Tag Archives: Armonk NY

Armonk NY

Are You Receiving Leads from Realtor.com, Zillow, or Trulia? | Armonk NY Homes

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When you respond to these leads with the only form of contact they usually give you, email, are they opening your responses?

Do you even know if they opened your email or clicked any links?  If not, go here first.

Now we have that out of the way, lets talk about how to increase that open rate.

I presented at the Agent Reboot conference in Seattle and had the opportunity to watchDarin Persinger from Productivity Junkies talk a bit about leads and how to respond to them.  He explained the process of how a consumer searches on Realtor.com and connects with the site.  That consumer then fills out a form and is then presented with an email from “Kelly Agent”, which might not ever get read.  Why you ask?  Watch the video below to find out and learn what to do to overcome this dilemma.

 

 

Are You Receiving Leads from Realtor.com, Zillow, or Trulia? | Tech Savvy Agent.

Armonk Weekend Weather: Sunny, Dry Weather Forecasted | Armonk Homes

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn./WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. – Don’t expect rain to spoil your weekend plans.

The National Weather Service says this weekend should be warm and sunny, with no chance of rain darkening the area.

“High pressure over the region on Friday will result in abundant sunshine and temperatures just above seasonable levels,” the NWS said. “Winds will remain from the northwest with highs reaching the low to mid 70s everywhere.”

Friday: The weather should be sunny and clear, with temperatures reaching 74 degrees.

Saturday: Forecasts call for partly-sunny skies and a high of 75 degrees.

Sunday: The weather should be sunny, with a high of 68 degrees.

 

Armonk Weekend Weather: Sunny, Dry Weather Forecasted | The Armonk Daily Voice.

Jennifer Love Hewitt Buys Sleek Pacific Palisades Home | Armonk NY Homes

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DATE:MAY 14, 2013 | CATEGORY:EYE CANDY | AUTHOR: 
Source: IMDb

Source: IMDb

Jennifer Love Hewitt listed two of her homes earlier this year — one for sale and one for rent — so the news that “The Client List” actress just picked up a new home is no surprise.

According to property records and a report from The Real Estalker, Hewitt paid $3.25 million for a super modern pad in Pacific Palisades. The property was first listed for $3.399 million in early February and reported a pending sale — assumably due to Hewitt’s bid — in mid-March.

The home was previously owned by 7 for All Mankind jeans co-founder Peter Koral, who sold the high-end denim company for a hefty sum in 2007.

The same year, the house was designed by local architect Melinda Gray using contemporary wood and glass. The kitchen includes top-of-the-line, energy-efficient appliances and, like many modern homes, the floor plan is open, leading to a sleek outdoor living space. The home boasts both a rooftop deck and a private patio, which has a pool and lounging area complete with a fire pit and flat-screen TV.

 

 

Jennifer Love Hewitt Buys Sleek Pacific Palisades Home | Zillow Blog.

For $4.5M, a Classic Shingle-Style Estate on Cape Cod – House of the Day | Armonk Real Estate

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Location: West Falmouth, Mass.
Price: $4,500,000
The Skinny: This shingle-style estate on Frederick Law Olmsted-plannedChapoquoit Island is the pinnacle of preppy summering. Located within a private association, with easy access to the prime sailing grounds of Buzzards Bay, the five-bedroom cottage sprawls over 3,800 square feet and enjoys dazzling water views from nearly every room. The listing focuses on the cottage’s beautiful exterior, saving only one HDR-heavy photo for the interior, so its safe to assume that plenty of work is necessary on the inside to bring this 1902 beauty up to modern standards. Listed for $4.5M, the house sits on 1.43 acres, with a pond and a coveted private dock.

 

 

For $4.5M, a Classic Shingle-Style Estate on Cape Cod – House of the Day – Curbed National.

New Listings Cool California Hot Spots | Armonk NY Homes

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In the several California markets that have seen soaring prices and historically low inventory levels during this spring buying season, a flood of new listings drove inventories up.  The increasing inventories are helping to moderate price increases in the hot markets.  In Sacramento, for example, list prices actually declined on a monthly basis.

In Sacramento, inventories increased 81.17 percent and in Stockton-Lodi, 74.80 percent in April.  San Francisco, Oakland, San Francisco also registered monthly inventory increases exceeding 10 percent according to realtor.com’s April trend report.

Nationally, inventories increased by 4.12 percent over the month, while list prices rose by 2.63 percent, as home owners sought to take advantage of what is now widely seen as a sellers’ market.  At the same time, the average age of the inventory fell to 81 days in April, 10.99 percent lower than one year ago.  All of these positive signs point to a housing market that is well on its way to a broad-based recovery.

The recovery continues to reach more and more of realtor.com’s 246 markets.  Year-over-year median list prices increased in 96 markets, held steady in 20 markets and declined in only 30 markets, a pattern that has been steadily improving since the beginning of the year.  These patterns suggest that the housing recovery is likely to be broad, particularly if the overall economy continues to improve.

On a year-over-year basis, the for-sale inventory declined in all but 11 of the 146 markets tracked by realtor.com, with 36 markets registering declines of 20% or more.  At the same time, year-over-year median list prices increased in 96 markets, held steady in 20 markets and declined in 30 markets, a pattern that has been steadily improving since the beginning of the year.  These patterns suggest that the housing recovery is likely to be broad, particularly if the overall economy continues to improve.  While there continue to be pockets of weaknesses, 2013 promises to be a very good year for the housing market.

On a year-over-year basis, April median list prices were up by 1 p or more in 96 of 146 MSAs, and up by 5% or more in 59 MSAs.  Median list prices were down by 1% or more in 30 markets, while 6 experienced a decline of more than 5%.  The remaining 20 markets have not experienced significant changes in their median list price compared to a year ago.  These results represent a significant improvement over March’s results, when only 82 markets were up by 1% or more on an annual basis and 36 markets were down by 1% or more.

 

 

New Listings Cool California Hot Spots | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

President Obama Urges Congress to Boost Homeowners in ‘Healing’ Housing Market | Armonk Homes

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President Obama today declared that the housing market has reached a point where it is “healing” and reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to promoting initiatives that benefit responsible homeowners, including measures encourage refinancing at low rates.

“Today, seven years after the real estate bubble burst, triggering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and costing millions of responsible Americans their jobs and their homes, our housing market is healing,” Obama said in his weekly address. “Sales are up.  Foreclosures are down.  Construction is expanding.  And thanks to rising home prices over the past year, 1.7 million more families have been able to come up for air because they’re no longer underwater on their mortgages.

ap barack obama ll 130506 wblog President Obama Urges Congress to Boost Homeowners in Healing Housing Market

Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

“But we’ve got more work to do,” he added. “We’ve got more responsible homeowners to help – folks who have never missed a mortgage payment but aren’t allowed to refinance; working families who have done everything right, but still owe more on their homes than they’re worth.”

As he highlighted the administration’s initiatives to boost the housing market, the president called on Congress to confirm Mel Watt, who he recently nominated to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

“He’s the right person for the job, and that’s why Congress should do its job and confirm him without delay,” the president said.

Obama also urged Congress to pass additional measures that would allow homeowners to refinance their homes at low rates.

“Our economy and our housing market are poised for progress – but we could do so much more if we work together,” he said. “More good jobs.  Greater security for middle-class families.  A sense that your hard work is rewarded.  That’s what I’m fighting for – and that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for as long as I hold this office.”

While gun control and a battle over government spending has dominated much of the president’s agenda this year, the White House has made an direct push this week to turn attention to the economy.  On Thursday, the president held a series of events promoting innovation and job creation in the technology industry as part of his “Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tours,” which he will continue next week with events in Baltimore.

 

 

President Obama Urges Congress to Boost Homeowners in ‘Healing’ Housing Market – ABC News.

Dallas-area builders worry that new-home prices are rising too fast | Armonk Real Estate

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Jumps in new home development and construction costs have builders worried that their sales prices are outpacing buyer incomes.
Dallas-Fort Worth new home prices in the first quarter hit a record high of $244,113, according to Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies Inc.
And with costs such as building lots, lumber and labor rising rapidly, the outlook is for more price increases in new homes throughout 2013.
“Builders are reporting that they have increased housing prices $20,000 to $50,000 in some submarkets,” Residential Strategies principal Ted Wilson said Thursday morning at a seminar for local builders.
“They are raising prices not to make more money but to keep up with the pass-through price increases they are facing.”
Wilson said that lot prices in North Texas are up as much as 60 percent and lumber prices are 30 percent to 50 percent higher than a year ago.
If it wasn’t for the near-record low mortgage finance costs, many buyers couldn’t afford the housing being built in D-FW, he said.
“The homebuyer can now purchase almost 31 percent more house today than he could three years ago because of the drop in mortgage rates,” Wilson said. “The drop in the mortgage rate is helping to mask the inflation many homebuyers are now experiencing.”
More construction
Residential Strategies reports that first-quarter new home starts were up about 30 percent from the same period of 2012. The analyst is predicting that local builders will start between 20,000 and 21,000 homes in North Texas in 2013.
That’s still less than half the number of houses that builders constructed in the area in 2006.
“The housing recovery is in full bloom this spring,” Wilson said. “Starts are up 46 percent from the market bottom” in 2009.
The biggest rise in local home starts has been in houses priced above $300,000.
“The $300,000 to $500,000 category continues to see what we think is astounding growth,” said Residential Strategies’ Cassie Gibson. “Year-over-year growth was about 40 percent in this price range.”
These more expensive houses account for about 1 in 4 homes being built in North Texas, she said.
Under $200,000
Starts of homes under $200,000 have grown at less than half the rate of pricier properties. This price range once accounted for more than half of the D-FW starts each year, but it’s now down to about a third of total construction.
“Many submarkets are reaching historic highs in terms of the average and median home prices,” Gibson said. “The market will need help in the way of rising household income levels.
“There obviously is a ceiling to how high prices can rise, and in some areas the market may be close to reaching it,” she said.
Homebuilders worry about their ability to keep passing on cost increases to the consumer.
“It’s the biggest concern of all builders right now,” said Dustin Nelson, president of David Weekley Homes’ D-FW division. “I think when the lending market for residential developers opens up a little bit more, they won’t have to get the lot price increases they are asking today.

 

Dallas-area builders worry that new-home prices are rising too fast | Armonk Real Estate | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.

Market Overheats in Scarsdale | Real Estate

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The experts concur – it’s a banner year for home sales in Scarsdale. We checked in with three local agencies for their observations on the Spring market and here is what they had to say:

Zach Harrison:
Platinum Drive:

“This is the strongest real estate market I have seen in Westchester since 2006. Bidding wars have been commonplace, driven by low interest rates and a lack of inventory.”

Linda Roth
Coldwell Banker: 

This spring is an exceptional time to sell real estate in Scarsdale/Edgemont and surrounding communities. In addition the national real estate market is also showing strong growth. The combination of lack of inventory, an improving economy and historically low interest rates has brought out large numbers of purchasers, which in turn bring multiple offers, many over the asking price and with excellent terms. As always, lower Westchester with its convenient location leads the market.

Lewis Arlt
Houlihan Lawrence: 

Looking out the rear view mirror at sold properties in Scarsdale, we see an up-tick of 9.3% year-to-date (from 43 last year at this date, to 47 this year). And an increase of 11.7% year over year from May 6, 2012 (206 sold) to May 6, 2013 (230 sold). The median sale price stands at $1.246M year to date, compared to $1.285 last year at this time. (a 3% drop, statistically not very significant). The good news is prices remain relatively stable and sales are moving forward at a healthy pace.

Peering out the windshield at pending business, we can see a very healthy ratio of active listings to pending deals. The 112 currently active listings (a 19% decrease compared to 2012 at this time) is well balanced by 82 deals in contract, compared to 76 last year – nearly 8% more. Decreased inventory across the region has fueled higher prices as more buyers compete for fewer homes. This phenomenon has led to some highly competitive bidding and sale prices exceeding expectations, most evidenced in the $700,000-1,500,000 price range. Rates are low, consumer confidence is strong, and we are currently on pace to record more sales this year in the village than in a decade.

 

 

Scarsdale, NY 10583 | Market Overheats in Scarsdale | Real Estate | Your Community Corner.

John Paulson Lists His More Modest Aspen Home for $30M | Armonk NY Real Estate

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john-paulson-aspen-lakes-ranch.jpg
Location: Aspen, Colo.
Price: $29,900,000
The Skinny: Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who made most of his $11.2B fortune by shorting the sub-prime mortgage market, bought this extravagant Aspen home, dubbed Aspen Lakes Ranch, for $24.5M. Set on 8.4 acres, the 13,000-square-foot mansion was built on spec by a local developer, who included seven bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a stocked pond, a private sandy beach, and a guest house. Apparently, this wasn’t quite enough for Paulson, his wife, and two daughters, who are now decamping for one of America’s ultimate estates. Last summer, the family paid $49M for Saudi Prince Bandar’s Hala Ranch, originally listed in 2006 for $135M, and renamed it Star Ranch. The 128-acre spread is centered around a giant, 56,000-square-foot main house, with 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, barber shop and beauty salon, and a master suite that’s said to be large enough “for a party for 450 people.” Now, Paulson is looking to trade-in the ever so slightly more modest Aspen Lakes Ranch, John Paulson lists Aspen Lakes Ranch for cool $29.9 millionasking$29.9M. The family wouldn’t be hurting too much, even if he had to keep both mountain getaways. After all, the hedge funder personally pocketed a record $4.9B in 2010

 

John Paulson Lists His More Modest Aspen Home for $30M | Armonk NY Real Estate | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.

Remodeling? Avoid These Costly Mistakes | Armonk NY Homes

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While many Americans are ready to take on remodeling/renovation projects this spring, doing it the wrong way can be costly. Some errors to avoid:

Not knowing exactly what you want

If you don’t know exactly what you want or specify what you want, you’re going to get what the contractor thinks you want. And it could end up costing you dearly! For home remodeling design ideas, inspiration and a whole lot more (including cost estimates), check out Zillow Digs (free on the iPad or the Web). You can search by style, cost or room. And what’s really cool is that you can search by specific elements within a room, such as quartz or granite countertops, for example. Share your boards with your contractor so that you’re clear on your objectives.

Hiring the first contractor who comes along

Sure, he may seem nice, and he may seem competent, but have you checked him out? What do your friends say about him? Have you contacted his references? Seen his work? Are there any complaints lodged against him? (P.S.: The Better Business Bureau just released its top 10 list of inquiries from consumers, and half relate to home improvement.) What do subcontractors and suppliers have to say about their dealings with him? Is he licensed and insured? As excited as you may be about taking on this new project, you need to do a fair amount of due diligence.

Jumping at the lowest bid

Get at least three bids, and throw out the lowest one so as to avoid the inevitable consequence: cheap materials, shoddy installation, etc. Don’t invite trouble in! Rather, hire someone who not only comes in within target, price-wise, but is someone you feel personally comfortable with.

Not insisting on a written contract

Every detail about your project should be included in a contract, from the start date to the approximate completion date, right down to the brand of fixtures to the number of coats of paint. Be as specific as possible! Also important: setting a time limit for fixing defects so that if a dispute arises, it’s not endless.

Not setting a payment schedule

How you pay a contractor is almost as important as how much. Spell out the payment schedule in the contract, beginning with the amount to be paid upfront (which should be no more than 30 percent).  Periodic payments after the work starts should correspond to completed segments of the project. And the best way to ensure that work gets done when and how you want it? Leave a significant sum (at least 10 percent) to be paid only when the job is completed to your satisfaction.