Tag Archives: Chappaqua Luxury Homes

3 reasons the housing recovery is sustainable | Chappaqua Real Estate

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The results of the 2013 Annual report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finds that the housing recovery is experiencing what appears to be a sustainable rebound.

“With a durable housing recovery at hand and the broader U.S. economy poised to further improve, we are confident that 2014 will bring new opportunities for the country and the Eleventh District, whose economic performance has led the nation forward from one of its toughest periods,” writes Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher.

Access to all four subreports, written by Dallas Fed vice president John Duca, are available here.

Duca outlines three factors that are broadly consistent with the sustainability of the recovery of real house prices.

Reaching these factors, the report states, is a necessary condition to continue a sustainable home-price turnaround. And this condition appears to have been met, considering evidence from several key measures.

1. Prices consistent with inventory

The inventory of unsold homes largely reversed course in 2011; the months’ supply of homes fell sharply. Since early 2012, this gauge has declined below the neutral six months’ supply threshold, and real house prices have risen at an annualized 4–5% since late 2012. The pace of sales relative to the level of houses for sale suggests that the balance of supply and demand will continue supporting further price increases.

2. Supply and demand is coming in line

House price levels can be sustained when the demand for housing (which mainly depends on personal income, real mortgage interest rates and credit standards) is in line with the housing supply.

Inflation-adjusted income has started to rise on a per-capita basis, and real after-tax mortgage interest rates have returned to more normal levels.

3. House prices are sustainable in light of rents and real mortgage interest rates

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29316-dallas-fed-3-reasons-the-housing-recovery-is-sustainable

 

Five Places To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day In Westchester | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Westchester’s residents are bursting with excitement to honor their Irish heritage and celebrate in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17 — and so are its restaurants and bars. Here are five of the biggest St. Patrick’s food events coming up.

1. Yonkers Empire City Casino St. Patrick’s Day Celebration: Irish-American bands Black 47 and Shilelagh Law will be performing an outdoor trackside concert on Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. Jameson will be serving shots and cocktails, along with an Irish Beer tent serving Guinness, Harp Lager, Smithwick’s Irish Ale and Magner’s Cider. Corned beef and cabbage, bangers and burgers with Guinness onion rings will be served. $20

2. Burke’s Aishling Irish Community Center Fund-raiser: Burke’s Restaurant in Yonkers will be holding a fund-raiser on the night of March 14 from 8 to 10 p.m. for the Aishling Irish Center. It will additionally be having live Irish music on March 15, brunch on March 16, and March 17, St. Patrick’s Day will feature its traditional all-day corned beef and cabbage special. $30

3. Quiet Man Public House “Kegs and Eggs:” Peekskill’s Quiet Man Public House is getting an early start on St. Patrick’s Day with a “kegs and eggs” breakfast – which is exactly what it sounds like – from 7 a.m. until noon.

4. Ron Black’s St. Patrick’s Day Lunch: The local White Plains favorite will be opening at 11 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day for lunch, and will be offering Irish beer and food specials throughout the day.

5. Molly Spillane’s All-Day Irish Music and Menu: Molly Spillane’s in Mamaroneck is throwing a reservations-only bash on St. Patrick’s Day, offering drink specials and an authentic Irish menu. Ireland native DJ Frankie Kennedy will be playing music all day, accompanied by bagpipers and step dancers.

 

http://chappaqua.dailyvoice.com/lifestyle/five-places-celebrate-st-patricks-day-westchester

 

17 Signs You Live in the Country | Chappaqua Real Estate

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1. Sorry, McMansions-it’s houses like this one that make you go weak in the knees.

2. You start mapping our your garden plans while there’s still snow on the ground.

3. You have a pet pig.

4. You drink cocktails out of Mason jars.

5. You dream of wraparound porches.

6. You think of bargain hunting as a competitive sport.

7. Forget high heels-cowboy boots are as fancy as you get.

8. You’ve pulled over to salvage a piece of furniture someone’s tossed out on the side of the road too many times to count.

9. Your chicken coop is your most-prized possession.

10. You can’t think of anything better than a glass of cold lemonade on a hot summer’s day.

11. You think the best farmer’s market is your own backyard.

12. You’d rather repurpose something old than buy something new.

13. Two words: Tree. Swing.

14. You’re not ashamed to admit you’ve taken the salt shaker straight to the garden before.

15. You fall asleep every night to the sounds of cicadas, crickets, and frogs.

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/17-signs-live-country-173100611.html

 

7 Facebook Marketing “Tips” and “Tricks” That Don’t Actually Work | Chappaqua Realtor

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People will go to all sorts of lengths to get attention from a small subset of Facebook’s 1.23 billion monthly active users. Sometimes it’s good — people focus on creating more compelling content or integrating Facebook with the rest of their marketing strategy. Though it takes more time, their Facebook Page grows steadily and actually delivers results. Continue reading →

Big Investors Boosting Home Prices, And Not Everyone’s Pleased | Chappaqua Real Estate

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It’s taken several years, but in many parts of the country, home prices are nearly back to where they were at the peak. In places like Florida, where the housing recession hit hard, home prices rose last year by one-fifth or more.

A major factor in the price rise is hedge funds, private equity firms and other large investors. They’ve moved aggressively into the residential market over the past two years, buying tens of thousands of distressed properties, often at bargain prices.

Some analysts are worried that those bulk purchases will leave middle-class buyers out in the cold.

One place where investors have been very active is Florida’s Palm Beach County. Jeff Lichtenstein is a real estate agent there, and he’s busy. He’s listing and selling homes at a pace reminiscent of the go-go days of the last real estate boom back in 2005 and 2006. “I have 19 or 20 under contract right now, which is the most I’ve had at any given time,” he says.

Lichtenstein is currently showing a home he has listed in PGA National, a resort and residential development with more than 5,000 homes. It’s a community of palm trees, lakes, golf courses and manicured lawns.

“This was built in ’92 or ’93. Three bedrooms, three baths,” he explains as he shows off the house, which has a back patio looking out onto a golf course. “The view is what people come here to Florida for.”

 

 

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/10/286261937/big-investors-boosting-home-prices-and-not-everyones-pleased

15 Painting Mistakes to Avoid in Your Home | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Taking on your next painting project? For a flawless finish, avoid these painting mistakes.

1. Skipping the Tape Do you have the skills to get straight lines around the woodwork, windowsills and doorframes? Grab the painter’s tape and get the nice, clean edges you want.

2. Painting Without Primer Primer gives paint a good surface to adhere to and brings out the true color of the shade you’ve chosen. Going without it can lead to poor results.

3. Impatience You took the time to fix every imperfection with patching compound. Wait. Make sure it’s completely dry before you sand and prime. Otherwise, all that patching was a waste of time.

4. Paint Buildup on Pad Edge When using edge pads around ceiling edges and corners, make sure to wipe off excess paint frequently to avoid marking the surface.

5. Brushing When You Should be Rolling For a large interior area, a roller will do a better job in less time. Select the right nap roller for your sheen of paint and try to avoid pushing the roller into the wall when you paint.

6. Underestimating How Much Paint Needed The pros say you need one gallon for every 400 square feet. Plan ahead and you can avoid running back and forth to the store with a paint swatch in your hand.

7. Assuming Walls are Clean Paint looks much better when it has a good, clean surface to stick to. Wash your walls before painting and get professional results you can be proud of. 8. Painting When the Humidity is High When the air is full of moisture, water-based paint takes longer to dry. If the weather winds up more humid than expected, take the day off and wait for a dry day.

 

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/15-painting-mistakes-avoid-home-201300426.html

Bad weather hammers housing starts, again | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Housing starts fell sharply in January for the second straight month as cold and stormy weather continued to batter the recovering housing market.

Starts of single-family houses and apartments fell 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000 last month after declining dramatically in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.  Extreme winter weather is largely blamed for both poor showings after starts jumped to their highest level in a year in November.

Starts in December were revised up to an annual rate of 1.05 million from 990,000.

Economists had expected Commerce to report that starts fell to a 950,000 annual rate in January, according to their consensus estimate. Starts rose in the Northeast but declined in the rest of the country.

Applications — a gauge of future housing activity — fell 5.4% in January. Applications for permits to build single-family homes fell 1.3%.

The report follows this week’s release of a closely watched index of home builders’ outlook in February which declined at the fastest-ever pace and indicated that more builders view conditions as poor than good.

In a research note, UBS said the falling measure “suggests inclement weather probably depressed starts further in February.”

Other factors may also be at work, such as rising mortgage rates that have dampened home sales.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/19/housing-starts-january/5587867/