Elizabeth Keenan-Penagos RE

03/19/2019

I can't believe it! It's my first anniversary at Compass! Thank you to all the people who've made my first year as a solo agent such a stellar experience! I'm so happy to be at this brokerage and to have worked with an awesome group of buyers and sellers this year. Here's to many more!

02/08/2019

As a real estate agent, there are certain listings that I'm very happy that I don't have to sell because they require too much explanation. If I lived in PA, this would be one of them.

(BRIGHT MLS) For Sale: 5 bed, 2.5 bath ∙ 5029 sq. ft. ∙ 1612 Norristown Rd, Maple Glen, PA 19002 ∙ $750,000 ∙ MLS # PAMC549994 ∙ "50 shades of Maple Glen". One of a kind surburban home with a sexy twist. Private...

11/29/2018

Never fight with your co-op board. No one, not even Madonna and a bevy of attorneys, will win against a co-op board.

In the end, she couldn't justify her lawsuit. Madonna lost a protracted legal war with her Upper West Side co-op board Wednesday when a Manhattan Supreme Court justice tossed her lawsuit against the board.

11/20/2018

Here’s the simple fact: a better credit rating will make you a better risk for a bank to grant you a mortgage. If you have excellent credit, you’ll get a better interest rate on your mortgage. If you have okay credit, you will get a meh rate. If you have bad credit, you might not get a loan at all. But what if you have no credit? Well, that’s a problem, too, unless you have enough cash to purchase a property outright.

Like so many of the current banking rules and regulations, we have to look back to the mid-2000s. Before the crash, banks would loan money to anyone with a pulse. But after the crash, both federal regulations and bank policies changed to prevent that kind of mishegas. Typically, banks now require three lines of credit as proof that someone is worthy of a mortgage. Credit-cards, student loans, car loans, etc., all “count” as lines of credit. These lines of credit create a history of payments: it’s not your debt that gives you good credit, it’s the history of paying it back on time.

So what’s a person to do if they don’t have three lines of credit? What if you got a scholarship, knew (wisely) that credit-card debt can be a trap so you didn’t sign up for that credit card at the table outside the student union your freshman year, and live in a city where you don’t need a car? And now you’re over 30 and still only have that one credit card for emergencies?

There are a couple of things. First, some banks will grant an exception if you can illustrate certain things to bolster your application: if you have been in your job for a long time, and get consistent raises, and can prove that history; if you have a record of on-time utility bills (Really! Some banks consider this!); if you have a significant amount in savings, and can pay more than the 20% down for a traditional loan. All of these decrease your “risk” in the eyes of the bank, and some are more flexible than others in terms of what counts. (Another option is an FHA loan, but we don’t find those a lot in the NYC market, for reasons best left to later.)

Realistically, though, the best way to build good credit is slowly, over time. If you think you might want to buy a property in a few years, look at your current lines of credit. Make sure you are creating the right kind of history: purchase, and pay back.

Next week, credit part two: Pay Down That Debt! (Or, how to un-f**k your credit score, from someone who did.)

11/13/2018

If you know me, you know that I run. A lot. I’ve run 35 half marathons. I’ve run the NYC marathon three times, and even completed the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World. That’s a half marathon followed by a marathon, the very next day! 39.3 miles of running!

I’m not superhuman. I’ve done all these races because I run them at a pace that will get me to the finish line. Some are faster than others, some are on nicer days than others. But one thing’s certain in my mind in every race: I always get to the finish line, even if it means taking things a bit slower than usual.

Real estate is like this. Buying a property in NYC contains so many steps, where I’m helping my clients at every point: getting your finances together for a mortgage pre-approval, searching for a property, putting in bids and negotiating the price, finding a lawyer for the contract, getting an inspection, setting up the bank appraisal, putting together a board package, doing a walk-through, getting to closing.

At any of these points you can have a delay. You may find the perfect apartment, but guess what? Seven other people think it’s great, too, and they have more money. Or you might discover during an inspection that a property has far more issues than you planned for, so you don’t sign the contract and we start looking again. Or a co-op or condo board takes an unreasonable time to review your board package.

None of this makes for a guaranteed timeline, and sometimes you get 99% through and suddenly have a hitch that causes a month-long delay (slow-to-schedule co-op attorneys, I’m lookin’ at you). But the good thing is that if you take a steady pace and accept that some things are out of you hands (co-op attorneys, the weather for the Brooklyn Half), you’ll get to the finish line.

11/06/2018

Ah, the leaves are finally turning, Halloween is over, and Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. It’s a time for family, food, and… definitely not real estate. And that means the market is tanking, right?

No, not really--and that’s why the market is best measured in year-over-year comparisons to any individual month, not the month before. Real estate in New York is seasonal and operates on a fairly predictable (and logical) schedule. From Thanksgiving through most of February, when it’s cold and frequently rainy, snowy, or icy, very few properties enter the market. Then, as March begins, more and more properties launch, until the market hits its stride in April and May. A gradual taper throughout June, and then a fizzle in July, and then a dead, dead, dead market in the disgusting August humidity until the fall market kicks to life in September.

I always tell buyers that we can work these season to our advantage, depending on our priorities. If we want to have an abundance of choice, we should focus on those spring and fall months. But if we want a bargain, it’s sometimes better to focus on the off-season, for a few reasons. Overpriced properties that are holdovers from the previous busy season are likely to have price reductions as their sellers face reality. And often, when a property sits for a long time due to an initial overpricing, it sells for significantly less than its true worth due to days-on-market stigma. Plus, properties that launch during the off-season typically indicate a seller who has to sell, which can translate into an openness toward negotiation that might not otherwise happen in a more robust season.

07/09/2018

Buying Tip of the Week!

Oh, hey, it's a photo of a sweet kitchen! That's one of my listings, now in contract. Now that I have your attention, today's tip is really an answer to a question: How long does it take to buy a home in New York City?

The answer: It depends! That's a crummy answer, so let's break it down:

There are three main places where you spend time: 1) the search itself; 2) waiting for financing; 3) waiting on board review and approval (if you're in a co-op or condo). Each of these is highly variable! You can take six months looking, or find the perfect place on your first open house outing. You can work with a bank that's fast, or randomly get that one underwriter who decides that the appraiser needs to go back and check on something. You could encounter a fast, friendly board, or have to deal with a sour managing agent who takes six weeks just to pass along your board package to them. (Actually, I'd be the one dealing with the sour managing agent, but still! It'd affect you, the buyer.)

But basically: you can expect your home-buying journey to take anywhere from 3-6 months. That means that if you're currently in a lease, and you decide to buy, you should start looking well before your lease is up, or else you're going to have to beg your landlord to let you go month-to-month, or you'll get stuck living in your parents' basement, or end up crashing on couches for six weeks before closing.

07/02/2018

Buying Tips and Tricks: Part 1

I do a lot of work as a buyer’s agent, with a specialty of guiding first-time buyers to their new home. New York City is a complicated market (co-ops and condos and townhouses, oh my!), and, no matter what type of property you want to buy, you’ll most likely face challenges along the way.

So, what does a buyer’s agent do? Well, it’s my job to help buyers figure out the process. Sometimes, that means explaining the differences between condos and co-ops. Sometimes it means connecting them with mortgage brokers and lawyers (a necessity in NYC). Sometimes it means working through a list of must-haves and deal-breakers. Sometimes it’s about adjusting expectations in a market that moves very quickly. And sometimes it’s about listening while someone cries because they’ve lost a bidding war on an apartment they really, really loved. (Thankfully for buyers, that’s not happening as much right now. And also: something better is always around the corner.)

In this (unending) series, I’m going to focus on tips and tricks for making the buying process easier (and fun! I swear!). Oh, and even though *my* focus is NYC, I know a lot of you live elsewhere. I promise that most of this advice is useful everywhere! So please join me every Monday on this page!

06/20/2018

Oh, hello! As most of you know, I joined Compass a few months ago. It's been GREAT so far!

If you're interested in buying, selling, or renting in NYC, check out my page on a regular basis! I'll be offering helpful real estate advice for buyers and sellers and making note of all the good, bad, and ugly in New York City real estate.