Southampton - Knowing that a little knowledge goes a long way, Town & Country Real Estate hosted the first of three public seminars on Short Sales and Foreclosures. Here is a recap of the valuable information needed in this uncertain market.

Property listed with Town & Country Real Estate

Robin Long, Esq. of Fier & Long PC remarked, "For homeowners who may have over-leveraged themselves or are in a negative cash flow situation, namely the short sale scenario when the loan amounts exceed the market value, potential pitfalls in your mortgage to look for are pre-payment penalties, negative amortization loans, and/or interest only loans. All these stipulations can lead to owing more than what your home is worth resulting in a short sale. If this scenario is familiar to you contact an attorney who specializes in short sales. Why? The most important result with a short sale as opposed to a foreclosure is that you can save your credit."

"Consult a mortgage professional before you find yourself without money to pay your bills. They will be able to advise you if a loan modification is in order or a refinance is better or if you need to be referred to an attorney. There are options early on," noted Victoria Hohman, a broker with Manhattan Mortgage. "There are mortgage products out there for qualified people. You are urged not to miss your mortgage payment above all other debt because it affects your credit scores. Mortgage professionals do not require an up-front fee for your initial meeting and there's no obligation."

Elizabeth (Missy) Cappozolli, Town & Country Real Estate Broker certified in Short Sales cautioned, "First be aware of the real estate broker who asks for an up front fee. He or she is not representing your best interest. Make sure your real estate agent is a certified Short Sale Specialist. For your information banks require that short sales be handled by real estate brokers."
 
Our fan in Keller, TX writes, "Home sales here have been going up, according to the latest survey by the Dallas Morning News. Must be the job transfers - I have not noticed much movement, and I spent a month at our little house in the mountains of New Mexico. Ruidoso is a small ski resort town next to the Mescelaro Apache reservation, part of the Sierra Madre chain - same story. Real estate has slowed down to practically nothing."

Here at home, we are told the Real Estate Store is closing their Westhampton office. Same person who wishes to remain anonymous says this column is "right about the chains and the fact that someone out of town makes the decisions" which we wrote did not help in a troubled market. You gotta be here, Bub. And you have to know here, too.

Property listed with Coldwell Banker Previews

From Richard D. Rawdin at Coldwell Banker Previews in Southampton we hear that he and Janice Hayden have formed Team Hamptons Partnership within the Coldwell Company, they have a website by that name as well. Richard was Top Producer in the Southampton office for 2008, and also Top Recruit for 2007. Janice Hayden was Top Producer in the Westhampton office in 2007, and was right next to Richard in the running for 2008 in Southampton. Good luck to you both.

Team Hamptons, by the way, is targeting the higher end market and their first exclusive is on Gin Lane in Southampton. "Very private two-acre estate located on the most prestigious lane," says their blurb, and a "great investment opportunity to expand the current 5,346 square feet." There is a pool, a tennis court and a garage. Visit the website to get the story.

Suffolk Research Service, Inc. has released its 'Comparative End of Year Market Figures in Years 2004 through 2008, for the Real Estate Industry of Eastern Long Island.' According to George R. Simpson, President of Suffolk Research Service, Inc., the real estate market on the East End of Long Island declined in Median Price, Unit Sales, and Dollar Sales for the year 2008 as compared to 2007. Simpson said that the Median Price of single family residences for East End Real Estate decreased 12.2 percent from $740,000 in 2007 to $650,000 for 12 months of 2008. (Median Price is the middle price when all houses sold are listed in order of price). Still, says Simpson, home prices have grown since 2003, when the median price of East End homes was $436,500.

For hamlet details on the above may we suggest that readers visit www.suffolkresearch.com. It would seem to me this is a valuable tool for serious sellers to gauge with their brokers how best to price their property for sale. And for buyers, well, it tells you the score, the grand picture, and you can go from there.

East End real estate may be a strange business, but there are endless ways to make a deal.