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Most first-time buyers treat their credit score as a gate. Clear the number, get approved, done. But the score does not ...
09/18/2026

Most first-time buyers treat their credit score as a gate. Clear the number, get approved, done. But the score does not just decide whether you qualify. It sets the price of the loan for the next thirty years.

Lenders price in tiers, not on a smooth curve. Conventional loans typically open around 620, but the best pricing is reserved for scores of 740 and above, with some lenders holding their lowest rate for 760. That means the jump from 735 to 745 can matter more than the jump from 690 to 730, because one crosses a bracket and the other does not. Below roughly 680, credit adjustments stack up and FHA sometimes prices better overall despite its mortgage insurance.

The gap is real money. A borrower at 760 and one at 680 can be looking at a meaningfully different rate on the same house, which is a different monthly payment and tens of thousands in interest across the life of the loan.

Two things worth knowing. The score your lender pulls is not the one on your banking app, and it can differ by twenty to forty points. And they use your middle score of three bureaus, or the lower middle score if you are buying with someone.

Check your real score early. A few months of paying down balances before you apply can move you a tier.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

Westchester carries some of the highest property taxes in the country, and your bill starts with one number: your assess...
09/16/2026

Westchester carries some of the highest property taxes in the country, and your bill starts with one number: your assessed value. If the assessor has your home valued above what it would actually sell for, you have a legal right to challenge it.

The process is a grievance. It begins when the tentative assessment roll comes out, which is your first look at what the assessor thinks your home is worth. You review it for errors, both in the valuation and in the basic facts like square footage, room count, classification, and exemptions. Then you file a written complaint with your municipality's Board of Assessment Review.

Two things Yonkers homeowners should know. First, the calendar here is different from most of the county. Most Westchester towns publish the roll in June and hold Grievance Day the third Tuesday of that month. Yonkers runs on its own schedule, with the tentative roll in November and the deadline shortly after. Confirm the current year's dates with the city assessor, because a missed deadline means waiting a full year.

Second, filing cannot raise your taxes. Under New York law the board can lower your assessment or leave it alone.

The burden is on you to show the market value is lower, so comparable sales are the evidence that matters.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

Most homeowners assume the kitchen is where renovation money works hardest. The national data says otherwise, and it has...
09/11/2026

Most homeowners assume the kitchen is where renovation money works hardest. The national data says otherwise, and it has said so consistently for years.

In the annual Cost vs. Value Report, nine of the top ten projects by return are exterior. Garage door replacement has led the list for several years running, recouping well over its cost. Steel entry door replacement and stone veneer follow close behind. Meanwhile an upscale kitchen remodel often returns closer to half of what it costs.

The reason is not complicated. Curb appeal projects are inexpensive and they are the first thing a buyer sees. A tired garage door can take up a third of the front of the house and quietly suggests deferred maintenance everywhere else. A gut kitchen costs many times more and gets judged against a buyer's own taste, which you cannot predict.

Two things worth holding onto. National averages are not your house, and Yonkers is its own market, so treat those figures as direction rather than a promise. And there is a real difference between renovating for resale and renovating to live. If you plan to stay a decade, build the kitchen you want.

If you are renovating to sell, spend small, spend outside, and refresh rather than gut.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

When offers come in, the price is what everyone looks at first. It is also the number most likely to change before closi...
09/09/2026

When offers come in, the price is what everyone looks at first. It is also the number most likely to change before closing. The rest of the offer is what tells you whether it will hold.

Start with the financing. A cash offer or one backed by a full underwritten pre-approval is far more likely to reach the table than one resting on a quick pre-qualification. Look at the down payment too, because a larger one gives the deal more cushion if the appraisal comes in under the contract price.

Then read the contingencies, which are the buyer's exits. A mortgage contingency, an inspection contingency, an appraisal contingency, or a clause making the purchase contingent on selling their current home each represent a point where the deal can pause or unwind. Fewer and tighter contingencies mean more certainty for you. If the buyer is purchasing a co-op, add board approval to that list, since it is a real hurdle no matter how strong they look on paper.

Finally, look at timing. Does their closing date match yours, and are they flexible if you need extra time to move?

The strongest offer is not always the highest one. It is the one most likely to become a closing.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

Before listing, most sellers land in one of two ditches. Either they renovate far past what the sale will return, or the...
09/07/2026

Before listing, most sellers land in one of two ditches. Either they renovate far past what the sale will return, or they fix nothing and let buyers price every flaw at worst case. The useful question is not what would improve the home. It is what changes how a buyer values it.

Three categories are usually worth the money. First, anything that reads as neglect: a leaking faucet, a stained ceiling, a cracked window, peeling paint. Small on their own, but together they tell a buyer the home was not cared for, and they start wondering what else was ignored. Second, anything that will surface in the inspection anyway. A known roof or electrical issue costs you far less to address on your own timeline than as a renegotiation after the report lands. Third, presentation: fresh neutral paint, clean floors, working light fixtures, decluttering. That work is cheap relative to how much it changes the first impression, and the first impression is what photographs.

What rarely pays back is the full gut renovation right before selling. New kitchens and baths seldom return their cost, and you risk choosing finishes the buyer would have picked differently anyway.

Fix what makes buyers doubt the home. Leave the rest for them to make their own.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

Title insurance is the line at closing most buyers pay without ever asking what it does. It is worth understanding, beca...
09/04/2026

Title insurance is the line at closing most buyers pay without ever asking what it does. It is worth understanding, because unlike your other insurance, it protects you against the past rather than the future.

Here is the idea. Before you close, a search runs through the public record to confirm the seller has the right to sell and that the property carries no claims against it. Searches are thorough, but not everything is on record. Title insurance covers what the search misses: an unreleased tax lien, an heir nobody knew about with a claim to the property, a forged deed, an unrecorded easement, a boundary dispute. If a covered defect surfaces years from now, the policy pays to clear it or compensates you for the loss.

The part buyers miss is that there are two policies. Your lender will require a lender's policy, and it protects only the loan amount, not your equity. The owner's policy is the one that protects you, and in New York it is optional. Rates are regulated by the state, it is a one-time premium at closing, and buying both together discounts the lender's policy substantially.

Skip the owner's policy and you have insured your lender's stake while leaving your own uncovered.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

This one meant a lot to receive.Lucille and her family came to me knowing what they wanted, and my job was to listen clo...
09/02/2026

This one meant a lot to receive.

Lucille and her family came to me knowing what they wanted, and my job was to listen closely enough to translate that into the right home. That is really what the work is. Anyone can send listings. Understanding what someone actually means when they describe the life they want to live in a place, then staying patient while the right one shows up, is the harder part.

I am grateful she mentioned the communication and the consistency, because those are the things I try hardest to be reliable about. Buying a home in this market takes time, and the stretch between starting the search and finding the one can test anybody. Knowing where you stand throughout makes it far easier to hold your nerve and wait for the home worth waiting for.

Thank you, Lucille. Being as happy as you were when we found it was the easy part.

If you are thinking about buying in Yonkers or anywhere in Westchester, I would be glad to hear what you are looking for.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

When you sign a contract in New York, you typically put down a deposit of around ten percent. The mortgage contingency i...
08/31/2026

When you sign a contract in New York, you typically put down a deposit of around ten percent. The mortgage contingency is the clause that decides whether you get it back if your financing falls apart.

Here is how it works. The clause makes your obligation to buy conditional on securing a firm mortgage commitment by a specific date, usually thirty to sixty days out. Apply in good faith and fail to get that commitment, and you can cancel and recover your deposit.

The details are where buyers get hurt. A pre-approval is not a commitment, and neither is a conditional approval that still requires documentation. Buyers have lost six-figure deposits believing otherwise. Good faith matters too: apply promptly, hand over everything the lender asks for, and hit every deadline. And if the commitment date arrives without one, you must deliver written cancellation notice within the contract's window, often a few business days. Miss that notice and you can be bound to close even though the financing failed.

For a co-op, the mortgage and board approval contingencies run in sequence, since the board wants your commitment letter in the package. Those deadlines need to be coordinated.

You can waive this clause to strengthen an offer, but only do it if you could close with cash. Otherwise you are risking the entire deposit.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

The first weekend your Yonkers home is on the market is rarely just another weekend. It is when a new listing gets its b...
08/27/2026

The first weekend your Yonkers home is on the market is rarely just another weekend. It is when a new listing gets its biggest burst of attention, and that opening usually shapes everything that follows.

Here is what happens. The buyers who have been watching inventory and waiting for the right home see your listing the moment it goes live. That early audience is the most motivated, and the first weekend is when showings, online views, and serious interest tend to peak. A home that opens strong, priced right and showing well, can carry that momentum straight into offers. A home that stumbles out of the gate watches that prime audience move on, and later fixes rarely recreate the same energy. That is when a listing starts collecting days on market, which buyers read as a warning sign.

So the work happens before the weekend, not during it. Pricing, photos, and showing readiness all need to be right before the listing goes live, because you do not get the opening back. The sellers who do this well treat launch day like an event, not a soft open, and make sure the home is at its best the day buyers first see it.

You only open once. The first weekend sets the tone for the whole sale.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

If you own in a Yonkers co-op or condo, one line item can catch you off guard: the special assessment. It is worth under...
08/24/2026

If you own in a Yonkers co-op or condo, one line item can catch you off guard: the special assessment. It is worth understanding before it shows up, not after.
Here is what it is. Your regular maintenance or common charges cover the building's day-to-day. A special assessment is an extra charge the board adds on top to pay for something those regular funds and the reserve do not cover. Think a new roof or boiler, elevator modernization, facade repairs, storm damage, a new law the building has to comply with, or a lawsuit settlement. It can be billed as a lump sum or spread over months or years.

A few things surprise owners. In a co-op the cost is split by your share count, in a condo by your common-interest percentage, so two identical-looking units can owe different amounts. New York does not require buildings to keep a minimum reserve and sets no cap on assessments, so a thin reserve is what makes a big one more likely. An assessment is not automatically a red flag, since every building faces capital work eventually, but frequent ones can signal weak planning.

The move, whether you own or are buying: read the building's financial statements and ask directly whether any assessment is active, pending, or even being discussed. If you are buying and one is looming, who pays is negotiable and belongs in the contract.

A healthy reserve is what stands between you and a surprise bill.

Shirley Jacobs | (914) 403-5576

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55 E. Grassy Sprain Road
Yonkers, NY
10710

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