are more likely to appreciate over time. Children can use income generated from the appreciated assets to pay off the loan. Parents could use the $52,000 annual gift exclusion for their daughter and husband to forgive both the interest and principal of the debt if they choose.

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyerbroker.com or www.bestbuyersbroker.com

Free granite countertops, swimming pools and landscaping aren’t going to convince anyone who’s afraid of losing a job to buy a home. But what about a promise to pay your mortgage if you get laid off?

It started in the auto industry when ads started popping up from dealers promising to make your car payment for a year if you lost your job.

With the unemployment rate at a 26-year high and home sales still in the dumps, a growing number of homebuilders and even some real estate agents are trying to coax buyers with a kind of mortgage unemployment insurance similar to what the auto industry has been offering for a few weeks now.

It’s not a nationwide thing (YET), but where it is being offered, builders can pay anywhere from $450 to $900 per customer for the coverage. Some absorb the cost as they would any other sales promotion, while others pass it on to buyers.

Some real estate firms also are getting into the act, with plans that pay up to $2,500 to cover the full mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, for six months, should you lose your job.

Do incentives like this make you think twice about buying a home during these troubled times? We’d be curious to hear your thoughts on this idea that is just now starting to take hold in some parts of the country. Leave us your comment by clicking the comment link below.

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyerbroker.com or www.bestbuyersbroker.com

According to survey results from a poll conducted for one of the large real estate franchise companies, potential first-time U.S. buyers said they are likely to buy a home in the next two years.

Record low mortgage rates and a new first-time homebuyer tax credit are large incentives, despite obstacles that include greater difficulty getting loans approved.

All of the 1,000 potential U.S. homebuyers surveyed in an online survey said they were likely to buy a house for the first time in the next two years.

More than three-quarters of those polled said this is a good time to buy a home, and almost 70 percent said now is a better time than six months ago, and more than three-quarters of those polled said the $8,000 federal tax credit makes them more likely to buy a house in the next six months.

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyerbroker.com or www.bestbuyersbroker.com

Historically, the fall season brings on slower home sale activity. So how do you make your home the highlight of the house-hunt? While curb appeal is still very important, what you do on the inside of your home can be equally as powerful. Here are a few tips to consider:

1) Decorate appropriately in warm fall colors: brown, orange and burgandy. Hang a fall wreath on the door, and use fresh pumpkins or gourds for a centerpiece in your dining area. But don’t overdo it. Come Halloween, what’s great for the kids isn’t good for home buyers. So limit the rotting skulls and paper skeletons or confine them to one small area of the home. No matter what season it is, clutter produces poor selling results because buyers cannot envision themselves in your home.

2) If you’ve got a fireplace, flaunt it. Fireplaces are big selling features in homes (particularly in climates that cool during the fall and winter seasons) and there’s nothing cozier to a buyer than a crackling fire.

3) Whether you have a fireplace or not, make sure your thermostat is at a comfortable temperature. A cold home can turn a buyer off, and get their mind reeling about astronomical heating costs.

4) Bake a pie. Seriously. Make it easy on yourself and use store-bought crust — their mind won’t know what their nose won’t find out. Use cinnamon in your recipe. If baking is completely out of the realm of possibility for you, purchase a frozen pie to cook… or at the very least bring in a cinnamon-scented candle. Yankee Candle has an excellent fragrant selection that overrules other smells in the house. You could also consider heating up apple cider and setting cider and donuts out on the table for a breakfast display.

5) When the days get shorter, make sure your home stays as bright as a summer day. Open blinds, turn on lights. For showing, table lamps often give off sufficient light. Make sure overhead fixtures are on.

6) You love your pet. Buyer’s don’t. If possible, take your pet somewhere else during a showing of your house. If the weather outside is too cool for keeping the windows open, chances are you could be harboring pet smells and dander that you may not notice yourself. Clean thoroughly and take your pet to a friend’s house if you can.

Other factors that could help you sell:

Consider offering seller’s concessions – particularly for first-time buyers. Helping them get in the door can be all the incentive they need to get into your home.

Create a highlight sheet of amenities that your home offers. Post copies by your sale sign for passersby.

Get a good real estate agent. Their expertise can help you get the visibility and purchase price you need to sell your home and move into a new one.

If you have any questions or comments about these tips… please use the “comment” link to contact us.

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at www.bestbuyersbroker.com or www.bestbuyerbroker.com

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