Sullivan County Real Estate

Home Buyer Tax Credit Deadline Approaching

The federal home buyer tax credit ($8,000 first first time home buyers, $6,500 for repeat buyers, income limits apply) is scheduled to expire on April 30th. Buyers who want to take advantage of the tax credit (which is applicable only to primary homes, not vacation or second homes) must have a fully executed, binding contract of purchase by April 30th, 2010, and the sale must actually close prior to June 30th, 2010. Keep in mind that an accepted purchase offer (which is typically the first step in the purchase process here in Sullivan County) is not a binding contract to purchase. It can take a few weeks from an offer to fully executing a purchase contract. So if you're out house hunting and want to qualify for the tax credit, your drop dead date for making a decision is quickly approaching. Remember you must have a fully executed purchase contract by April 30th. I think it is highly unlikely the credit will be extended for a second time, so this is it.

A Few Interesting Gas Articles

Thanks to the readers who forwarded or posted these recent articles on gas drilling. The first is from Bloomberg News about fracking fluid and the quest to find new methods, rather than biocides, to prevent bacteria formation in the well. It's a very different perspective, and is quite interesting.

The second is a link to a very interesting map prepared by the Binghamton Press that shows the drilling permits in Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga counties in PA. The map is part of the Binghamton Press' excellent ongoing coverage of Marcellus Shale developments.

On March 28th, there was an editorial in the NY Times entitled Finding Gas Safely about the recently ordered EPA review of gas drilling safety related to water supplies.

National Flood Insurance Program Lapses

The National Flood Insurance Program expired on March 28, 2010. This important program enables homeowners in flood prone areas to get flood insurance, typically not available from private insurers. Now, the program is not dead, just caught in the dysfunctional political circus that's Washington, DC these days. Federal lawmakers failed to vote through a temporary extension to the Flood Insurance Program before the current authorization lapsed on March 28th. As a result, no new policies can be written until that authority is granted. Congress doesn't return from its Easter recess until April 12th, so that's the earliest it can happen. More information at the FEMA Flood Insurance site.

What is the impact of this failure to extend the authorization? It will be felt primarily by buyers planning to close on a home located in a flood zone between now and the reauthorization of the program. A buyer can't get an NFIP flood policy. The mortgage lender won't close on the loan without it. So the loan won't close.

Thanks, Washington. This is exactly the kind of nuts and bolts "people's work" that doesn't get done when you get into your childish grandstanding.

Little Houses

There are a number of adorable little houses on the market right now. A lot of second home buyers from the city often overlook these little gems because, in addition to fresh air and a garden, they lust for that ultimate city luxury — space. But little houses have a lot going for them. They're less expensive, have lower taxes and cost less to heat and maintain than bigger, more expensive houses.

Thinking that a vacation getaway had to be "regular house size" is a fairly recent phenomenon, at least for the middle class. Look at most "vacation" cabins and cottages built in Sullivan County prior to the 1970's, they were usually less than 1,000 sq. ft. In addition to the typical 2 small bedrooms, many also had a screened in porch that provided overflow sleeping space for guests in the warmer months. Neighbors would often lend their cottages to each other for the occasional big family weekends.

The idea of space has changed dramatically. Most of the clients I work with looking for a moderate range getaway view 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and about 1,500 sq. ft. as a minimum. One reason that space desires have grown is that city dwellers have squeezed themselves into smaller spaces over the past 30 years. In the 1970's, middle class families in the city could afford 3 bedroom apartments. Today, they make do with a Junior 4 with a crib in the hall.

But the current recession, along with the environmental focus of many 30-somethings, may be shifting the pendulum back to smaller, more modest getaway homes. Young families on a budget may still be able to afford their own Green Acres, but on a more modest scale.

I've pulled together about a dozen little cozy charmers, all under 1,000 sq. ft., ranging in price from $109,000 to $299,000 (for a cute little renovated lakefront ranch on Swinging Bridge.) There are a couple of places in this group with nice river or creek settings. (Often little houses have river settings that outshine big houses, because they were built before current setback requirements, and are 'grandfathered' in.) These aren't all the "little houses" on the market, just a selection. If you're into little houses, there are others I can email you, from cottages in Smallwood to a charming renovated one room schoolhouse near Barryville!

You can either click on a house in the slideshow at left to go to the listing for that particular house, or click here to see the listings for all of them together. Afficionados of the little house may also want to check out Catskills Farms' Mini and Micro Cottages, little bundles of uber-cute. And the tiniest house on the market in Sullivan County? A 400 sq. ft. seasonal cottage with lake access to Mohican Lake. Asking price $59,000.

Stuff is Moving

I've been kind of dumbfounded in the last week or so by how many places I'm looking to show that either have accepted offers or contracts on them. For one of my appointments last weekend, 2 of the 5 houses I called about to show had accepted offers. For an upcoming appointment this weekend, 3 of the 4 houses I called on had deals on them. One of them has been on the market for 387 days, another for 304 days. Another client is coming back this weekend to re-look at two properties they saw just two weeks ago, and the one they were most interested in is gone. On three other houses I've called this week to get more information about from the listing agent, I've been told that they were in some part of a deal process.

This doesn't mean that the whole market has suddenly taken off. The houses I've been calling about have generally had a few factors in common —  3 bedroom older farmhouse or "charmer" style on a few acres, outside of a village or hamlet, in the western part of Sullivan, with asking prices from $150,000 to $250,000. A few of the 50+ acre bargain priced fixers in the $250K to $300K range are also gone.

This is very much a surprise to me, after such a lackluster winter. But it's a bit of a reprise of last year, where we had very little happening during the first couple of months of the year and then all of a sudden affordable-range properties started moving.

Correction to Gas Drilling Post

A reader kindly directed my attention to an article by Dan Hust in the March 9, 2010 print edition of the Sullivan County Democrat, "New Gas Leases Filed in County." (Sorry, no link as it's not in their online edition.) In that article, Dan reports that 4 gas leases were filed on March 2, 2010 in the Sullivan County Clerk's office. The 4 leases, covering 385 acres in Fremont, Delaware and Cochecton townships, were all actually signed last year in October and November, but not filed until March of this year. So there has been some leasing activity in the past year.

Where Does Gas Drilling Stand in Sullivan County?

What's up with gas drilling here in Sullivan County is a hard question to answer. As many followers of news related to Sullivan County know, much of the county sits on top of the Marcellus shale, widely seen as a huge new source of natural gas. (The Marcellus shale stretches from West Virginia and eastern Ohio through Pennsulvania and into New York state.) Two years ago, before the recession hit and natural gas prices plummeted, energy companies were in frenzied competition to sign gas leases here

Then the leasing activity came to a screeching halt, at least here in Sullivan. The likely reason is not just the recession, as gas leasing has continued full throttle just across the river in neighboring Pennsylvania. Over in Pennsylvania, that state has pretty much given gas drilling a green light. Range Resources, just one of the companies drilling the Marcellus, has announced that it plans to drill 150 new wells in Pennsylvania in 2010. A partnership of Hess and Newfield Energy has leased upwards of 75,000 acres in Wayne County and hopes to start drilling exploratory wells this summer. (Expansion of drilling into Wayne County, PA will likely be slower than areas further west in Pennsylvania due to approvals being required from the Delaware River Basin Commission.) Clearly the gas companies view Pennsylvania as a pretty friendly place to drill.

"Outstanding in the Field" Event Coming to Sullivan

A reader was kind enough to pass along this announcement that Outstanding in the Field is planning a farm event dinner here in Sullivan County on August 29th with guest chef Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery in NYC. It's pricey, at $200 a head, but sounds like it could be a pretty fabulous "farm to table" event, with the tables right on the farm. The farm where it will be held is still to be announced.

And the there's the $70,000 sale at Emerald Green

It isn't just the top end stunners that catch my attention. Today a bank-owned sale at Emerald Green near Rock Hill came through at $70,000, the total opposite end of the spectrum from the $1.35M sale I crowed about below.

I thought, "Wow! $70K for a house at Emerald Green." Even as a foreclosure sale, that seemed to be a pretty spectacular price. But then I saw (from the Bing Maps Aerial) that it's one of the handful of Emerald Green houses that abut Route 17, and that tempered my "Wow, what a great deal" sentiments a bit.

I pulled the property record, and this one is a classic poster child of the mortgage meltdown mess. The owners of the house bought it in 2000 for $74,500, with a standard 20% down payment and a mortgage of $59,300. So far so good. Then they remortgaged the house, not one, not twice, but three times over the next 4 years, with the last mortgage for $125,800. tapping the equity along the way.

This one is also a good example of how fast these foreclosure sales move. The house was listed on Feb. 2nd. for $70,000. Almost immediately generated multiple offers, and the successful offer was a full price, all cash one, and the property went into contract on Feb. 9th, closing on March 15th.

The $1.35M Sale

The upper end of the market may be thin, but for a truly spectacular property, it's not dead. Last week a buyer closed on 4,500 sq. ft. home on 81 acres located along the Delaware near Narrowsburg. Asking price was $1,547,000. Closed sales price was $1,350,000. I showed this particular property (which wasn't multiple listed, although the selling agent was kind enough to put it in as a 'for comp' sale after closing) a few times in the past year. The house wasn't, to put it charitably, to everyone's taste --- built in more of a faux Tudor style with heavy woodwork and stained glass, it didn't quite have that mountain woods getaway feel that's in vogue. The property, however, is spectacular ---  at the end of a dead end road with upwards of 800 or 900 feet of frontage on an especially pretty bend of the Delaware River.

I expect some pundit on here to comment that "Well, just wait until the coming bloodbath. The buyer will be happy if we can unload it for half that." Whether or not you believe there may be a further decline in the market, there are some properties, like this one, that have an enduring value because they are so special and unique. A totally private, 81 acre estate property on the Delaware River with western facing sunset views fits into the realm of trophy property that isn't easily replicated.

Every once in a while, I come across a property here that just evokes a total "Oh my God! This is just awesome," response in me. The type of setting where you can't quite believe you're only two hours from Manhattan. There aren't a lot of them. Over the 9 years I've been selling real estate here I can count them on two hands. Sure, I've shown and sold a lot of very, very nice property, but I'm talking about those very rare total jaw droppers. This was one of those properties. Congratulations to the buyers who landed themselves an awesome place, and to the agent who brokered the deal, Joe Freda of Freda Real Estate. (No, it wasn't my deal.)