Category Archives: Katonah

Evolution of MLS Public Websites | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

There’s a movement afoot among Multiple Listing Service (MLS) executives and brokers to take measures to protect, control and monetize the data surrounding listings. A key component of this strategy is the consumer-facing MLS website (MLS public portal).

In a 2009 study of MLS public listings websites, Matt Cohen, technology chief for Clareity Consulting, said: “I have been an advocate for MLS websites that provide real estate listings information to the public since 1996. Such websites have always made sense as a hedge against industry outsiders that want to intercept the consumer on their way to the real estate professional, selling expensive advertising, charging referral fees and/or reducing the broker’s capability to provide a one-stop shop for services ancillary to the real estate transaction.”

In 2009, Clareity Consulting studied every MLS listing website in the U.S. and found most severely lacking in features and deficient in other criteria. Clareity updated their study in 2011 and 2013, addressing the main features of a well-designed MLS public website:

1. Finding Properties – There’s no good reason not to provide a visual display where listings are shown on a map as criteria are changed.

2. Search Filters/Content – To remain competitive, more MLSs will allow for local display of pending or sold listings and/or display that information via public records.

3. Open House – Approximately 70 percent of sites have some kind of open house search.

4. Individual Property Details – The simplest implementations of property maps are links to Google Maps. And when it comes to photos, the advantages of having many pictures rather than one should be obvious. Nonetheless, 9 percent of top MLS listing websites show one picture.

 

 

http://rismedia.com/2013-12-05/evolution-of-mls-public-websites/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eNews

The Facebook Conversion Formula: A Blueprint for Turning Fans into Customers | Katonah Realtor

Leave a reply

The Facebook Conversion Formula- A Blueprint for Turning Fans into Customers

Just having a Facebook Page is really just the beginning of building a  successful social media strategy. But with the right formula will not only help  you engage with Fans, but generate hot leads and real ROI from your Facebook  following.

So the Facebook sales cycle in its simplest form is:

  1. Grow your Facebook fans
  2. Promote to gain email and phone inquiries
  3. Nurture those fans to convert them to hot leads
  4. Convert those hot leads into revenue

That is the Facebook conversion formula. In essence a blueprint for turning  fans into customers

sales cycle Facebook

So how do you implement that process?

How to get more (relevant) fans

8.11% of all traffic on the internet comes from Facebook. The people looking for your products are already  on Facebook, the question is how do you find them where they are already  looking? The first step to growing your fan base is developing a user persona around  your ideal Facebook Fan. You can’t find what you’re not looking for.

Traits of your ideal fan, and ultimately your leads and customers, are based  on demographics, interests and likes, jobs experience and geography. Combining  characteristics from each of these categories will allow you develop a usage  scenario. In this case, the usage scenario is how your brand and ideal user  interact on social media and Facebook in particular.

All of your usage scenarios come together to become your content strategy.  Your content strategy should be broken into pillars; categories of content that  are relevant to your ideal fan personas and on-strategy for your business.

Below are 5 examples of types of pillars you may develop for your persona.  All of your content and posts should fit into one of these categories. Note,  that these 5 may or may not be relevant to your own business.

Turning Facebook Fans into sales

Convert your Facebook fans into leads

A fan becomes a lead when they willingly provide contact information, sign-up for your email  newsletter or otherwise opt-in to learn more about your business. This is best  achieved when there is already brand affinity in-place and you have already  positioned yourself as the industry expert.

To build that brand awareness and affinity, you’ll use your content pillars  to create good and engaging content. In providing immense value, you will create  trust and solidify yourself as an industry expert. This exchange of information  will create long-term, loyal customers.

Start by encouraging engagement with your content in the Facebook news feed.  According to a Hubspot Study in 2013, photos on Facebook generate 53% more  likes than the average post. The more likes, shares and comments you receive,  the more visible future content will be to your fans.

 

 

 

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/12/06/the-facebook-conversion-formula-a-blueprint-for-turning-fans-into-customers/#ucYOOSCXLMH6x0jm.99

Residents of the Aloha State shell out a lot for electricity | Katonah Homes

Leave a reply

 

Hawaii has a lot going for it: The jaw-dropping sunsets and stunning vistas, the multitude of beaches and warm temperatures year round, the relaxed island vibe. One thing it doesn’t have: low electricity bills. It seems residents of the Aloha State shell out the most money on a monthly basis for their residential electricity bill, paying an average of $203.15 per month in 2012. In contrast, New Mexico residents pay the lowest monthly rates with an average bill of  $74.62.

And when it comes to commercial electricity bills, the District of Columbia may get sticker shock: Average monthly electricity bills there for commercial structures is a whopping $3,288.38. It’s a huge number, considering that covers only 26,548 customers. As a comparison, look at Idaho, which has 102,319 customers and a monthly commercial electricity bill of just $334.19. In D.C.’s defense, it’s average price per kilowatt hour is nearly double that of the Gem State: 12.02 cents versus 6.86 cents.

It seems there are a lot of states that could benefit from energy efficiency measures. The NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog gave us the tip off on on the data, which compiles information from 2012, ranks all 50 states, and was recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). On the mainland, wallets in the South Atlantic states (D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) feel the pinch the most each month when it comes to residences, with an average electric bill of $122.71 per month, and Pacific states rank the lowest. On the commercial side, the Pacific states of Alaska and Hawaii foot the largest average monthly bills, coming in at $1,192.77, while the East South Central states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee come out on top with the lowest average commercial bill of $501.67 a month.

 

 

http://www.ecobuildingpulse.com/energy-efficiency/where-energy-efficiency-might-pay-off-most.aspx?dfpzone=home&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=jump&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBP_120313&day=2013-12-03

5 Fab Not-Beige Bedroom Neutrals | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

Let me start off by saying that I am in no way looking to bash beige. There are many beautiful shades of the neutral hue that are appropriate and look fantastic in and on homes. But when I am hired to do a paint color consultation, I often avoid suggesting beige. And clients even ask to avoid it, which leads me to believe that many homeowners are tired of the hue, or they see it as a crutch to fall back on when they’d really prefer something different, something with a little more oomph.
For those of you who just aren’t a fan of bold, intense color but want to move beyond white and beige, I’ve pulled together some of my favorite not-beige neutrals that I think look fantastic in bedrooms. These are softer, more soothing hues that work well with a variety of other colors, materials and styles of decor. Yet they still look fresh and current.

1. Light Purples
Whether you go for a cool lavender or a warmer mauve, the trick to making this color appear sophisticated rather than sugary is to go with a shade that has a good amount of neutralizing gray or brown in it. The paint color here contains both gray and brown, which neutralizes the purple. You get the best of both worlds — a neutral hue with just a hint of color.
Get a similar look with Beguiling Mauve from Sherwin-Williams
This lavender has less gray in it than the previous color, but it still has an iciness, which keeps it soft and soothing.
Get a similar look with North Cascades from Benjamin Moore
This pretty wall color has more red and brown in it, which adds warmth. The hint of brown also nudges it toward neutral territory.
Get a similar look with Plum Frost from Behr.
2. Blue-Grays
A soft blue with a hint of gray is a fantastic choice to create a soothing, relaxing vibe in a bedroom. Those who live in areas where cool and overcast days outnumber warm and sunny ones may want to opt for a hue with more blue and less gray.

Staten Island will host city’s largest solar power facility | Katonah Homes

Leave a reply

What was once the world’s largest landfill will become the home to the city’s largest solar energy facility, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday.

“It’s fitting that this site, long associated with the most stubborn challenges of urban development, will now be a shining example of cutting-edge solutions,” Bloomberg said at Freshkills Park, formerly the city’s garbage dump. Dumpsters can be needed whenever a large amount of waste needs to be disposed of. Most homeowners and contractors hire dumpster rentals for home renovation projects because at that time, a large amount of waste is produced that needs to be cleared from the property. Clearing waste is difficult with your conventional garbage bins or dumpsters. For large amount of waste, you need a large sized dumpster that can easily help you get rid of all the waste that is produced during your project. Finding cheap and affordable dumpster rentals might be an issue for many, especially if they are hiring such services for the first time. Therefore, following are some tips that will help you find lowest prices of junk removal services. Then have a peek here for the dumpster rental.

The solar panels will be installed and operated by Sun Edison, at no cost to the city. The city will earn money from the project through a leasing agreement that is still being negotiated – and business owners in the city will be able to get a green energy credit thanks to their installation.

“The solar panels Sun Edison will install on the site will be able to produce up to 10 megawatts of energy, and that’s enough to power 2,000 homes,” Bloomberg said.

The energy will be fed back into Con Edison’s grid system, so it won’t go to specific homeowners but will help power the entire city.

Sun Edison was selected after bidding to lease 47 acres of the park, and will install 30,000 to 35,000 high-efficiency solar panels on the site.

General Manager Attila Toth praised the city for their forward-thinking approach.

“This is the largest city in the nation and the largest city is developing the largest brownfield to park conversion site,” Toth said. “This is a very innovative solution and this kind of thinking does not happen in every city around the nation.”

Toth said the plant would employ more than 100 workers when it’s up and running in 2016.

The city already captures methane gas created underground – enough to heat 22,000 homes — at the site and sells it to National Grid for about $3 million a year.

Among those who have long been pressing for renewable energy at Freshkills is Borough President James Molinaro.

“Who knew that he would be a tree-hugger when he was elected?” Bloomberg joked. “But it runs out he has been very environmentally conscious and has really done a great job for the people of Staten Island.”

Molinaro called it an historic day, and recalled asking the Port Authority for $500,000 to study renewable energy at the site shortly after the landfill closed in 2001.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/staten_island_will_host_citys.html

Caramoor In Northern Westchester Announces Lineup For 2014 | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

Jeffrey P. Haydon, Chief Executive Officer of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, has announced classical highlights of the 2014 Caramoor Summer Music Festival.

The  festival, which is held annually at the Center’s beautiful 90-acre garden estate in Katonah, New York, will run from June 21 to Aug. 6.
“Caramoor is the premiere destination to experience music in the summer, featuring today’s leading artists such as Angela Meade, Joshua Bell, and Pablo Heras-Casado,” Haydon said. “We are particularly excited about our new artist residency featuring Alisa Weilerstein, an alumni of Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program and 2013 MacArthur Genius Grant winner.”
Tickets go on sale Jan. 27, Donor pre-sales start Jan. 20.

The schedule includes:
June 21:  Opening Night The opening night of the festival features celebrated violinist, Joshua Bell and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, led by conductor, Cristian Mǎcelaru, in a program of Ligeti’s Concert Romanesc, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and Bizet’s Symphony in C.
July 6:  Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Jeffrey Kahane, pianist/conductor The Orchestra of St. Luke’s continues its long and storied relationship with Caramoor. Joining with the orchestra for the July 6 performance is famed pianist and conductor, Jeffrey Kahane.
July 11: The Dover Quartet continues its residency at Caramoor The Dover Quartet, Caramoor’s 2013-14 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence,will delight audiences “with a level of nuance unexpected of musicians so young” (The Wall Street Journal).
Opera/Bel Canto at Caramoor Saturday, July 12 and Friday, July 18: Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia Acclaimed soprano Angela Meade, will return to Caramoor to make her highly-anticipated debut as Lucrezia. The cast also includes mezzo soprano Tamara Mumford, tenor Charles Castronovo and bass Christophoros Stamboglis.
Saturday, July 19: Verdi’s Rigoletto Verdi’s Rigoletto will feature baritone Stephen Powell and tenor John Osborn in the roles of Rigoletto and the Duke. Georgia Jarman will perform the role of Gilda.
July 31, August 1 and August 3: Alisa Weilerstein featured in a residency to close the festival Alisa Weilerstein, named “one of the most exciting American cellists of the new generation” by The New York Times, will participate in an artist residency that will include a master class and three performances, Thursday July 31 to August 3.

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/events/caramoor-northern-westchester-announces-lineup-2014

Consumer buying power fades as choices and prices shift | Katonah Real Estate

Leave a reply

The sale of all existing homes fell 3.2% to an annual rate of 5.12 million units in October as rising prices tripped up buyers – a data point further constrained by falling inventory levels, the National Association of Realtors noted Wednesday.

Existing-home sales is a measure of sales on all single-family residences, townhomes, condos and co-ops. Compared to last year, October sales remained 6% higher than the 4.83-million unit sales pace reported last month. But this is not an unusual occurrence given the fact that prices have been rising year-over-year for the past 28 months, NAR said.

With the national median existing-home price up 12.8% from last year, buyers are facing rising prices at a time when lower inventory levels are pushing them even higher. Yet, the fall in existing-home sales suggests potential homebuyers are not keeping up.

“The erosion in buying power is dampening home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Moreover, low inventory is holding back sales while at the same time pushing up home prices in most of the country. More new home construction is needed to help relieve the inventory pressure and moderate price gains.”

Right now, the median existing-home price in the U.S. is hovering at $199,500, an increase of 12.8% from October 2012.

Distressed home sales also are much lower today, falling 25% from October 2012 levels. With fewer foreclosure-related sales, the median price of existing properties continues to escalate beyond many borrowers’ reach.

Only 9% of October sales were classified as foreclosures, while 5% were short sales. Foreclosures faced a 17% discount when compared to similar properties, with short sales discounted by 14%.

The shrinking U.S. housing inventory hit 2.13 million existing home sales in October, a 1.8% decline, and a 5-month supply of homes at the current sales pace. That compares to a 4.9-month supply in September when the market was still moving at a faster pace.

The tightest inventory conditions popped up in the markets of Oakland, Calif.; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; Denver and Stockton-Lodi, Calif., NAR said

 

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28048-existing-home-sales-decline-on-falling-affordability-tighter-inventory