Daily Archives: December 30, 2013

Astorino to Host Inaugural Open House on New Year’s Day | Bedford Corners NY Homes

Leave a reply

Loading…

Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino is inviting the public to an open house reception on Wednesday, Jan. 1 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the 9th floor of the Michaelian Office Building, located at 148 Martine Avenue, White Plains.

Refreshments will be served. People are asked to RSVP by Monday to EventsRSVP@westchestergov.com or (914) 995-2952.

“I can think of no better way to ring in the New Year and begin my second term than by opening up my office to the people of Westchester who put me here,” Astorino said in a statement. “There is a lot of work to be done in 2014, but it is important to enjoy some time with friends and family.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of Rob Astorino.

Celebrity Real Estate: LA’s 2013 Roundup | Chappaqua Real Estate

Leave a reply

They buy. They sell. We look at the pretty pictures like the celebrity real estate snoops that we are. Somewhere deep inside us, we love the visceral thrill of trash-talking Mark Wahlberg’s master suite or thinking that Bruce Willis’ kitchen needs an update.

But at the end of the day, celebrities trying to buy or sell in the housing market are just like us — with maybe a few more layers of money, managers and financial advisers.

Here are some of our favorite celebrity properties listed, bought or otherwise appearing on the real estate Multiple Listing Service in Los Angeles during 2013.

Photos courtesy of Realtor.com.

Casey Kasem casey kasem

Radio personality Casey Kasem and his blonde, beehived Mrs. Jean listed in early spring what was uncharitably described as a teardown near Brentwood for $42 million. That wasn’t rocking anyone’s Top 40 list — despite the heart-shaped pool — and the price for the seven-bedroom mansion may have been out of whack with the times. The property came off the market, unsold, in September as concerns about Kasem’s health surfaced.

Bob Hope bob hope

Bob Hope’s longtime Toluca Lake home remains listed at $27.5 million. While the address may not be as trendy as Beverly Hills, there’s a lot of house in this estate — almost 15,000 square feet of mansion sitting on more than five acres, just a proverbial spit from Universal Studios and City Walk. Not to mention a one-hole golf course and enough room for Richard Nixon’s helicopter to land so the two could play a few rounds.

Ellen DeGeneres & Portia DeRossi ellen portia

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi bought this Santa Barbara-area gem that was listed at $26.5 million in May. The restored Tuscan-style hacienda was built in the 1920s and was extensively renovated by its previous owner, architect and designer John Saladino. Landscaped with 30-foot Italian cypresses and mature olive trees for that Old World ambience, the property has a 10,500-square-foot home with five bedrooms and nine fireplaces.

 

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/30/celebrity-real-estate-2013_n_4442291.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

How to Use Twitter Ads for More Exposure, Leads and Sales | Armonk NY Realtor

Leave a reply

Are you interested in learning more about advertising on Twitter?

Have you followed the latest on Twitter ads?

Twitter has many paid options to help you gain more exposure.

Keep reading to discover three ways to use Twitter ads to grow your business.

Why Twitter Advertising?

When Twitter released their advertising platforms, there was a huge lack of functionality when it came to targeting your ads toward specific audiences.

While it’s still not as detailed as Facebook or LinkedIn advertising, Twitter has come a long way in making sure your advertising reaches the right audience.

In this post, we’re going to look at how to create a high-performance Twitter ad campaign for your business.

#1: Gain Visibility With Promoted Tweets

One of the most popular uses of Twitter advertising is to promote a specific message (tweet) on Twitter. For example, if you search Twitter for a particular keyword, you’re likely to see a promoted tweet at the top of search results.

promoted-tweet-from-buffer

Example of a promoted tweet from Buffer.

 

This can be a great way to get a specific message about your products and services at the top of your potential customers’ Twitter feed. It can also be used to promote engaging content created by your business to boost authority in your industry.

To promote a tweet, you need to go to the Twitter advertising section and sign in with your usual Twitter username and password. If it’s your first time there, you’ll be asked to select your country and time zone.

Twitter advertising is currently available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland. For those who have used Twitter advertising before, you can click the New Campaign button to start a new advertising campaign.

National brands and advertising agencies in 18 other countries including Australia, Brazil, France and Italy can fill out a form to speak with an advertising specialist.

Next, choose New Promoted Tweets Campaign. Then you’ll answer a series of setup questions about your campaign, starting with the campaign name and duration.

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/twitter-advertising/

 

Security measures that burglars loathe | North Salem NY Homes

Leave a reply

Every December, we look back at our most popular stories of the year. We’ve had some terrific inspirational ones recently, like the amazing artist who hand-carves soaring, swirling caves where none existed before; and the architect who, hit by foreclosure, built a tiny house for $11,000; and the young artists who quit jobs to build glass cabin in the woods. But some of our biggest hits offer practical advice, like this story we published in May. We think its lessons are particularly relevant during the holiday season, when so many shiny new temptations are around for the criminal-minded. ]

If you think you’re not at risk of being a victim of burglary, think again. If there’s an opportunity to invade your home, no matter who you are or where you live, burglars will take the chance.

“Burglaries are considered ‘crimes of opportunity’ because the criminal is looking for the easy way to get into your home – the unlocked door, open garage door or open window,” says Charlene Miller, Crime Prevention Neighborhood Watch director at the Boise Police Department.

Fortunately, “There are practical security measures you can take to make it so difficult for burglars that they’ll go somewhere else,” Miller adds.

Want to learn what these measures are? Here are nine things you can do to make burglars think twice before trying to enter your home.

#1 – Secured Doors and Windows

In approximately one-third of home burglaries the burglar comes in through an unlocked door or window, according to the “Burglary of Single Family Houses”guide, published by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Getting invisi-gard doors will help keep burglars out.

“The first line of defense in your home’s security is having solid core security gates  and exterior doors with high quality grade 1 or 2 deadbolt locks,” Miller states. “French doors can be secured with a quality deadbolt lock and a slide bolt penetrating the upper or lower doorframe.”

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/protect-home-from-burglars-005405786.html

Dubai property prices show annual rise of 22.4% | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Property prices in Dubai have risen by more than 22 percent so far this year, according to the REIDIN.com Sales Price Indices.

The index, which aims to measure the average change in house prices in certain districts and communities in Dubai, showed real estate values in Dubai rose 2.44 percent in November compared to the previous month.

On an annual basis, REIDIN said prices have increased 22.4 percent.

Apartment sales prices registered an increase in November of 2.90 percent month-on-month and were up by 24.5 percent on an annual basis, the index showed.

 

 

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-property-prices-show-annual-rise-of-22-4–532866.html

Real estate prices in Ukraine will go down soon | South Salem NY Homes

Leave a reply

A gradual decline of price growth rate in the residential real estate is to be expected in Ukraine in the near future with possible further decrease of the prices, said the director of SHM Smith Hodgkinson Dmitry Selivanov at a press-conference in Kiev, a REGNUM correspondent reports.

According to the expert, processes which are taking place in Ukraine now, have already taken place in the Baltic countries in due time, where real estate prices reached their ceiling, stopped, and then went down by 10-20%. “We will see the same processes in Ukraine within the following year too. It concerns both Kiev and other big cities, where real estate makes profit,” said the expert and added that everything would depend on stability of the macroeconomic situation in the country and on inflation rates.

The reason of the prices going down, the expert believes, is the too overstated price for real estate. “Because, now many apartments are used not on purpose, not as a residential place, but as an object for investing. Rather than investing in banks or bond-like papers, Ukrainians invest  in the real estate,” Selivanov marked. He also expressed an opinion that most perspective for building in Kiev today is the territory of the left bank and in the suburbs, which is caused by a coming transport collapse on the right bank.

 

http://regnum.ru/english/1004619.html

 

Should You Invest in Residential Real Estate? | Waccabuc NY Homes

Leave a reply

We saw what was probably the biggest real estate  bubble in American history just recently, when housing prices topped out somewhere in 2006 or 2007.

We then saw a major bust, the beginning of which actually preceded a bust of the entire economy.

Of course, we have to remember that real estate is a local issue. A few parts of the country didn’t see a housing boom, and some parts, such as New York City, didn’t really see a bust. In general, however, we saw a big boom followed by a big bust.

After housing prices bottomed somewhere around 2011, we have seen them climb quite significantly, though still not to the levels we saw in 2006 in most places.

Different Points of View

There are differing points of view on where real estate is headed, even by advocates of the free market.

Some people think we are in another bubble that will pop again. They point to the fact that the housing market is being propped up by low interest rates, a loose monetary policy by the Fed, and bank bailouts.

While these things are certainly true and they do prop up real estate prices, what’s to say it can’t go on for a while longer?

Other people think that real estate prices will continue to go up and maybe even enter a new bubble at some point, while maintaining that it is not a bubble yet. They correctly point to Federal Reserve inflation.

When there is high inflation, investors look for hard assets. You can’t get more of a hard asset than real estate. So if you expect inflation to continue to get worse, real estate is something to seriously consider.

 

 

http://wallstreetsectorselector.com/2013/12/invest-residential-real-estate/

San Francisco real estate boom | Cross River NY Homes

Leave a reply

“December feels slightly break-neck. There are fewer deals to be had but we are seeing substantial overbidding,” said Blase.

 

“It is wonderful for a real estate agent. It can be tough for my buyers.”

According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, buying a house in San Francisco costs 52.8 percent more than in March 2009, at the bottom of the real estate collapse.

 

The average price rise in major U.S. cities during the same period is 18.3 percent. The median U.S. home price is $169,000, according to RealtyTrac. In San Francisco, it’s up to more than $900,000.

 

That has sparked protests by San Franciscans who say well paid tech workers are pushing others out of their homes.

 

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has been a target of the protestors. Not everyone approved of the tax breaks he offered Twitter to move some 800 workers into a headquarters building near the city center.

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-francisco-real-estate-boom-taller-buildings-steeper-prices/

Home sales leveling off | Katonah NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy existing homes in November
was essentially unchanged from October, suggesting sales are stabilizing after
several months of declines.

The National Association of Realtors said
Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index ticked up to 101.7
from 101.5 in October. The October figure was revised lower from an initial
reading of 102.1.

Higher mortgage rates and strong price gains over the
past two years have slowed sales. The pending home sales index had fallen for
five straight months before November. And completed sales of existing homes fell
for three straight months, the Realtors said earlier this month. There is
generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed
sale.

“Bottom line, it’s clear that the rise in mortgage rates slowed
the pace of improvement in the housing market in addition to double digit price
increases and tough lending standards, which have put a pause particularly on
those buying a home with a mortgage,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst
with The Lindsey Group, in a research note.

The average interest rate on
a 30-year mortgage edged higher to 4.48 percent last week, from 4.47 percent the
previous week. Rates jumped about 1.25 percentage points from May through
September, peaking at 4.6 percent.

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-sales-leveling-off/