Personal Knowledge

2007-01-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

Private Mortgage Insurance Premium Payments are Now Tax-Deductible with the passing of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006

Mortgage lenders, perceiving a riskier transaction, require that homeowners who borrow more than 80% of the purchase price in one loan, buy private mortgage insurance (PMI) from private mortgage insurance companies. Should a homeowner in this category default on a mortgage loan, PMI further protects a lender should the homeowner's home be sold at foreclosure and the lender not be able to fully recoup its loss.

Pursuant Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 passed by Congress in mid-December 2006 and signed into law by President Bush just before the new year, PMI (like interest on mortgage payments) is now tax-deductible. The tax-deduction applies, however, to new loans made in 2007 and to single filers earning up to $50,000 or joint filers earning up to $100,000 new PMI policies issued during 2007.

Borrowers who can take advantage of this boon should consider paying PMI before purchasing costly second mortgages and home equity loans to bring their first mortgage loan to 80%.

Interested homebuyers in New York seeking the assistance of a lawyer familiar with the latest money-saving legislation should contact The Wool Law Group PLLC at www.nypropertylawyer.net and www.thewoollawgroup.com

2006-07-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

It's Everyone's Market - Residential Real Estate in Suburban New York

Much media and economic forecasting attention is centered on the housing market in Westchester County and on Long Island, New York. Our law firm, The Wool Law Group PLLC, (www.thewoollawgroup.com) & (www.nypropertylawyer.net) , does a fair amount of business in these areas and our clients - buyers and sellers - have been expressing grave concerns. Clients with their homes on the market - especially those selling for $600,000.00 and above - can't seem to unload the properties that they (and their realtors) believe is so highly valued. Clients buying homes are afraid to lock a mortgage rates and solidify transactions because the rates have increased slightly. Prices are still high and buyers aren't biting. Six months ago, CNNMoney.com reported that National City Corp. reported that counties in suburban New York were recording lower or flattening prices. We at The Wool Law Group PLLC have observed only that the transactions are fewer and far between, but the prices have still remained high. The market in Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County has slowed.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (probably the premier company insuring lenders whose mortgage loans are over 80%) also notes that the market has slowed in our area. PMI's Summer 2006 report entitled "Economic Real Estate Trends" by Mark Milner, Chief Risk Officer, claims that a sluggish market is welcomed usually by home buyers. Seth G. Weinstein, Principal of Hannah Real Estate Investors, LLC, based in Stamford Connecticut, recently identified Nassau-Suffolk (and the rest of suburban New York) as a buyer's market on CNBC's Squawk Box (Long Island was number two in the top five buyer's markets nationwide). The report says however, that because affordability has worsened in Nassau and Suffolk Counties in particular, home buyers are hindered. Homes on Long Island are less affordable, according to PMI, because prices remain high and incomes are not increasing as fast as home prices.

Are home prices increasing? Will home prices remain strong? According to the Realty Times' article, Housing Market Reveals Fewer Fireworks by Broderick Perkins, it appears that historically where the risk of price reduction is the highest (According to PMI - Nassau-Suffolk, NY is second most at risk of price reduction and New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ is fourteenth most at risk of price reduction of fifty (50) major metropolitan statistical areas studied), prices have remained strong. Homes are not depreciating in value it seems; the pace of price appreciation has just slowed. Such a retardation is understandable however, considering the historically high rates of appreciation in recent years past. In my opinion, in light of this, sellers (especially those who have owned their property for a long time), are still in a good position to sell. Sellers might not have gotten as much as they would have if they had sold last year, but they have still built equity and wealth.

I opine that buyers and sellers should come to the table. Sellers should heed selling tips like those found on HGTV's Designed to Sell and should price houses reasonably. Buyers should make offers and not be afraid to low ball. If people attempt to transact business, the market will make a much welcomed slight correction in our area. Please contact me at www.thewoollawgroup.com or www.nypropertylawyer.net should you require a lawyer's home buying or home selling advice in suburban New York.

2005-10-19T15:35:00.000-04:00

Divorce Parties

A few weeks ago, I visited Beauty Bar in Greenwich in preparation for my nephew Billy's Bar Mitzvah celebration. Cute place! I got a mani, pedi, blowout and makeup application. I noticed that Beauty Bar sells decorated paint buckets of beauty products. The spa markets the buckets to be gifted for different momentous occasions. The "Just Dumped" basket caught my eye. My makeup artist then shared stories with me about numerous spa parties thrown in honor of newly divorced women. It thought this was a novel concept. And then, earlier this week, ABC and NBC news featured reports about similar celebrations on their morning programs, Good Morning American and Today, respectively.

I have always thought about the fact that our culture places way too much emphasis on wedding engagements with the giving of by gifts in honor of weddings and family additions. Single women always get the shaft with the recognition. And then we go to great lengths to celebrate bachelor/bachelorhood parties to shower grooms and brides-to-be with one last hurrah in celebration of the fun and benefits the single lifestyle. In my opinion, however, its the people experiencing the pain of a breakup of a marriage or loving relationship that need to be recognized and celebrated. These parties are not thrown in glorification of divorce, they are thrown to reassure women that a single life can be wonderful and vibrant. With friends around them and people showing them that others are thinking of them, these women know that they are not alone in the world. These women are loved. These women are going forward. The concept of celebrating the single life is the same as the concept of celebrating a man's freedom at a bachelor party. As a matrimonial attorney I meet a lot of people going through breakups. I believe that these celebrations can be mood lifters.

Of course there is a time and place for such a celebration. It should be done with tact. I plan to mention to my clients that they should celebrate when they are ready and that can turn to Peggy Post's newest edition of the Emily Post series for etiquette instruction. Please see my website at: www.thewoollawgroup.com

2005-10-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

Genesis

About a year ago, my cousin, Josh, pointed me to The Breakup Blog and the comment of his former girlfling (a comedienne from L.A.) wherein she recanted the details of demise of their bicoastal romance. Not only did the story make the blog, it made the newspaper. Hysterical.

Then a few months ago, an old camp acquaintance of a friend, who diaries her present New York City life and intersperses stories about her Long Island childhood, got her fifteen minutes with a feature in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times. I loved it.

A few days ago, one of my newest pips (Cindy) begged me to blog to boost web exposure to my new website found at the following URLs: www.thewoollawgroup.com , www.nypropertylawyer.net and www.trucktixlawyer.com .

On Saturday night while waiting for my sister, Stefanie, to finish putting on her face before a rainy night out on the town, I "googled" and figured out how to set up my very own blog. With the clock ticking before our dinner plans and without any serious technological skills, I added no content.

Yesterday, I received a sign. Before brunch with my husband, Peter, and his parents, I spotted the Connecticut edition of yesterday's Sunday New York Times. The paper reported that a knitting maven transplanted from the funkified streets Brooklyn to sleepy suburban Fairfield County, Connecticut (where I now reside) blogs to connect with others similarly situated.

I can do this and so, I will. Personal Knowledge - my blog on law and life.