If you find that your home and bedroom are getting into an unruly mess then its time to take action. The remedy for the clutter that has accrued over many months or even years is a wood closet organizer. Closet organizers manage your clothes, shoes, hats, scarves – in fact just about anything can be organized. In fact you wont know how you lived without one.

The main purpose of a closet organizer is to store your belongings in a neat and tidy fashion on the shelving and various compartments that are contained within the organizer. There are both simple and complex systems and this generally dictate how they can be installed. A simple one can be installed by the homeowner with suitable DIY skills but a complex one should be really left to the professionals to install

1. Use every inch of space. The coat closet is often the most under-utilized and overstuffed space in the house. “To make a typical coat closet more efficient you should remove the existing rod and shelf,” advises California Closets designer Lisa Lennard. This will make use of space that was dead before. “Then measure your longest coat and add two or three inches,” she instructs. “Reinstall the hanger rod at this lower height. In most cases, there will be room for two or three shelves above it where you can put baskets or boxes for small items.”

2. Double up. If your closet is wide enough, Lisa suggests installing a double closet rod. Hanging a second rod below the existing one will enable you to store another level of clothes, such as shorter jackets. Make sure to allow at least 36 inches between the top and bottom rod. An easy drill-free approach to achieving a double-hanging system is to use hanging rods that hook over existing rails. These nifty rods provide instant space for short-hanging clothes (Double hang closet rod, $10; The Container Store).

3. Make room for drawers. Remove the top shelf and raise the existing closet rod to uncover valuable vertical storage. In the space below the rod, install a chest of drawers for storing small items. Hang jackets or sweaters you’re using regularly on the rod above the chest. Longer coats, such as trench coats, can hang to the side of the small chest. Reserve the floor space below for weather boots.

No room for a chest of drawers? Buy a set of hanging canvas shelves. They are perfect for stowing everything from gloves and scarves in winter to sandals and caps in summer.

4. Purge. Determine clothing and accessories you wear and items that you need to give away. You can save more than a foot of space by donating three old winter coats. That’s enough space to install modular storage cubes, which can store gloves, scarves, and mittens.

5. Think outside the closet. Place a coat tree or a wall-mounted rack in your entryway for the outerwear you use every day. These organizers are great for grab-and-go items, such as jackets, scarves, umbrellas and hats.

6. Invest in space savers. Install an inexpensive over-the-door shoe organizer to store small winter necessities like gloves, earmuffs and knit caps. You can also keep keys, wallets, lint brushes and flashlights in this handy organizer.

7. Rotate seasonal clothes. In the spring, move winter coats to other storage places, such as less crowded closets, underbed storage units and unused suitcases. This will make way for lighter jackets, sweaters, warm-weather sports equipment and beach gear. The same goes for footwear: the boots of winter should give way to the sandals of summer. You can also try your local dry cleaner for more storage options. Many store out-of-season garments as a part of their service to customers.

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Chappaqua NY real Estate is down 30% over the last three (3) months compared to the same period in 2009. This year there have been eighteen (18) sales with a Median Price of $850,000. The average sold Chappaqua NY Home is 3007 square feet, sold in 169 days and sold for $326 per foot. The average selling price for a Chappaqua NY Home is 92.88% of asking price.

In 2009 the average Chappaqua NY Homes was 3204 square feet, sold in 201 days and sold for $294 per foot. The average 2009 selling price was 93.37% of asking price.

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Mortgage fraud is pervasive: An estimated $4 billion to $6 billion in annual losses result from mortgage fraud, according to FBI reports. “An entire community can be damaged by mortgage fraud,” says Rachel Dollar, a lawyer from Santa Rosa, Calif., and editor of the Mortgage Fraud Blog. Mortgage fraud can lead to a spike in foreclosures, home values plummeting, and lenders raising their rates and fees to recover losses.

The crimes are often complex, involving several parties and occurring over multiple transactions. To protect you and your clients, educate yourself about mortgage fraud and be on guard for any warning signs in a transaction. You can start by reviewing these five scams, and then test your knowledge by taking our Mortgage Fraud Quiz.

1. The Foreclosure Rescue Scheme

The Scam: “Rescuers” promise cash-strapped home owners that they can save their home from foreclosure. The rescue, which involves paying upfront fees, can take multiple forms, such as the perpetrator obtaining a new loan on behalf of the owner or by having the owner sign over the home’s deed and then rent the home until they can repurchase it. Eventually, the home owner loses the home, either to foreclosure or the fictitious rescue company.

Red Flags: With foreclosure rescue programs, borrowers are often advised to sign over the title of their house to a third party, become renters of their home, not contact their lender, or send mortgage payments to a third party, according to Fannie Mae, which provides fact sheets on mortgage fraud.

2. Loan Documentation Fraud

The Scam: This fraud involves numerous schemes in which a borrower provides inaccurate financial information — such as about their income, assets, and liabilities — or employment status in order to qualify for a loan with lower rates and more favorable terms. Occupancy fraud is one growing area: Borrowers say they plan to live in the property when they actually intend to rent it.

Red Flags: Documentation may raise suspicion if the employer’s address is shown as a post office box, accumulation of assets compared to the person’s income appears too high or low, the new house is too small to accommodate occupants, the person has no credit history, or the application is unsigned or undated, according to Fannie Mae.

3. Appraisal Fraud

The Scam: A faulty appraisal — saying a property is worth more than what it really is — is connected to many types of mortgage fraud. It entails manipulating or overstating comparables, market values, or property characteristics in order to obtain a higher appraisal. The higher property appraisal, which generates false equity, is done by falsifying an appraisal document or using an appraiser accomplice to obtain the higher value.

Red Flags: Be skeptical of appraisals that are dated prior to the sales contract, list comparable sales that do not contain similarities to the property or are outside the neighborhood, the owner is not the seller listed on the contract or the title, or a third party participating in the transaction orders the appraisal, Freddie Mac warns.

4. Illegal Property Flipping

The Scam: This entails purchasing properties and reselling them at inflated prices. These scams usually involve faulty appraisals and inaccurate loan documents. The property is then refinanced or resold immediately after purchase for an inflated value. The home is purchased at a higher price, often by straw buyers working with the “flipper,” and eventually falls into foreclosure. 

Red Flags: Some key things to look for are rapid refinancing of a property; the seller recently having acquired the title or acquiring the title concurrent with the transaction; an appraisal that comes in too high; a property that was recently in foreclosure being purchased at a much lower price than its sales price; or the owner listed on the appraisal and title not matching the seller on the sales contract, according to Fannie Mae.

5. Short Sales Schemes

The Scam: Borrowers owe more than the current value of their home so they fake financial hardship and no longer make their mortgage payments. An accomplice of the borrower then submits a low offer to purchase the property in a short sale agreement. The lender agrees to the short sale, unaware that it was premeditated. The property, after being purchased at the reduced price, is then often resold at the home’s actual value for profit.

Red Flags: The borrower suddenly defaults on the mortgage with no workout discussions with the lender, an immediate offer is made to a lender at a short sale price, the short sale offer is less than current market value, or a cash back is offered at closing to the delinquent borrower (disguised as “repairs” or other payouts, for example) and is not disclosed to the lender, according to Fannie Mae.

You can report instances of suspected mortgage fraud to Stopfraud.gov.

NAR Article

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Buyers Representation is important when you decide to buy a home in Chappaqua NY. 

NYS has codified your relationship with your Realtor and as a buyer you should make sure you understand it.  Knowing your Realtor’s responsibilities to you will make your purchase process go smoothly.  Get it right from the start and you will clear up many misunderstandings.

The relationship formed between an agent and a client is a fiduciary relationship because it is based on trust. 

The agent owes a client:

Loyalty
Diligence
Confidentiality
Reasonable Skill & Care
Obedience
Disclosure
Accountability
Buyer’s Agent

A buyer’s agent is employed to find an acceptable property for a prospective purchaser. The buyer’s agent represents the purchaser in a position of trust and confidence. He or she will negotiate the best possible price and terms for the buyer.

Seller’s Agent
Also know as a listing agent, a seller’s agent works for and represents the seller in a position of trust and confidence.  A listing contract spells out the relationship.  A seller’s agent negotiates the best possible price and terms for the seller

Disclosed Dual Agency
Dual agency is a relationship in which the agent represents both the buyer and the seller in the same real estate transaction.  Since the agent will be in a position of trust and confidence to both buyer and seller, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, especially in negotiating price and terms.  New York law requires the buyer and seller to consent to a dual agency relationship in writing.

Designated Agency
To eliminate the potential conflict of interest that arises in disclosed dual agency, New York law allows the sponsoring broker to designate a salesperson to represent the seller and another salesperson to represent the buyer.  Each designated salesperson can represent their client, without the potential for a conflict.  New York law requires a client to consent to designated agency representation in writing.

NYS DOS

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Chappaqua pair charged in $6 million extortion scheme

 WHITE PLAINS – A Chappaqua couple is accused of
extorting at least $6 million from a pianist who is
heir to a fortune through his family’s multinational
oil field company.

In a bizarre plot that allegedly spanned six years,
Vickram Bedi and Helga Invarsdottir, who run a
technology business in Mount Kisco, convinced the
victim that his computer had been hacked by foreign
nationals and that his and his family’s lives were in
danger.

The couple, arrested Thursday as they were
preparing to leave the country, are being held on $3
million bail.

“These two defendants preyed upon, duped and
exploited the fears of this victim with cold
calculations and callousness,” said Westchester
District Attorney Janet DiFiore. “The systematic
method with which they continued the larceny over
a period of more than six years is nothing short of
heartless.”

The victim, Roger Davidson, is 58 and the founder
of Soundbrush Records.

The alleged scheme started in August 2004, when
Davidson’s computer developed a virus and he took
it to the couple’s company, Datalink Computer
Services, for repairs.

The victim is the great-grandson and great-grand-
nephew of the two brothers who founded
Schlumberger Ltd., a Fortune 500 company
headquartered in Houston with offices in Paris,
France and the Hague.

He was concerned that the documents, photos and,
more importantly, the music he had written and
stored on the computer could be lost, DiFiore said.

Bedi, 36, allegedly convinced the victim that the
virus was so bad that it damaged Datalink’s
computers.

“Bedi told the victim that he had the facility, the
contacts and the means of tracking down the source
of this virus that specifically targeted the victim’s
computer and that he and his family were in grave
danger,” DiFiore said. “As a result, Bedi convinced
 the victim to not only begin paying for computer
data retrieval and security, but also to begin paying
for necessary personal physical protection.”

He later allegedly told the victim he tracked the
source to a remote village in Honduras and had his
uncle — an officer in the Indian military — pick up
the hard drive of a computer that was the source of
the virus, in a military aircraft. He said his uncle
discovered that Polish priests affiliated with Opus
Dei were threatening to harm the victim. He also
said the Central Intelligence Agency had
subcontracted with Bedi to work to prevent the
Polish priests from infiltrating the U.S. government.

Helga Ingvarsdottir, 39, an Icelandic national, and
Bedi had been charging the victim’s American
Express card $160,000 every month since 2004,
and were also receiving funds for physical
protection of the family, Harrison police Chief
Anthony Marraccini said, adding that this was
discovered during a search of the Mount Kisco
business.

“We can account for $20,000,000 being paid,”
Marraccini said.

Davidson even made Bedi a trustee of a $60 million
family trust meant to benefit Davidson and his
children, according to a civil case the two men filed
last year . Much of the trust’s assets were invested
with Wachovia Securities, and the two men sued
Wachovia, alleging that the trust lost millions of
dollars because Wachovia’s brokers had gone
forward with risky investments.

Journal News Article

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Police: Coyote Attacks Dog in Chappaqua

Incident happened Nov. 3. Dog was treated for minor injuries.

The attack occured that morning at roughly 7:30 a.m. and the coyote was scared away by the golden retriever’s owner, according to police. The incident happened on Cowdin Lane.

The dog sustained minor injuries and was treated by a veterinarian. Reports were made to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Westchester County Board of Health.

Police advise not to leave small pets outdoors.

Coyote attack in Westchester have gained notable attention this year, in the wake of a series of incidents in Rye and Rye Brook. The incidents include a June attack on a 3-year-old Rye girl and a late-summer attack on two kids in Rye Brook.

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