Monthly Archives: April 2013

How to Find Secret Homes for Sale | Armonk NY Homes

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The number of homes listed for sale today is lower than it’s been in a decade. Home buyers are scouring Web sites for property listings and when they find a home they like, they often find themselves in an expensive, stressful bidding war. What they don’t know is that they’re not seeing as many as 15 to 20 percent of the homes for sale in their markets.

This is a critical time for buyers. Mortgage rates may never be so low again in our lifetimes. Though home prices have risen ten percent or so over the past year, they are far from the peak levels of 2007 and relatively affordable. Like mortgage rates, home prices have only one direction to go: up.

However, inventories or home for sale are down 40 percent or more from two years ago. Selections of homes, especially homes in the mid-range or entry-level price brackets. Even foreclosures are experiencing price increases.

You might do all that you can to find out about homes for sale in your price range. You can sign up to be notified by email when new listings come on stream. What you don’t know is that you aren’t looking at all the homes for sale. You are still going to miss one out of seven homes for sale.

That’s because almost all listing sites rely primarily on one source for their information: the nation’s 900 multiple listing services. Multiple listing services are databases of homes for sale. Most are owned and controlled by local Realtor organizations and only members of MLSs can list properties on them. The first MLSs were established 125 years ago and they have become more powerful with the emergence of real estate listings sites that have made it possible for consumers to see their listings. Despite the dominance of the MLS system, tens of thousands of homes are sold each year outside of it.

There are four kinds of homes for sale that don’t make it onto the MLS: pocket listings, for sale by owners, closely held transactions and expired listings.

via realestateeconomywatch.com

Armonk Leads in Highest Average Square Feet | RobReportBlog

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Armonk, Bedford Hills Lead in Highest Average Size | RobReportBlogKatonah                   3,531Pound Ridge                   4,033South Salem                   2,656Mt Kisco                   3,004Chappaqua                   4,103North Salem                   3,622Armonk                   4,801Bedford                   4,416Bedford Hills                   4,724
via trulia.com

Bedford Runner Home Safe | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Robert Laitman of Bedford crossed the marathon finish about 20 minutes before the blasts that killed three and injured 130 exploded in Boston.

But the person he planned to run with finished two minutes before the attacks went off—too close for comfort, but safely across the line, he said.

“My heart goes out to those people. I was high-fiving everyone at the finish line and I am thinking about them,” he said. “I think it’s a horrible, tragic event and I definitely could have been back there. The the timing of attack is terrible, it targeted all charity runners, groups finishing around the four-hour mark.”

Another Katonah runner, Jeffrey Welch, safely crossed the finish line, according to the Lewisboro Ledger. He completed the marathon about 15 minutes before the explosions, his wife, Carroll, told the paper Monday evening.

Click here for a list of local runners who were registered for the marathon. If you participated, were a spectator or have heard from runners, post your comments in the thread below.

Laitman said he was already at work on a project for his charity, Team Daniel—his runner’s group which raises money for mental health research—when he heard about the bombs.

via bedford.patch.com

[UPDATE] Explosions at Boston Marathon: Westchester Takes Local Security Precautions | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Westchester County is reacting to the deadly explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon today by increasing security throughout the county.

A county police spokesman said Westchester has deployed its aviation unit helicopter and its marine unit on the Hudson River. The county’s bomb squad is on standby and security has been increased at Westchester County Airport.

The helicopter is conducting aerial surveillance of critical infrastructure around the county.

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families of the horrific tragedy at the Boston Marathon. As a result of the events in Boston, Westchester County is on a heightened level of readiness,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “I have ordered Westchester County Police to immediately take a number of precautionary actions including the deployment of the Aviation Unit helicopter to conduct aerial surveillance of critical infrastructure around the county and the Marine Unit to do the same along the Hudson River

via bedford.patch.com

Financier Jamie Dimon Wins OK to Park a Cottage in His Garage | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon won the right Tuesday to deposit a house in his Sarles Street home.

With final blessings from the planning board, Dimon can proceed with plans to convert a four-car garage in the 9,600 square-foot main residence into a two-bedroom, two-bath cottage with its own kitchenette.

The 1,069-square-foot cottage will be carved from an existing 1,617-square-foot garage. The leftover space will house a 229-square-foot security-console room, with pantry and bath, and 319 square feet of space for mechanical and electrical equipment.

Dimon’s property, largely a family summer retreat, includes a tennis court and a pool, with a cabana currently under construction for a future pool. Another accessory cottage also sits on the more than 29 acres off Sarles Street.

The new cottage will be topped by a slate gambrel roof, the banker’s land-use lawyer, John Marwell of Mount Kisco, said.

Accompanied by other members of the development team, including architect Gary Savitzky of Scarsdale, Marwell addressed the planning board Tuesday, saying, “We are in front of you this evening for site-plan approval and special-use-permit approval.” Marwell won three needed variances—exceptions from the strict letter of the town’s land-use code—from the zoning board of appeals last month.

via bedford.patch.com

Bedford Hills Leads Area in Highest Ask Price | RobReportBlog

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Bedford Hills, Chappaqua Lead in Highest Ask Price | RobReportBlog
Katonah$18,995,000.00
Pound Ridge$3,950,000.00
South Salem$3,200,000.00
Mt Kisco$4,500,000.00
Chappaqua$24,750,000.00
North Salem$18,500,000.00
Armonk$17,000,000.00
Bedford$14,500,000.00
Bedford Hills$30,000,000.00
Bedford Corners$11,250,000.00
via trulia.com

Positive momentum bolsters downtown real estate market | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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The deal momentum from the end of 2012 gave the downtown commercial real estate market a strong start for the first part of 2013.  

Vacancy rates for office and retail space in the city are down and activity levels in both sectors have brokers bullish on the progress of downtown, according to a new market report from brokerage firm Colliers International.

Activity in the West Michigan office market saw 50,641 square feet of new absorption in the first quarter of 2013, according to reports from Colliers. The downtown and central business district accounted for approximately 11,381 square feet of that figure.

The numbers are a modest improvement over total office absorption of 49,026 square feet in the fourth quarter last year, but the new data also marks nine straight quarters of positive absorption.

via mibiz.com

Job stability drives Abu Dhabi home prices | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Average asking prices of residential properties in Abu Dhabi’s investment areas rose “significantly” by eight per cent in the first quarter 2013 due to its safe haven status and job stability driving people to buy than rent, says a new report.

In its report on Abu Dubai real estate, Jones Lang LaSalle said average prices within investment areas rose to Dh11,000 per square metre from Dh10,200 sqm in fourth quarter 2012. Average asking prices for apartments stood at Dh12,000 per sqm, while average prices for villas were at around Dh9,900 per sqm.

“With increased job stability some people are preferring to buy property rather than renting and this demand is concentrated in investment areas. There is additional demand from investors looking to capture price growth from a potential future upswing,” the report stated.

The consultancy pointed out that these increases, however, did not reflect a “market-wide recovery.”

On the rental side, the wider market continued to experience declines, resulting in a further divergence of residential market performance. Prime buildings showed signs of stabilization and selective recovery, while secondary market continued to experience downward pressure on rents.

Moreover, rents in Abu Dhabi have become relatively more affordable since those in Dubai have begun to rise which is encouraging more renters to consider relocating to the capital.

Average asking rents for prime two bedroom apartments reached Dh130,000 per annum in Q1, increase over 8 per cent from Q4 2012.

However, JLL said the increase was largely restricted to selected prime developments where performance has improved due to a number of factors such as more community facilities being completed within master planned areas; job growth from major infrastructure projects; limited availability of high quality units for private rental and initial relocation of Abu Dhabi government employees from Dubai in response to new regulations.

16,000 new housing units

The capital, JLL said, is set to witness supply of 16,000 residential units this year of which nearly 2,000 units were released in the first quarter alone. Thus the total residential stock stood at 208,000 units at the end of Q1 2013.

via emirates247.com

Should Home Prices Rise Over Time? | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

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Nationwide home prices are up 8% over the last year, according to the Case-Shiller housing index.

This isn’t surprising. The supply of existing homes for sale is at a seven-year low. Construction of new homes is still well below the rate of household formation. Prices will almost always rise in that situation. It’s simple supply and demand. And it’s pulled millions of homeowners out from being underwater on their mortgage and brought new hope to the housing industry, boosting shares of D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI  ) and NVR (NYSE: NVR  ) as the outlook for construction rises. 

That’s the good news. But what should homeowners expect the price of their house to do over time?

In this video, Fool analysts Morgan Housel and Matt Koppenheffer tackle that question.

via fool.com