Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Median Days on the Market Down to 62 Days in March | Armonk NY Homes

Tight inventory has led to shorter time on the market. The median days on the market fell to 62 days in March (74 in February). Short sales had the longest days on market at 81 days (101 days in February), while foreclosures were on the market for 46 days (52 days in February). The median days on the market for non-distressed properties was 66 days (77 days in February). This based on information in the March REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) Survey.

http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org

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Home prices near new peaks in many markets | Armonk NY Real Estate

Home prices in 10% of the nation’s top 200 housing markets have recently hit new peaks or are only a hair away, new data show.

Another 24 of the top markets are within 5% of their previous peaks, according to data provided to USA TODAY by real estate tracker Lender Processing Services.

Many of those cities are likely to hit new peaks this year, economists say, given projections for continued price increases.

The data show how far prices in many cities have rebounded since the historic housing bust after mid-2006 — and how far they still have to go in most cities. The figures also underscore the uneven impact of the housing bubble, and then bust, in different regions.

Dozens of markets where prices peaked in 2006 or earlier are still 25% to 58% below those plateaus, LPS says.

Many cities now at or close to previous highs never saw the price run-ups leading up to the bust that others did. They didn’t drop as far, so they have less of a climb back.

Of the cities within 5% of their previous peaks, none saw more than an 11% decline in home values from mid-2006 to the market’s bottom in early 2012, LPS data shows. Nationally, prices fell almost 28% during that time.

http://www.usatoday.com/story

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The Role of Color in Marketing | Armonk NY Realtor

Use the right colors to increase brand recognition and drive purchasing.

It’s more important than ever for brands to project their value. Marketers in general understand the need for consistency in color and design. But it’s also vital to move beyond the standard logo and tagline and take a holistic approach to evoking emotions among potential customers across all of your marketing channels — including social media sites. You can use color to your advantage.

Color is a form of non-verbal communication and an important part of our daily lives. The underlying emotions that colors evoke have been cultivated since birth and vary depending on age, geographic location, and gender (e.g. blue for boys, pink for girls). Color affects our moods and feelings, and research suggests that it has a physical effect as well, influencing the hormones that control our emotions. Applying color theory is one of the most powerful methods of creating customer appeal.

Why do you feel like clicking and browsing on some websites and not others? What makes you feel like purchasing from one online merchant vs. another? Could it be because of your emotional responses to their color palettes? Choosing the right color scheme is crucial to how your brand is viewed.

Studies have shown that color:
- Increases brand recognition by up to 80%
- Improves readership as much as 40%
- Increases comprehension by 73%
- Can be up to 85% of the reason people decide to buy
Some brands become so closely associated with their color schemes that we recognize them even when their company names aren’t visible. Use the two infographics below as guides to creating your online identity.

http://www.pamorama.net/2013/04/21

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We Now Watch 6 Billion Hours of Content A Month on YouTube | Armonk NY Realtor

YouTube, which is putting on the best face it can during this week’s NewFronts, slipped in an amazing statistic during their announcement of Dreamworks’ acquisition of AwesomenessTV, a network that reaches 14 million subscribers over 55,000 YouTube channels. Earthlings now watch YouTube to the tune of 6 billion hours a month. That’s a 50 percent increase year-over-year. And, they are citing a conclusion from Nielsen that YouTube reaches more people in the 18-34 demographic than any cable network. That’s some kind of reach.

YouTube: 6 Billion Hours And Counting

As YouTube points out, 6 billion hours in a month is almost an hour for every person who lives on Earth. Of course, it’s not nearly like that…it is a bunch of people, a little over a billion unique visitors, watching hours of content every month. The figure was at 4 billion hours, and now it’s at 6 billion…a 50 percent increase. That’s just mind-blowing. But it also shows that YouTube has been hard at work finding people everywhere they go, increasing its reach in different countries (70 percent of its traffic comes outside the U.S.) and on almost every device you can think of.

I’m wondering if this time next year, we’ll be talking about 9 billion hours a month. It was impressive when it was 4 billion. Just imagine it being more than twice that next year.

Source: We Now Watch 6 Billion Hours of Content A Month on YouTube http://www.reelseo.com/we-watch-6-billion-hours-content-a-month-youtube/#ixzz2SFQPoDWc

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U.S. home prices keep rising, but homeownership is down | Armonk NY Real Estate

Armonk NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

U.S. home prices keep rising, but homeownership is down | Armonk NY Real Estate – Robert Paul’s blog | Bedford NY Real Estate.

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Country Legend George Jones’ Estate on the Market for $8 Million | Armonk Homes

If a good country song tells a story, then George Jones was a master storyteller.

The Country Music Hall of Famer, who passed away April 26 at age 81, spun tales both comical and heart-breaking — from his autobiographical drinking-gone-awry hit “Honky Tonk Song” to the emotionally charged ballad “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” regarded by many to be the greatest country music recording of all time.

Unfortunately, the story of selling Jones’ Franklin, TN estate could be a song in its own right.

First listed for $15 million in March 2011, the 80-acre property at 4025 Nestledown Dr, Franklin, TN 37067 has received a series of price cuts since hitting the market. Jones and his wife even tried dividing the property into five parcels and putting it up for auction, but total bids only reached the $2 million mark, and the couple declined. The price was dropped in late March to its current $8 million — 500 percent more expensive per square foot than a middle-of-the-road Franklin home.

The equestrian estate was built in 1993 and boasts immaculate green pastures, with a 9,704-square-foot main house and several outbuildings. Showcasing its Tennessee character, the 4-bedroom, 7.5-bath mansion also features a grand entryway, long porch and even a personal barber shop.

The for-sale listing for Jones’ longtime residence is held by Bailey & Ivey.

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Inbound Marketing | Difference Between Tactics and Strategy | Armonk Realtor

Every marketer wants to open up the inbound marketing floodgates, or so they think. But, when you get down to doing inbound marketing what is tactical and what is strategic? This really begs the question: which inbound marketing tactics can you do relatively quickly and without too much effort versus those that require more effort but offer long term results potential?

Our parents taught us that anything worth doing is worth doing right. We were taught “if _____ was easy everyone would do it.” By no means am I suggesting that inbound marketing is easy. But, let’s look at some inbound marketing activities that might be considered tactical and those considered strategic.

Tactical Inbound Marketing

Pay-per-Click Advertising (PPC)

Some call this SEM. This involves setting up search marketing campaigns in Google Adwords or Bing whereby your ads are displayed for certain keywords for which you bid an amount you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Setting up one or two campaigns properly takes a matter of hours. Getting Google or Bing to approve them also takes hours. Generally within a day or two you can have a few PPC campaigns up and running. Some will argue that PPC is strategic. For those brands that make a serious commitment to PPC with ongoing monitoring and optimization it can be strategic. That said, PPC campaigns could be turned on and off based on need and budget.

Optimizing Current Your Website

Undergoing an “on page” optimization exercise of your existing website content is also tactical because it is focused on the existing content. Depending on the size of your website the effort may take days, or weeks or even months. The result may be improved discoverability of some of your website’s pages in search results, which could result in more traffic to your website.

via findandconvert.com

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How to Target Facebook Ads Based on Purchase History, Lifestyles and More | Armonk Realtor

via socialmediaexaminer.com

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Bank-owned homes are back on the market | Armonk NY Real Estate

A new article from NaplesNews.com reports that banks are no longer holding onto distressed properties.

Instead, economists quoted in the article are backtracking on previous forecasts suggesting that banks will continue to sit on inventory.

The report says banks are now quick to increase their foreclosure filings and launch short sales and other property disposition actions when appropriate.

The report attributes the increase in inventory movement to the national mortgage servicing settlement with attorneys general in 2012, which kick-started the process.

via housingwire.com

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Pet Wars: Apartments Strike Back | Armonk Real Estate

Apartment owners and managers are fighting tooth and claw to dispel the myth that multifamily living is unfriendly to pets, a longstanding motivation that has driven pet-lovers to become homeowners.

A recent Apartments.com survey, released a week before National Pet Week, fund that 75 percent of renters surveyed today are pet owners, compared to 43 percent in 2012.

Half of the pet-loving renters surveyed by Apartments.com would like to believe their fellow apartment residents also adore their four-legged companions. Fortunately, it turns out they are not far off, as nearly 60 percent of renters who do not own pets said they still enjoy living around others with pets.

“Nearly 80 percent of our survey respondents live in a pet-friendly building, indicating both landlords and residents without pets are increasingly recognizing that pet owners are, for the most part, responsible and respectful neighbors,” said Tammy Kotula, public relations and promotions manager, Apartments.com. “However, more than 60 percent of the renters also said they faced some level of difficulty in finding accommodations for them and their pets. Fortunately, renters can tailor search results to only show apartments that allow their beloved furry friends on websites such as Apartments.com.”

via realestateeconomywatch.com

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