With a number of educational institutes, health facilities, parks and world-class infrastructure, Greater Noida has become synonymous with grand living. Sarthak reports

Just ask about the positive points of Greater Noida from ace TV cameraperson Ashok Singh and chances are he will speak without pause for ten minutes. Once his office shifted to Noida Film City from South Delhi, he visited Greater Noida to cover an event for his news channel. That visit proved very important to him in the sense that he was completely bowled over by the wide roads and overall infrastructure of the place.

More important, he decided to buy a house in Greater Noida, then and there! After shifting there seven months ago, he is a happy man — and, his kids have also got admission to one of the public schools in Greater Noida.

No wonder then that the infrastructure of Greater Noida has attracted the attention of many in recent times. As you drive down the Noida-Greater Noida expressway, you feel as if you are moving in another country altogether.

Just half an hour drive from Delhi via the DND flyway and on the six-laneexpressway to Greater Noida, these sectors are close to several educational institutes, hospitals, clubs, and of course, the JayPee golf course in thesub-city. Also, the wide roads, lush greenery, and huge open spaces add to the resident’s feel-good.

According to Saurabh Sood of Shri Krishan Estates, realty companies like Uppals, ATS, Eledco, Purvanchal and several others are active here and offer flats in the price range of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, and over. Huge 1,600 sq feet flats are available in Greater Noida for around Rs 42 to Rs 45 lakh. And if you have a budget of Rs 25 lakh, then there are ready-to-move flats built on 850 sq feet.

Real estate agents in the vicinity, most of them located at the commercial center near the expressway, are of the view that the market in these sectors is picking up after a lull of few months.

“Earlier, when these sectors were coming up, many financers and investors showed interest here. But gradually, investors moved out and only the end user can be seen,” says Dr Devender Gupta, CMD of realty consultancy Century 21 India.

Plots and apartments in these sectors are available in the secondary market, and they command good prices — the meltdown’s effects are not so obvious. However, Vikas Yadav, director of Golf View Properties, says that the prices have obviously come down but not to the extent that some people imagine. “We can say that the correction was to the tune of only 7-10%,” he adds.

“Correction to this extent is not alarming and it can happen anytime. So, we cannot say that the realty market has come down, at least not here. What works for these sectors is their proximity to the expressway, golf course, and the commercial center. In fact, many institutes and hospitals are at a stone’s throw,” says an official of Uppals.

At the Greater Noida end of the expressway, India Expo Mart, an alternative to Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, has become operational. Knowledge Park, with over 24 engineering and management colleges, will also come up along the expressway. At the Noida end, the projects, which have been completed include Amity University, Logix Techno-Park, Lotus Valley School, Mayoor International School, ATS Green and Parsvnath Prestige Apartments, all in Sector 93.

Noida Authority is planning to set up a medical city called Arogya Dham, which will contain super-specialty world-class hospitals, a matching commercial complex, homes for the attendants on more than 50 acres of land along the expressway — and these will have plenty of open space, thanks to wide roads, parks and green cover.

Surinder Pratap, a resident of Aplha2, says he moved to this place in 2005. Earlier he used to stay in Munirka in South Delhi where he grew up. For him the change was a happy one as infrastructure here is far better than in Munirka and the connectivity is also good. He goes for night-outs with his family and has never faced any law and order problem. The only thing that he misses here is a multiplex and restaurants.

Plots are available at Rs 23,000 per sq m, meaning that a plot of 250 sq yd, will cost around Rs 50 lakh, excluding the cost of transfer and registry. Three years ago, the rates were hovering around Rs 15-18,000 per sq m. In these sectors, plots of 60 sq m to 350 sq m can be found. The prices of apartments are around Rs 2,800-3,000 per sq ft.

Developers present in these sectors are Parsvnath, MSX, and MI Builders Ltd. But before going for the final kill in the area, just bear in mind that property agents normally jack up the prices.

Courtesy:- TOI dt:- 04-07-09

The bank approved my short sale. However, I found out that if I don’t buy, it will go to foreclosure in the next 2 months. Do I have more bargining power with that being known?

thanks to everyone for their honest answers

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A Short Sale Hardship Letter Is The Most Important Financial Hardship Letter You Will Ever Write. Your Financial Life Is In The Banks Loss Mitigators Control And Properly Writing A Hardship Letter For Short Sale Is Crucial.
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We been at this short sale since Feb. The short sale negioater approved everything and submitted his approval to be signed off by his manager. That was 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting.

Foreclosures are reaching new levels and about to go even higher in 2008. It is becoming imperative that Realtors and real estate investors become learn the art of the short sale and to use it to increase their sales production There is a right way and a wrong way to do approach a short sale.

Learning and implementing the following 5 secrets to short sale success will allow you to gain proficiency in doing and successfully completing short sales. If you are investor you can create equity where none existed. If you are a real estate agent you can sell homes that are upside down even in a bad market.

Secret 1 – Submit a complete package. Do not submit an incomplete package to the lender. If you do it will more than likely be put on the bottom of the pile. Make sure to include all the required information in the order specified my the lender and that every item is completely legible. This is an absolutely critical first step.

Secret 2 – Make a careful estimate of the current market value of the property and structure your offer accordingly The initial offer is critical to getting the short sale off to a good start. As you do more and more short sales you will become familiar with how various lenders work and how they react to offers. Most immediately tell you that you have to raise your offer. If they say this you need to find out why they have come to this conclusion.. Your goal is to have the lender order an internal BPO (Brokers Price Opinion) or a full appraisal of the property. Do not settle for just a drive by appraisal. No need to be nasty but be insistent and keep at it until you get the BPO ordered.

Secret 3 – Make sure that you personally meet the BPO agent This is the most important part of being successful with your short sale. You must personally meet with the agent or appraiser doing the BPO (Brokers Price Opinion or Appraisal). You job is to provide the person doing the BPO any information that can influence the BPO in your favor so that their price that will justify your offer. You should speak the BPO agent and let him know that the seller is in dire straights and is depending on the BPO. You should have a list of repairs done by a contractor and most importantly have a good list of comparable sales showing that the property is worth substantially less than what is the owner owes. All these items are important but meeting with the person doing the BPO is the most important of all. Do not let them get in the property without you being there and be sure to be early for the meeting.

Secret 4 – Don’t take No for an answer The job of the loss mitigator is to get the case settled for as much money as he possibly can. Of course you have to realize that there are certain circumstances that will limit the amount that the lender will take. Some of these are PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and the VA guarantees. These loans are insured by private or governmental agencies and as a result are limited in the amount of discount that they will take. If it is a conventional loan the settlement amount is arbitrary and determined by the end lender or the investor holding the loan. If you are dealing with a servicer rather than a direct lender your negotiations have to be approved by the note owner before a price is agreed upon. Your continued persistence will determine your success in getting prices that allow you to create a profitable transaction..

Secret 5 – Be sure you are prepared to close promptly Once you have finalized your negotiations the bank will expect your to close quickly. Usually within 2 to 4 weeks. If you are unable to close within this period you can have a very difficult time negotiating an extension and may encounter difficulty negotiating with this lender or servicer in the future. This problem does not usually arise if you are the end buyer but if you are planning on “flipping’ the property out to another end buyer you need to be sure that they are ready to close when you finalize the negotiations for the property. One way you can stall this is to slow down your final negotiations until you secure your end buyer. Sometimes this can really work to your benefit when the loss mitigator calls you to see what is holding up your final acceptance of an offer. Many times you can get an additional reduction in the price.

Certainly there is much more involved in doing short sales but these 5 steps are critical in getting a successful resolution to a short sale case. Remember that you have to be persistent and polite but do not take no for an answer. Push on and you will succeed

My wife and I have put in an offer for a property that was a bank approved short sale. We made the offer at the amount that was listed for (also similar to comps in the area). We are first time home buyers and we qualified for an FHA loan with 3% down payment. Our agent (real estate and mortgage broker) included in the offer that we are pre-approved for a FHA loan. It has been approximately four days since we made the offer (we gave a 72 hour reponse frame) and the bank has not responded yet. The seller’s agent confirmed he received the offer and that he passed it along to the bank. He also said that since it is a (bank approved) short sale the bank can take longer to respond. What are our chances of getting a response from the bank? Should I assume that they are not interested if they don’t give us an answer in five to ten business days? Also, would making an offer with an FHA approved loan (3% down) hurt our chances of getting our offer approved?

Are you a stressed-out realtor? Many real estate agents are under a lot of stress and this can negatively impact their health, relationships with family and their career.

Kaizen is a Japanese term for “improvement” or “constant, positive change”. It is the philosophy of making small changes in your life so that, over the course of time, you make large-scale improvements. This is not New-Age mumbo-jumbo and it won’t cost you a cent; in fact, it will probably save you money!

For many real estate professionals, stress is a constant, looming enemy. The urge to be constantly available to clients, coupled with the hit-or-miss nature of many real estate transactions can add up to a huge amount of stress. If you’re not naturally neat and organized, you will also suffer, as this can complicate your day.

Many people in our profession look at the big picture and solely at results. The idea that change must be done in one fell swoop is what causes you to stress out. The idea that you must “cold-turkey” your mind into organization, follow-ups, lead generation, and the other minutiae of real estate is what might end up killing whatever chance you have to get ahead.

So, what if you jettison all of your ideas about “just doing it”? I’ll tell you something: You can’t make things worse then they are by focusing on tiny incremental changes that are geared to improving your life for the better, continuously.

Here’s an example:

1. You realize that you haven’t seen your wife in three weeks, except for fifteen seconds between the bathroom and the kitchen every day. Your children are starting to not recognize you. You want to make sure that you give your business and personal life enough time to maintain the health of each. Do you:

a) tell your family that they should be grateful that you’re working so hard to feed, clothe and shelter them and you’ll be around on the weekend. Maybe.

b) abruptly take the week off from the office, turn off your cell phone and tell yourself that the lost commissions and recommendations aren’t worth as much as your family time

c) Go to bed at 11:45 instead of midnight

“What?!” I hear you saying. “It’s obvious which one was designed to be the ‘right’ answer, but what the hell will going to bed earlier accomplish?” Lots.

You see, one of your problems is that you likely stay up too late, working or trying to relax after a hard day with TV or the Internet. Then, you sleep just long enough to enable you to head to the office or to meet with a client. This is not the road to happiness and long life; it’s the road to early divorce, health problems and burnout.

A week later, go to bed at 11:40. Then 11:35. Then 11:30. Eventually, you’ll be getting a good night’s rest and you’ll be much more alert at 7:30 when your 13-year-old daughter casually mentions that she wants to tattoo her boyfriend-of 3-weeks’ name on her arm.

Kaizen is not just a way to solve your sleep deprivation; it is a way to change your entire life. Look at your life and see where you can make changes. Then make one, tiny change that isn’t too hard to do. When that doesn’t seem so onerous, make another tiny change; just enough to be a positive one. Start setting small goals. Instead of the big one of spending more time with your family, gradually make some changes to your lifestyle, like scheduling in family time, making business hours for yourself and setting client expectations to coincide with your work-life balance.

As you go along, you might notice that, like a bicycle on a curve, that the changes you are making sweep you on an ever-faster road to a positive lifestyle. You become used to change, paying more attention to your activities and seeing how you can use your time and money more wisely. You will not just change your life for the better; your family’s and client’s will improve as your changes start to positively affect their lives. Kaizen is not one change made to improve one’s lifestyle; it is a constant cycle of seeing things you want to change and making them possible with small steps.

The result is that you are going to be a happier, calmer person, more able to roll with what life throws at you. You will feel happier about the changes that you are making, because they are going to be so small, you will barely notice the energy it takes to do them. Your family will be happier because you will gradually have more quality time for them. Your clients will be happier because they will be getting more quality time out of you.

And it all starts with one infinitesimal change.

I currently own a condo of which i can no longer afford. I bought it 2 years ago for 305 k, it is worth about 275 k now. My loan 2 years fix will expire in august, and i believe it will goes up to 9 percent or more. I am paying for 7% interest right now, if the interest goes that high I wouldn’t be able to pay for. I am thinking about foreclosure, but i really don’t want to destroy my credit worthiness, I just heard about short sales,
any one who knows about these stufff please tell me what is the good way to walk away from this mess. thanks.