Daily Archives: October 9, 2014

Mortgage rates drop near yearly lows | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Mortgage rates slightly fell back down following the Federal Reserve’s latest tapering announcement, dropping down near their yearly lows, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market survey results showed.

The 30-year, fixed rate mortgage declined from 4.19% last week to 4.12% and is significantly down from 4.23% a year ago.

In addition, the 15-year, FRM decreased to 3.30% after remaining frozen at 3.36% a week ago. This is close to 2013’s 15-year, FRM of 3.31%.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate-mortgage averaged 3.05%, compared to 3.06% a week prior and 3.05% a year ago.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM stayed unchanged at 2.42%. This is down from 2.64% last year.

“Fixed mortgage rates were down on a week filled with bleak forward projections from the Federal Reserve and concern over growth in Europe. Despite gloomy vernacular from the Fed, mortgage purchase applications were up 2% on the week and the labor market added 248,000 jobs, beating expectations and lowering headline unemployment to 5.9%,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac.

Bankrate reported similar results, with the 30-year, FRM dropping to 4.18% from 4.27% a year ago.

The 15-year, FRM fell to 3.37%, down from 3.44% a week ago, while the 5/1 ARM declined to 3.27%, down from 3.29% a week prior.

“Continued nervousness about slower growth in the global economy proved to be good news for mortgage rates, with mortgage rates pulling back to the lowest level since June 2013. This also takes mortgage rates out of the narrow band of approximately one-tenth of a percentage point that had prevailed since mid-May,” Bankrate said in a press release.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31660-freddie-mac-mortgage-rates-drop-near-yearly-lows

 

Farmers Market | Bedford Real Estate

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Nearly Forgotten Native Paw Paw Fruit Makes NYC Market Debut;
Taliaferro Farm Brings Cranberry Bean Harvest to Ossining;
Autumn Offers Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Apples, Squash + MORE


October 9th-15th, 2014

DowntoEarthMarkets.com
CauliflowerandCarrots_VeronicaLPhoto_1408
What’s New, In Season, and On Sale This Week
Apple, Pear, & Pumpkin Butters
All made with local fruit

Meredith’s Bread

Baby Carrots
Taliaferro Farm

Beef Hand Pies
Stone & Thistle Farm

Brussels Sprouts
Newgate Farms

Butternut Squash Ravioli
Made with sage pasta; sage from Newgate Farms

Trotta Foods

Cranberry Beans
Taliaferro Farm

Frozen Kofta, Rajma,
Roti Roll, Saag, & Samosa

Bombay Emerald Chutney Co.

Golden Beets
Taliaferro Farm

Heirloom Cauliflower
John D. Madura Farms

Jerusalem Artichokes
Dagele Brothers Produce

Lamb – New Cuts
Stone & Thistle Farm

Pate de Campagne
Stone & Thistle Farm


Pumpkin Pie
Meredith’s Bread

Pumpkin Ravioli
With Pumpkin from Newgate Farms

Trotta Foods

Sweet Potato Pie
Meredith’s Bread


Click on a Market to see all vendor and event details…                  

Westchester
County

Rockland
County

Ossining

Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm

ALL YEAR AROUND

Larchmont

Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm

Through Dec. 13th

Piermont

Sundays
9:30 am-3:00 pm

Through Nov. 23rd

Croton-on-Hudson

Sundays
9:00 am-2:00 pm

Through Nov. 23rd


Rye

Sundays
8:30 am-2:00 pm

EXTENDED!
NOW through Dec. 21st

Spring Valley

Wednesdays
8:30 am-3:00 pm

Through Nov. 19th


Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow

Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm

Through Nov. 22nd

New Rochelle

Fridays
8:30 am-2:30 pm

Through Nov. 21st


Headed to the city soon?

Visit a Down to Earth
Farmers Market in NYC!

Announcements
Ossining

In celebration of the effort to Bring Your Own Bag to the market – BYOBag – Mead Orchards is offering a FREE reusable bag with all purchases of $5 or more.
We thank all the vendors – and shoppers! – for helping the Ossining market eliminate plastic shopping bags.

For additional events, visit our Down to Earth Markets Event Calendar.

Stay tuned to all market happenings via our Down to Earth Markets Facebook page
and follow us on Instagram and on Twitter @DowntoEarthMkts.

Eat as Thomas Jefferson Ate a.k.a. It’s Paw Paw Season
pawpaw
The Paw Paw – Outside & In

A few weeks ago, a man named Dan Frampton came to our office for his appointment to discuss becoming a vendor with Down to Earth Markets. [Nothing unusual there.]

We welcomed him in, and he placed a box of his product on the meeting table and opened it. [This has happened before, too.]

Yet what he placed before us was a brand new sight: Paw paw fruit.

If it were 200 years ago, and Dan had walked into Thomas Jefferson’s office or Lewis and Clark’s campsite, he would have shown them a fruit that they – like most people then – ate regularly. Today, however, the paw paw is a nearly forgotten fruit.

It’s native to the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern areas of the United States. It’s a member of the Annonaceae family of plants, a.k.a. the custard apple family, best known for magnolias and other trees that enjoy the tropics. According to an NPR report, the paw paw tree is the “only temperate member” of this tropical family of trees. According to Merriam-Webster, the name paw paw is “probably a modification” of the Spanish word papaya. Indeed, we’re talking about close fruit cousins.

The paw paw is about the size of a potato and ranges in color from yellow to green. On the inside, its yellow flesh is smooth and custard-like with big brown seeds. It has a short season of ripeness – just a few weeks – and when it’s ripe, it’s creamy and sweet. Some people say it has “melon undertones”. One of paw paw’s nicknames is the Indiana Banana.It’s kind of like a papaya banana mango melon.

Dan is working with a farmer who grows paw paws on a 200 acre farm in Wallkill, New York. He says it’s “super easy” to grow paw paws, as bugs “don’t really care for it.” They didn’t need pesticides in the growing process. Dan went on to explain that the paw paw is the “the gold standard for fruit protein.” To support his words, the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program has written that paw paws have more proteins than bananas, as well as three times the amount of vitamin C than apples.

So how could a native American fruit that tastes like a tropical, is easy to grow, and full of health benefits almost disappear? According to Dan, “We don’t like less than perfect fruits” and the paw paw bruises easily. Over the past couple of generations, we’ve come to think that fruit should be unblemished. It arrives in the conventional grocery store in perfect shape, despite having traveled for thousands of miles. The paw paw, however, doesn’t pretty up after a long trip, so they fell out of favor. Paw paws are best served local.

Slow Food USA lists the paw paw in its Ark of Taste, the “living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction.” So here’s a fun challenge: Let’s bring back the paw paw. Down to Earth Markets been a venue for up-and-starting food entrepreneurs for years, but in this case, the new food company is serving a fruit that has been on this land for centuries. If you’re in the city this weekend, find Dan under his Paw Pawlicious tent at our farmers markets in Morningside Park and Park Slope – and let us know if you believe there’s a paw paw Renaissance to come!

Rotating* Vendors This Week
*Vendors who rotate through various markets during the season.
They enjoy getting to know many communities, and here’s where to find them this week:

Larchmont – Saturday, Oct. 11th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Flourish Baking Company
Hudson River Apiaries
Maupston Design Studio (Handspun yarns & roving)
Pie Lady & Son
Robinson & Co. Catering (British-inspired, locally-sourced prepared foods)
Samosa Shack
Trotta Foods

Ossining – Saturday, Oct. 11th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Hudson River Apiaries

Croton-on-Hudson – Sunday, Oct. 12th

The Peanut Principle (Gourmet nut & seed butters)
Trotta Foods (Locally-sourced Italian specialties)

Piermont – Sunday, Oct. 12th

e-Desserts
Taiim Falafel Shack

Rye – Sunday, Oct. 12th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Kontoulis Family Olive Oil
**NEW TO MARKET!** – French Press Cafe Hastings (freshly-prepared crepes)
Tuthilltown Spirits Farm Distillery

Down to Earth Markets 173 Main Street Ossining, NY 10562 Phone: 914-923-4837
DowntoEarthMarkets.com

Bedford Hills Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty To Rape

 

Richard Rodriguez, a former Bedford Hills corrections officer, has pleaded guilty to rape, according to a release from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

Rodriguez has pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree rape, a class E felony.

While on duty at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, on Dec. 23, 2013, Rodriguez engaged in sexual intercourse with an inmate who was incapable of consent because she was committed to the care and custody and supervision of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and the defendant was at the time an employee, the release said.

The state Inspector General’s Office and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision contacted the New York State Police regarding the incident in February, according to the release.

The Inspector General’s Office. the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the state police and the Sex Crimes Bureau of the District Attorney’s Office investigated the allegations, the release said.

 

read more…

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/bedford-hills-corrections-officer-pleads-guilty-rape

Plan For Bedford Playhouse, Seeks Celebrities’ Backing | Bedford Corners Real Estate

 

The man behind a proposal to turn the Bedford Playhouse into a non-profit theater discussed his plan at the Bedford Town Board meeting on Tuesday and outlined a tentative time table, a meeting video shows.

It was mentioned that the idea was because Bow Tie Cinemas, the current theater tenant, is not renewing its lease that expires at the end of the year.

Discussion begins in the video shortly after the 12-minute mark.

John Farr, who commissioned an online survey to gauge public support, shared the results. The data, which were included in the board’s meeting packet, show that there were 785 responses as of Oct. 2, with 88 percent in favor, 9 percent undecided and just 2 percent against.

Farr was pleased with the feedback.

“That’s pretty astonishing,” he told the board.

However, Farr brought up a challenge, which is the survey showing that most respondents would be willing to contribute on the lower end towards memberships. The results show that 62 percent would only give $100 to $250 while just 1 percent would give more than $5,000. The remainder would give various amounts in between.

“That’s not going to do it,” Farr told the board, but explained that situation is not unusual.

Farr also told the Town Board that he is seeking support from deep-pocketed supports and celebrities – he mentioned Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart and George Soros as hypothetical examples – and would like to arrange a meeting with them or their representatives.

Aside from memberships, Farr mentioned the importance of events for a non-profit model. However, he cited the current 2-screen arrangement of the Playhouse as a problem, noting their 18-foot widths. As a solution, Farr suggested a renovation to restore the Playhouse to a single-screen theater.

 

 

read more….

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/farr-talks-plan-bedford-playhouse-seeks-celebrities-backing

Real Life Wolf of Wall Street Character Lists Home for $44M | Chappaqua Real Estate

The real life version of one of the human personifications of the word “douchebag” from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street has put his two-story Tribeca maisonette on the market and it is just the worst thing you can possibly imagine.

Alan Wilzig, who is described by The Real Deal as an “entrepreneur and semi-professional race car driver,” was the character in the Martin Scorsese film who showed up to a party and introduced Leonardo DiCaprio’s character to his future wife. Wilzig later took to Facebook (again, in the words of the The Real Deal) to “[criticize] Scorsese for leaving out the fact that Wilzig had arrived at the party in his red Ferrari Testarossa.” Taking that into account, the listing makes perfect sense — it seems about 20 percent invested in displaying the apartment to prospective buyers and 80 percent invested in showing off his huge collection of motorcycles and multi-colored lightbulbs. The whole place looks like it was designed by a spoiled six-year-old.

Wilzig is asking $43.5 million. Good. Luck.

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/08/real_life_wolf_of_wall_street_character_lists_home_for_44m.php

TransUnion: Youth, older both see loan growth | Armonk Real Estate

 

A new TransUnion study found that the consumer loan wallet – the composition of loans that people typically carry – has materially changed for both the youngest and oldest segments of the population during the last decade.

The study found that student loans have left the greatest imprint on those consumers ages 20-29, with their share of the consumer wallet nearly tripling in the last nine years. In 2005, student loans made up 12.9% of the total loan balance share for this age group. This percentage increased to 21.1% in 2009 and surged to 36.8% in 2014. For the purposes of this study, all yearly data points reflect data as of March 31 of each year.

The consumer loan wallet is defined by breaking down the average total borrowing of consumers in different age tiers by the average percentage of that total balance in each loan type, including mortgage, auto, card, HELOC, student loan, and all other loan types.

“The mortgage crisis and recession had a profound impact on the country, with many consumers still feeling the effects today,” said Charlie Wise, vice president in TransUnion’s Innovative Solutions Group. “Interestingly, our study found that the recession has had a lasting impact on two disparate groups – those consumers in their 20s and those ages 60 or higher – though in very different ways. While these groups differ greatly in their borrowing levels and wallet share compositions, we also believe their borrowing and wallet shares were likely impacted by each other. With unemployment rates remaining high for a prolonged period during the last six years, 20-somethings likely looked to their parents, grandparents, and other more financially established family and friends for financial support.”

 

 

read more…..

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31651-debt-among-youngest-oldest-shifted-dramatically-in-past-decade

Highest level of home equity loans since June 2009 | #MtKisco Real Estate

 

A total of 797,865 home equity lines of credit were originated nationwide, up 20.6% from a year ago and the highest level since the 12 months ending June 2009, according to RealtyTrac.

The report also shows HELOC originations accounted for 15.4% of all loan originations nationwide during the first eight months of 2014, the highest percentage since 2008.

“This recent rise in HELOC originations indicates that an increasing number of homeowners are gaining confidence in the strength of the housing recovery and, more importantly, have regained much of their home equity lost during the housing crisis,” said Daren Blomquist. “Nearly 10 million homeowners nationwide, representing 19% of all homeowners with a mortgage, now have at least 50% equity in their homes, according to RealtyTrac data. Meanwhile the percentage of homeowners with severe negative equity has decreased from 29% in the second quarter of 2012 to 17% in the second quarter of this year.

“The rise in HELOCs also reflects a natural evolution for a lending industry looking for products they can offer to homeowners who have already refinanced their first position loan into a low fixed rate,” Blomquist added. “A HELOC enables homeowners to leverage additional equity they may have gained since refinancing while still preserving the rock-bottom interest rate on their first position loan.”

Among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas with HELOC data available, 49 posted year-over-year increases in HELOC originations in the 12 months ending in June 2014. The only metro area with a decrease was Rochester, N.Y., where HELOC originations decreased 1%.

Metro areas with the biggest year-over-year increase in HELOC originations were Riverside-San Bernardino in Southern California (87.7% increase), Las Vegas (85.1% increase), Cincinnati (81.0% increase), Sacramento (65.1% increase), and Phoenix (60.1% increase).

Major metros with the smallest increases in HELOC originations from a year ago were Minneapolis-St. Paul (0.2% increase), Louisville, Ky., (3.3% increase), Philadelphia (3.6% increase), Virginia Beach (4.3% increase), and St. Louis (5.6% increase).

Despite the year-over-year increases, HELOC originations were well below their peaks from the previous housing boom. Nationwide, the 797,865 HELOC originations in the 12 months ending in June 2014 were 313% below the previous peak of 3,299,007 in the 12 months ending June 2006. The 15.4% share of HELOCs year-to-date nationwide was also below the 24.7% share in 2005.

HELOC originations were below their previous peaks in 49 out of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas. The only exception was Pittsburgh, where HELOC originations reached a new peak in the 12 months ending in June 2014.

Major metro areas with the biggest decrease in HELOC originations in 2014 compared to their previous peaks were Riverside-San Bernardino (down 1324.9%), Las Vegas (down 1307.3%), Miami (down 1228.3%), Tucson, Ariz., (down 1214.0%), and Orlando (down 1177.6%).

 

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31650-credit-nation-helocs-up-206-year-over-year

Why the $12 billion real estate ad market is ripe for disruption | North Salem Realtor

 

In general, measuring your return on investment (ROI) with real estate marketing is very difficult, but in a world where analytics reign supreme among marketers, real estate is ripe for disruption.

Real estate agents should no longer accept paying lump sums of money in hopes of farming more leads. The reality is that the quality of leads is decreasing online as more people search for homes on the Internet and fewer people actually buy homes. Therefore, agents need to be careful where they spend their money and start demanding performance-based marketing from advertising companies. Paying for advertising that consumers actually click on or use should be the new standard in real estate.

Advertising image via Shutterstock.
Advertising image via Shutterstock.

Google has pioneered performance-based marketing with its AdWords product, while also making it one of the most successful and profitable products ever. The reason AdWords became so successful was because marketers could systematically measure their return on investment. Marketers built trust with Google and therefore were willing to spend a bigger portion of their ad budget there.

Why should real estate be different from other industries? It seems more logical to pay for what people actually click on or see, but from the majority of what is offered to agents this is simply not the case. Performance-based marketing helps both advertising companies and agents make better decisions, as it makes both parties more successful. Customers who find success with your product and can effectively measure their return on investment make for far better customer relations and retention. To me, this is just good business.

Going forward as real estate become more data-driven from finding the right house to home improvement, systematically calculating a return on investment will become the new standard. Companies that adapt this new metric will excel, and others that do not will slowly fade away.

To ensure your marketing spend is maximizing return on investment, here are three tips:

 1. Pay to play

Whether it is offline or online, there are a plethora of ways to track conversion. For example, use unique phone numbers on your next mailing to track how many calls you receive back. Do not spend marketing dollars on advertising that you cannot effectively track. You are simply throwing good money after bad, as metrics allow you to make better, more informed decisions.

 2. Leverage mobile marketing

It is no secret that the world is going mobile and that Apple has sold 10 million iPhone 6’s in its first weekend. The fact is that agents simply have to implement a mobile strategy. At Dizzle, we help agents effectively engage their sphere of influence with our apps and distribution channels. Analyzing end user engagement and conversion rates drives and evaluates our level of client success.

 

 

 

read more…..

 

http://www.inman.com/next/why-the-12-billion-real-estate-ad-market-is-ripe-for-disruption/

How high-cost housing conquered D.C. in a single decade | Waccabuc Real Estate

Back in 2005, before the new apartments went up in NoMa, and along 14th Street, and near the Nationals’ ballpark, there was more housing in D.C. renting for less than $500 a month than for more than $1,500*. In the decade since, fortunes at the top and bottom of the city’s housing market have swiftly flipped. By 2012, the most expensive rental units outnumbered the cheapest ones — by more than a three-to-one ratio.

The changing shape of the city’s housing over this short time reflects two powerful trends that are playing out in other big cities, too: Housing that was once more affordable has grown less so, while most of the new housing that’s been built has catered to wealthier (and newer) residents.

The below chart, from a stark new data visualization of the city’s housing market by the Urban Institute, tells the rental side of this story. It shows that, yes, the city has more rental housing today than a decade ago. But those gains have been to the benefit of people able to pay more than $1,000 a month for housing — and at the expense of residents who can only afford substantially less than that:

“We want to provide people with some context and some more hopefully objective information about the changes happening in the city, because everyone knows the city is changing — it’s very visible,” says Peter Tatian, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who worked on the project. “But people experience and perceive that change in different ways depending on their point of view.”

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/07/