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        <title>Newport RI Real Estate Blog</title>
        <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/tags/real-estate/</link>
        <description>Read Hogan Associate's take on real estate trends and life in Newport, RI.</description>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/christmas-in-newport-doorway-contest-2015.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/christmas-in-newport-doorway-contest-2015.html</link>
        <author>thehadfieldgroup@hoganri.com (Hadfield Group)</author>
        <title>Christmas in Newport Doorway Contest 2015</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Author: Michele Mullowney. Michele and husband, Jim live on Historic Hill in an 18th Century Colonial.


WE WON A NEWPORT RI CHRISTMAS MIRACLE





To our shock and amazement, not only did we win the Newport RI Doorway Contest, but we won Grand Prize  I am so grateful for my talented tenant, John LaPointe, he deserves all the recognition. A few years ago John made it his mission to help us decorate the doorway each year.


DOORMASTER, JOHN LAPOINTE'S DECORATING PROCESS


As each season approaches, John begins to gather great varieties of greens and colorful branches with berries, all with his latest design in mind. Piles of evergreens and colorful berry branches quietly build in our back yard. And then the magic happens. Tirelessly and with amazing skill he begins building his design with diligent attention to the placement of each branch, bow and berry. (I used to try to help, but why fool with perfection). And so, each year, John has adorned our home with another beautiful creation, but the prize has always eluded us. Until this year





Can't wait to see what he's got in store for next year...


BRANCHES &amp; BERRIES


For years Newport has had a tradition of holiday door decoration. From colonial homes built before Revolution to Victorians and beyond, the homes in Newport beg for a little attention when the adoring crowds of summer have left the streets. One by one candles begin to light the windows and doorways festooned with fruit and foliage bringing a little cheer to the darkest days of December.


WHY THE PINEAPPLE?





It is rumored that when Colonial sea captains returned to Newport from the Caribbean and beyond, their families displayed the rare and coveted pineapple at the entry of their homes as a symbol of his arrival and to welcome visitors to their home. During early Colonial days the rare pineapple symbolized the utmost in welcome and hospitality to the visitor, and was often served as a special desert after the meal.


 THE &quot;CHRISTMAS IN NEWPORT&quot; TRADITION


Each year a group of dedicated men and women from the CHRISTMAS IN NEWPORT doorway committee set forth to choose the best from among all the creative entries. They look for use of natural materials, variety and spirit. Prizes are awarded in many categories. 


In its 45th year,Christmas in Newport is a non-profit organization founded by Ruth Myers, that raises thousands of dollars for charity each year. 


Want to see who else took home a prize?  Check out the other prize winners in the Newport Daily News
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    <pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2015 15:14:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/private-waterfront-treasure-in-touisset.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/private-waterfront-treasure-in-touisset.html</link>
        <author>thehadfieldgroup@hoganri.com (Hadfield Group)</author>
        <title>Private Waterfront Treasure in Touisset</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Acreage, Water &amp; Views....  Take the Fly Over




 Rich in history and riddled with quintessential New England charm, these 49 acres of waterfront property along the Kickemuit River are not only just plain breathtaking, but they could probably tell a story or two about its unique settlers and current residents. Dating back to 1720 and known as &quot;Touisset&quot;, which comes from the Native American name meaning &quot;at the cornfield&quot;, this very special spot feels as if you have gone back in time where the smell of the salt air and the sound of  gentle breezes blowing through beach grass was all that inhabited this great peninsula. You would never know that just beyond the stonewalls, wildlife refuge and working farms exists the vibrant city of Providence, the Warren bike path and village, world class sailing and so much more. Touisset offers an unparalleled quality of life. What was one known as a summer community and agricultural mecca has now transformed into an active year round community with residents who come together to preserve and protect this very unique part of Southern New England. Whether you want to create an equestrian getaway, moor your boat just off the shoreline or enjoy the privacy 49 acres of history and beauty affords, you will not find a better place to create you own little paradise.
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    <pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2015 09:47:00 -0400</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/a-little-bit-about-little-compton.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/a-little-bit-about-little-compton.html</link>
        <author>cathywicks2002@gmail.com (Cathy Wicks)</author>
        <title>A Little Bit About Little Compton</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Little Compton: A brief intro


Little Compton is located at the southeastern tip of Rhode Island between the Sakonnet River and the Massachusetts state boundary line. 


It is the second smallest town in the smallest state  


Little Compton is the ideal place to live if one wishes to experience that small town life style and rural tranquility. There is an increase in population as the summer draws near and many families have been summering here for generations. In fact many of the residents have ancestors dating centuries back. Driving through the back country roads there are many farms and stone walls surrounding vast open fields. A view of the Sakonnet River follows your travel along Main Road. 


There are several seasonal farm stands in which to purchase and enjoy local produce, baked goods, eggs and the fresh catch of the day. The center of town, known as The Commons, has several restaurants, a general store, the library, several churches, cafes and shops. The public school, Wilbur &amp; McMahon is for grades K-8 and located here as well. The students in 9-12 attend Portsmouth High School or one of the several 



private High Schools in RI and near by Massachusetts. Traveling further through the town one heads out to the shore line where thereare several public and private beaches to spend long summer days. There is also the Sakonnet Golf Course and the Sakonnet Yacht Club. The town is 21.5 square miles with 14.5 miles of coastline. As of the current Census the population is 3,593 with approximately 2284 households.




To view all MLS listings in Little Compton click here.


The website for more information is www.little-compton.com.


 


 


 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2014 13:49:00 -0400</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/3-lessons-learned-from-warren-buffets-take-on-real-estate-investing.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/3-lessons-learned-from-warren-buffets-take-on-real-estate-investing.html</link>
        <author>jeff@hoganri.com (Jeff Brooks)</author>
        <title>3 Lessons Learned from Warren Buffet's take on Real Estate Investing</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Investing in Real Estate? Lets ask Warren Buffett, the infamous investor worth billions who is commonly known as “The Oracle of Omaha”.  His insight in investing I’ve always found to be a very simple, easy and straight forward. This article delves into two real estate investments he’s made. Here’s a few points I walked away with;


-Ignore the outside noise and chatter

When we were in the depths of the Great Recession Mr. Buffett was buying up companies left and right, while the rest of the market went running for the hills. His Berkshire Hathaway holding company bought Prudential Real Estate as his method of jumping into the real estate market. But years ago, he made a few real estate plays himself, ignoring the noise around him, he focused on the future and existing income and made a seemingly simple decision.


 -Look at not only existing income, but future potential


Along with a few friends (we all wish we had friends like Warren’s don’t we?) he purchased a Manhattan mixed use building. The existing tenant had reduced rent, but he knew what the real rents should be. His investment made a few decades ago pays out his initial investment regularly. If you purchased a three family today and in your retirement were able to collect the purchase price as income annually, would you worry about the surrounding present day marketplace as much? There are few investments you can rely on as heavily as a real estate investment.


 -You don’t need to be a savvy investor to be successful; you just need to be patient


If you’re looking to make a quick buck in real estate without any risk you’re going to be in for quite the surprise.  Real returns are found overtime. Especially so in real estate.  As you collect income off the property and pay off debt, you’ll experience one of the best investments of your lifetime.


Warren made out handsomely on his investments.  No investment is risk free in this world, especially when there’s reward involved. We just need to approach it with the simplicity that Warren suggests.  Present incomes don’t always justify present value. Ignore all the buzz around you and focus on the specific investment. No matter what the market does 1, 5, or 20 years from now, there will always be a finite amount land and people will need a place to live, work and play. If the potential is there and your patience can warrant it, real estate is always a great investment.


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    <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2014 10:13:00 -0400</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/will-real-estate-be-affected-by-the-government-shutdown.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/will-real-estate-be-affected-by-the-government-shutdown.html</link>
        <author>jeff@hoganri.com (Jeff Brooks)</author>
        <title>Will Real Estate be Affected by the Government Shutdown?</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
The Government Shutdown may affect Real Estate over the coming weeks. Perhaps not market values, but existing transactions, and buyers looking to make offers.  Being a Realtor, I’m certainly not furloughed and neither are most other private sector jobs.  But in a community like Newport RI, it may end up affecting us more directly than we’d like.


 


Nearly 900,000 federal employees were told not to come into work on Tuesday.  That’s nearly a third of all persons being paid directly by the US.  These people include members of the DoD, National Parks, Memorial Administration, FHA and IRS.  Since 1975 there have been 17 government shutdowns, averaging nearly a week. Ranging from 1 to 21 days each.


 


How it Affects Newport County:


 


Here in Newport County, the Department of Defense is a major industry.  Many local citizens may see a smaller paycheck this week, and if it continues, no paycheck.  This comes out to less spending at restaurants, stores, gas stations and even some people putting buying a house on hold.  This will hit our local economy minimally, but as everyday marches on the more we’ll see it in our day-to-day lives.


 


How it Affects Purchasing a Home:


 


It may delay closings for home owners or buyers currently under contract. With as much as 90 of the FHA furloughed, and 2/3rds of the IRS not coming to work, much of our mortgages written in the US will have to be postponed.  Every FHA loan needs to be approved by the Federal Housing Administration.  Everyone acquiring a loan needs to provide tax documents to their lender.  This time a year this typically is not much of an issue, but if you’ve asked for extensions, the wait could be much longer than usual.  These are all taken for granted in our day-to-day activity of selling real estate, but without them, we could road blocked for some time.


 


How it Affects the Marketplace:


 


A major reason of the shutdown is the “Raising of the Debt Ceiling”, the US’s ability to increase our borrowing amount to continue functioning as a country.  If we can’t increase our borrowing amount, we’ll have to cut spending or we will default on our debt obligations. Not unlike you and me with making credit card payments, if we miss a payment, our rates go up.  Same goes for the United States.  If interest rates go up, this will cause mortgage rates to rise as well.  In short; higher rates mean less buying power.


 


What To Do:


 


If you’re under contract to buy a home contact your mortgage broker/lender. Make sure he has everything, his underwriter doesn’t expect any hiccups and any documents needing to be OK’d by FHA are already stamped.  If you need anything from the IRS or FHA anticipate delays, ask for extensions now so there are no surprises. Call your State Rep and explain to him how this gridlock has hit you personally.  In short, everything will be OK as long as we’re prepared, but the longer this shutdown goes one, the more it will effect us all.
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    <pubDate>Mon, 07 Oct 2013 08:35:00 -0400</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/inventory-and-economics-experiencing-the-lesson-first-hand.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/inventory-and-economics-experiencing-the-lesson-first-hand.html</link>
        <author>jeff@hoganri.com (Jeff Brooks)</author>
        <title>Inventory and Economics. Experiencing the Lesson First Hand.</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
If the Real Estate catchphrase of 2012 was “interest rates” 2013 will be “inventory”.  So far it’s been a fantastic and frustrating 2013 for us realtors here in Newport, and per the media, we’re not alone.  Inventories nationally are at 13 year lows.  As I mentioned in a blog post back in November, inventory levels were continuing to decrease, pointing towards a renewed seller’s market.  Looking at charts here in Newport County the trend doesn’t seem to be changing.  


These charts make me think back to my Economics Classes at Saint Anselm College with Professor Romps, specifically about supply, demand and the “invisible hand”.  Prof. Romps was a 6’3” 280lb angry 65 year old man.  It was impossible to fall asleep in his class even at 9am on Friday. In the end, he turned out to be one of my favorite teachers because of how entertaining and, ahem, “motivating” his lectures were.  We were taught when supplies decrease, demand stays constant, prices increase.   With this in mind, Real Estate is considered to be “inelastic”, meaning the invisible hand is slower to move pricing than say that of gasoline.  Prices slow to respond to the low inventories, but overtime the change we’re all expecting will come to fruition.


 


We’re also experiencing an increase in demand with less conceived risk, more buyers and low mortgage rates.  Coupled with increasingly low inventories, we’re seeing pricing start to increase, causing even stale inventory to go under contract.  (Newport sales prices are up 7.8 from this time last year, volume is up 11.9 and distressed sales are down 66.7)


With the lack of inventory and increase in demand, sellers will be allowed to be more liberal with their pricing. Over the next year or so, as long as demand stays consistent, we’ll continue to see prices climb. 


Hopefully we can see inventories start to pick up.  I have plenty of buyers that keep telling me “Jeff, we don’t see anything on the market, so we’ll wait until more inventory comes on.”  So, to sellers out there reading this: Please list your house so I can sell it
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    <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:32:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/10-things-you-must-consider-when-contemplating-a-short-sale.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/10-things-you-must-consider-when-contemplating-a-short-sale.html</link>
        <title>Short Sales in RI: 10 Things You MUST Consider</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Before we get into the nitty gritty, let me start off by saying a few things about myself. My real estate career began after my employer, a boutique financial firm where I was CFO, closed abruptly.  When the shock wore off, and I finished mourning, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and started over in real estate.  It wasn't easy, but now I find tremendous satisfaction in helping homeowners understand the options and the obstacles to getting back on their feet. The point I'd like to make here is this: things happen, you can adjust, and you can start over. Yes, the economy is bad. We are at close to 10 unemployment. Your home value probably has dropped, and, if you owe more than your house is worth, a short sale may provide the relief you need to get your financial life back on track.Here are the things you need to consider:1. If you can't afford to keep your home, and your home is worth less than the balance of your mortgage, you may be able to avoid foreclosure by participating in a short sale.  In a short sale the bank agrees to allow you to sell your house for less than your mortgage balance as a first step toward settling your outstanding debt.2. Short sales can be preferable to foreclosure in several ways. Unlike a foreclosure, a short sale puts YOU in control of the sale, not the bank. Your home sale will be handled like any other listing, with one exception. Before an offer is fully executed, the bank must agree to the price and terms. 3. A short sale can be preferable to foreclosure because it MAY cause less damage to your credit.  A short sale MAY also result in a shorter waiting period before you are able to finance another home.4. In order for a bank to consider a short sale you must prove that you have been subject to legitimate Hardship. Living beyond your means, buying another home, problems with neighbors or outgrowing your current home do not qualify. Hardship means hardship, and examples include unemployment, divorce, medical emergencies, bankruptcy or death.5.  Once you establish legitimate Hardship, the bank will consider other factors including the current Market Value of the home. You must produce hard comparable data to demonstrate that your home is worth less than the unpaid balance owed to the lender.6.  You mortgage must be in Near Default Status. It used to be that lenders would not consider a short sale if your payments were current, but that is no longer the case. 7.  You must be able to demonstrate that you have no other assets with which to satisfy your mortgage obligation.  Be ready to provide copies of your tax returns, pay check stubs and/or financial statements. Should your lender discover undisclosed assets, they will deny the short sale and expect you to apply those assets toward your mortgage balance.8.  No set standard applies to lender approved short sales, and a variety of outcomes is possible. Sometimes you can negotiate away the balance owed  and eliminate your debt entirely. Other times, the bank will obtain a deficiency judgment against you. In that case, the sale of your home will satisfy only part of your mortgage obligation, and you will have to repay the balance at a later time. A bank can also forgive your debt but issue a 1099 Tax Form.  The 1099 transforms the forgiven debt into taxable income for you. If this happens, however, you might qualify for tax relief on your primary residence under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 (With the Emergency Economic Stablization Act of 2008 which extends benefits out to 2012).9.  Anyone who has participated in a short sale will tell you it is often frustrating and slow. On average, banks take 45-90 days to decide whether to accept or reject an offer submitted by the seller. Knowing what to expect makes the process a bit easier to manage.10. A very high percentage of short sales never make it to closing. Lack of experience on the part of the seller's agent is often to blame, and the result can be an unwanted foreclosure after the short sale fails.  Choose your Realtor carefully.If you stick with professionals who specialize in this area, you will give yourself the best shot at avoiding foreclosure and getting your financial life back on track.  If you would like to have a confidential conversation about whether a short sale makes sense for you, please call.



 

 
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    <pubDate>Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:21:00 -0500</pubDate>
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