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Pound Ridge NY Homes | May housing prices up slightly, but analysts say real recovery yet to be seen
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Daily Archives: July 26, 2011
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate | Proposed Citizens rate hikes could hurt housing market
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Chappaqua NY Real Estate | Ireland Weighs Debt Forgiveness in Europe’s Worst Housing Market
Mozart’s birthplace: Historic…
‘Smurfs’ premiere
Bay Area ice cream taste-off Musicians who died at age 27 Ice cream: Here’s the scoop on Bay… Mediterranean home in Oakland listed… My Ride: 2004 Mazda Miata Hawaii’s most dangerous spots (and… Stars shine at Miu Miu’s “Muta” show… Limelight Listing – Goldie Hawn and… Historic Queen Anne Victorian in Alameda Comic-Con International 2011 Best spots for sustainable seafood… Summer in Berlin: You could do wurst Katy Perry notches 9 MTV VMA Award… ‘Entourage’ premiere Bay Area women Dress For Success A look behind the scenes at Ferrari Buying Tips: Natural Anti-Aging Creams Buying Tips: Safe, Nontoxic Lipsticks How to Cut Your Gas Bill in Half
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Armonk NY Real Estate | Spring buying gives housing market temporary lift
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Armonk Restaurant Space Comes on the Market | Armonk NY Homes
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Restaurant FOR SALE
Sit down/Take out restaurant for sale in upscale, suburban Armonk, NY. Known location loved by locals. Great for gourmet shop, burgers, bagels, pizza, sushi, tex-mex, deli, Chinese, ice-cream, yogurt, etc. Reasonable rent. 10 years plus left on lease. All kitchen equipment, refrigerators, freezers, full exhaust system, computer register, chairs, tables included. 1,270 s/f. Indoor and outdoor seating. Open 7 days per week. For more information, call Andrew 203 391-6801.
Mt Kisco NY Homes | Demystifying HOA Fees and the Risk of Special Assessments
If the property you’re looking to buy has home owners association (HOA) fees, it’s essential that you understand where those fees are coming from, as well as their risk of increasing every year before you buy.
Formulation of the Fees
Every year, a home owners association (HOA) board of directors (BOD) prepares a community budget. That budget includes what the BOD will set as the current year total HOA fee per month, per unit. The composition of that fee is the first thing you’ll need to comprehend before you better understand fees increasing each year as well as the much loathed “special assessment.”
The monthly HOA fee has two parts to it, so for the sake of this exercise, let’s assume the total HOA fee is $300 per month per unit for a 100-unit community. Here are the calculations:
Current Year Operations Portion – $200 per month
The HOA collects fees from each of its units to pay for all the current year operations such as gardening, water, insurance, property management. The BOD forecasts forward that this year it will cost $240,000 to pay for all current year operating expenses. Since there are 100 units, we divide the $240,000 by 100 units to get $2,400 per year per unit or $200 per unit per month for operations.
Current Year Reserves Portion for Long Capital Items – $100 per month
The HOA also has to save money over time for long-term repairs and replacements, such as roofs, roads and parking lots. To understand how much they have to save, they have, or should have, an outside expert do a “reserve study.” The reserve study expert makes a 20-year +/- schedule of when HOA assets will need to be repaired and how much they will cost.
The reserve expert calculates an annual amount needed for those long-term repairs. Therefore, through the HOA fee, owners are putting money away each year to pay for those repairs. This money accumulates into “reserves” so that the HOA can pay cash for large-item repairs when they come due. This helps avoid special assessments because the HOA has the money on hand to pay for these capital items.
In our example, the reserve study specialist determined that owners should be putting away an additional $120,000 per year going forward or $1,200 per unit per year or $100 per month per unit owner.
Thus, $200 for current year operations and $100 to put away additional funds, totaling the $300 HOA fee per month, per unit.
As long as the HOA board makes perfect predictions, and the reserve study expert’s estimates are 100 percent accurate, the HOA will pay all the current year bills and be in great shape for paying for long term capital item repairs. However, this rarely happens.
Not an exact science
Calculating unfortunate budgeting expenses, long-term reserves, and unanticipated repairs is not an exact science. Usually, operating expenses are higher than budgeted, or some people do not pay their HOA fees, and the HOA gets drained of cash covering expense overruns. If the BOD spends extra on operations, they won’t be able to save the recommended cash for long-term repairs. Thus, the BOD increases HOA fees next year to catch up the amount they should have saved this year for their reserves.
If they don’t increase fees to make up for that balance, perhaps because owners protested higher HOA fees, when they need $240,000 to paint the building, the BOD uses a special assessment — an additional fee levied at homeowners— so the HOA can pay for the needed repairs.
The main takeaway…
At the end of the day, all the bills — current year, capital repairs and replacements — will have to be paid by you and the other owners in the community one way or another.
The BOD usually does their best to financially manage the community well, but due to a number of factors above, it is a challenging assignment. All the owners have to live within the HOA finances, but note, it’s better to increase fees as you go to avoid special assessments.
Leonard Baron, MBA, CPA, is a San Diego State University Lecturer, a guest blogger on Zillow.com, the author of “Real Estate Ownership, Investment and Due Diligence 101 – A Smarter Way to Buy Real Estate”, and loves kicking the tires of a good piece of dirt! See more at ProfessorBaron.com.
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North Salem NY Homes | South Salem Doctors Revamp Millwood Animal Hospital – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch
For Jeremy Tubbs and Daniela Goldman, taking ownership of Millwood Animal Hospital has been a chance to make sweeping changes.
The two purchased the practice, founded in the early 1970s, from retiring Dr. Robert Mavian, who stepped down on June 21. Just eight days later, on June 29, they were up and running.
Since then, Tubbs and Goldman, South Salem residents, have been on a roll for rolling out new services, including digitization of patients’ records – previously on paper – adding digital x-ray service, lodging for up to 20 pets, and new anesthetic and blood test machines. They have also expanded the practice’s hours.
The result has led to a modern facility and quicker turnaround for service. For example, digital records can now be quickly shared with patients and referral practices. Blood samples can be finished in just minutes. Patients can also receive upgrades by email or text message. Overall, a meeting, sample and diagnosis can be done, “all within a matter of a 30-minute appointment,” said Tubbs.
The introduction of bordering will allow Goldman and Tubbs to watch the pets carefully.
“We’ll be able to pay, you know, more close attention to them,” said Tubbs.
Since opening, Tubbs and Goldman have managed to retain clients that came when Mavian ran the practice, and have even added new ones. They have also expanded the practice by adding a third supporting employee, up from two.
Virginia Leary, a receptionist who has worked at the hospital for 11 years, said there are, “Many, many changes, so many improvements, new equipment, and we’ll have two doctors.”
Latch Tiwari, a technician who just started weeks ago, said it is “pretty exciting” and a “learning experience.”
The new owners, who first met while attending vetererinary school at Ross University St. Kitts, are making their first go around with entrepreneurship. Prior to this, Tubbs, who is originally from Texas, practiced at Scarsdale’s Central Animal Hospital. Goldman, who grew up in New York City and eastern Long Island, previously practiced at Rye Harrison Veterinary Hospital, located in Rye. They first heard about the buying opportunity from fellow vets, according to Tubbs.
Running a practice has not been without its challenges.
“My biggest concern is we have a 17-month-old son,” Tubbs said, referring to their child, Eli. Balancing work and spending time with him was a challenge, although the couple alternates their schedule, switching days off to be at home.
Another has involved understanding the management and regulations behind running a businesses, although they have managed to get through it.
“We’ve been really fortunate with that,” Tubbs said.
While outside help has been sought with setting up aspects of the business, some of the changes have do-it-yourself efforts. For example, Tubbs can be seen taking care of new plants installed outside, and painting the hallway. He is, said Goldman, “an all around fix it kind of guy.”
The two were surrounded by animals growing up. Tubbs lived on a farm near Dallas, while Goldman had several pets and rode horses. Even now, there are more pets in their house than people. They have two dogs, a boxer named Solo and a Rottweiler-Lab mix named Jasper. They also have two cats, Herman and Teddy.
“It’s a lot but they’re all easy,” said Goldman.
Their pets have also been patients. For example, Solo was recently treated for a malignant growth one his leg, and could be seen wearing a protective collar to prevent him to reopening an incision.
Going forward, according to Tubbs, future changes could include a cosmetic redesign of the building exterior, which was constructed in 1973. There are also plans to roll over a website, millwoodanimalhosp.com and put out a more visible sign.
Millwood Animal Hospital is located on 231 Saw Mill River Rd. (Route 100), near Rocky’s Deli. Its phone number is 914-941-1801. Its hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays – except a 6:30 p.m. closing on Wednesdays – and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays.
South Salem NY Real Estate | Harvey School Connects to Community Through Arts Center – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch
Jenna Luper of Cross River, 8, has written a play, has taken six different kinds of dance classes and practiced the art of glass painting in the arts classrooms at the Walker Center for the Arts at Harvey.
Olivia Bady and Abby Hassett of Katonah, Olivia Singer of Bedford Hills and Patrick Taylor of Bedford performed produced one-act comedies in the center’s Black Box Theatre.
Locals attended the recent production of “Girl in Blue Armchair,” also held in the Black Box Theatre, and are invited to the center this Fri., Jul. 29 to see a performance of the Baltimore Dance Company, Flux/us Dance Projects.
Built in 2005, the newly christened Walker Center for the Arts is increasingly becoming an active hub for local arts, said Vinny Alexander, program director at the center.
“I started working here three years ago, and was charged by the headmaster with opening up the arts center to the community. He compared it to an airplane making a few trips a day—and said it should be an active hub where planes fly all of the time,” said Alexander.
For many local families, their access point to the center’s facilities is the Harvey Cavalier Summer Camp. Melissa Luper, mother of Jenna, said the center offers interaction with talented teachers whom her daughter might not otherwise be able to meet.
“She loves this camp and has for three years,” she said. “They teach kids how to be creative and how to think out of the box. Now Jenna wants to become a counselor here.”
Alexander said 150 artists teach over 300 campers during the summer. “Through the camp, and other performances we have had and will schedule this fall, we’re really connecting to the community.”
The center is also available for community and corporate use; Ubuntu Africa recently hosted its gala fundraiser there. The space has great flexibility which makes it attractive for many purposes, he said. Up to 300 seats can be created depending on the configuration—accordion doors allow for a theatre in the round or a proscenium-style stage; the entire theatre can also be opened up to the gallery and lobby for banquets in a great hall.
“We envision this center to be a place where artists and the community can come together and work with Harvey staff,” he said. Saturday classes in a variety of arts are offered throughout the year.
The school announced at its commencement ceremonies this year that the center would be renamed for Jay and Eileen Walker for their generosity and guidance, according to Laura Prichard, director of development. Their children, Lindsey and Evan both graduated from Harvey.
“The center was built to gather the school’s fine arts and performing arts in one place. We’ve achieved that integration and share the space with the community whenever we can,” she said.
On Friday, a former Harvey camp director of dance, Judy Kurjan, returns to Katonah with her Baltimore-based dance troupe, the Flux/us Dance Project. They’ll perform selected pieces for campers during the day Friday and perform all of their pieces for an evening audience. Kurjan said “the evening show promises to provide an inspiring event for serious dance enthusiasts.”
The show begins at 7 p.m. in the Walker Center for the Arts at Harvey. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children. Tickets are available at the door or online at: fluxusdanceprojects.org
Katonah NY Real Estate | Traffic Advisory, Bedford Chess Camp and a New Meet the Chef – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch
1. Road work on Bedford Center Road
You may want to avoid Bedford Center Road from Cherry Street to Route 22, today and tomorro wbetween 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. when Westchester County will be performing roadway surface sealing. Slow moving work vehicles may cause delays.
2. Katonah Chamber of Commerce meet and greet
At 6:15 p.m., the KCC is hosting a wine and cheese reception for interested local businesses to learn about the chamber’s programs and initiatives to support commerce in Katonah. It’s at Country Estates & Manors, 7 Edgemont Road.
3. Digital Media training
Bring your e-Reader or audio device into the Bedford Free Library today at 2 p.m. and learn how to download e-Books and audio books—both eBooks and audio books are free from Westchester libraries with a valid library card. More information here.
4. Bedford Chess Camp registration
The Bedford End-of-Summer chess camp is now open for registration. The dates are August 29 – September 2 (or September 1 if you choose the four-day option) and space is limited. Camp includes a lot of chess, plus a slip-n-slide, a pizza party, outdoor sports and “Dave’s Cast of Characters.” For more information, go to www.bedfordchess.com.
5. Meet the Chef: Myong Feiner
How did a stay-at-home suburban mom become the chef-owner of a popular Mt. Kisco eatery? Tune in at 6 p.m. for The Baker’s Table, and Amy Baker’s interview.
Bedford NY Homes | Harry Potter Spirit Lives On in Bedford Hills-Mt. Kisco Quidditch Match – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch
Rainy weather did not stop local wizards from competing in Monday’s exhibition Quidditch match.
The game was planned by Kathy Storfer, storyteller at the Bedford Hills Free Library, and her son, Daniel Storfer. A group of 20 high school and college-aged area youths played for fun and to benefit the library.
The Bedford Hills team defeated the Mt. Kisco team, 180 – 50. For game details, click on the video for the Patch news story.