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SOURCE Prudential Douglas Elliman

Condo at The Plaza Sold for $48 Million

NEW YORK, March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Prudential Douglas Elliman is pleased to announce the closing of a $48 million condominium at The Plaza, which sets a record for the highest single condo sale in New York City. Lisa Simonsen, Senior Vice President at Prudential Douglas Elliman, represented both sides in the record-breaking deal.

“We are so proud of Lisa Simonsen whose hard work and impeccable level of service have been instrumental in completing this sale,” said Dottie Herman, President & CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman. “We are thrilled to have her representing our company.”

The 6,000 square-foot property provides magnificent views of both Central Park and Fifth Avenue. Multiple units were combined and renovated to create the impressive 12th floor condo, which includes 5 bedrooms. Offering the highest quality in luxury conveniences and design, the space is truly one-of-a-kind. The historic sale was completed within a matter of weeks.

About Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate

Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate is New York's largest residential brokerage, with over 60 offices in New York City, Long Island, the Hamptons and Westchester/Putnam, more than 3,800 real estate agents and a network of national and international affiliates. Prudential Douglas Elliman ranked in the top four of all real estate companies in the nation in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services, including Manhattan's largest residential property manager, Douglas Elliman Property Management, as well as PDE Title and DE Capital Mortgage. For more information on Prudential Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, visit the Prudential Douglas Elliman site at www.elliman.com.

©2011 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

Geothermal systems do not cost more to install initially from the point duct system requirements. ALL HVAC systems [forced air] need to be designed to carry the amount of air required to operate efficiently and at maximum capacity. Generally, this is 400 CFM per ton of refrigeration capacity. A 3 ton air source system requires the same amount of air flow as a 3 ton geothermal system. Therefore, there is no difference in the initial install costs between the two.

 

Where the duct system cost vaires is the system design. A box and flex duct system is cheaper to install since the sheet metal used is reduced. Sheet metal duct systems require more time to fabricate and install, therefore it simply costs more. A box and flex system, sized and installed correctly will perform correctly and efficiently. But it is not as durable as a sheet metal system. Basically, it is a trade off. Sheet metal is more durable and will typically last forever, flexible duct typically does not. Sheet metal is easier to clean whereas flexible duct is easily damaged during cleaning. This is a basic senario and complex designs definitely affect install costs.

Where the geothermal system install costs come into play is the equipment costs and loop installation. Geothermal systems simply cost more to manufacturer. The loop systems require more labor to install versus running copper lines to connect standard air source systems.  Loop systems, either high density poly [HDP] for water source systems or copper loops for DX systems require excavation or drilling. This is another initial install cost. Typically, HDP requires more linear footage than copper loops since copper is 400% more conductive than plastic. So in theroy, less excavation or drilling is required to install DX systems. This however comes at a price…copper is expensive. So there is a balance there between the initall install costs of each system. Only the bidding contractors can determine what this will be.

Since more labor is required to install geothermal systems, this also affects the initial install cost. Labor rates vary nation wide, so don't expect labor to install a system in Georgia to be the same in California. This is simply a regional cost that varies from state to state. Drilling and excavation costs follow the same path.

A HVAC companies operating costs will vary also. Fuel costs vary from state to state. Insurance [vehicle, liability, health, workmans compensation] all vary from state to state. All these items affect the bottom like…consumer cost.

The HVAC industry has undergone drastic changes in recent years. Nearly every component used to install a HVAC system has experienced price increases. Code changes now require higher efficiency systems, greater insulation values on the duct systems and a host of other items that affect the bottom line. Refrigerant prices continue to rise. So does fuel costs, labor rates, operating costs, etc.

In sumary, don't expect to get the same install costs from one state or region to the next…it won't happen.

Now, is a geothermal system worth the additional cost? What is comfort and efficiency worth to you? I have never gotten an answer to that question. There are a number of things to consider.

Typically, a geothermal system will have a payback period of 5-7 years between the cost of installing a high efficiency air source system versus a geothermal system. If you are going to install a geothermal system and move from the home within that time frame, you probably will not experience any energy savings. Now consider that the national life expectancy of an air source system is 10-14 years before the system will have to be replaced. This is an important fact to consider. Geothermal systems typically have more than a 30-year life expectancy.

Lets say that a geothermal system costs $20K to install versus $10K for an air source system. Given current prices and inflation, replacement cost of the system could easily reach 75% if the initial installation costs. Therefore, the air source system would require an investment of $17,500 during the first 10-14 years of the systems life. Given this, you would have to save $2,500 in energy costs alone during the first 14-years of the systems life to equal the initial investment cost. Is this possible…its more than probable! That amounts to less than $15 per month! It is well known that geothermal systems are the most efficient operating systems on the market today.

Now consider the effects of installing a geothermal system. These facts can be found on the geoexchange website.

1. There are around 1,000,000 geoexchange systems installed in the US to date saving more than 21,000,000 barrels of crude oil each year!
2. Installing a geothermal system has the same effect on the environment in greenhouse gas emission reductions to equal planting an acre of trees! 
3. Replacing an existing fossil fuel burning appliance further reduces Co2 emissions and reduces our dependancy on foreign crude increasing our national security.
4. Reduces the energy requirements on our power grids, which are already greatly over loaded as evident by rolling black outs.

These are just a few of the many benefits of geothermal systems. Now, do these systems make since?  

Pound Rige NY Homes

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February 28, 2011

The 411 on Facebook Insights

You've heard everyone is on Facebook, so you created a Facebook page for your business.  Welcome to the club! You also might be social sharing your emails and getting "Likes". Now what? Wondering if there's any value in it? Wondering how to figure out if it's successful? The fine folks at Facebook thought you might be, so they have a handy tool called Facebook Insights.

According to Facebook, “Insights provides Facebook Page owners with metrics around their content. By understanding and analyzing trends within user growth and demographics, consumption of content, and creation of content, Page owners are better equipped to improve their business with Facebook.” And Insights is free for all Facebook Pages. Great!

To see metrics on your Facebook Page, go to the Insights Dashboard. Only Page administrators, application owners, and domain administrators can view Insights data for the properties they own or administer. To view comprehensive Insights on your specific Page, click on the corresponding item on the left navigation bar.

There are two kinds of Facebook Insights – Users and Interactions. They are explained below:

1. Users Insights: Total page Likes, or a number of fans, daily active users, new Likes/Unlikes, Like sources, demographics, page views and unique page views, tab views, external referrers, media consumption.
2. Interactions Insights: Daily story feedback (post Likes, post comments, per post impressions), daily page activity (mentions, discussions, reviews, wall posts, video posts).

Data is aggregated on a daily basis and is made available within 24 hours after the full day is complete.

So, wondering where to begin? You might not even be sure. Here's what I recommend to get started:

First, start by looking at the number of Likes or Comments you get. If you know the number of times people interact with each of your posts, you can find out what interests them most. Watch for unusual blips or drops in this number. This metric is really helpful in choosing what content to post. The more Likes and Comments a post gets, the more highly engaged your fans are.

Next, record the number of fans (or “Likers”) you have and keep track of how it grows. If you see blips or drop offs, investigate further, otherwise you should see steady growth over time (but you have to be engaging to do this).

I also look at demographics because they provide me with the gender, ages and where our fans are from. Neat, eh?

Lastly, I look at Page Views because it shows how many of your fans are return to your page. By doing a little simple math you can subtract the number of unique page views from your total number of page views and you will see how many of your fans are actually coming back to your page! Cool!

You can get a ton of data and insight from Facebook Insights so spend some time with it and see what your fans respond to and give 'em more of it!

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Hi! Thanks for this info, we've been trying to monitor activity on our facebook page, but we get no stats. I've since found out that you need to have 30 or more 'likes' before facebook will give you any data in the 'insights' tab – might be worth mentioning for others in the same position.

Heather

Posted by: Heather Robinson | March 04, 2011 at 03:11 AM

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A linchpin hierarchy

1. Do exactly what the boss says.
2. Ask the boss hard questions.
3. Tell the boss what your best choice among the available options is. Insist.
4. Have co-workers and bosses ask you hard questions.
5. Invent a whole new way to do things, something that wasn't on the list.
6. Push and encourage and lead your co-workers to do ever better work.
7. Insist that they push and encourage you.

Posted by Seth Godin on February 26, 2011 | Permalink

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