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Allen Iverson gets foreclosure delayed | Katonah NY Real Estate
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Allen Iverson gets foreclosure delayed | Katonah NY Real Estate
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19 handy Google tricks that you were not aware of | Katonah NY Realtor
After covering everything that Google Search has to offer, you can easily forge that search only forms one small part of the Google behemoth. With so many different features and clients available, it’s very easy to use the basic features for each and leave it at that.
However, if you delve a little deeper, there are many tricks hidden away that will help improve your experience. To help you out, here are a number of tips and tricks that you can use for four of Google’s more popular features: Gmail, Maps, Google Drive and Google News.
Gmail
Use Filtered Search
Gmail’s search bar is very handy for finding that message you got months ago, but most people don’t realise how easy it is to access advanced search. Just click the downward facing arrow on the right-hand side of the search bar and you will be presented with a number of different search options. You can narrow your search down to the person who sent it, the subject, words used, and the dates it would have been sent.
Activate Starring Feature
Sometimes you will come across important messages, but the only way you can mark them is with the yellow tab or star icon. Thankfully, there is a feature in settings which lets you mark your inbox with different symbols to help you. Start by clicking the gear icon in the upper right hand corner and scroll halfway down the general settings page to find the “Stars” setting. Here you can drag different stars and icons into the “In Use” section to activate them. The next time you’re starring an email, you can cycle through the different colours by clicking on the icon repetitively.
Cut Down Text In Email Replies
The annoying thing about email threads is that if the messages are long and numerous, it’s very easy for the context to get lost among the many paragraphs of text. There’s a handy way to get around this as blogger John Graham-Cunning recently discovered. Before you hit reply, highlight the block of text you want quoted and then hit reply. This ensures that only that text you highlighted will be quoted in the email below your message.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Like all Google features, there are keyboard shortcuts that you can take advantage of. Simply go into the gear icon on the upper right general settings and activate the shortcut. You can find a list of the different keyboard shortcuts by visiting this link.
Sign Out Remotely
If you’ve signed into Gmail on different computers and forgot to sign out, you can sign out remotely through the details section. If you scroll down to the bottom of Gmail, you will see your last activity at the bottom right hand corner. Click on “Details” underneath this and you can sign out of all other sessions.
Emphasise Important Words In Gchat
If you want to add extra emphasis to your comments on Gchat, you can add some basic formatting as you type. To make text bold, surround your text with asterisks (*bold*), use underscore to add italics (_italics_) and hyphens to add strikethrough (-strikethrough-).
See Which Emails Were Sent To You Directly
If you want to keep track of what emails are sent to you directly and which ones were sent to a group, you should activate the “Personal Message Indicators” setting. Found near the end of general settings, activating it will place arrow icons within the important tab. One arrow signifies emails sent to you and others, while double arrows indicate emails sent just to you.
Activate Gmail Remotely
If you’re a Chrome user, you can download a handy app which will allow you to work on Gmail without an internet connection. It allows you to read, respond to, search and archive mail without network access. For those interested, you can download it through the link here.
Google Maps
Remove Side Column
Not really a tip per se, but handy to know when you’re viewing a map. If you want more space to work around with, simply click the small arrow on the right of the printer and URL icon (the chain). This will minimise the column so that you have more space to view the map.
Adjust Your Route
When you’re searching for directions and you want to avoid a particular road or street, you can adjust your route by dragging it to a different path. This will create a new white marker which Google will use to calculate a new route and timeframe. You can create as many of these markers as you wish.
Add/Remove Layers
Depending on your location, you can add or remove layers to your map. Depending on your location, you can see terrain, traffic, weather reports, Wikipedia entries, bike trails and when you zoom in close enough in satellite mode, 45 degree mode. You can access these modes by hovering on the box located on the top right-hand corner and expand it by clicking the arrow button at the bottom.
Drag and Zoom
Google Labs has some incredibly handy tools, but it can be very easy to miss it considering its location. When you open up maps, you will find Maps Labs at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. One of the options you can choose is ‘Drag ‘n’ Zoom’ which lets you zoom in by drawing a box on the map. Click the magnifying box underneath the original zoom to activate it. The smaller the box, the further you zoom in.
Measure Distances
Another Google Labs tool that you can activate. Clicking the ruler tool at the bottom right hand corner of your map will let you measure the distance between two points in metres or feet. The fun part behind this option is you can choose the geeky option and measure the distance based on the size of American football fields, Olympic swimming pools and light years among other more useful measurements. This feature will only let you measure in straight lines, however.
Google Drive
Keyboard Shortcuts
It’s probably no surprise that Google Drive has its own set of keyboard shortcuts which you can find through the cog icon. Scroll down the menu and you will see an option for keyboard shortcuts. Clicking this will bring up all the different key combinations available to you.
Access Revision History
If you’re creating or viewing a document on Google Drive and you want to see what changes were made, go into file and select “Revision History.” This will bring up a list of previous versions of said document that you can restore or use to view differences between that version and the latest. If the document is shared by more than one person, all changes are colour coded to show which person was behind each change.
Attach Drive Files To Your Email
When you’re writing up an email, you can insert a file directly from Drive through your Gmail account by clicking the Drive icon at the bottom of the new compose email format. It will appear when you scroll over the attachment icon at the bottom. This option isn’t available if you’re using the old compose format, in which case you’ll have to add in your files manually.
Google News
Personalise Your News
Google News is a handy way to find articles when normal search isn’t enough, but you mightn’t be aware that it can also be used as a news portal. Going to the News homepage will present you with all the major news stories, local and national, for you to read. However, if you’re not happy with the articles you’re presented with, the customise section is what you’re looking for.
By clicking on the cog icon at the top right-hand corner, you can adjust the sliders for a number of topics to determine how often they appear. Also, you can add specific news sources to the list and adjust how often they appear on your feed, allowing you a more personalised experience.
Adjust Appearance Of Blogs & Press Releases
In its search function, Google News also incorporates blog posts and press releases to give you a more comprehensive view of the news and what’s happening. If you only want major media outlets and sites to appear on your feed, you have the option to lessen or get rid of blog posts and press releases from your feed. When in the customise section, go into settings (found underneath adjust sources) and you can adjust the frequency they appear.
Add Specific Topics
If you want to have a stream that related to specific search terms, then create your own section. In the customise section, go into advanced (found underneath the Personalize Google News section), and select “Create A Custom Section.” Here you can add in any search term and you will be presented with a feed correlating to that. Remember if you want to add more than one term, separate them with a comma.
This article is published in association with SimplyZesty, a digital marketing agency.
Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images
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Expiring law pushes short sale spurt | Katonah NY Real Estate
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Households back to slashing debt, Fed says | Katonah NY Homes
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Housing market continues to strengthen struggling economy | Katonah NY Real Estate
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Delaying repairs may cost landlords | Katonah NY Real Estate
Water heater image via Shutterstock.
Q: The water heater at the rental we own broke and we had a hard time getting it replaced (we do all of the repairs ourselves). After a week, the problem was solved, but our tenants are demanding that we compensate them for expenses they incurred as a result of our tardy work. They’re asking to be reimbursed for their stay at a motel, several days’ worth of meals, and the added costs of transportation that resulted from living further away from work and school. It’s quite a bill! We admit to being less than on the ball with the repair, but do we have to pay these expenses? –Martha and John
A: Lack of hot water in a residential rental is a serious problem, and in every state but Arkansas, it’s a violation of the warranty of habitability. Depending on the state, tenants have various remedies if they alert landlords of the problem but the landlord fails to act reasonably promptly. Remedies include repairing the problem and deducting the cost from the rent, withholding rent, and living with the problem but suing later for a retroactive rent reduction, called rent abatement.
Another remedy includes procuring substitute housing during the time that the deficiency persists. Several states allow for this option, including Alaska, Connecticut and Tennessee. In these states, however, the approach isn’t uniform — should the tenant be compensated for substitute housing and be excused from paying rent? If so, this presents the tenant with a chance for a windfall — if the pro-rated rent is lower than the daily substitute housing, the tenant is “making money” on the deal, though few tenants would willingly choose the disruption to their lives caused by such a move.
You’ll need to find out how your state handles the issue of substitute housing. As for the other bills you’ve been presented with, these expenses are a bit more attenuated, but they follow from having to move away. Unless the motel had a kitchen, your tenants were obligated to get take-out or go to restaurants. And, unless they chose a location needlessly far away from school and work, their added commute costs were also an unavoidable result of having to move out temporarily.
Landlords in your position have been asked to foot the bill for items such as increased utility bills, the cost of replacement heaters, child care expenses (required because children could not stay comfortably or safely at home) and so on.
This has been an expensive lesson. In the future, it may be cheaper to hire a plumber than wait for the weekend to do it yourselves.
Q: The lease we are about to sign has a clause that says the winner of any lawsuit gets to recover attorney fees and court costs from the loser. Is this a good idea? –James and Ella
A: This “two way” attorney fee clause is common in contracts and leases. The idea is to make it clear to both sides, before a dispute has even broken out, that bringing a worthless lawsuit is likely to be an expensive affair. If the person who brings the bogus lawsuit loses, he pays not only his own costs and fees, but the other side’s, too. The clause also encourages both sides to work out legitimate differences between them, without involving a court. No one, even someone who is sure he’s in the right, can guarantee that a judge or jury will agree; far better to compromise than risk losing and having to pay your own and the other side’s costs, too.
In residential lease situations, the analysis takes a slightly different turn. Precisely because the clause will discourage litigation, tenants may hesitate to bring lawsuits to enforce their rights, fearful that if they lose, they’ll have to pay big time. In a similar vein, landlords may find the right to collect from the losing tenant an academic right — few tenants have the resources to write a check for attorney fees and court costs. These landlords would prefer a world in which each side pays its own costs and fees, which is the rule most of the time.
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LinkedIn Releases Ads API: This Week in Social Media | Katonah Realtor
Why no carpeting? | Katonah Homes
Q: I read something you wrote saying that wall-to-wall carpet is a buyer turnoff. Call me old fashioned or out of step, but what is with all the hating on carpeting? Like anything else, it needs to be cleaned occasionally, but I will take the warmth and quiet of it over hard surfaces any time.
The nylon wall-to-wall in my house is more than 20 years old and has worn like iron. Who can say that this type of flooring won’t be back in fashion in a couple years, with people buying it in droves to cover up their faux wood floors or even the real thing?
A: Allow me to be clear: I don’t hate carpet! In my own home, I have carpet in my bedroom, on my stairs and in my office, which has an unlevel floor that was nearly impossible to finish with wood. The rest of my home, though, is finished with hardwood floors, which studies have shown to be the increasingly overwhelming preference of homebuyers.
Here’s the skinny on why carpets are falling out of vogue:
1. Think like a buyer, to understand why carpet is falling out of fashion. Today’s buyers are seeking low-maintenance, high-performance home finishes that allow maximum versatility and healthfulness for their families. And wall-to-wall carpet triggers many of those concerns:
- Maintenance: By and large, buyers see carpet as something that requires regular, professional cleaning — or labor-intensive self-cleaning — at a couple hundred bucks a pop.
- Performance: There are certainly high-end carpets that wear well over time, but many of the carpets that are installed by sellers just prior to putting a home on the market do not qualify. These light-colored, inexpensive carpets often look old and worn relatively early in their lives, and buyers know this.
- Versatility: A buyer of a home with carpeting everywhere is somewhat limited in their decor and design choices by the preferences of the seller before them. By contrast, hard flooring finishes allow the buyer a near-infinite range of decor palette choices.
- Healthfulness: Buyers see traditional carpeting as something that off-gases toxic fumes and traps dirt and allergens that may exacerbate family members’ allergies or other respiratory issues. Many see hardwood and other hard flooring finishes as more healthful and sustainable for their families — and for the planet. To boot, buyers who have pets and children know that these little wild family members can be very hard on carpet.
2. But buyers share your concerns, too. Buyers also crave warmth and noise muffling — and many install area rugs over their hard flooring finishes for precisely that reason. Also, buyers who like carpet often enjoy selecting their own (so they can choose the color, select nontoxic materials or even choose those versatile carpet tile systems) or may want to install carpets in certain areas (e.g., bedrooms) and not others (e.g., living and dining rooms, and hallways).
3. Don’t let buyers be the boss of you. The article you read was about buyer turnoffs, and I stand by my designation of wall-to-wall carpet as one of those. However, if you don’t plan to sell your home anytime soon, there’s no reason for you to let what might turn buyers off down the road stop you from enjoying the carpet you love in your own home. If you’re planning to stay put in your home over the long run, put carpet on the walls if you want to! Your home is more than just an investment — it’s the place you live, and your largest monthly expense — so you should enjoy it.
If, on the other hand, you are planning to sell your home in the next few years, and you are contemplating an investment in carpet, it might make more sense to take buyer preferences into consideration. Consider just placing it in your bedrooms and leaving the rest of the house finished in hardwood — perhaps placing area rugs down to get you the warmth and sound dampening you seek. Or go ahead and put carpet everywhere you’d like, but make sure you either (a) invest in a high-grade carpet and maintain it impeccably, or (b) be willing to pull it up before you sell the home.
via inman.com
Katonah real estate sales up 100% – Prices down 15% | RobReportBlog
Katonah real estate sales up 100% – Prices down 15% | RobReportBlog
Katonah NY Real Estate Report – last six months
2012 Sales
40 homes sold
$640,000 median sales price
$382,500 low price
$1,726,000 high price
2663 ave. size
$294 ave price per foot
164 ave dom
96.27% ave. sold to ask
$759,650 ave. sold price