Category Archives: Katonah

Sandy Weill Asks $14M For One of His Two Conn. Manses | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

9 images

Location: Greenwich, Conn. Price: $14,000,000 The Skinny: Former Citigroup CEO and Extremely Rich Person Sandy Weill has listed one of his Greenwich, Conn., homes for $14M, reports the WSJ, which also notes that he’s keeping his other homes in Sonoma County, the Adironacks, New York City (a unit a few floors down from the 15 Central Park West penthouse he sold in Dec. 2011 for a record-setting $88M), the Bahamas, and his second Connecticut manse (which is right next door to this one). So don’t worry about Sandy Weill going homeless! Somehow he’ll muddle through with just the five remaining homes. The story behind the home is instructive: Weill gave the land to his son, who built a house, and then sold the house back to his dad for $11M, who then briefly listed it for $13M back in 2009. Turns out though, that someone had broken the economy, and suddenly “it was a very bad market,” so Weill pulled the listing…until now. The mansion, which was designed by Ira Grandberg, is described by the brokerabble as having “the noble character, elegance, and grandeur of England’s prestigious country estates,” which, translated, means that it’s “misshapen and top-heavy”. Inside the 16,000-square-foot manse there are six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a billiards room, and a cupola with views of Long Island Sound.

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/04/01/sandy-weill-lists-one-of-his-two-greenwich-mansion-for-14m.php

The best cities for first-time home buyers | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

In the rush to get in on the bargains of the housing crash, first-time home buyers were largely left out. Investors swarmed the most distressed markets, spreading their cash like fertilizer and pushing home prices up far faster than most expected. In less distressed markets, first-time buyers were still hampered, as the pendulum swung hard from loose lending to too-tight credit.

Now, as the spring season brings more listings to the national market and as investors seem to be pulling back a bit, first-time buyers are testing the water again. Some markets, like San Francisco, will likely be cost-prohibitive , while others, like Philadelphia, could offer easier entry to home ownership.

“First-time home buyers were put at a disadvantage against all-cash buyers, but with interest rates still staying low, with the marketplaces having risen fairly decently, you’re seeing the opportunity where it’s less of an investment for investors but a good opportunity for first-time home buyers,” said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move Inc. operator of Realtor.com.

Realtor.com ranked the top 10 markets for first-time buyers, using five factors to judge the best: market popularity, prices, inventory, time on market and employment. Pittsburgh, Tampa, Fla., and Philadelphia , ranked highest, mostly because their prices have not spiked much and their unemployment rates are lower than the national average.

 

 

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/best-cities-first-time-home-161200437.html

Fixed Mortgage Rates Move Up | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates up a bit from last week, applying additional pressure for those local markets that are already feeling an affordability pinch.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.40 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending March 27, 2014, up from last week when it averaged 4.32 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.57 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.42 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.32 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.76 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.10 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.02 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.68 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.44 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.49 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.62 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates rose following the uptick on the 10-year Treasury note after comments by the Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen indicated a possible increase in interest rates as soon as early 2015. Also, the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite house price index rose 13.2 percent over the 12-months ending in January 2014.”

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing.

 

 

 

Is This Housing Indicator Flashing a Warning Signal? | Katonah NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Mortgage applications continued their downward spiral as interest rates climb higher and doubts remain about the strength of the housing market. In the latest update from the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the week ended March 21, applications for home loans fell 3.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 3 percent.

There has been a steady slide in mortgage applications over the past nine months as the housing market returns to a more sustainable pace. As the chart above shows, applications are near their worst level in years. The Refinance Index plunged 8 percent from the previous week. The Purchase Index managed to increase 3 percent, but on an unadjusted basis, the index was still 17 percent below year-ago levels.

Overall, the refinance share of mortgage activity accounted for 54 percent of total applications, the lowest share since April 2010 and down from 57 percent a week earlier. In fact, the refinance share of mortgage activity has now dropped for seven consecutive weeks. Conventional and government refinance applications led the contraction.

 

 

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/personal-finance/is-this-housing-indicator-flashing-a-warning-signal.html/?ref=YF

The best real estate plays in 25 years | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The global real estate market in 2039 will be city-centric, with an increased focus on Asia and other emerging markets, and more investment by the public, according to senior executives at some of the world’s largest investment firms.

The big money sees China, India and other Asian markets as drivers of real estate growth—and investment opportunities.

“Asia will be the future of real estate over the next 25 years,” said Jonathan Gray, who manages about $79 billion for clients as global head of real estate for the Blackstone Group. “The largest investment markets will be in China, India and other countries in the region given their rate of growth. Both public and private real estate markets will be much, much bigger.”

A common criticism of Asian economic growth is the relative disregard for the environment. That concern could be a long term investment opportunity, such as taking advantage of high pollution in China, according to LaSalle Investment Management, a $47.6 billion real estate investment firm.

“Although China will be switching over to renewables by 2039, concerns about unhealthy air will be so intense after two decades of respiratory diseases that they could likely pioneer buildings with filtered air, oxygen supplements and artificial light to replace lost sunlight,” said Jacques Gordon, LaSalle’s head of global research and strategy.

Key to Asia’s rise in real estate will be the increasing importance of its urban centers, a global theme.

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101473257?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101473257%7CThe%20best%20real%20estate%20play

Exotic Indonesian villa is first major Bitcoin real estate purchase | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

HousingWire has been on the forefront of covering Bitcoin in relation to real estate.

The March issue of our print magazine includes a story on the first real estate and real estate financial firms in North America to accept Bitcoin for everything from broker fees to actual investment.

The watershed moment for real estate may have come in early February, when the nascent startup RealtyShares in San Francisco announced it would be the first, as far as anyone can know, real estate investment firm to accept Bitcoin for its crowdfunding real estate investment platform.

Now comes word from Southeast Asia that the first major Bitcoin real estate transaction – valued at more than $500,000 – has closed. The property? A fully managed villa at the deLMango Villa Estate in Bali, Indonesia.

Notably, this may be the largest reported Bitcoin transaction yet. Moreover, it’s not the only high-priced property being shopped among Bitcoin users. The website that facilitated the transaction is currently listing a Paris property with a view of the Eiffel Tower listed for $6.3 million, among other items.

According to CoinDesk:

BitPremier founder and CEO Alan Silbert indicates that the 3,000-square-foot villa sold for more than $500,000, though the exact price paid by the buyer was not revealed.

Silbert, brother of SecondMarket CEO and BitPremier investor Barry Silbert, indicated that the sale is “by far the largest” completed to date via the marketplace, which was launched last May.

As for the house sale, Silbert indicated that due to Indonesia’s unique laws regarding the ownership of real estate by foreigners, the buyer is technically purchasing a long-term lease.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29386-exotic-indonesian-villa-is-first-major-bitcoin-real-estate-purchase

 

The Data You Need to Make a Compelling Case for Inbound Marketing | Katonah Realtor

Leave a reply

 

Whether you’re trying to convince your company that adopting inbound marketing is beneficial for business, or you’re hoping to get budget so you can start using a new inbound marketing platform, getting executive buy-in can be a challenge. In a world where people fear change and constantly try to minimize risk, bold, innovative solutions are often met with skepticism, if not disdain. Continue reading →

Katonah’s Caramoor Will Be Honored By ArtsWestchester | Katonah NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The Caramoor Center for Music and Art of Katonah will be honored by ArtsWestchester at its Arts Awards luncheon on Friday, April 4 at the Westchester Marriott.

Caramoor Center will receive the Innovator Award for In the Garden of Sonic Delights, a large-scale outdoor sound art exhibition that runs from June through November 2014 at five sites in addition to Caramoor: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (Peekskill), Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville), Lyndhurst (Tarrytown), the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College (Purchase), and Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture (Pocantico Hills).

The project has been in development for more than five years and features 15 new site specific works by nationally-recognized artists including Laurie Anderson, Bruce Odland and Bob Bieleck.

The complete list of winners is on the ArtsWestchester website.

The awards luncheon will at the Westchester Marriott on April 4. A reception begins at 11 a.m. followed by luncheon at noon. Tickets, sponsorships and luncheon journal ads may be reserved by calling (914) 428-4220 x326 or emailing afabrizio@artswestchester.org

 

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/katonahs-caramoor-will-be-honored-artswestchester