Girls buying or looking to buy homes on LI
By Peter S. Green
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- The white bus with the magnetic sign
saying ``Long Island Foreclosure Tours'' pulled up to a small home
in East Meadow, Long Island, and spilled out its cargo: a dozen
homebuyers looking to save $100,000 or more.
The driveway was cracked, and the vinyl siding sagged. There
was a ``No Trespassing'' sign on the front door.
``You have some mold issues; you can definitely assume some
water issues,'' said Dean Miller, a broker on the tour. Then
again, he said, the asking price for the 1951 Cape Cod at 68 Lois
Court was $312,900, down from $457,101 in February.
The foreclosure tour, mobile proof of the U.S. housing bust,
has rolled into the New York City market. For $75, prospective
buyers on the Long Island version last month got velour
banquettes, a supply of potato chips and Reese's Peanut Butter
Cups and visits to eight foreclosed homes, with a general
contractor and home inspector in tow.
And the broker, Miller, who continued his pitch for the
three-bedroom, one-bath Cape Cod. ``You're in a quiet cul-de-sac
in a very nice community for $100,000 less than the surrounding
homes,'' he told the prospective buyers.
Potential bargains abound in the market. In April, 502 Nassau
County homes, or one for every 913 in the county, entered the
foreclosure process, more than double the number a year ago,
according to RealtyTrac Inc., of Irvine, California.
Prices Fall
The median home price in the county fell 2.3 percent to
$449,500 in the first quarter, and inventory rose 6.5 percent to
9,862 homes, New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. said.
Foreclosures are scattered across otherwise healthy
neighborhoods, offering New Yorkers a chance to move up to a house
they wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford. The East Meadow home,
surrounded by similarly modest houses on small lots, is a 45-
minute commute from Manhattan.
Sheri Cambareri, a saleswoman in Miller's office at Re/Max
Village Properties in Mineola thought up the tour a few weeks ago,
over drinks with Re/Max broker Dave Farrell. In a previous job,
she organized luxury tours to the pyramids and the Galapagos
Islands for members of New York's American Museum of Natural
History.
``The extra benefit of those tours was that they brought
along an archeologist or an anthropologist,'' Cambareri said. ``We
thought we'd bring the mortgage broker, the inspector, the
attorney and the contractor.''
The first stop on a recent Saturday was a four-bedroom,
1,400-square-foot Cape Cod on Clinton Road, a busy through-street
in Garden City, New York. The asking price was $509,900.00. The
buyer who defaulted on the mortgage had paid $600,000, Cambareri
said. A nearby home of the same size sold a year ago for $560,000.
`Win-Win Situation'
``This is a win-win situation for everybody,'' said Eric
Prusan, a lawyer who spoke on the bus before it started out from
Mineola. ``All you got to do is decide if you want to spend the
money. We'll help you buy the house.''
At 109 Ellison Avenue in Westbury, the foreclosure tourists
inspected a brick-fronted, 1,155 square-foot Cape Cod on a corner
lot with an asking price of $374,900. The last owner may have left
in a hurry: A green leather sofa was upended in the living room,
and a baby stroller moldered in the back yard.
``I'd put in an offer at three-and-a-quarter and see what
happens,'' said Farrell as the tourists shone flashlights into the
boiler room and crawl spaces. Some of the tourists said they'd be
ready to buy the same day.
Built-in Equity
``If the right house comes along, you really don't need 20
days -- at the right price,'' said Brian Cacioppo, a 24-year-old
salesman shopping for his first home with Courtnie Harrison, 28.
Buying a foreclosed home could give them some cash for
improvements, he said.
``With a foreclosure, it's selling for lower than it's worth
and the equity is already in the house,'' Cacioppo said.
Even with the needed repairs, the houses were well-priced for
Will Brecker, 70, a retired school custodian. ``Where else are you
going to find a $600,000 house for 300 or 400?'' he asked. Brecker
and his wife Lillian weren't ready to buy yet.
Prices are still high, said Liliana Martinovich, an interior
designer who wants to move closer to her son's school in Garden
City. She said she'll wait for prices to fall further before
buying.
``It seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better
with all these Wall Street layoffs,'' said Melissa Cohn, president
of Manhattan Mortgages, a mortgage broker active in Long Island.
New York City, where financial services are the largest private
employer, expects to lose 59,000 jobs by the middle of next year,
according to the City's Independent Budget Office.
Farrell said he was looking at a list of 165 homes for a tour
the next week. The more foreclosed homes on the market, he said,
the lower the prices will go, and the easier it will be to sell
them.
``Foreclosed properties have to sell,'' said Farrell.
``Anyone else can take a property off the market. Banks have to
sell them, they can't leave them on the market.''
Perhaps, but three weeks after the tour only one of the
foreclosure tourists had put in a bid.
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- The white bus with the magnetic sign
saying ``Long Island Foreclosure Tours'' pulled up to a small home
in East Meadow, Long Island, and spilled out its cargo: a dozen
homebuyers looking to save $100,000 or more.
The driveway was cracked, and the vinyl siding sagged. There
was a ``No Trespassing'' sign on the front door.
``You have some mold issues; you can definitely assume some
water issues,'' said Dean Miller, a broker on the tour. Then
again, he said, the asking price for the 1951 Cape Cod at 68 Lois
Court was $312,900, down from $457,101 in February.
The foreclosure tour, mobile proof of the U.S. housing bust,
has rolled into the New York City market. For $75, prospective
buyers on the Long Island version last month got velour
banquettes, a supply of potato chips and Reese's Peanut Butter
Cups and visits to eight foreclosed homes, with a general
contractor and home inspector in tow.
And the broker, Miller, who continued his pitch for the
three-bedroom, one-bath Cape Cod. ``You're in a quiet cul-de-sac
in a very nice community for $100,000 less than the surrounding
homes,'' he told the prospective buyers.
Potential bargains abound in the market. In April, 502 Nassau
County homes, or one for every 913 in the county, entered the
foreclosure process, more than double the number a year ago,
according to RealtyTrac Inc., of Irvine, California.
Prices Fall
The median home price in the county fell 2.3 percent to
$449,500 in the first quarter, and inventory rose 6.5 percent to
9,862 homes, New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. said.
Foreclosures are scattered across otherwise healthy
neighborhoods, offering New Yorkers a chance to move up to a house
they wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford. The East Meadow home,
surrounded by similarly modest houses on small lots, is a 45-
minute commute from Manhattan.
Sheri Cambareri, a saleswoman in Miller's office at Re/Max
Village Properties in Mineola thought up the tour a few weeks ago,
over drinks with Re/Max broker Dave Farrell. In a previous job,
she organized luxury tours to the pyramids and the Galapagos
Islands for members of New York's American Museum of Natural
History.
``The extra benefit of those tours was that they brought
along an archeologist or an anthropologist,'' Cambareri said. ``We
thought we'd bring the mortgage broker, the inspector, the
attorney and the contractor.''
The first stop on a recent Saturday was a four-bedroom,
1,400-square-foot Cape Cod on Clinton Road, a busy through-street
in Garden City, New York. The asking price was $509,900.00. The
buyer who defaulted on the mortgage had paid $600,000, Cambareri
said. A nearby home of the same size sold a year ago for $560,000.
`Win-Win Situation'
``This is a win-win situation for everybody,'' said Eric
Prusan, a lawyer who spoke on the bus before it started out from
Mineola. ``All you got to do is decide if you want to spend the
money. We'll help you buy the house.''
At 109 Ellison Avenue in Westbury, the foreclosure tourists
inspected a brick-fronted, 1,155 square-foot Cape Cod on a corner
lot with an asking price of $374,900. The last owner may have left
in a hurry: A green leather sofa was upended in the living room,
and a baby stroller moldered in the back yard.
``I'd put in an offer at three-and-a-quarter and see what
happens,'' said Farrell as the tourists shone flashlights into the
boiler room and crawl spaces. Some of the tourists said they'd be
ready to buy the same day.
Built-in Equity
``If the right house comes along, you really don't need 20
days -- at the right price,'' said Brian Cacioppo, a 24-year-old
salesman shopping for his first home with Courtnie Harrison, 28.
Buying a foreclosed home could give them some cash for
improvements, he said.
``With a foreclosure, it's selling for lower than it's worth
and the equity is already in the house,'' Cacioppo said.
Even with the needed repairs, the houses were well-priced for
Will Brecker, 70, a retired school custodian. ``Where else are you
going to find a $600,000 house for 300 or 400?'' he asked. Brecker
and his wife Lillian weren't ready to buy yet.
Prices are still high, said Liliana Martinovich, an interior
designer who wants to move closer to her son's school in Garden
City. She said she'll wait for prices to fall further before
buying.
``It seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better
with all these Wall Street layoffs,'' said Melissa Cohn, president
of Manhattan Mortgages, a mortgage broker active in Long Island.
New York City, where financial services are the largest private
employer, expects to lose 59,000 jobs by the middle of next year,
according to the City's Independent Budget Office.
Farrell said he was looking at a list of 165 homes for a tour
the next week. The more foreclosed homes on the market, he said,
the lower the prices will go, and the easier it will be to sell
them.
``Foreclosed properties have to sell,'' said Farrell.
``Anyone else can take a property off the market. Banks have to
sell them, they can't leave them on the market.''
Perhaps, but three weeks after the tour only one of the
foreclosure tourists had put in a bid.
