Category Archives: Mount Kisco

The Latest 27 Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics for 2012 – Infographic | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Since I first joined Facebook over four years ago the social media landscape has continued to evolve at a rapid pace. It also has become more fun with the addition of Instagram and Pinterest.The Latest 27 Social Media Facts Figures and Statistics for 2012 - Infographic

What I like to see is that the big boys are not having it all their own way.

Google thought Facebook was just a fad that would go away.  For a while there Twitter looked like it would be a super nova that exploded with growth and then fade into oblivion. But neither of these events have occurred and social media has moved from fad to mainstream.

The women are the major participants on Pinterest.  This is validated when you look at the  Pinterest demographics and also notice that the top five pinners with millions of followers are female. When I participate on Pinterest it seems as if I am male voyeur listening in on visual  conversations dominated by women. It is a bit like dropping into a women’s fashion store or lingerie shop. You know that it is OK to be there but it doesn’t feel quite right.

Two Significant Trends in Social Media

There are two trends that have emerged in the last two years that have changed the  social media landscape and fabric.

  1. Visualisation of content: This is obvious when you see the rapid rise of Pinterest and Instagram and the evolution of larger images on Facebook and its user interface. Google+ had realised this when it launched last year with its feature and function sets applying a highly visual format.
  2. Mobile use and sharing: Instagram is the leader of this trend and is one of the reasons that Facebook made a $1 billion purchase of a non profitable company (Instagram) with only 16 employees.

These trends have also impacted web design and online shopping with Amazon changing its design and layout to a Pinterest styled home page  ”feed” 

Social Media Statistics

There are some surprising statistics that indicate the growth and impact the social web has created in just a few short years.

  • 350 million plus users suffer from “Facebook addiction syndrome”
  • If Twitter was a country it would be the 12th largest in the world
  • LinkedIn signs up 2 new members every second
  • The average visitor spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube
  • Three million new blogs come online every month
  • 97% of the fans on Pinterest’s Facebook page are women
  • 5 million images are uploaded to Instagram every day
  • The Google +1 button is used 5 billion times every day

Want to find out more?, Check out this Infographic.

The latest social media statistics for 2012

Source: Infographic by Go-Globe and the data source is from PRDaily.

What About You?

Where do you think social media is heading? What is your favorite statistic or fact?

Is Facebook annoying you with its Edgerank limitation of updates on Timelines.

Look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments below.

 

 

Want to Learn How to Create Contagious Content and Market it on Social Media?

My book – Blogging the Smart Way “How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.

It is now available to download. I show you how to create and build a blog that rocks and grow tribes, fans and followers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It also includes dozens of tips to create contagious content that begs to be shared and tempts people to link to your website and blog.

I also reveal the tactics I used to grow my Twitter followers to over 120,000.

You can download and read it now.

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via jeffbullas.com

China Home Prices Gain in Half the Cities as Market Steadies | North Salem Real Estate

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China’s new home prices rose in October in more cities than the previous month, indicating the government will refrain from relaxing curbs on the property market.

Prices climbed in 35 of the 70 cities the government tracks, compared with 31 in September, according to data from the statistics bureau yesterday. Prices fell in 17 cities.

Investors are gauging the government’s policy direction on real estate, rolled out over two years to rein in surging home prices that raised concerns about affordability, after the Communist Party unveiled the new generation of leaders last week. The measures have had a “relatively good” effect and the government will “steadfastly” enforce property controls, Housing Minister Jiang Weixin said in Beijing last week.

“The government has sent out signals that they will not loosen property policies because they don’t want to see a big price rebound,” said Shen Jian-guang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. “At the National People’s Congress next March, it probably could claim victory for controlling property prices.” Delegates and officials gather every March for the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, the highest governmental body.

Maintaining Curbs

The northwestern city of Urumqi led gains in October, with a 0.5 percent increase from September, according to the data. Among major cities, the southern business hubs of Guangzhou and Shenzhen recorded gains of 0.4 percent each. Beijing prices rose 0.2 percent, while those in Shanghai and 17 other cities were unchanged.

A gauge tracking property shares on the Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) fell 0.5 percent to the lowest in three weeks at the local close, making it the only measure that declined among the five industry groups on the benchmark.

The government wants to maintain the curbs because steady sales and mild price growth are the “exact situation” it wants to see, while further tightening will damp a tentative recovery in the Chinese economy, Alan Jin, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., said before the data.

China’s gross domestic product slowed to 7.4 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the weakest in three years, while gauges of manufacturing and retail sales have pointed to a recovery.

With the economy bottoming, home prices won’t have a “bad performance” next year, said Liu Li-Gang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ)

Existing Homes

Home prices rose in 12 cities from a year earlier, the same as in September, the data showed.

“With prices rising or unchanged in the majority of the cities, the downward trend in China’s home prices has been restrained,” said ANZ’s Liu. “Buyers are now holding a wait- and-see position for the policy direction after the new generation of leadership came out.”

Existing home prices were unchanged in Beijing last month from September and increased by 0.2 percent in Shanghai.

Real estate prices in China rose 160 percent in the 1998- 2011 period after the country privatized the property market, according to government data.

In its more than two-year effort to curb the property market, the central government has raised down-payment and mortgage requirements, imposed a property tax for the first time in Shanghai and Chongqing, increased building of low-cost social housing, and placed home-purchase restrictions in about 40 cities.

Property Tax

Many Chinese cities are preparing to introduce property tax trials, China Securities Journal reported on Nov. 16, citing unidentified people. The central government hasn’t yet decided on their scale and timing, it said.

“Given the strength of the rest of the economic data, we don’t think the government is likely to provide stimulus to the housing sector,” said Michael Klibaner, head of China research at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., in an interview in Shanghai. “If there’s concern about the economy, we would expect it to support the first-time home buyers through mortgages and the public housing fund.”

Private data also has shown the housing market is stabilizing. Home prices gained 0.17 percent in October, advancing for a fifth month, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd. (SFUN), the nation’s biggest real estate website owner.

Developers’ Sales

Contracted sales at 11 major developers were 57.3 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) in October, up 24 percent from September and 41 percent from a year earlier, according to Ryan Li, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong. It was the best month since developers started releasing monthly data in January 2009.

China’s housing sales climbed 6.6 percent to 3.88 trillion yuan in the first 10 months, while investment in homes, office buildings, malls and other real estate gained 15.4 percent to 5.76 trillion yuan, National Bureau of Statistics’ data showed.

The ministry is on “high alert” if transaction volume and home prices increase “substantially,” and is “actively” studying expanding a property tax trial, Xinhua News Agency reported on Nov. 13, citing Jiang, the housing minister.

There will not be “meaningful increase” in housing prices this year, and the risk of prices rising by more than 5 percent is “very small”, according to Klibaner.

via bloomberg.com

Five bargain renovations that add value | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate

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Photo: Thinkstock

Do you have grand visions of gutting your dated kitchen, or maybe blowing out the bathroom walls to create a spa-like retreat? While major remodeling projects such as these can bring value to a home, budget-friendly projects can also deliver a fresh look – and real value for you and potential buyers.

“Something as simple as replacing the hardware in the kitchen can give you a whole new look,” says Paul Wyman, a regional vice president with the National Association of Realtors. Wyman is also an expert at determining if a remodeling project will add value to a home.

Curious which simple projects will give your home the most value? Keep reading to learn about a few affordable facelifts and bargain renovations that could boost your home’s value and add appeal.

Bargain Renovation #1: Reface Kitchen Cabinets

Would you believe that something as simple as replacing dated cabinetry doors could get you a higher return on investment than other major remodels? We didn’t either, until Remodeling Magazine’s 2011-2012 “Cost vs. Value Report” told us otherwise.

If the cabinets in your kitchen are well laid-out, sturdy, and plentiful but unappealing, refacing can be a cost-effective alternative to complete replacement. This process, which maintains the existing cabinetry’s frames and boxes but replaces the hardware and door and drawer fronts, can be just a quarter of the price of installing all-new cabinetry.

What does that look like in hard figures? Kitchen Solvers, a resurfacing company in La Crosse, Wisc., offers the example of a client paying $6,000 to install solid cherry doors on existing cabinetry, rather than shelling out $24,000 to install everything new. That sure sounds like a good savings to us.

Bargain Renovation #2: Install a New Kitchen Countertop

If you adore the luxurious look of a stone countertop but don’t love the high price, there are ways to achieve the high-end feel of granite or marble without breaking the bank.

You can save on granite, for example, by buying remnants from a stone yard, according to a July 2012 Consumer Reports article titled “Get the luxury look for Less.” Or, if you have your eye on marble, a slab from Vermont will cost at least 20 percent less than one from Italy, according to the report.

For a truly budget-friendly option, Consumer Reports suggests that you consider a laminate countertop.

Laminate, which is made of sheets of plastic resin and paper bonded to particle board or fiberboard, could resemble granite or marble with today’s printing technologies, notes Consumer Reports.

Bargain Renovation #3: Update the Bathroom

According to HGTV’s “Maximum Value Projects,” on FrontDoor.com, updating a bathroom is a great way to add value to your home. And it doesn’t take much to make a big difference.

In fact, HGTV says updating the sink and fixtures will yield more value than replacing the countertop, flooring, toilet, or even the tub and shower. To avoid the premium price and save “hundreds of dollars without compromising quality,” Consumer Reports’ bathroom remodeling guide recommends selecting sinks and fixtures with basic finishes.

Looking for more value-adding updates that are gentle on your wallet? Consumer Reports suggests replacing an outdated wall-to-wall mirror with individual framed mirrors over each sink, or replacing stained grout with stain-resistant grout.

Bargain Renovation #4: Boost Curb Appeal With a New Roof

Honestly, who looks at a roof? Homebuyers, evidently. Even if most of your roof isn’t visible from the street, it is still an important aesthetic and functional feature that’s in a prime position to elevate – or squash – your home’s curb appeal.

“When people buy a house, they expect it to have a roof, but if it’s recently been redone, they will really see the value in that,” Wyman says.

Fortunately, for a flashy and durable roof, you don’t have to select a costly specialty material – like slate, tile, or metal. Composite asphalt shingles is the most common material, and it fits easily in many types of budgets, according to HGTV’s “Maximum Value Home Exterior Projects: Roof.”

Composite shingles are now available in a wide range of styles and colors, according to HGTV, allowing homeowners to create a custom look that matches the home’s façade or plays up its architectural details.

Bargain Renovation #5: Add a Deck

Looking for a new living space that will add value to your home? Look no further than the square footage waiting right outside your back door.

In fact, adding a deck to your home could offer one of the highest cost-recoup opportunities, according to the cost-value report. And you don’t have to choose a high-priced composite material. The survey found that decks built with wood actually delivered a greater return at resale than those built with composite material – boasting a 70 percent return on cost, compared to 62.8 percent.

Because deck-building is a potential DIY project – depending on your familiarity with a power saw, of course – savings could be even higher.

“Any type of work you have the ability to do yourself, with quality, makes it a bigger bargain because you’re saving on labor costs,” Wyman points out.

But if your home improvement skills are a little iffy, or you would rather sit back and relax during the renovation, it’s probably best to leave this one up to the pros.

via homes.yahoo.com

Branding Your Blog: You’re Doing it All Wrong | North Salem Real Estate

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A while ago, on this very blog, I read a post about how to make a five-dollar logo for your blog.

There were a few things about that post I disagreed with, but chief among them was the assumption that a cheap logo was somehow all you needed to brand your blog.

A logo does not make a brand.

Logos are important, but what’s most important is to have a crystal clear brand promise. This is important in every line of business, particularly in blogging, where competition is brutal and securing a loyal readership is the only way to make your overnight success last more than a few days.

Your brand promise should be felt in every single post

The most important part of your brand is largely invisible—at least, at first.

It’s the promise you make to a visitor the first time you meet.

It is more than just a half-hearted promise to try and be interesting and entertaining. It is a promise to deliver a specific and predictable result every time.

Whether you commit to always making your reader laugh out loud or go into deep thought, to giving her investment advice she can act on immediately, or a gluten-free recipe that her children will like, your brand is the one aspect of your blog or business that people can always trust that you will never compromise on.

Don’t try to do everything yourself

It should be said that DIY brands rarely look as good, or work as well, as the owners think they do. On the contrary, 100% homemade brands often look unprofessional and unreliable.

Unless you’re an expert marketer, designer, copywriter, and web developer in addition to your day job, there are lots of things you don’t know and skills you don’t have. You should admit that to yourself, and invest in some outside expertise. It doesn’t have to break the bank. You can pick one area and start there, but please do make building your brand a priority.

It’s what sets you apart, helps readers quickly understand what you are about, and creates loyal followers.

If you really only have $5 to spend

If you really don’t have more than $5 to spend on design, you’ll be better off spending your fiver at Starbucks. After all, you’re not very likely to get a good logo and visual identity for that kind of money.

So sit down with your grande latte and your free wifi, and be sure to take in your surroundings, because there aren’t many who do brand as well as Starbucks.

What’s special about Starbucks is not just the coffee. It’s that they stand for way more than that. Their brand promise is about community and you can feel that in every single touchpoint, from the comfy chairs, to the online community.

Think about how your brand can show (not tell) what it stands for, like Starbucks does. Even if you exist only in the online world, the types of topics you cover, the products you offer, and the other blogs you link to all serve to create an impression for your brand.

Color can be a great differentiator

Another thing you can learn from Starbucks is the effective use of color. You can see that green from miles away, and instantly recognize the store as a Starbucks.

So take a few minutes to pick a fresh color scheme for your brand. Something that really makes you stand out in your space. Your colors shouldn’t conflict with the promise you’ve made—for example, a site promising inner peace and a site promising playfulness should probably choose different colors—but that’s the only rule.

Almost everything is allowed, and bravery is usually rewarded.

Start out with a single, strong color you’d like to use, then use a tool like Kuler to find other colors that go well with it.

Ideally, you’ll put together a palette of colors that is uniquely yours, instantly recognizable to anyone who knows it, and that you can find ways to implement on your blog, across your social media properties, and in your product designs, both online and offline. Be creative.

Watch your tone of voice

It’s no coincidence that Starbucks has its own language (including words like barrista, grande, frappe, and so on.). This vocabulary helps support the brand’s promise that this is not your run-of-the-mill coffee shop.

Think about your blog’s tone of voice. Is it authentic, distinctive, and consistent? Are you falling into the trap of over-complicating things with big, boring words, and overused jargon? Are you conveying your personality and making it easy for people to understand what you are offering and why they should care?

There is a lot of brand power in the way we say things, not just in what we say. Have someone else look at each of your posts before it goes up and make sure you are choosing words wisely. We all know how hard it is to edit our own work.

Invest in your brand—with money, time, and creativity

Now, these are some quick tips. There’s a lot more to learn about brand. But the key message is that it’s always a good idea to invest in your brand. If you don’t have the money to invest, at least invest the time and energy to learn, and the thought and creativity to do a good job with what you have.

How’s your brand looking? Share your ideas for blog branding in the comments.

Julie Cottineau is former VP of Brand at Virgin and executive at Interbrand. Recently she founded her own brand consultancy, BrandTwist, to help small businesses and entrepreneurs, and will soon launch Brand School, an online course about building, growing and monetizing a brand.

via problogger.net

Agents, builders get warnings about mortgage ads | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Mock direct mail advertisement illustrating claims that could be misleading.Mock direct mail advertisement illustrating claims that could be misleading.

Federal regulators have sent warning letters to more than 30 companies, including real estate agents, homebuilders and lead generators, warning them that their mortgage advertising on websites, Facebook and in newspapers and direct mailers may be deceptive.

The Federal Trade Commission said it sent letters to 20 companies in a coordinated action with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which issued warning letters to approximately a dozen others.

The FTC said the agencies’ review of about 800 mortgage ads from a wide variety of media “revealed several types of troubling claims that could be misleading to consumers.” The review found potential violations of the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule and the FTC Act in:

  • Ads that offered a very low fixed mortgage rate without discussing significant loan terms.
  • Ads containing statements, images, symbols and abbreviations suggesting that an advertiser is affiliated with a government agency.
  • Ads “guaranteeing” approval and offering low monthly payments without discussing “significant conditions” on these offers.

A mock mortgage advertisement from a fictional real estate agent created by the FTC as an example of a potentially misleading ad.

The CFPB said many of the potentially misleading practices seemed to be directed at older borrowers, and active-duty military service members, or veterans.

“Some advertisers will use your military or veteran status as a way to approach you, promising special deals or implying VA approval,” the CFPB said. “Others will use the lure of a ‘no-payment’ reverse mortgage to troll for older Americans desperate to find a way to stay in their home when they can no longer afford a mortgage payment. And although mortgage rates are very low right now, an offer promising ‘historically low rates’ may still have hidden traps that turn it into a bad deal.”

The Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule, which took effect in August 2011, has been known as Regulation N since rule-making authority was transferred from the FTC to the CFPB. The rule prohibits material misrepresentations in advertising or any other commercial communication regarding consumer mortgages.

The FTC and the CFPB share enforcement authority over non-bank mortgage advertisers such as mortgage lenders, brokers, servicers and advertising agencies. Mortgage advertisers that violate the rule may be required to pay civil penalties.

via inman.com

FHA changes won’t impact most buyers | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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A bailout for FHA? Don’t bet on it.

And what’s the practical significance of the steps the agency announced last week to avoid a meltdown? What impact will they have for homebuyers and sellers who rely on FHA for affordable financing?

Less than you might think if you read some of the dire reports on Friday’s news: FHA’s capital reserve ratio to support its single-family and reverse mortgage programs plummeted to -1.44 percent, according to an independent audit, representing a negative economic value of more than $16 billion.

You may have also read that in response, the FHA plans to raise its annual mortgage insurance premiums from 1.25 percent to 1.35 percent early next year, and revoke new borrowers’ ability to cancel their premiums once their loan balances hit the 78 percent LTV level.

The agency also is going to expand pre-purchase counseling efforts for applicants with low credit scores and minimal down payments, and step up efforts to promote short sales to seriously delinquent owners who are likely headed for foreclosure.

Taken together, the changes don’t appear to be a big deal for most buyers who opt for FHA loans. In fact, you can argue that what’s not being changed is far more noteworthy than what is:

  • Minimum down payments will still be 3.5 percent. The agency resisted demands that it boost the minimum to 5 percent.
  • There will be no risk-based pricing on premiums, another demand by critics. FHA will continue to its one-price-for-all system in which low-risk borrowers essentially subsidize the premiums of higher-risk borrowers.
  • Underwriting will continue to be generous on key items like debt-to-income ratios.

Whereas Fannie’s and Freddie’s automated underwriting systems cut off applicants who have back-end (total debt including housing) ratios much above 45 percent, loan officers tell me FHA sometimes allows them to push through back-end DTIs in excess of 56 percent, and even front-end (housing) ratios of more than 45 percent.

None of this is changing because, in the words of Bob Ryan, a senior adviser to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, “we don’t want to overreact” to an audit report that may have exaggerated the gravity of the agency’s situation.

The audit report used house price projections that did not reflect important gains in recent months, for example, and did not take full account of revenues being generated by the agency’s high-performing, low-loss recent books of insurance business.

David H. Stevens, immediate past FHA commissioner and current CEO at the Mortgage Bankers Association, told me it’s doubtful FHA will need a cash infusion next September from the Treasury because “they (the leadership at FHA) have all next year to replenish the fund” with additional tweaks to premiums, increasing the pace and productivity of REO dispositions, and restructuring the ailing Home Equity Conversion (HECM) reverse mortgage program to cut losses.

Continuing increases in home prices will help out a lot, since depressed home values in the 2008 and 2009 vintages of FHA originations have plagued the agency and created the bulk of its current problems.

The decision to retain the 3.5 percent minimum down payment was especially key, said Stevens. FHA can raise or lower premiums anytime, “but once you raise the down payment (minimum), that would be difficult to chip back.”

More importantly, raising minimum down payments would exclude large numbers of first-time buyers with good jobs who are solid credit risks, but simply lack the cash to make the type of down payments required in the conventional marketplace.

Turning away qualified applicants because they couldn’t come up with another 1.5 percent in down payment cash would be an abandonment of FHA’s traditional mission of opening the door to homeownership for moderate-income families, especially first-time purchasers and minorities.

In some local markets, FHA finances well over half of all purchase loans. In the first three months of 2012, it held around a 32 percent market share of new purchase loans nationwide.

Another step FHA didn’t announce last week but soon will: reining in seller concessions to buyers to help pay for closing costs and lender fees.

Seller concessions, like the now-prohibited seller-funded down payment assistance programs that were commonplace in 2004-2008, can distort transactions by cutting buyers’ initial stakes in the property to zero or even negative equity, and have been linked to losses to the insurance fund.

Though FHA has proposed a tiered system that would lower maximum contributions for many sellers to 3 or 4 percent and restrict the current 6 percent maximum to low-balance loans, it has not yet published a final rule.

When I asked FHA Commissioner Carol Galante on Friday for an estimate on the timing of the final rule, she rolled her eyes, lamented the frustrations of jumping through the bureaucratic hoops required to get a new federal regulation onto the street, and said “soon.”

This month? “No.” December? “I hope so.” But even when finalized, the rules will almost certainly give real estate brokers and lenders time to adjust.

So bottom line: 6 percent seller concessions are likely to be available for purchasers into the early first quarter of 2013. After that, they’re history.

via inman.com