Check out this website I found at campaign.r20.constantcontact.com
Pound Ridge NY Real Estate | Community Markets This Weekend – Peacy, Pickely, and Corny | Pound Ridge Homes for Sale
Leave a reply
Daily Archives: July 14, 2011
Bedford Corners NY Homes | Candy Spelling mansion sells for 43% below list price | Inman News for Bedford Corners NY Real Estate
Candy Spelling mansion sells for 43% below list price
House was on market for several years at $150M
The sale of Candy Spelling’s mansion — on the market for several years at $150 million — closed Thursday for what turned out to be a 43 percent discount.
British heiress Petra Ecclestone reportedly paid $85 million for the 57,000-square-foot mansion, built by Spelling’s famed late husband, TV producer Aaron Spelling.
The Spelling mansion was marketed by a Beverly Hills affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, Hilton & Hyland.
Listing broker Jeff Hyland, joking with the Los Angeles Times that the brokerage had no trouble prequalifying buyers, said that if they were not on a Forbes list of the most wealthy, “it was very easy to decline the showing.”
More than a half-dozen homes priced at $20 million or more have already sold in West Los Angeles this year, the Times reported, and price reductions of 40 percent or more are not uncommon.
To the north, Tommy Hilfiger Corp. co-founder Joel Horowitz last month knocked $25 million off the original $100 million asking price for Tranquility, an eight-building, 210-acre estate overlooking Lake Tahoe that’s been on the market since 2006.
The record sale price for a U.S. single-family home remains the $100 million Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner paid in March for a 25,500-square-foot limestone mansion in Los Altos Hills, Ca.
via inman.com
Chappaqua NY Real Estate | Agents find gold in property tax appeals | Inman News for Chappaqua NY Homes
Agents find gold in property tax appeals
3 ways this service can help boost reputation, referrals
Dealing with the property-taxing authorities can be daunting. In fact, it’s so daunting many owners simply cave in and pay the increased property taxes. If you want to create great buzz about your business and help your clients as well, helping them with an appeal on their taxes is one of the best ways to do this.
We received our property tax bill in January and it showed an increased assessment on our home of 4.3 percent. Because we’re in the most expensive school district in the state, this translated into almost $2,300 more in taxes than the comparable sales suggested our evaluation should be.
Our formal hearing was a real eye-opener on how the taxing authorities work, as well as what you can do as a customer service-savvy agent to help your clients.
The guidelines from our local appraisal district said that the district would use the median sales prices. I had our Realtor pull the comparable sales and there were four excellent comparable sales with the same lot size, similar age, as well as within 10 percent of the square footage on our house. The guidelines also said that the sales date should be as close to Jan. 1, 2011, as possible.
I also came armed with information showing that prices in Austin had declined 7 to 10 percent overall. My comparable sales information supported this as well.
The last two times we appealed, we went through the informal hearing process and had our assessed valuation reduced. The appraisal district made its decision based upon the closed sales. Because we were out of town, we had to attend the formal hearing.
What was odd about the whole hearing process was that the district officials did look at the comparable sales, but they had another set of data called “comp equity.” I simply wasn’t prepared to deal with this second set of data that was based upon the values the appraisal district had determined for each property that did not sell.
After the hearing, I dug deeper into the comp equity numbers and saw a number of additional comparables, and the process for “equalizing the prices” appeared questionable to me. It seemed that most of the recent sales were for new construction, which could skew the valuation if you live in an older home.
Furthermore, the builder had just completed a number of much smaller homes on smaller lots. The challenge with using those comparables is that the smaller size can translate into a higher price per square foot than for larger homes.
We were successful in keeping our assessment at a level comparable to last year, but the people hearing the case refused to lower the assessment beyond that point.
The opportunity
One of the best ways to create a positive buzz in your market area about your real estate services is to help people obtain a reduction in their property taxes. There are three ways you can do this.
1. Provide the homeowner with the comparable sales data, as well as the forms necessary to schedule a hearing
The best time to do this is when your taxing authority sends out the property tax assessments each year.2. Attend the property tax hearing with your client or on his/her behalf
If you are going to represent your client, you may run the risk of coming back with a higher assessment. This can be a serious problem. It’s important that you attend two or three hearings so that you understand the process before representing someone else.3. Partner with a professional
What was apparent when I was waiting for our hearing: if you’re not familiar with the appraisal board process, working a professional who does this on a regular basis could serve you well. In most cases, the people engaging in this work take a percentage of the savings they obtain for the homeowner.The people waiting were not just representing homeowners; they were representing large commercial properties owned by major corporations. In most cases, it’s smart to defer to an expert — especially someone who has a proven track record.
Regardless of which strategy you select, being the agent who helps people obtain a property tax reduction creates positive buzz about you and your services. Just make sure that you are thoroughly prepared with the knowledge of the processes and then the data that best supports your client’s claim.
Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, trainer and author of the National Association of Realtors’ No. 1 best-seller, “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success.” Hear Bernice’s five-minute daily real estate show, just named “new and notable” by iTunes, at www.RealEstateCoachRadio.com. You can contact her at Bernice@RealEstateCoach.com or @BRoss on Twitter.
via inman.com
Armonk NY Homes | Sorting out your social circles on Google+ | Inman News
Sorting out your social circles on Google+
Realtor Notebook
I have been playing with Google+ for a week and it reminds me of the early days of Facebook, Twitter and several other social networks.
One of my guiding principles has been to try just about everything and to abandon anything that doesn’t work out, which is why the Internet is littered with my accounts.
I have made more social networking mistakes than I care to list, and as I dive into Google+ I am being a bit more cautious than I have been in the past because I know what a time-suck social websites can be.
One of the biggest mistakes I have made on social networks is having hundreds of friends who I don’t know. Part of the problem is that I never took a proactive approach to the whole friendship thing.
My friends will tell you that is because I am not a people person. I only know a small percentage of my Facebook friends and I actually like six of them. I don’t use my Facebook account for business. I know that I am a Realtor all of the time, but I want and need a social life that has nothing to do with work.
What makes Google+ unique is that it handles lists graphically, and they are called groups. Groups can be created by dragging pictures of people into circles. Circles work just like lists work on Facebook.
The very first thing I did when I set up my Google+ account was to make a special circle for people who I want to ignore. Since no one can tell which circle they are in, there won’t be any hard feelings.
Circles make it easier than ever before to ignore the people who need to be ignored and to pay attention to the people who I want to pay attention to. In fact, it inspired me to update all of my social networking accounts.
The ability to filter out the advertisers is more important than ever as people flock to social networks to promote their businesses. I was only on Google+ for a day before I saw a promotional update for a business, and I moved that friend to my special circle.
The lists I use on Twitter work the same way. They help me sort people out so that I never miss a tweet from the people who I enjoy conversing with or learning from, and the rest go into a general list that is ignored until I have some time to read.
Twitter taught me how to listen and how to organize my account so that I see what the local media are talking about but don’t see which homes were just listed on the East Coast, or who is at a conference today.
After I set up my new Google+ account I went into my Facebook account and worked on my lists. I organized them better and then onto my LinkedIn account, where a friend pointed out that most people were updating LinkedIn via Twitter instead of actually logging in.
I am not sure how LinkedIn fits in, but I have been told that if I ever want a job or want to hire someone for a job I need to use it. The release of Google+ was a reminder to me to keep my accounts organized and to actively avoid the conversations and people who don’t add value.
Another feature of Google+ is the ability to create a “hangout” where we can video chat with a group of people. I have had that capability for many years but have used it only a few times. For some reason I have not had much of a desire to hang out on my video camera and chat.
Already people are claiming that Google+ is the next big thing. It was not all that long ago that Google Wave was the next big thing, but the Wave quickly died out. There is nothing innovative or new about an online social network that allows us to put people in groups, but that doesn’t mean that Google+ won’t catch on.
There isn’t room in my life for another social network, nor is there a need for one, but many people consider having a profile on a social network to be tech-savvy, and being thought of as tech-savvy is desirable in business.
Teresa Boardman is a broker in St. Paul, Minn., and founder of the St. Paul Real Estate blog.
via inman.com
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate Up 13% in 2011 First Half | RobReportBlog | Bedford Corners NY Homes – Robert Paul’s blog | Bedford NY Real Estate
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate Up 13% in 2011 First Half | RobReportBlog | Bedford Corners NY Homes
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate Report | June 2011 | RobReportBlog
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate has had a 13% rise in the number of sold homes in the first half of 2011 when compared to 2010. The median price of a sold Bedford Corners NY home has fallen 13% to $665,000. Lower prices in Bedford Corners NY real estate has brought more sales activity.
2011 Bedford Corners NY Real Estate sales activity (6 months)
41 homes sold
$665,000 median price
$5,265,000 high price
$280,000 low price
2944 average size
$296 average price per foot
196 average DOM
92.34% average sold to ask price
2010 Bedford Corners NY Real Estate sales activity (6 months)
36 homes sold
$770,250 median price
$9,400,000 high price
$376,870 low price
3683 average size
$357 average price per foot
178 average DOM
93.45% average sold to ask price
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment
The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
This weblog only allows comments from registered TypeKey users. To comment, please enable JavaScript so you can sign into TypeKey.
Bedford Village Frame Shop to Relocate – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch for Bedford NY Real Estate
Linda Johnson isn’t leaving Bedford Village, she’s just moving around the corner.
The owner of Bedford Village Frame Shop & Gallery said they’ll be packing up the store at 648 Old Post Road by July 15 and open for business in the new location at 15 Court Road later this month.
The new space, next to Small Joys, provides the same amount of square footage but the new layout will be different, said Johnson.
“It’s a really quaint space in the new building and the layout will be more pleasing,” she said. Johnson plans to continue showcasing local artists’ work in her custom framing and serve as a seller of the paintings and photographs she takes on consignment.
Since opening in 2007, she said she’s developed a solid framing business. Johnson creatively frames fine art, collectibles, photographs and personal mementos. On a recent day she was assembling together an old children’s Indian Guide vest, camp badges, a drumstick and a photograph of a father and son by a lake for a family keepsake.
She’s also strengthened ties to local designers, including architect Carol Kurth and Melissa Marcogliese, an interior designer, to help them find art for their clients’ homes.
Artistic talent runs in the family—her sons, Jason and Patrick both work in the shop with her while working as artists in their own right. Patrick Johnson is a graphic designer and his brother Jason is a painter in the style of pointillism.
You can stop by to see Johnson in her new space after July 25.
Photo Contests, Organic Raspberry Picking and Bastille Day – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch for Bedford NY
1. Future Fox Photo Contest
The Fox Lane Sports Boosters Club is sponsoring a Future Fox photo contest. If you’ve got a “future fox” tee shirt (the booster club said over 500 have been given out at various events the last two years), take a photo of your child (if they will eventually attend Fox Lane) and submit it for one of three categories: 1) the most distant location 2) the most exotic location (think Wall of China or the Eiffel Tower, they said) or 3) most creative or impressive fitness activity. The winners will have “ultimate bragging rights,” plus their photos will be featured in the first Fall 2011 FLSBC Shout Out and on Patch. Plus, cash prizes are available. Visit their website for more details.
2. Pick organic raspberries with Bedford Audubon
Join the Bedford Audobon Society for a tour of the best of Westchester’s horticultural destinations. Tour Lasdon Park Arboretum, with flowers and tree specimens from all over the world, then visit nearby Amawalk Farm for some organic raspberry picking. Leave from Bylane at 12:45 p.m., or meet at 1 p.m. at Lasdon’s entrance court/fountain garden. Click here for details.
3. Another photo contest: for teens and tweens
Great project for your kids ages 10 to 18: submit a picture (nature, people, building, structures, etc.) of Katonah and/or Westchester and submit it to katref@wlsmail.org as a jpeg, gif, tiff, pdf. There will be “loads of prizes” for the winners in the two categories (Ages 10-13 and Ages 14-18), say library officials. Click here for information.
4. Bedford BOE meets this morning
The Bedford schools board of education holds its annual re-org meeting this morning at 9 a.m. in the Fox Lane middle school theatre. Check back later today for a report on the meeting.
5. It’s Bastille Day
The French national holiday Bastille Day commemorates the infamous storming of the Bastille, a Parisian prison, on July 14, 1789, and the beginning of the French revolution. If you’d like to celebrate France’s national holiday, a ceremony kicks off at New Rochelle’s City Hall beginning at 10 a.m. Locals of Huguenot descent will be asked to announce their Huguenot family name. Later tonight, a free Bastille Day concert at the town’s Hudson Park band shell starts at 6:45 p.m. f For more information, visit www.newrochelleny.com/sistercity.
Bailey Hall Project Raises Traffic, Water, Other Issues – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch for Mount Kisco NY Real Estate
Neighbors whose homes encircle the site of a proposed Katonah housing development challenged key provisions Tuesday of a draft report on the project’s pros and cons.
For more than an hour, they voiced concerns about traffic, water runoff, noise and myriad other details of the environmental impact statement, or EIS, submitted in support of a 23-home cluster development planned for the former Bailey Hall property.
The land—more than 26 thickly wooded acres largely untouched for a quarter-century—lies north of Harris Road and borders the property of numerous Katonah residents. Some three dozen of them filled the second-floor meeting room, spilling into the foyer, as the draft EIS met its critics.
Fifteen speakers questioned a number of assumptions, projections and conclusions contained in the EIS, already in its second iteration. Still considered a draft, the statement is “probably many months” away from formal approval, planning board Chairman Donald J. Coe said. “We are nowhere near approvals,” he said in opening the meeting.
Perhaps reassured by Coe’s remarks, the speakers delivered a critique of the EIS that was spirited but remarkably free of the rancor that can accompany a discussion of one’s home, a subject almost always profoundly personal and most often financially crucial. In addition to their comments Tuesday, the residents submitted a 2,700-word, 55-signature impact statement of their own, a document Coe called a “well-reasoned report.”
The proposal by developer Cosimo Tripi, first presented to the planning board last October, would cluster 23 homes on about half the available land and link them with a 30-foot, lighted loop road. The subdivision would be reached via New Street, with Harris Road providing an “emergency-only” backup access.
Like a number of speakers Tuesday, the neighbors’ impact statement challenged both the EIS’ projections of future traffic and adequacy of the designated artery. The neighbors’ report contends that the applicant is “seriously underestimating” the project’s likely population and traffic impact and asks, “Why is New Street being asked to shoulder the entire traffic load?”
Speakers at the public hearing suggested the street cannot, and will not. “I apparently just foolishly moved to New Street,” newcomer Eileen Sullivan said. “There’s no possible way [to use it as a subdivision access] . . . I just can’t see it working.”
Skeptics offered one answer. “You know they’re going to use Harris Road [for regular, not emergency, access] eventually,” said Nick Dillallo, who lives on that narrow, winding street. A number of residents sought assurances that Harris Road would not become that de facto second way to enter the complex. “How will Harris Road be closed [at the emergency route access]?” asked one woman, who was told a breakaway gate would control entry.
Laurie Lewis, who wrote the extensive neighbor report and spoke only briefly Tuesday, said she wanted to underscore every point the statement makes. “My biggest question is about the traffic and how that would be mitigated,” she said.
If traffic—both construction vehicles as well as the daily residential flow—was the No. 1 concern expressed Tuesday, water—both runoff and septic—was a close second. Leonard M. Episcopia of Pleasant Street, armed with photos and a poster, was the first of several neighbors to address the issue, warning that stormwater runoff, already pooling in the property’s valley, can only worsen as trees are cut down to clear building lots and septic fields.
Developer Tripi and James and Adelade Murphy own the 26.5 acres on which the Bailey Hall Boys’ School once stood. The school served mentally challenged youngsters from 1921 to 1987.
Single Women a Rising Force in the Housing Market | South Salem NY Homes
Check out this website I found at linkedin.com
Foreclosures plunge in first half of 2011 | North Salem NY Real Estate
Check out this website I found at linkedin.com