Daily Archives: May 23, 2013

North Castle Supervisor Arden To Run For Re-Election In November | Armonk NY Homes

A year and a half into his first term as North Castle Town Supervisor and Howard Arden is already planning to run for re-election.

He said he will run whether or not he is endorsed by the town’s Republican Committee—which is likely to endorse its candidates sometime soon.

“Since taking office a year and a half ago, I have taken North Castle in a new direction,” Arden said in an interview with The Armonk Daily Voice.

“As promised, I converted our town to a council-administrator form of government. I have used best business practices and technology to run our town more efficiently; carefully tracked expenses while taking every opportunity to increase revenue,” he added.

Arden is confident, if re-elected, that his approach will continue to pay off for North Castle—literally.

“My efforts have produced the lowest tax increase of any town in Westchester; and has allowed us to use our savings for significant town-wide upgrades in equipment, infrastructure, park facilities and resident services,” he said.

Though North Castle has flourished financially under Arden, it is no secret the town board has become split on several topics. Issues such as CVS and a dog park coming to North Castle have become polarizing, controversial hot buttons of discussion—not only among residents, but also the town board.

It remains to be seen if such a dynamic on the town board will attempt to come back next November.

Incumbent council members Diane DiDonato-Roth and John Cronin, whose terms expire at the end of the year, have not decided whether they would seek re-election. The two Republicans are expected to make their decision within the next two weeks about whether to run for a second term.

No matter who ends up on the town board, Arden hopes he’s at the helm.

 

North Castle Supervisor Arden To Run For Re-Election In November | The Armonk Daily Voice.

4 Time Saving Content Curation Tools | Katonah NY Realtor

Content curation services, which had been one of the choice tools of marketing experts for some time now, are finally entering the mainstream.4 Time Saving Content Curation Tools

Some research done by the guys over at LikeHack showed that this service is now often used not by marketing consultants but by ordinary people. This is due to information overload and the rising need for content filtering.

For this reason, content curation is evolving from not being only a professional tool but a tool that saves web surfers time as personal service.

The demise of Google Reader is only going to accelerate the use of these tools as people switch to these emerging technologies to filter their content to save them time and increase content relevance.

What is content curation?

A content curator is a service that uses algorithms to show the user only the most relevant and appropriate content with respect to a specific niche or topic. It is a great marketing tool with unusually broad filtering capabilities and information selection that can be used to develop and promote a business. In 2012, Forbes called content curation one of the five hottest new web trends.

Companies like American Express and Whole Foods already actively use this marketing tool to curate content that might be of interest to their customers. Other companies use it to create their own online newspapers or select articles for the corporate blog.

The changing trend

However, content curation has been gradually developing from a niche marketing tool into a mainstream product. Personal content curation services are proliferating*:

Content Curation tools

Moreover, the team at LikeHack used SEMRUSH to analyze the search engine traffic  to curation sites like paper.li and observed that the increase in the number of visits slowed to nothing in the past six months.

Paper.li traffic:

Paper li content curation

It is important to note that the actual popularity of the phrase “content curation” has not decreased. On the contrary, GoogleTrends clearly show that the popularity of the keyword query and its various forms is growing.

What does this mean?

It means that more and more people are interested in content curation; it is no longer just for marketing professionals..

Why is this happening?

Everybody knows that the amount of information exchanged through social networks and feeds is growing exponentially, following the well-known MooresLaw. According to LikeHack’s research based on 3 million user accounts, people spend approximately one hour every day looking through unnecessary information. There are several services available today which solve this problem, and they are growing in popularity:  Likehack, Storify, Pearltrees, Getprismatic and others.

For example, here are the stats for GetPrismatic:

Get Prismatic content curation tool

Traffic to the site has grown considerably. A similar trend can be observed with other services. Today there are services that allow you to filter your Facebook, Twitter and RSS feed, showing only what’s most interesting and relevant.


Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/05/23/4-time-saving-content-curation-tools/#A56VccFwCxiAC6dE.99 

 

4 Time Saving Content Curation Tools | Jeffbullas’s Blog.

15 Actionable Takeaways From Social Media Marketing World 2013 | Bedford Hills Realtor

Did you miss Social Media Marketing World in April?

Or perhaps you were there but weren’t able to attend all the sessions you would have liked to.

In this article I’ve assembled for you 15 actionable social media marketing takeaways from some experts who presented at the event.

Here’s what they had to say.

#1: Prepare for Social Displacement

michael stelzner

Michael Stelzner

With maturity of any new industry comes disruption. Just as email, the web and search disrupted entire industries several years ago (e.g., the postal service, print publications and traditional sales), we can also expect a lot of online disruption to happen because of social media.

  • Facebook messages are displacing email (it’s becoming easier to send your friend a Facebook message rather than find their email address).
  • Asking friends rather than searching (more and more people are asking their Facebook friends or Google+ circles for referrals instead of searching online for a product or service).
  • Listening to podcasts is beginning to replace radio.

This obsession with social is happening because people love social media. According to a McKinsey & Nielsen survey, 76% of people feel good when they network using social media.

social networking sentiments graph

Consumers generally feel good after engaging in social media.

Michael Stelzner is founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner.

#2: Connect With Anyone You Want by Giving Value

larry benet

Larry Benet

Connecting is the ability to identify and relate with people to increase your influence with them. If you can add value, serve others and give freely, then you can connect with anyone, power your business and get whatever you want faster. Here’s what you need to do to become a valuable connector:

  • Make meaningful and authentic connections with others
  • Find out what’s important to them
  • Help them get it
  • Become a value-creator (by connecting people with other people, resources, tools or ideas)
  • Follow up systematically (because out of sight, out of mind)

The more you give, the more you receive; the more value you add, the better things become.” This is the secret sauce of making powerful connections.

humans holding hands

Add value, serve others and give freely.

Larry Benet is known as the Connector and president of the Speakers and Authors Networking Group (SANG).

#3: Invest in Passionate Community Managers to Improve Facebook Reach

mari smith

Mari Smith

Content may be king but engagement is queen and she rules the house,” says Mari Smith. One of the best ways to increase your reach on Facebook is to invest in a passionate community manager who understands how to engage with fans. A great community manager is one who has these qualities:

  • Proper training (knows how to be persuasive and is focused on good customer service)
  • Focused on prompt engagement
  • Focused on quick response to fan posts and comments. Responding to questions makes money (e.g., Gina Alexander Photo Handbags made $28,000 in sales within 24 hours of hosting a live Q&A about her handbags on her Facebook page!)

Mari Smith is a social media leader and Facebook marketing expert.

 

15 Actionable Takeaways From Social Media Marketing World 2013 | Social Media Examiner.

Home inventory rises sharply in April | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

Housing inventory rose significantly in April, easing a supply shortage that some experts say has constrained home sales.

Meanwhile, existing-home sales edged upwards in April. Still, sales remain hampered due to limited supply and tight credit, according to NAR.

Housing inventory rose 11.9 percent to 2.16 million homes in April, representing a 5.2-month supply of homes at the current rate of home sales. That’s up from 4.7 months in March. But inventory still remained 13.6 percent below a year ago, when there was a 6.6-month stock.

Existing-home sales ticked up 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March, according to NAR. That put sales at their highest level since November 2009, when a tax credit stimulated purchases, NAR said.

“The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory. Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million-unit pace,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Buyer traffic is 31 percent stronger than a year ago, but sales are running only about 10 percent higher.  It’s become quite clear that the only way to tame price growth to a manageable, healthy pace is higher levels of new-home construction.” Source: realtor.org.

 

 

Home inventory rises sharply in April | Inman News.

Are maps obliterating your visual branding efforts? | Bedford Corners NY Real Estate

Detail from map-based search results on Redfin.com using map data from Google.Detail from map-based search results on Redfin.com using map data from Google.

Maps and real estate websites seem to go hand in hand.

It only makes sense, I suppose.

Everyone wants to know where the house is, what the neighborhood is like, how far it is from stuff, and so on.

A map is one of those crucial bits of information display that gives a wide variety of context about one of the things we assume people are looking for when they’re on a real estate website: the house.

In this way I suppose it could easily be argued that maps are a sort of data visualization tool. They take a handful of variables and plot them using symbols to show relationships.

There is even a little bit of standardization to them. That’s why we can look at a Rand McNally road atlas and Google Maps and figure out that both are maps and that we use them to get someplace.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/05/22/are-maps-obliterating-your-visual-branding-efforts/#sthash.tiqYsoA7.dpuf

 

Are maps obliterating your visual branding efforts? | Inman News.

Seller financing: an untapped resource for real estate agents | Chappaqua Real Estate

While the residential real estate market is generally believed to be improving nationwide, some of the residual effects of the Great Recession still affect the ability of real estate agents to facilitate home sales.

Emerging employment opportunities in many parts of the country are bringing workers into new communities. Even though financial institutions have brought reserve levels back to all-time highs within the past few years, banks are unable to fund loans due to restrictive lending criteria.

For buyers, the regulatory pendulum has swung too far. Though fully capable of making payments, many are marked with imperfect credit or low cash reserves as a result of short sales, foreclosures or plummeting values of their prior residences. For sellers, this means a significantly smaller pool of potential buyers, which negatively impacts their home values as well as their financial well-being.

Prime opportunity

According to the Pew Research Center, about 10,000 people will turn 65 every day for the next 17 years. With baby boomers entering retirement at an exponential rate, many are looking to their homes as an additional source of revenue to supplement Social Security or other insufficient income.

Today’s rising home values present a perfect opportunity for sellers to capitalize on their homes’ increasing market values, and savvy real estate agents recognize the prime opportunity that seller financing presents. The trend of tight lending standards combined with willing buyers, sellers and an appreciating housing market is certainly not permanent, so this nontraditional financing option must be quickly leveraged to yield maximum benefit.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/05/22/seller-financing-an-untapped-resource-for-real-estate-agents/#sthash.glExI8Fd.dpuf

 

Seller financing: an untapped resource for real estate agents | Inman News.

$190 Million Greenwich Compound Is Priciest Home In The U.S. | Bedford Real Estate

A glance at a property in Greenwich that is reported to be the most expensive listing in the United States. It is listed for $190 million. Photo Credit: With permission from David Ogilvy

 

Listing agent David Ogilvy says the 12-bedroom Neo-French Renaissance Victorian and the 50.6-acre property is “a fantastic piece of property.”
“It’s just an incredibly beautiful spot,’’ said Ogilvy, whosereal estate office is part of Christie’s International Real Estate. “There were a few other major houses down on the water. The only one of this size that has sold was in Riverside in 1952 or ’53. There hasn’t been anything else on either side of the water like this.”
The property includes a mile of shoreline and two islands. Other features include a 75-foot pool and spa, grass tennis court, poolhouse, carriage house and gatehouse cottage.
The home was built in 1896 – Ogilvy had no record of its original cost – and was purchased by the Lauder Greenway family. Harriet Lauder Greenway’s father helped Andrew Carnegie start what would become U.S. Steel, according to the Wall Street Journal story. The article also said the home is owned by John Rudey, the chairman of U.S. Timberlands Services. He purchased the property in 1982. The property is being listed for the first time since 1904, according to the Ogilvy listing.
Ogilvy said the price tag was based on appraisals and previous waterfront sales. “A home with 4.2 acres went for $39.5 million, or about $9 million an acre,’’ he said. “You multiply that by 50, and you get a hefty number. Sometimes people are shocked at how much it is. It’s the only one with 50 acres left in Greenwich.”
The Realtor said he and Rudey have had conversations over the past few years about the property. “I knew the property, but I was even more amazed when I saw it,’’ Ogilvy said.
The owner has no timetable for a sale, Ogilvy also said. “There was a property that I listed and sold back in 2004 for $45 million,’’ Ogilvy said. “People told me I had rocks in my head, and we listed it, sold it and closed on it in 100 days. A timetable is not a problem.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listing agent David Ogilvy says the 12-bedroom Neo-French Renaissance Victorian and the 50.6-acre property is “a fantastic piece of property.”
“It’s just an incredibly beautiful spot,’’ said Ogilvy, whosereal estate office is part of Christie’s International Real Estate. “There were a few other major houses down on the water. The only one of this size that has sold was in Riverside in 1952 or ’53. There hasn’t been anything else on either side of the water like this.”
The property includes a mile of shoreline and two islands. Other features include a 75-foot pool and spa, grass tennis court, poolhouse, carriage house and gatehouse cottage.
The home was built in 1896 – Ogilvy had no record of its original cost – and was purchased by the Lauder Greenway family. Harriet Lauder Greenway’s father helped Andrew Carnegie start what would become U.S. Steel, according to the Wall Street Journal story. The article also said the home is owned by John Rudey, the chairman of U.S. Timberlands Services. He purchased the property in 1982. The property is being listed for the first time since 1904, according to the Ogilvy listing.
Ogilvy said the price tag was based on appraisals and previous waterfront sales. “A home with 4.2 acres went for $39.5 million, or about $9 million an acre,’’ he said. “You multiply that by 50, and you get a hefty number. Sometimes people are shocked at how much it is. It’s the only one with 50 acres left in Greenwich.”
The Realtor said he and Rudey have had conversations over the past few years about the property. “I knew the property, but I was even more amazed when I saw it,’’ Ogilvy said.
The owner has no timetable for a sale, Ogilvy also said. “There was a property that I listed and sold back in 2004 for $45 million,’’ Ogilvy said. “People told me I had rocks in my head, and we listed it, sold it and closed on it in 100 days. A timetable is not a problem.”

 

$190 Million Greenwich Compound Is Priciest Home In The U.S. | The Bedford Daily Voice.

 

Existing-home sales remain below underlying demand | Bedford Hills Real Estate

After falling in March, existing-home sales increased in April, although they were still not enough to meet underlying demand due to limited inventory and tight credit, reports the National Association of Realtors. All regions recorded year-over-year price gains.

“The powerful combination of all-time low mortgage rates and home prices that were significantly reduced after the housing crisis is fueling demand,” says Quicken Loans Chief Economist Bob Walters. “It’s quite likely that we will look back on this period as being among the best times in history to purchase a home. As the economy continues to firm, the likelihood that interest rates will rise increases and home prices will continue their upward climb as well.”

In April, existing-home sales — completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.97 million from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March. April’s numbers are up 9.7% from the 4.53 million-unit level in April 2012.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market recovery is solid. “The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory. Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million unit pace,” he said.

Buyer traffic is 31% stronger than a year ago, according to Yun, but sales are running only about 10% higher. “It’s become quite clear that the only way to tame price growth to a manageable, healthy pace is higher levels of new home construction,” he said.

Existing-home sales are hovering at the highest pace since November 2009, when the market saw 5.44 million sales in response to the homebuyer tax credit. This marks the 22ndstraight month of year-over-year sales gains and the 14thconsecutive month of year-over-year price increases.

Inventory inched up slowly to 2.16 million existing homes available for sale. This represents a 5.2-month supply at the current sales pace versus 4.7 months in March.

The median sales price for existing homes was up 11% year-over-year, reaching $192,800. The last time the nation saw 14 consecutive months of year-over-year price gains was April 2005 to May 2006. 

 

Existing-home sales remain below underlying demand | HousingWire.

Illinois home sales show 25% annual growth in April | Cross River Real Estate

Home sales in Illinois rose 25.3% year-over-year in April, while median prices increased 7.7%, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors. 

Home sales in the state totaled 12,621 in April, up from 10,076 in April 2012. This marked the best April performance since 2007. 

The median price in Illinois was $145,900 in April, up 7.7% from April 2012 when the median price was $135,500. 

“The spring numbers are very encouraging, especially as we see substantial tightening of the numbers of homes on the market,” said Michael D. Oldenettel, president of IAR. 

He added, “While prices are inching up slightly due to strong demand, the interest rates continue to be a powerful lure for those who want to own a home and the spring housing market looks to be a strong one.” 

Illinois’ home inventory in April was 62,503 units, a 30.6% drop from April 2012, which had 90,041 units for sale. The time homes are spending on the market plummeted from 111 days to 89 days, a 19.8% drop, year-over-year. 

Of the 102 Illinois counties, 55 reported year-over-year increases in home sales in April 2013, while 42 showed year-over-year median price increases. 

“The housing market is exhibiting signs of a more stable recovery with an anticipated strong early summer led by strong sales gains and more modest but still positive gains in median prices,” noted Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the regional economics applications laboratory of the University of Illinois.

 

Illinois home sales show 25% annual growth in April | HousingWire.

The pace of the housing market has picked up | North Salem Real Estate

Several factors are contributing to the market’s need for speed these days, writes Redfin. Demand is high and supply is low, which forces people to make decisions very quickly. Also, new technology is compressing the timeline from listing to tour and offer.

Today, people can find out within minutes when a new listing has hit the market and to schedule an in-person home tour with real estate agent, all from a smartphone. While market conditions like supply and demand will fluctuate over time, changes brought about by technology are most likely creating a “new normal” for the overall pace of home buying and selling, according to Redfin.

 

The pace of the housing market has picked up | HousingWire.