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Cindrich Set For Another Term As Mayor Tops News This Week | The Mt. Kisco NY Realtor
Home Prices Climb in 88% of U.S. Cities | Mt Kisco Real Estate
Prices for single-family homes climbed in 88 percent of U.S. cities in the third quarter as buyers competed for limited inventories that included fewer discounted foreclosures.
The median transaction price rose from a year earlier in 144 of 163 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. A third of areas had double-digit increases.
Potential buyers view a home under construction in South Barrington, Illinois. Home prices are extending a recovery across the country, fueled by a tight supply of listings and a smaller share of distressed sales, which drag down values. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Home prices are extending a recovery across the country, fueled by a tight supply of listings and a smaller share of distressed sales, which drag down values. The U.S. housing market had five months of inventory in the third quarter, down from 5.9 months a year earlier, data from the Realtors group show. Completed foreclosures in September plunged 39 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic Inc.
“Most regions of the country are experiencing strong home-price appreciation off a low base,” Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research LLC in New York, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “Cities with the biggest price appreciation are in places that had bigger busts.”
Price gains are at unsustainable levels, with cities such as San Francisco and San Jose, California, approaching records, Fitch Ratings said today in a report. Much of coastal California is more than 20 percent overvalued, the firm said.
Biggest Increases
The nationwide median price for an existing single-family home rose 12.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to $207,300 the Realtors group said.
The best-performing areas were Sacramento, California, and Atlanta, where prices jumped 41.8 percent. They were followed by Las Vegas and Punta Gorda, Florida, which had a 31.9 percent gain. Other cities with large increases were Los Angeles, with 26.2 percent, and Phoenix, with 25 percent.
The areas with the biggest declines were all in Illinois, led by Peoria, where prices fell 13.9 percent from a year earlier. Following were Kankakee, with a 9.9 percent drop, and Rockford, with an 8.4 percent decrease.
Rising home prices and borrowing costs are causing some buyers to hold back. The average rate for 30-year fixed loans was 4.1 percent last week, up from a near-record low of 3.35 percent in early May, according to McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac.
Sales Slip
Contracts (USPHTMOM) to buy existing homes dropped the most in more than three years in September, the Realtors association reported last week.
“Rising prices and higher interest rates have taken a bite out of housing affordability,” Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist, said in today’s statement. “However, we have the ongoing situation of more buyers than sellers in the market, so lower sales will help to take the pressure off home-price growth and allow them to rise slowly at a single-digit growth rate in 2014.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-06/
Homes near cemeteries: Do they sell? | Mount Kisco Homes
With Halloween quickly approaching, Redfin was dying to know: Do homes near cemeteries sell for more or less than homes farther away from cemeteries? Would a drop-dead-gorgeous home take longer to sell if the view includes tombstones? Would a home shopper have grave concerns about a home near a cemetery, or would the quiet neighbors be a selling point? We dug into the data to find out.
Redfin analyzed the price of homes less than 50 feet from a cemetery and compared those to the price of homes less than 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 yards away. The numbers indicate that on average, homes near cemeteries are slightly smaller, but they sell for more per square foot. On average, homes closest to cemeteries sold for $162 dollars per square foot, whereas the homes located more than 500 yards away sold for $145 per square foot.
“I have a current listing that backs up to a cemetery, and 10 to 15 people have toured the home. One potential buyer provided feedback that it was a deal breaker, but that is just one of many. In my opinion, cemeteries make very quiet neighbors,” said Blakely Minton, a Redfin real estate agent in Philadelphia.
“Like everything with homebuying, there are pros and cons to living near a cemetery. The pros are that most likely there would be no chance of future development on the site of a cemetery, there is usually well-maintained open space, it’s quiet and many cemeteries are picturesque. The cons would be that cemeteries give some people an uneasy feeling, as it represents mortality, and it might not be an area they want to ‘live’ next to everyday,” said Lynn Ikle, a Redfin real estate agent in Baltimore.
The analysis also reveals that homes adjacent to cemeteries take longer to sell on average. Those located less than 50 feet away took 48 days to sell, whereas those located more than 500 yards away took 39 days to sell. Based on the analysis, homes near cemeteries sell for more money, but it may take longer to find the right buyer.
“Having a home right next door to a cemetery may make it more difficult to sell. There will always be a group of people who might love all of the specifications of the house, but the ‘creepy’ factor may prevent them from even touring the home. Having fewer folks tour a home could lead to a home staying on the market longer,” said John Malandrino, a Redfin real estate agent in Chicago.
Not all cities are the same when it comes to the number of cemeteries located within city limits and the number of homes built around them. Redfin evaluated 90 metropolitan areas across the nation to find the five cities with the most homes for sale near cemeteries. The analysis looked at homes for sale as of Oct. 15 that were less than 100 yards from a cemetery. Some of the nation’s oldest cities topped the list:
1. Baltimore
Homes for sale near cemeteries: 172 Median list price of those homes: $101,950
“It doesn’t surprise me that Baltimore tops the list, because it was founded back in the early 1700s,” Ikle said. “Our neighborhoods here are very well-established, and cemeteries were part of the landscape during their development.”
2. Philadelphia
Homes for sale near cemeteries: 157 Median list price of those homes: $134,900
“Since Philadelphia was one of the first major settlements in the U.S., there are cemeteries scattered throughout the city,” Minton said. “I had one friend who moved into a home with a cemetery right behind it. One day, she came home with her hands full of groceries and nearly hit the floor with food flying when she heard a gun shot outside. It turns out that the cemetery was for veterans, and it was a military salute.
“The type and size of cemetery is something to consider when deciding on a home by a cemetery, but in my opinion, the reminder of how precious life can be is a positive, not a negative.”
3. Chicago
Homes for sale near cemeteries: 115 Median list price of those homes: $229,900
“With buildable land at a premium, especially in and around the downtown Chicago area, builders have built and will continue to build in close proximity to cemeteries,” Malandrino said.
4. Boston
Homes for sale near cemeteries: 50 Median list price of those homes: $711,809
“The main reason Boston has so many cemeteries is because it has so many churches. Nearly all of the older churches in the greater Boston area have large cemeteries attached to them. These churches are frequently located in residential neighborhoods, so people could walk to church events,” said Peter Phinney, a Redfin real estate agent in Boston. “Churches were not only the center of worship, as they continue to be, but also the center of cultural events and social gatherings. It was only natural for people to want to be buried in their neighborhood next to the church, so homebuyers in the Boston area have made their peace with having a cemetery nearby. In fact, many welcome having the green space.”
http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listed-buy.aspx?post=5c37386d-9625-4935-974f-33ed9e917554
Want a Castle? There’s One Being Foreclosed in Virginia! | Mt Kisco Real Estate
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Yes, there’s a castle facing foreclosure in Northern Virginia. Try finding that sentence anywhere else this year. But hey, for those who have always wanted to live in royal digs and missed out on this Dupont option, Melrose Castle in Warrenton, VA is asking a mere $1.5 million. To be fair, here are some of the amenities included in the lofty price: eight fireplaces, an inground pool, 50 acres of land, a tennis court and a barn with two paddocks. Most five bedroom “single family homes” do not come with all of that. Plus, it’s a castle! Check out the gallery to see photos of such fairy tale-esque things like the spiral staircases leading to the roof. · 8871 Rogues Road , Warrenton, VA 20187 [Colgan Real Estate]
Real estate sales skyrocket; on cusp of a seller’s market | Mt Kisco Real Estate
It just keeps getting better.
The September real estate figures for the Greater Lehigh Valley show a robust 19.8 percent increase in home sales over September 2012, another strong month in what has been a brisk year of activity.
“This year has been absolutely the best year we have had probably in the last eight years,” said Bill Sands, broker with Sands & Company, Wyo-missing, Berks County. “It has been very robust.
“That robust activity and sales volume we experienced I feel is a direct attribute to the confidence that the market has reached bottom and has stabilized. The interest rates were still at an all-time low, so that has propagated a lot of people to feel safe to venture back into the market.”
The numbers from across the region show that 1,260 homes were sold in September, an increase of 208 homes when compared to last September. And going back two years, this year’s September numbers show a 23.4 percent jump over September 2011’s figures.
Sands sees positive signs for the market, in part because of a reduction in the number of foreclosures.
“In the past, foreclosures were very much as-is,” he said. “With the banks and investors taking back these properties, going in and doing the basic cleanup, they are getting a higher price point, which is helping to raise the bar on the value. It’s a very positive sign.”
How The Shutdown Is Hurting The Housing Market | Mount Kisco Real Estate
As with so many other types of economic activity, the government shutdown is causing more fear than actual harm in the housing market thus far.
But that doesn’t mean things won’t start going wrong in the very near future.
Various federal agencies play greater or lesser roles in real estate transactions. With most of them sidelined, simple matters such as closing on mortgages are becoming more complicated.
“It’s going to add up pretty quickly, because loans can’t be closed in many cases,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, a financial research organization. “The damage is going to start to mount and in a few days it’s going to be a significant problem for the housing market.”
The market, which had grown more robust over the past couple of years, was starting to cool off this fall anyway, due to rising prices and interest rates.
If interest rates go up due to the fear or reality of a debt default — and the costs for short-term treasuries are already starting to spike — that would have major consequences for real estate sales.
“This government shutdown, which is an artificial obstacle to the recovery, is clearly not a good thing,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
What’s Not Working
Anyone who has purchased or refinanced a house knows a lot of paperwork is involved. The tall stack of forms that buyers and sellers sign at closings is largely generated or required by federal agencies that may now be temporarily out of the game.
Still, real estate agents and mortgage lenders have thus far been able to work their way around many of the hurdles put up by the partial government shutdown.
http://www.npr.org/2013/10/08/230467533/how-the-shutdown-is-hurting-the-housing-market
How to Install a Foundation Drain | Mt Kisco Real Estate
On its face, the location of a foundation perimeter drain seems like the simplest of details. The perforated drain line is run around the foundation next to the bottom of the footing.
At least that’s what many construction drawings show. But in some parts of the country, the drain is placed on top of the footing rather than next to it, and this discrepancy is at the root of Steven Knapp’s dilemma.
In a question posted at Green Building Advisor’s Q&A forum, Knapp writes this approach is not typical in his area, and that his waterproofing contractor is refusing to go along with it.
“Several years ago he switched to placing the drain (a rectangular pipe) on top of the footer and thinks this is the better method,” Knapp writes. “I’m annoyed and confused since I was advised by another credible expert that placing the pipe on top of the footer would greatly increase my chances of springing a leak.”
Knapp’s builder is leaning in favor of the “on footer” method, but he’s willing to do whatever Knapp thinks best. They also consulted with a Residential Foundation Repair Services company for a third opinion.
“So what is industry best practice?” he asks. “Putting the pipe next to the footer makes intuitive sense to me, but I know that what’s intuitive isn’t always correct. I just don’t want a basement that leaks.”
That’s the topic for this Q&A Spotlight.
The drawings are just plain wrong
Yes, writes James Morgan, we’ve all seen foundation drains drawn that way many times but the drawings are wrong.
“I know that’s the standard drawn detail and I’ve seen it a thousand times, but I think it’s a bad one, and there are several important [performance] reasons that no one ever builds it that way, at least not in my area,” he says.
The seam between the footing and the foundation wall is vulnerable, he adds, but it takes hydrostatic pressure to push water through the seam and into the basement. “Perforated pipe laid along the top of the footer and running to daylight ensures that the maximum head of water is just the thickness of the corrugation, or about 3/8 of an inch,” Morgan writes. “This is simply not sufficient to cause any penetration of the seam if a normal standard of care has been taken with the waterproofing application. This is the simplest, most foolproof and most reliable location. That’s why all the experienced builders that I know and regularly work with all prefer to do it that way.”
It’s more time and trouble to install the drain line next to the footing, Morgan says, plus it also requires more digging and a larger volume of backfill, “thus an enhanced path for water to reach the footing.”
“Backfill can never be consolidated to the degree of imperviousness of undisturbed soil,” Morgan writes. “According to well known foundation contractors, most codes now sensibly require that finish grade be sloped to a swale at least 6 feet away from the foundation wall. With a standard dig this places the swale well outside the backfill area and into the zone of undisturbed dirt: overdig brings the porous backfill closer to the swale and the large volume of stormwater it regularly contains.”
Keep the drain below the level of the slab
To GBA Senior Editor Martin Holladay, the correct location for the foundation drain is a pretty simple proposition: If you want to avoid problems, keep the level of the drain below the slab. “One thing is for sure,” he writes, “if the center of the 4-inch drain pipe is above the top of your slab, you are setting yourself up for potential problems.”
He tells Morgan water can reach the drain in more than one way. “It can trickle downwards from the surface, due to ponding under the eaves (as you propose),” Holladay says. “But during the spring, groundwater levels can rise from below, until the level of the groundwater is higher than the level of your slab. In that case, a footing drain pipe that is installed above the slab will work — but the slab will still get wet.”
David Meiland also would opt for a lower drain location. “I want the footing drain well below the slab, and I want it equal to or below bottom of footing so that the bearing soil under the foundation is less likely to be saturated,” Meiland writes. “I am lucky in that we rarely deal with expansive clay, but that would make it all the more important to drain the footing.”
Holladay’s point is well taken, Morgan replies, in areas where groundwater levels are periodically high. But he adds that even when the drain line is placed on top of the footing, it would still be 2 inches or so below the top of the slab.
“And I think there’s some value in having the the pipe right beside the vulnerable seam rather than a foot away where drainage paths could potentially become obstructed,” he adds. “Either way, Steven’s belt-and-suspenders approach should be fine.”
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/how-install-foundation-drain
Marketing Plan that Delivers Ongoing Results | Mt Kisco Realtor
Are you happy with how you are using LinkedIn?
LinkedIn offers companies multiple marketing opportunities, but which ones are right for your business?
In this article I’ll show you five different ways to use LinkedIn to market your business.
How do you do start?
You’ll want to develop a comprehensive and consistent LinkedIn marketing plan for your business to achieve long-term, sustainable success.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a large corporate brand or a small business, you can build a comprehensive LinkedIn marketing strategy on a scale that suits your needs and objectives.
Social Media Examiner strategy on LinkedIn includes updating the business page regularly.
In order to have success with LinkedIn, you’ll need to make a long-term commitment to your plan. A strategy that delivers results requires ongoing management, monitoring, analysis, and adjustments.
Remember to assess your resources first and determine what you’re willing to commit with regard to people, time and dollars. An ongoing commitment to your strategy ensures you stay on track toward achieving your company goals.
Here are 5 LinkedIn marketing ideas your business can integrate into your comprehensive marketing program.
#1: Build a Robust Company Page on LinkedIn
To create a business presence on LinkedIn and gain access to additional features that enhance your visibility, you must build a LinkedIn company page.
Think of your LinkedIn company page as an extension of your business website within LinkedIn and use it to display compelling graphics, add products and services, even include job opportunities.
Invite existing employees, clients or customers, vendors and partners to follow your page, and showcase it to relevant LinkedIn members and encourage them to follow by using LinkedIn’s paid targeted advertising.
If it’s appropriate and/or allowable, ask key clients or customers to recommend your products and services on your LinkedIn company page. These recommendations show up on your page for everyone to see, and serve as powerful testimonials for your business.
Filling your LinkedIn company page with compelling and interesting status updates about your industry or business requires ongoing management, but it’s the most effective way to grow followers for your page and increase your company’s visibility. As you grow your following, remember to segment your members and target them with more relevant updates.
HubSpot, a marketing software company for medium-sized businesses, has amassed a company page following of over 40,000 people on LinkedIn as well as 272 product recommendations from members. Those are some powerful stats.
Each time HubSpot shares an update on its LinkedIn company page, it has the potential to engage over 40,000 people who further amplify the company’s visibility on LinkedIn!
Post-Reno, Bernie Madoff’s Former Duplex Asks $17.25M | Mt Kisco Real Estate
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Location: New York, N.Y.Price: $17,250,000The Skinny: In 2010, less than a year after Bernie Madoff, the mastermind of a Ponzi scheme considered to be the largest financial fraud in this country’s history, was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison, the United States sold off his longtime penthouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for $8M. Despite giving the pad a much-needed upgrade (Madoff bought the place in ’84, a fact demonstrated by its floral valances and salmon walls), the buyers are ready to unload the duplex, now asking $17.25M for the 4,000-square-foot unit. What attracted the the current owners, Patsy Kahn and her husband, Alfred—the man who’s credited with bringing Pokemon to the U.S.—in the first place? Possibly the apartment’s 11-foot ceilings, library, or chef’s kitchen, but Patsy insisted in 2010 it was the wraparound terrace, which won them over despite Alfred’s worries, uh, “about the karma.”
read more…
http://curbed.com/archives/2013/08/23/postreno-bernie-madoffs-former-penthouse-asks-1725m.php