Carollo's Blog on Real Estate- Featuring Queens and Nassau County Real Estate Information

Price Reduced: Whitestone Vacant Lot

Price Reduced to $810,000

Whitestone Vacant Lot for Sale measuring 80x100.  Great Opportunity for Builder! R3X Zoning!  Property Needs to Be Subdivided.

Asking: $825,000

America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets

According to America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets featured on Forbes.com the nation's top ten most sedentary housing markets were complied to a list as a result of dropping housing prices and sluggish sales rates.  Price growth and sales rates in the country's 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas also helped to determine this list.  Furthermore, according to the article, "By using sales rate, instead of the months remaining of inventory, we wind up with a figure that shows how quickly homes have been leaving the market from its most saturated point, the most straightforward indicator for measuring sedentary vs. active sales."

Read the entire article America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets featured on Forbes.com
In Pictures: American's Worst-Selling Housing Markets featured on Forbes.com

Even Renters Aren’t Safe

According to an interesting article Even Renters Aren't Safe featured on the NYTimes.com, though renters believed they were safe and had avoided the subprime mortgage crisis by opting to rent rather than buy it turns out they weren't as unaffected as they thought.  Many renters are finding themselves in situations where the building or home they are renting is going into foreclosure.  Though it seems unlikely that a rental property producing income would go into foreclosure, many rental properties throughout the United States are.  Though analysts predict this problem to be predominately of lower to middle income markets, this problem is rapidly expanding nationwide.  Furthermore, the article goes on to iterate the point that the housing crisis has effected New York City quite differently than throughout the country. 

Read the entire article Even Renters Aren't Safe on NYTimes.com to find out how the New York City rental market compares to rental markets elsewhere throughout the country

Image Courtesy of NYTimes.com

Best Places To Get Ahead

According to the real estate feature Best Places To Get Ahead on Forbes.com, the best areas for income and housing growth are not located in the areas most would think, like New York City, San Fransciso or even Los Angelos.  Not to say that these areas don't offer the potential to succeed, however, these areas are the most competitive throughout the country and don't boast the best employment opportunities for the average American.  Furthermore, Forbes has comprised a list of the areas where the median income data had risen since 2000 and local economies have boomed.  For example, "The places that experienced prolonged income and job booms since 2000 are often satellite economies of larger cities. Within a metropolitan area, the central city is typically the driving force of the economy. But as suburban counties develop, they often turn into secondary economic centers with their own industry and jobs. " 

Read the entire article Best Places To Get Ahead on Forbes.com
In Pictures: Best Places To Get Ahead on Forbes.com

Best Cities For Bargain House-Hunters

According to the real estate article Best Cities For Bargain House-Hunters featured on Forbes.com those looking to advantage of the housing slump the nation has endured for the past couple of years are researching the market for prices to bottom out and buy.  According to the article, the best market for these buyers is a market in which job growth is strong, housing foreclosures are low and housing inventory is high.  These factors allow for buyers to predominately negotiate and dictate housing prices while not exposing themselves to economic and lending risk that has plummeted most of the real estate market. 

Read the entire real estate article Best Cities For Bargain House-Hunters featured on Forbes.com
Complete List: Best Cities For Bargain House-Hunters on Forbes.com

America's Free-Falling Housing Markets

According to the article America's Free-Falling Housing Markets featured on Forbes.com homeowners near foreclosure stand to benefit from the Bush administration's initiative.  According to Project Lifeline, assembeled by six of the nation's largest financial institutions, the program allows qualified homeowners to delay proceedings for 30 days while providing them with rewriting and refinancing assistance.  The nation's six largest financial institutions are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, Citigrop and Washington Mutual.  All of these lenders have agreed to contact homeowners whom are 90 days or more overdue on their mortgage payments and work with them on making their mortgage more affordable. 

Read the entire real estate article America's Free-Falling House Markets on Forbes.com
In Pictures: America's Free-Falling House Markets on Forbes.com

Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling ’90s Slump

According to a recent article Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling ’90s Slump on NYTimes.com all the talk of the housing slump and downward real estate market seemed foreign to most homeowners, considering that the value of real estate has increased exponentially in value in recent years.  For example, the prices of real estate in Manhattan make  homeownership unattainable for most.  Although, the Manhattan real estate market has remained strong throughout this alleged slump, more cracks have begun to show in the housing market.  Furthermore, some analysts have gone as far to label the present market comparable with "severe downturn in the region during the recession that followed the boom years of the late 1980s."  According to the article, the strongest tell tale sign of trouble is the weakness of Manhattan.

Read the entire article Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling '90s Slump on NYTimes.com

Top Tips: Selling your home

CNNMoney.com presents:

Top Tips: Selling your home 2:10

CNN's Gerri Willis offers tips on how to make your home more attractive to potential buyers.

Most Middle Class Still Can't Buy a House

According to the real estate article Most Middle Class Still Can't Buy a House on CNNMoney.com most middle income wage earners still do not earn enough money to purchase a median priced home in their hometowns [Center for Housing Policy].  The Center for Housing Policy came to this conclusion on the basis of calculating and comparing 201 metro areas median wages and median house value.  These figures were based on major vocations such as police officers, firemen and educators.  Nonetheless, home prices have fallen in a majority of the 201 metro areas, but home costs were still considered too high for typical working people in those markets. 

Read the entire artivcle Most Middle Class Still Can't Buy a House on CNNMoney.com

The Economy: Five Signposts to Recovery

According to the article The Economy: Five Signposts to Recovery on BusinessWeek.com all economists think the United States economy is in poor condition, however, some of these economists believe that our economy has already plunged into recession.  Furthermore, the economic statistics suggest a weak holiday buying season for retailers, an increase in the unemployment rate, an all out decrease in manufacture and most importantly the problems associated with the housing and financial markets.  According to the article "For now, most of these indicators are getting worse, not better. But if the economy decides to break out of its funk, these trends should give you a heads-up." 

Read the entire article The Economy: Five Signposts to Recovery on BusinessWeek.com