Category Archives: Westchester NY

Purchase index plunges 16% year-over-year | South Salem NY Homes

A week after a free-fall of 9.2%, mortgage applications continued their decline with a 0.2% decrease from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending June 27, 2014.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 0.1% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1% compared with the previous week and was 16% lower than the same week one year ago.

“The mortgage industry has yet to see purchase activity make up for the drop in refinance volume,” said Quicken Loans vice president Bill Banfield. “Lenders who are able to focus on client experience are bucking this trend and gaining market share despite the recent drops in volume overall.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 53% of total applications from 52% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity remained unchanged at 8% of total applications.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30523-mortgage-application-decline-continues-after-last-weeks-free-fall

3 reasons all is not lost in housing | Katonah Real Estate

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When mortgage rates jumped in anticipation of the start of Fed tapering back in June 2013, the inherent cracks in the foundation of the housing industry became apparent.

Seriously, how healthy is a housing market that relies on artificially capped interest rates and literally tens of billions of dollars a month of fiat money pumped into Treasurys and bonds?

Now it’s a full year later and despite the fact that interest rates are nearly back to where they were a year ago, housing has stalled out.

Worse, unless you believe the happy-happy-joy-joy analysts on CNBC or anything on Business Insider, it’s been pretty apparent for, oh, the past 12 months.

That’s not to say that it’s doom and gloom. There are some strengths showing, despite the top-line numbers showing year-over-year drops in everything from sales and construction spending to price increases and mortgage originations.

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/30519-reasons-all-is-not-lost-in-housing

Detroit homes face foreclosure due to unpaid taxes | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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In January, the owners of 43,634 properties in Detroit owed the county more than $328 million combined in unpaid taxes and fees, the New York Times reported.

Since then, some have paid their debts, entered payment plans or qualified for assistance, but 26,038 properties continue to face foreclosure and many are headed for public auction, the news outlet said.

Most of the properties are residential, though 5 percent are former businesses. One-third of the properties are vacant lots.

Source: nytimes.com

Demolishing all or part of the concrete in your yard | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Concrete patios are often found in older homes, especially those built in the ’70s. But by now they’ve cracked and crumbled, leaving many homeowners wondering how to replace them, or even hoping to reclaim some of the green space lost by a particularly large patio.

If you count yourself in this group, here you’ll learn how to improve your outdoor space by removing or shrinking your concrete patio, or replacing an old cracked patio with a fresh new one that better suits your style today.

Falling Waters Landscape

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Getting rid of a concrete patio enables you to replace it with a more attractive option — like pavers, stone or a modern combination, as with this patio by Falling Waters Landscape, featuring a grid of concrete rectangles divided by permeable plantings. It can also allow you to create more lawn or garden space.

Best time to do it: When the weather is dry and temperate enough to permit heavy-duty work outdoors.

Why: “Concrete cracks, it’s not a very pretty product, and there are a lot of better solutions on the market,” says Micah Dennis of Paradise Restored Landscaping & Exterior Design.

Who to hire: This project requires heavy machinery and can have hidden pitfalls (like rebar lurking in your concrete), so it’s only a DIY if you earn your bread and butter in home improvement. If that doesn’t sound like you, it’s best to hire a licensed contractor.

Tip: Dennis warns that many contractors won’t take the project if they aren’t installing a replacement patio or garden, so have a plan in place when you start interviewing professionals.

Find a deck or patio pro near you

Hart Wright Architects, AIA

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Cost range: Between $800 and $1,000 for demolition alone. The total cost of your project will depend on what you decide to put in the patio’s place.

Typical project length: One day.

Permit required: None for the project, although some municipalities require a permit for dumping concrete, so call ahead.

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28386224?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u547&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery6

4 Costs New Homeowners Have to Plan For | Waccabuc Real Estate

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We all know that buying a home is a huge financial decision that requires adequate funds and thorough research. But there’s more to owning a home than just buying it. Beyond what you pay to own the home, be sure you take into account the additional costs that come with being a homeowner.

Moving

Moving may seem minor but it’s a cost that often comes very soon after forking over a large sum of money. Once you’ve purchased the home you want to live in, you have to get there. Whether you rent a truck and do the heavy lifting yourself or you have full-service movers take care of the hard work, there will be a cost to move all of your things from your current home into your next home. This is important to remember when you are figuring out how much of a down payment you can afford. You want to make sure you have enough left over to get to that wonderful house once you buy it!

Mortgage Payments

While renters are usually used to paying on a monthly basis, owning a home almost always comes with monthly mortgage payments. This includes the repayment portion of the principal as well as interest. The monthly expense depends on the amount borrowed, interest rate and whether your mortgage is fixed-rate or adjustable-rate. Be sure to do the research and make an agreement with a monthly cost you can afford.

Taxes and Insurance

As a homeowner, you have to pay property taxes and home insurance. The construction materials and location of your home affect the cost of insurance — and insurance can rise over time. You may also need supplemental insurance if you live in an earthquake or flood zone. These expenses are often paid each month, and are often rolled into your monthly mortgage payment

Down to Earth Farmers Markets | Cross River Real Estate

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JAN2014-DTE-E-Mail-Masthead_(722x226pxl)FRESH-2-(1

Grand Opening Celebration of New Rochelle Farmers Market Tomorrow;
SALE: Fresh Mussels from American Pride Seafood;
Making Berry Love Last + MORE
June 26th-July 2nd, 2014
DowntoEarthMarkets.com

What’s New, In Season, and On Sale This Week
Amaranth Rexcroft Farm Babagannouj Roasted eggplant dip Nana’s Home Kitchen Beets Alex’s Tomato Farm Fishkill Farm R & G Produce Broccoli Rexcroft Farm Caramelized Garlic Loaf Wave Hill Breads Cookies Chocolate Chip, Ginger & Peanut Butter, all made with local honey Honeybrook Farm Cucumbers Taliaferro Farms Gazpacho Pika’s Farm Table	Giardiniera Cauliflower, carrots, celery, and sweet peppers steeped to perfection for delicious snack Sale: Pint = $4 (Reg. $5) Pickle Licious Fennel Taliaferro Farms Green & Purple Kohlrabi Alex’s Tomato Farm Macadamia Nut Bars 10% OFF this week e-Desserts Mussels SALE: $4/pound or $7 for two pounds American Pride Seafood Nana’s Cheese Beurak Oven baked puff pastry w/cheese Nana’s Home Kitchen New Potatoes R & G Produce	Peas Alex’s Tomato Farm Newgate Farms Taliaferro Farms Rainbow Chard Ravioli with Black Pepper Pasta $10 for 18 pieces Trotta Foods Roman Foccacia Wave Hill Breads Sour Cherry Pies & Tarts Regular & gluten-free – made with local cherries! Meredith’s Bread Strawberries Fishkill Farm Migliorelli Farm Wright Family Farm Tomatoes Wright Family Farm Yellow Zucchini Migliorelli Farm

Click on a Market to see all vendor and event details…

Westchester County		Rockland County
Ossining Saturdays 8:30 am-1:00 pm	Larchmont Saturdays 8:30 am-1:00 pm	Piermont Sundays 9:30 am-3:00 pm
L Croton-on-Hudson Sundays 9:00 am-2:00 pm	Rye Sundays 8:30 am-2:00 pm	Spring Valley OPENING DAY: July 9th Wednesdays 8:30 am-3:00 pm
Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow Saturdays 8:30 am-1:00 pm	New Rochelle Fridays 8:30 am-2:30 pm	*Headed to the city soon?* Visit a Down to Earth Farmers Market in NYC!

Announcements

Croton-on-Hudson

Susan Chasen from the Organic Teaching Kitchen will be at the Croton-on-Hudson farmers market this Sunday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, creating a seasonal raw kale salad for all to sample. Pick up a recipe to try at home and learn more about organic eating.

New Rochelle – Tomorrow – Grand Opening at 10:30 am

It is time to cut the ribbon and celebrate the 2014 season of New Rochelle’s Down to Earth Farmers Market! On Friday, June 27th, help us welcome several community leaders and market supporters, including State Senator George Latimer and Mayor Noam Bramson. The market now has an expanded selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables, pasture-raised meats, local honey, and baked goods. We’re located on North Avenue, at Huguenot Park, in front of New Rochelle High School. See you there every Friday, through November 21st, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.

Rye

Calling all kids! The Rye Free Reading Room will be hosting an ‘Eating Green with Granny Jean’ Storytelling event at the market on Sunday from 11:30 am to noon. Join storyteller Granny Jean as she reads stories and shares activities to inspire curiosity about healthy foods.

For additional events, visit our Down to Earth Markets Event Calendar.

Stay tuned to all market happenings via our Down to Earth Markets Facebook page
and follow us on Instagram and on Twitter @DowntoEarthMkts.

Berries, Let’s Make this Love Last

This is how we feel about the annual berry harvest

This week we went on a Choose Your Own Adventure – of the berry variety. Our quest was to preserve the beautiful berry harvest of late June. We chose strawberries as our protagonist in this story, but it could have just as easily starred the season’s blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or cherries. They are all appearing at our farmers markets these days – have you seen them? Have you tried them? Have you relished every bite, and with each one, taken a moment to say thank you to summer? Yes, SAME HERE.

We tried two different methods of preserving our quarts of fresh, local strawberries: 1) drying and 2) freezing. On the drying front, we don’t have a dehydrator, so we tried the oven method. It calls for cleaning the berries, cutting off the green stem, and then placing them in the oven for 3-4 hours at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. We’re sharing this because we’d like our fellow preservationists to learn from our mistakes: Don’t do it.

When we pulled out the berries at hour #4, our they had shriveled to little flakes and used a lot of energy in the process. Yes, shriveling is the point of drying, but nonetheless, it was an energy-intensive process that created a hot kitchen on a hotter summer day — without much return. In seeing the final outcome, the phrase “Pinterest Fail “ quickly came to mind.

We’re happy to say that the journey of freezing the berries went much better. It’s so easy to do in just 5 steps:

Rinse the berries.
Dry them with a paper towel. Our method is to roll them around in a colander lined with paper towels.
Cut off the green stem, so there is a flat surface on one side.
Distribute them across a baking sheet; do not allow them to touch. This is how we prevent the berries from freezing into one massive bunch.
Put the berries in the freezer. Once they are frozen (2+ hours), add them into a Zip-Loc freezer bag. Now we’ve got berries to add to smoothies, pancakes, and more for many months to come. And they taste divine.

To share the process visually, we snapped a few photos along the way and posted this photo album online. Click on any photo to read its caption.

Are you preserving the harvest this year? If so, we’d love to see what you’re up to, so let us know. AND – See you at the farmers market berry table this weekend!

Rotating* Vendors This Week
*Vendors who rotate through various markets during the season.
They enjoy getting to know many communities, and here’s where to find them this week:

Larchmont

Calcutta Kitchens
#Freedom Craft Brewery
Lulu’s Southern Pies
The Peanut Principle
The RAD Soap Company
Trotta Foods

New Rochelle

e-Desserts (Freshly baked scones, cakes, and more!)

Ossining

Hudson River Apiaries
Nana’s Home Kitchen

Piermont

Kontoulis Family Olive Oil
Tuthilltown Spirits Farm Distillery

Rye

Kontoulis Family Olive Oil

Down to Earth Markets 173 Main Street Ossining, NY 10562 Phone: 914-923-4837
DowntoEarthMarkets.com

Zillow and Douglas Elliman Real Estate Enter Into Marketing Partnership | South Salem NY Homes

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Zillow Inc. and Douglas Elliman Real Estate, one of the largest real estate brokerages in the nation and New York City’s largest residential brokerage, announced they have entered into a new strategic marketing partnership. All of Douglas Elliman’s listings will appear as featured listings on the Yahoo!-Zillow Real Estate Network, the largest real estate network on the web, via a direct feed from Douglas Elliman. The direct feed ensures accurate and up-to-date information is being shared with home shoppers from across the many regions Douglas Elliman serves, including New York, Westchester/Putnam, Long Island, The Hamptons, South Florida and Los Angeles. Also as part of the partnership, Douglas Elliman’s exclusive inventory of Manhattan properties will be marketed on Zillow for the very first time. As featured listings, all of Douglas Elliman’s listings will appear at the top of the search results on Zillow as well as on Zillow’s popular suite of mobile apps and on Zillow partners AOL Real Estate and HGTV’s FrontDoor.

“We are excited about our partnership with Douglas Elliman,” said Spencer Rascoff, Zillow CEO. “Combining Douglas Elliman’s listing inventory with our broad marketing capabilities and audience of nearly 82 million users brings many benefits not only to Douglas Elliman’s agents, but also to home shoppers looking for property in Manhattan and in the other markets served by Douglas Elliman.”

In addition to displaying as a featured listing on Zillow, all Douglas Elliman’s listings will feature unique branding and the company’s agents will get priority placement next to their listings, including a logo and link back to their website. The partnership will be live later this week.

http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news49950/zillow-and-douglas-elliman-real-estate-enter-marketing-partnership

$16M For a Winged Modern With a Massive ‘Play’ Basement | Chappaqua Real Estate

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26 images

Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Price: $15,900,000
The Skinny: If the design of this sleek, modern home in Las Vegas puts you in mind of some of the newer resorts that have sprouted up along the Strip, there’s a good reason for that. The 13,000-square-foot luxury manse was designed by its owners, the resort architects Jon Sparer and John Klai, who between them have had a hand in designing hotels like Mandalay Bay and the Luxor Twin Towers, as well as overseeing the renovation of The Palms and the Hard Rock Las Vegas. The home—dubbed J2 after the architectural duo’s first names—features a rare Las Vegas basement with 6,000 square feet of entertainment options, including a bowling alley, spa, maple tree bar, 2,000-bottle wine refrigerator and screening room, which is connected to the rest of the three-story house by an elevator whose floors are marked “Play”, “Eat”, and “Sleep”. The five-bedroom, nine-bathroom home also boasts green design features such as rammed earth walls, a roof wing with solar panels, and shaded glass walls. It’s asking $15.9M.

Housing inventory jumps 11.8% but first-time buyers still locked out | Waccabuc Real Estate

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After plunging throughout 2012 and for much of 2013, and rising only modestly through the beginning of this year, the inventory of all for-sale homes nationwide spiked in May, jumping 11.8% year-over-year according to Zillow (Z).

But most of those gains in inventory were made among homes priced in the middle and top one-third of home values, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

The number of homes available for sale in the most affordable price bracket, those homes most sought by first-time homebuyers, fell year-over-year in 28 of the nation’s largest metro areas analyzed by Zillow.

“It’s good to see overall inventory rising. It’s likely that many would-be sellers have decided to capitalize on recent home value gains, particularly as the pace slows, and list their home for sale now in order to move into a new home while mortgage interest rates remain low,” said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “But persistent inventory constraints at the low end of the market continue to make it a tough environment for first-time and lower-income homebuyers. Low inventory and high demand can lead to rapid price spikes, which make homes even more difficult to afford for many buyers. Hopefully the inventory gains we’re seeing in the middle and upper tiers of the market will begin trickling down to the most affordable homes soon.”

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30393-housing-inventory-jumps-118-but-first-time-buyers-still-locked-out

3 housing charts show we’re heading for an echo bubble | Katonah Real Estate

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Charles Hugh Smith’s Of Two Minds blog is required reading, and in his post Thursday he details how after six years of central planning by the Federal Reserve – and let’s be honest, that’s exactly what it’s been – the economy is more fragile than it was before.

There’s strong evidence he’s not exaggerating.

“The central bank/state intervene in the economy in a dominant fashion, controlling functions such as interest rates by order of central authorities that were once set by decentralized, self-organizing markets,” he writes. “The central bank/state pick winners and losers: for example, the Too Big To Fail Banks (TBTF) were selected to win, as the central bank/state bailed out their private losses with public-taxpayer money. In effect, the central bank/state enrich cronies at the expense of everyone else.

“The central bank/state manipulate the nominally ‘free’ market to boost asset valuations as a way of enriching cronies who own most of the financial assets and as a public-relations charade to mask the failure of their picking winners and losers,” Smith says.

“In other words, in centrally planned economies, markets are not allowed to discover price–they exist only to reflect positively on central planners,” he says.

One of the many current drags on housing has been the more than 30 years of stagnant income growth, especially for the middle class – the bulk of homebuyers.

Smith argues the Fed’s policies are what are causing that stagnation.

“How about real median income? Central planning has greatly boosted the wealth and income of the financier winners picked by the Planners, but sadly this does not include wage earners, who have seen their inflation-adjusted earnings plummet,” Smith writes

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/30377-housing-charts-show-were-heading-for-an-echo-bubble

Buying Bedford Real Estate

Robert Paul Realtor buying Bedford real estate

Category Archives: Westchester NY

Purchase index plunges 16% year-over-year | South Salem NY Homes

3 reasons all is not lost in housing | Katonah Real Estate

Detroit homes face foreclosure due to unpaid taxes | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Demolishing all or part of the concrete in your yard | Bedford Corners Real Estate

4 Costs New Homeowners Have to Plan For | Waccabuc Real Estate

Down to Earth Farmers Markets | Cross River Real Estate

Zillow and Douglas Elliman Real Estate Enter Into Marketing Partnership | South Salem NY Homes

$16M For a Winged Modern With a Massive ‘Play’ Basement | Chappaqua Real Estate

Housing inventory jumps 11.8% but first-time buyers still locked out | Waccabuc Real Estate

3 housing charts show we’re heading for an echo bubble | Katonah Real Estate