Australian Banks’ Risky Loans Fueling House Price Gains – Bloomberg.
Australian Banks’ Risky Loans Fueling House Price Gains | Chappaqua Real Estate
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Listing Portals: What’s the Real End Game? | Chappaqua Real Estate
The ongoing contention regarding the ultimate motives of the major online listing portals recently came to a head during a rousing panel discussion at RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange earlier this fall. During the session – “The Data Debate: Is Disintermediation a Real Risk?” – the true intentions of the online portals were debated with the hopes of revealing whether the current players are in fact, broker and agent friendly.
Held at New York City’s prestigious Yale Club on Sept. 18, the panel was moderated by longtime industry veteran Ken Jenny, managing partner, Mediatise, LLC. Panelists included leading listing portal executives and brokerage representatives, including: Curt Beardsley, VP, Customer & Industry Development, MOVE/realtor.com®; David Charron, president and CEO, MRIS; Alon Chaver, vice president, Industry Services, Trulia; Bob Hale, president and CEO, Houston Association of REALTORS®; Greg Schwartz, chief revenue officer, Zillow; and Andy Woolley, vice president/GM, Homes.com.
Jenny opened the discussion in the spirit of unity. “It’s not my goal to push the two factions further apart, because the idea is to learn to work together,” he stated. “We just love to hate something in this business. When something comes along that does a great job of working with us, we’re highly suspicious of the motives. We want to know, ‘how can it hurt me?’”
According to Jenny, given the voluminous amounts of listing data flowing through today’s market, if real estate professionals only advertised their listings through traditional avenues, they would be doing a disservice to themselves and their consumers. Jenny asserted that the distribution solutions offered by online portals, when blended with a print strategy, provide brokers and agents with the right marketing strategy for listings.
Jenny launched the debate, therefore, by asking listing-portal executives the question on the minds of many brokers: “Are you a disintermediator?”
“I get up every morning with the same purpose,” responded Zillow’s Schwartz. “Our purpose is to help real estate consumers find homes they love and can afford by working with the world’s best agents. We do that by mining data and utilizing social community. I never woke up saying, ‘we’re going to get our brokerage license.’ We know how to write software and how to sell ads. That’s our thing. You all do something that is very hard, complicated and demanding. We think we amplify your efforts. That’s our purpose.”
Trulia’s Chaver put forth a similar assertion. “We are not disintermediators in any sense of the word,” he explained. “We have a very simple mission and that is to connect consumers with agents. We want to partner with brokers as they are transitioning from newspapers. We also want to take the looky-loos and teach them about real estate, so when they are ready, we can connect them with an agent. We never take FSBOs. We work with over 2,500 brokers. Consumers generally don’t know much about Trulia, and that’s because our intent is to accelerate and build the broker’s brand, not ours.”
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Historic 18th-Century Charleston House Wants $3.5M | Chappaqua NY Homes
Location: Charleston, S.C. Price: $3,499,000 The Skinny: The house that originally stood at this site was built in 1726 for French Huguenot Paul Douxsaint and burned down in Charleston’s Fire of 1796, which destroyed the homes of more than 300 families. Yet a new, clapboard Federal-style house was built in its place over the next four years and, at some point during the 19th century, was purchased by prominent Charleston merchant Daniel Macaulay. The Douxsaint-Macaulay House, as it is now known, has since undergone multiple renovations, the most recent one occurring after it sold for $2.275M in 2006. It has managed to retain a few interior details, such as wainscoting and fireplace mantels, and more of its exterior detail, including the nine-over-nine windows with narrow muntins and dormered hipped roof. It’s now asking $3.5M.
JPMorgan’s $13-billion settlement includes $4 billion allocated for consumer mortgage relief | Chappaqua Homes
JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $13-billion settlement with the government over selling shoddy mortgage investments, ending a legal battle that signals a tougher stance against Wall Street wrongdoing.
The nation’s largest bank admitted to knowingly peddling the toxic securities that helped lead to the housing bubble and the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. The settlement is the largest made by any single American company in history.
California, slammed by 1 million foreclosures during the mortgage meltdown, will be a major beneficiary of the deal.
The agreement includes $4 billion to help homeowners in the Golden State and across the nation who were foreclosed on or who are struggling with their loans. California pension funds, which were big investors in mortgage securities, will receive nearly $300 million in damages to cover losses to the retirement accounts of state employees and teachers.
For the Justice Department, it was a much-needed win. Critics have lambasted the government for not doing enough to hold banks accountable for financial chicanery that helped trigger a global recession.
“Before the crisis, Big Brother was asleep on the couch,” said Mike Mayo, a banking analyst at CLSA in New York. “Now Big Brother is coming back with a vengeance.”
JPMorgan has long contended that the government’s case against it was unfair because many of the problem mortgage securities came from investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. and thrift Washington Mutual. JPMorgan purchased those crippled institutions at the depths of the financial crisis at the urging of the federal government.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chairman and chief executive, said the bank was “pleased to have concluded this extensive agreement” that covers a “very significant portion” of its legacy mortgage problems.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jpmorgan-doj-deal-20131120,0,1814328.story#axzz2lCdeUPPK
7 Strategies for a Well-Designed Kitchen | Chappaqua Real Estate
What’s the most important room in your house? For me it’s the kitchen. I love to eat, cook and spend time with family, and the kitchen is where I can do it all. With today’s busy schedules, mealtimes are often the only times families have to spend with one another. So how can you have the perfect kitchen for your lifestyle, stay within your budget and maximize resale value?
One of the most important steps in any project is starting with a great design. It’s not just about looks, it’s more about function and adding value to your life. More than any other room in the house, a kitchen has to be well thought out, carefully configured and designed to accommodate multiple functions. You probably spend more time in your kitchen than any other room, and that’s exactly why it’s so important to start with a great design. Consider these seven ways to get there.
1. Avoid isolation. For many of today’s families, the kitchen is the heart of the home and should be a place where people can gather, entertain and relax — not just cook. That’s why an open plan, like in this kitchen, works so well.
The open plan isn’t your only option, but it isn’t going anywhere yet. Consider your family’s needs carefully before choosing a kitchen plan, and know that if resale is an option for you, most buyers these days are looking for an open kitchen.
Open vs. Closed Kitchens — Which Style Works Best for You?
The open plan isn’t your only option, but it isn’t going anywhere yet. Consider your family’s needs carefully before choosing a kitchen plan, and know that if resale is an option for you, most buyers these days are looking for an open kitchen.
Open vs. Closed Kitchens — Which Style Works Best for You?
2. Plan a functional layout. If you like to cook and enjoy making meals for family and friends, there is nothing more frustrating than a kitchen that doesn’t function well. Most designs today follow the basic kitchen work triangle of the sink, refrigerator and range to maximize functionality. But take your own needs into account too. Plenty of counter space for prep, especially next to appliances, like in this kitchen, can make your cooking routine go much more smoothly.
Read more about kitchen layouts
Read more about kitchen layouts
3. Choose a good location. If you plan to make your kitchen the heart of your home, choose a location that connects it with all the other major circulation points. Having your kitchen anchor your home’s great room or provide access to the garage through a mudroom or laundry room is a great way to achieve this.
Major changes proposed to the King Street and South Greeley Avenue intersection | Chappaqua Real Estate
Two engineering firms presented concepts for how to improve downtown Chappaqua during a recent New Castle Town Board work session.
The companies responded to a request for proposals (RFP) from the town and came with plans to improve infrastructure and streetscapes, hoping to be selected.
The first company to present at the work session, held Nov. 6, was WSP, which is located near by in Briarcliff Manor. David Weiss, a representative from the company, touted the fact that it has employees of varying specialties – he remarked that everyone is “under one roof” – and its close location. He also noted that the WSP has done similar projects and has a record of coming in under budget.
WSP’s team went through existing problems that the hamlet has, including worn pavement to traffic back-up during peak activity. The scope of its review includes North Greeley Avenue, South Greeley Avenue and King Street.
The WSP proposal, which is in the conceptual phase, was fairly detailed. It calls for eliminating left-hand exit turns from Woodburn onto South Greeley Avenue during peak evening time and instead diverting the traffic to Washington Avenue, where it would then turn onto the main road.
Notably, the intersection of King Street, South Greeley Avenue and North Greeley Avenue would become an “all-stop” intersection, with drivers having to stop once they come down the King Street hill. The intersection would also lose its right-turn slip lane, which would be filled in, and would become a “T” intersection. To make up for the removal of the slip lane, and extra lane would be added to the northbound side of South Greeley Avenue. The intersection would also get stamped concrete pavement and stamped concrete crosswalks, with a fourth crosswalk added so people can cross South Greeley.
The project also calls for bump-out spaces, which have the effect of calming traffic, at the intersection of South Greeley and Senter Street, and at the corner of King Street and North Greeley Avenue. On the infrastructure side, WSP described assessing water and sewer operations, along with some water main replacement and sewer repair. Additionally, it includes adding a water fountain on the triangle at the intersection of South Greeley and the Route 120 bridge.
The company also addressed disruption to the business community, suggesting measures ranging from use of a precast concrete driveway apron to doing test pits to avoid conflicts with utilities.
The second firm to present was VHB, which has a presence in White Plains. A representative touted its assortment of services, including civil engineering and landscape architecture, noting that everything is under one roof and it is a “coordinated and efficient approach.”
Its presentation promoted pedestrian safety, walkability and lighting. Among the principals stated for street usage, were that pedestrians will cross at convenient spaces, that narrow streets can calm traffic and that crossings should be short.
Matthew Carmody, a VHB representative, discussed taking a “complete” streets approach, which involves involving the area from building to building and taking what is called a zonal approach. The firm would do simulation for traffic and phase construction to help merchants.
A concept presented by VHB also shows improving the intersection of South Greeley Avenue, North Greeley Avenue and King Street. It also includes filling in the slip lane but does not add a new right-hand turn to replace it. A fountain would be placed in the plaza area created by eliminating the slip lane, while marked crosswalks would be in all four directions at the intersection.
The proposals are of the town board’s latest effort to improve the aesthetics of the downtown. Previous studies included the 2003 Vollmer Associates Report, a 2007 report from Project for Public Spaces and a 2008 conceptual project from Pouder Design Group. Details on previous work are available on the town’s website at this link.
One conceptual overview – it was called the Chappaqua Hamlet Vision Plan – included two projects that have since been completed, such as construction of a new gazebo and a reconstruction of the South Greeley Avenue parking lot in 2011. It also included doing work in the area currently under consideration.
http://chappaqua.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/firms-vie-for-downtown-chappaqua-overhaul
New South Wales buyers propping up Brisbane’s housing market | Chappaqua Homes
SOUTHERN investors are buying up bargains in Brisbane fuelling the recovery in the city’s property market in a bid to get more bang for their buck.
With prices booming in Southern capitals and forcing out house hunters, Sydneysiders and Melbournites are turning attention north and splashing the cash on Brisbane homes.Real estate analysts and agents say the interstate investors are leading the recovery in the Brisbane property market as they embark on shopping sprees through our sought-after suburbs.
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Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Anton Kardash said investment from interstate and overseas had been a “significant proportion” of the recovery in Brisbane’s market.
“The investor market has been the one, particularly in the sub-$350,000 and sub-$400,000 range, that’s really been keeping the market very much alive over the last probably 18 months,” he said.
He said despite moving into a “growth phase”, there was still “very, very good buying” for investors across the south east corner.
– See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/new-south-wales-buyers-propping-up-brisbanes-housing-market/story-e6frg6n6-1226762129823#sthash.KNuZWFG1.dpuf