Daily Archives: November 14, 2013

Tasteful Treats In Bedford Adapts Unique Give-Back Approach | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Rose Colonna is the owner of Westchester’s premiere gifting company Tasteful Treats & Treasures located in Bedford.

After multiple requests for one-time donations, together with her daughter, Jennifer Colonna, they have created a program with continued sustainable support for the community, with a new way to give back.

Tasteful Treats & Treasures has implemented a fundraising program to benefit non-profit and charitable organizations.

The “Treats Gives Back” program encourages customers to take advantage of their services when sending a gift across town, nationwide, or even around the world as is the case for their Military Care Package.

Each time a customers places an order, Tasteful Treats will donate a portion of the proceeds to the organization of the customer’s choice by simply choosing one of the organizations from the drop down menu featured on the checkout page of their website www.tastefultreats.com.

 

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/business/tasteful-treats-bedford-adapts-unique-give-back-approach

Westchester Superintendents React To Reduced State Testing | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Superintendents are reacting positively to an announcement that the state is looking to eliminate some standardized tests.

According to a report in LoHud, John King, State Education Commissioner, is telling school superintendents the Board of Regents is looking to eliminate the eighth-grade math test.

The Board of Regents is also considering eliminating other tests. King said grants will be provided to help school districts reduce local standardized tests.

“This is too little, too late,” Pleasantville Superintendent Mary Fox-Alter said. “We’ve been asking them to do this for years.”

Fox-Alter said while she thinks it’s a good thing, she said there are bigger issues the state needs to address. Fox-Alter said many kids are being double tested with common core exams and the regents.

Fox-Alter said the grades 3 to 8 English Language Assessment tests are not allowed to be shown to students after the tests are taken.

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/schools/westchester-superintendents-react-reduced-state-testing

Pound Ridge’s Richard Gere Will Be Honored At Jacob Burns Film Center | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The 2013 Silver Screen Circle Dinner will honor Pound Ridge’s Richard Gere at the Jacob Burns Film Center Theater in Pleasantville on Monday, Nov. 25.

The evening will include select film clips highlighting  Gere’s career and contributions to the art of film as well as a question-and-answer session with Gere and JBFC Board President Janet Maslin.

This is an exclusive Silver Screen Circle members-only event in appreciation for their generous support. They will receive two to 10 complimentary tickets depending on their level of membership.

Gere, a Golden Globe winner, is known for his roles in films such as “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Days of Heaven,” “American Gigolo” and “Pretty Woman,” among others.

Off screen, Gere is a devoted advocate for human rights in Tibet and for the rights and lands of tribal peoples throughout the world.

To learn more about the Silver Screen Circle, or to join,  contact Kim Turner at 914-773-7663, ext. 429 or email her.

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/events/pound-ridges-richard-gere-will-be-honored-jacob-burns-film-center

Experts mull over housing bubble expectations | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Despite rapid increases in home prices over the past year, prices are 4% undervalued in the fourth quarter — meaning the market is nowhere near another housing bubble, Trulia (TRLA) claims in a new report.

To put it into perspective, prices were as much as 39% overvalued in the first quarter of 2008 — at the height of the bubble — then dropped to being 15% undervalued in the fourth quarter of 2011, the real estate firm says.

“If prices nationally are 4% undervalued, why are so many people worried that a new bubble is forming,” questioned Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko.

He added, “Because prices have risen quickly over the past year, and even with the recent slowdown in the past few months, rising prices stoke bubble fear.”

In October, asking prices were up 11.7% year-over-year, which is roughly the same sharp increases seen in 2004 when the housing bubble was inflating.

Consequently, some market analysts believe that housing is in the depths of a bubble.

Given the fact that home prices are rising faster than real median household income as well as mortgage purchase applications, it signals the same factors experienced in the previous housing bubble, explained George Mason University finance professor Anthony Sanders.

“For the average American household, they are in a housing bubble,” he said. “For Chinese and other domestics and foreign investors, house prices are a bargain.”

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27950-experts-mull-over-housing-bubble-expectations

Foreclosure filings creep up a slight 2% | North Salem NY Homes

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Foreclosure filings crept up 2% in the most recent weekly survey, but still declined 28% from year ago levels, RealtyTrac reported Thursday.

In all, the data firm recorded 133,919 filings in October.

For the 16th month in a row, judicial foreclosure auctions increased from year ago levels, with 30,023 foreclosure auctions nationwide in October, up 10% from the prior month and up 7% from last year.

Overall, there were 58,939 properties that started the foreclosure process for the first time in October, rising 2% from September, but down 34% from last year.

This marks the 15th consecutive month where foreclosure starts have declined on an annual basis, the data firm said.

Individually, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida witnessed the largest annual increases in scheduled judicial foreclosures. In particular, Maryland and Delaware shocked with dramatic ‘judicial foreclosure’ increases of 177% and 142%, respectively.

“The backlog of delayed judicial foreclosures continues to make its way through the pipeline, with many of these properties now being scheduled for the public auction after starting the foreclosure process last year or earlier this year,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27952-foreclosure-filings-creep-up-a-slight-2

Bed-Stuy eyed as next Williamsburg | Mt Kisco Realtor

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A brokerage firm born 11 years ago in a once coming Brooklyn neighborhood called Williamsburg is opening an outpost in another area where it sees loads of potential, Bedford Stuyvesant.

Aptsandlofts.com recently inked a lease for 2,000 square feet on the ground and second floors at 308 Malcolm X Blvd. between MacDonough and Decatur streets. It will be the broker’s third office in the borough, the second having opened just last year in Cobble Hill.

“I’m seeing in Bed-Stuy what I saw happen in Williamsburg in 2002,” said David Maundrell, founder and president of the firm. “We’ve been working out there for a very long time.”

As low inventory and high costs push more prospective buyers and renters into Bed Stuy, sales transactions have been heating up, according to Mr. Maundrell. For example, he has seen families move into the neighborhood and plunk down $1 million to convert a three-family home into one just for themselves, something that would have been unheard of just a few years ago.

The neighborhood is home to a diverse housing stock, including blocks of brownstones that Mr. Maundrell said are more reminiscent of Cobble Hill, which has also been attracting a steady increase of buyers.

Aptsandlofts.com is far from the only brokerage doing business in Bed Stuy. The city’s biggest residential firms, among them Douglas Elliman, Corcoran, Halstead Property, and Brown Harris Stevens all have numerous Bed Stuy listings. What they don’t have, however, is an office there. Instead, Aptsandlofts will compete head to head in Bed Stuy with a number of smaller home-grown brokerages. Mr. Maundrell said he hopes to offer something in between.

 

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20131112/REAL_ESTATE/131119972