Tag Archives: Cross River Luxury Homes

That’ll Be $19.5M for This Highly Photogenic Aspen Compound | Cross River Real Estate

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21 images

Equal parts glassy modern, traditional ski lodge, and austerely cement-clad in an almost post-Soviet vein, this circa 1995 Aspen compound is a bit of a hot mess, architecturally speaking. But whoever designed the interior is a miracle worker; so often, when chalets go for darkly handsome and somewhat brooding they end up looking way too severe or even a bit raunchy. Could be that all the vintage fineries—which thankfully, stop just short of Anthropologie catalogue excess—pull this place out of the design limbo it was born into. Of course, the listing asserts that “every detail… was crafted from imagination and ingenuity,” but anyone willing to plunk down $19.5M on this 14,000-square-foot six-bedroom head-scratcher will have to come to grips what a hodge-podge it is from the outside. Get an eyeful in the gallery below.

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/03/10/thatll-be-195m-for-this-highly-photogenic-aspen-compound.php

Building boom signals stock market bust | Cross River Real Estate

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According to a study recently published in the Journal of Financial Research, not long after construction begins on a number of large buildings or they are actually finished, the stock market goes into the dumpster.

Its author, Guenter Loffler, a professor of finance at Ulm University in Germany, studied the correlation between skyscraper construction and stock market trends from 1871 to 2009.

He told the newspaper Real Estate Weekly recently that skyscraper construction is a better predictor of stock prices than more commonly used indicators, such as corporate profits or price/earnings ratios.

He offers plenty of examples.

In 1929, the Chrysler Building was under construction, while work was about to begin on the Empire State Building. This was an era that Real Estate Weekly considers to be “the greatest skyscraper boom in history.”

The stock market crashed later that year.

In 1993, construction began on the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Towers located in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Before its doors were opened, this super skyscraper was engulfed in the Asian Financial Crisis that sent stocks sinking around the world.

Fourteen years later, in 2007, construction began on what was slated to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the Chicago Spire. Like in the past, this was just one of the many towers being erected at that time. Indeed, the total square footage underway in 2007 was more than twice the average of the previous 20 years, writes Prof. Loffler.

As you might recall, the stock market peaked in October of that year and worked its way lower before plunging in September, 2008. The Spire was postponed indefinitely, as were a number of other buildings.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/building-boom-signals-stock-market-bust-2014-03-04?siteid=yhoof2

Lawsuit claims real estate agents used dating sites to land clients | Cross River Real Estate

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A lawsuit against 14 Japanese real estate agencies and loan companies claims that real estate agents used dating sites to woo at least a dozen singles — most of them women — when their true intention was to talk them into buying a condo. One victim bought three, the lawsuit alleges

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/lawsuit-claims-real-estate-agents-used-dating-sites-to-land-clients/?utm_source=20140228&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.aLMbChWp.dpuf

Don’t Waste Money on These 5 Remodeling Projects | Cross River Real Estate

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The herky-jerky real estate market — recovering here, lagging there and nearly reaching a bubble in some cities – has buyers, sellers and homeowners all scratching their heads. Uncertainty is the word.

It’s risky to delve into lavish home improvement projects that are unlikely to earn back what you put into them. Even if you’re in one of the markets where CNN Money expects the greatest increases this year – Oakland, Calif.; Tampa, Fla.; Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans; Richmond, Va.; Hartford, Conn.; Baltimore; Birmingham, Ala.; New York; and Memphis, Tenn. – don’t go hog wild.

Best: Honolulu

The payback on remodeling is up, says Remodeling magazine, which each year publishes a report on the resale value of 35 home improvement projects. But that’s “up” from years of decline. “This trend signals an end to the long slide in the cost-value ratio, which began to fall in 2006 and didn’t begin to rebound until last year,” the magazine says.

Some improvements can raise your home’s value quite a bit, but getting your entire investment back is rare.

The best city for return on your remodeling dollar is Honolulu, Remodeling says. The top 10 cities, in order, are:

  1. Honolulu
  2. San Francisco
  3. San Jose, Calif.
  4. San Diego
  5. Bridgeport, Conn.
  6. Fort Myers, Fla.
  7. Charleston, S.C.
  8. Oklahoma City
  9. Washington, D.C.
  10. Austin, Texas

Money wasted

You can easily end up pouring money down the drain by launching into a home remodeling job without learning what the payback might be. Ask several local real estate agents what a particular project might do to your home’s value. You might go ahead anyway. But you’ll do it with your eyes open.

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/don-t-waste-money-5-211851621.html

Refinances continue to drop, meaning good news for REITs | Cross River Homes

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The Refinance Index fell 0.2% (from 1,693 to 1,690), as rates fell 2 basis points. Refinances have been dropping like a stone, as the people who have equity in their homes have already refinanced and the ones left with high rates are underwater.

 

The MBA reported that the share of refinance applications fell to 61.5%. Going forward, home price appreciation will drive refinance activity as previously underwater homeowners eventually get back to positive equity and take advantage of lower rates. Slowing refinance activity will be a negative for originators like PennyMac (PMT) and Redwood Trust (RWT). It has already taken its toll on Nationstar (NSM), which reported disappointing earnings

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/refinances-continue-drop-meaning-good-170008664.html

 

I Turned My Tiny, Dark, And Overpriced New York Apartment Into A ‘Smart Home’ For Just $300 | Cross River Homes

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The SmartThings kit has all the basics you need to get started connecting your home.

My apartment gets almost no natural light.

That’s one of the problems with living in New York. I spend about a zillion dollars per month in rent, and still have a teeny tiny apartment that faces the back of a bunch of taller buildings that block the sun. My bedroom window faces some other guy’s bedroom window across a narrow, dark alley.

So no matter what time of day it is, I always have the lights on in my apartment.

For the last several weeks, my apartment has been programmed to light itself up. Whenever I enter my building, my apartment knows I’m home and switches on the lamp in my living room so I don’t have to fumble around in the dark. When I leave the room, the light shuts itself off.

That’s because I’ve been testing something called SmartThings. SmartThings isn’t just one gadget, but a Web-connected system of everyday objects that can control everything in your home from your lights to your coffee maker. I tested one of the SmartThings starter kits, which sell for $199 or $299.

How It Works

SmartThings starts with the hub, a small white plastic box that looks sort of like a WiFi router. The hub plugs into your router and talks to the rest of the connected objects in your home. Since the hub is connected to the Internet, you can control everything from a computer or the SmartThings app, even if you’re out of the house.

From there, you set up the objects you want connected. My starter kit came with two motion sensors, two multi sensors that can tell you when a door or window is open, two presence sensors that you clip to your keychain so the hub knows when you’re home (the app can also double as a presence sensor using your phone’s GPS), a smart outlet for controlling lamps or appliances, and a moisture sensor that goes under the sink to alert you in case of a leak.

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/turned-tiny-dark-overpriced-york-164004491.html

5 Essential Steps to Success in Social Media Marketing | Cross River Realtor

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Social media accounts for 27 percent of all time spent online and has become a popular way for customers to discover and research brands, and for marketers to reach out to potential customers. 93 percent of marketers currently say they use social media for business, and in 2013 there was a surge in popularity of new networks like Pinterest, Vine, and Instagram. This year, expect more sites, specifically Google+, to gain additional traction and become a people’s daily lives. Before businesses jump into social media, here are the five essential steps to success in social media marketing.

1. Start with a Plan

1 in 4 small businesses have no strategy in place for social media marketing. If a business wants to be successful in driving sales and leads from social, they need to have a clear digital strategy that incorporates social media.

Each social network has different audience demographics, so businesses should strategically choose which outlets to utilize based on their target customers. Examples of demographic differences include:

  • 67 percent of people online use Facebook, making it the top social network
  • Facebook users are 60 percent female
  • The average Twitter user is a 28-year-old woman
  • Instagram users are most likely to be between 18 to 29
  • Pinterest skews heavily female, with 80 percent of users being women
  • Pinterest attracts women with more education and higher income

Think about your customer by outlining the personality types that are likely to purchase your product or service, including overall lifestyle, and add value for them online.

Once the appropriate social channels selected, take a look at what is working for competitors, and start to create a content calendar. This helps businesses organize, plan ahead and stick to a regular social content schedule.

2. Create Quality Content

Quality content engages audiences, is shared across multiple platforms, and garners more interest in a brand. It also makes a difference when it comes to SEO.

So what it quality content? It is:

  • Informative
  • Sharable
  • Actionable
  • Relevant to the target audience

Here is an example of quality social media content from Tic Tac.

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/02/10/5-essential-steps-to-success-in-social-media-marketing/#Rb7CM695FryTslY1.99

Considering The Cloud: A Strategic Guide For Business | Cross River Real Estate

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It’s nearly impossible to turn a page in a business journal these days without seeing an article about the “cloud” or “software as a service (SaaS).” These topics are everywhere you look and a common reason is the impact they have on the bottom line: software as a service often provides a more cost-effective alternative for organizations to achieve their business objectives than traditional packaged applications. But the rising popularity of the cloud isn’t a sufficient reason to retool the underlying technology supporting your business. If you want to win more bids, increase your profitability and keep ahead of the competition, ignoring it isn’t the answer either.

Determining where cloud computing fits in your business and IT strategy is critical for ensuring you’re driving the most value possible out of both capital and operational expenditures and/or equipping your team with the best tools for the job. This whitepaper examines the business advantages of cloud computing, as well as practical barriers facing most organizations, and concludes with advice for implementing an effective solution. Our goal is to help you make pragmatic decisions about deploying a solution (or blend of solutions) that makes sense for your business—whether it’s in the cloud, on-premises or a little of both.

 

http://www.fieldtechnologiesonline.com/doc/considering-cloud-strategic-guide-business-technology-leaders-0001