Tag Archives: North Salem NY

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Make popular social media site a relationship machine | North Salem NY Real Estate

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I need about 3,000 words to thoroughly cover this topic, but the nice people at Inman Next aren’t down with that, so I’ll be efficient. Which is exactly what real estate professionals should be with Facebook. Be efficient and effective.

Many people I talk to in the real estate industry feel far too much time is wasted on social networks, especially Facebook. I agree. That’s why for the last few years I have focused my efforts on helping agents be strategic with Facebook. With a couple tweaks, Facebook can be a relationship machine.

Are relationships important in real estate? I’ve posed this question to hundreds of real estate professionals and the answer is always “yes.”

The tweaks are not on a Facebook business page. They have value for many businesses and industries, but, in my opinion, real estate is not one of those industries. Gaining “likes” and traction is labor-intensive; there is little to zero engagement; and people do not go to Facebook to search for homes.

For most agents, their Facebook profile is where relationships can be built and maintained. We have become a nation of “oversharers,” and while that can be annoying to many people, it is great news to real estate professionals.

Wouldn’t it be great if agents could customize the Facebook news feed so it showed updates from only their best clients? Then it would be simple to engage the most important people, especially if they like to overshare. Wouldn’t this help maintain and build on these relationships? Wouldn’t this make Facebook more effective?

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/next/custom-friend-lists-make-facebook-a-relationship-machine/?utm_source=20140115&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.5wvMXleq.dpuf

US mortgage applications fall as refinance hits 5-year low: MBA | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell for a second week and hit a 13-year low as mortgage rates rose due to a bond market sell-off following the Federal Reserve’s decision to pare its bond purchase stimulus in January, an industry group said on Tuesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 6.3 percent to the lowest level since December 2000.

Mortgage applications have fallen sharply since this summer on a jump in home finance costs as benchmark Treasuries yields eventually rose to a two-year high.

Last Wednesday, Fed policy-makers opted to make their tapering move, which will begin in January with a $10 billion monthly reduction evenly split between Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to $75 billion.

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101295194

A Shingle-Style Remodel | North Salem Real Estate

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For San Francisco architects and builders, challenging lots and tight footprints are a way of life. So are stiff historic regulations, zoning laws, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). So, when it came time to renovate a Shingle-style house nestled on a tree-lined cul de sac, architects David Gast and Dennis Budd of Gast Architects in San Francisco had their work cut out for them. By playing nice with the planning authorities, they cut out six months of approvals time. Here, you’ll see how they also more than doubled square footage, raised the house, lowered the floors, let in tons more daylight, capitalized on indoor-outdoor connections, made a great backyard, and forged a happy marriage of traditional design and modern finishes.

General Contractor: Moroso Construction Landscape Designer/Contractor: The Garden Route Structural Engineer: Strandberg Engineering

 

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Gast Loft

 

Gast Floor 3

 

Gast Floor 2

 

Gast Floor 1

 

 

 

http://www.customhomeonline.com/remodeling/a-shingle-style-remodel.aspx

 

Stabilizing September Prices and Inventories Build Market Equilibrium | North Salem Homes

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In September, inventories have returned to levels of a year ago and the buying season ended with the greatest price gains seen in years, according to realtor.com’s September trend report.

Many markets in California, Arizona and Nevada–plus Detroit–that were the center of the housing crisis now appear to be well on the road to a robust recovery. More than 20 percent of the markets covered by realtor.com reported exceptionally large year over year list price gains of 12 percent or more and exceptionally large inventory shortages.  As both prices and inventories become more balanced, affordability and availability will improve, creating better market conditions for both sellers and buyers, realtor.com said.

The recovery has yet to make an impact on markets where prices are the same or lower than they were last year at this time. Representing 20 percent of realtor.com’s markets, these are located in the Midwest, South and Northeast, including Cleveland, Trenton, Hartford, Cincinnati and Buffalo.  The impact of a weak economy continues to takes in toll in many of these markets but most have put in place the foundation for future growth.  Both inventories and age of inventories are down compared to a year ago.

The recovery is having an extraordinary impact on the heartland.  A number of major markets that didn’t suffer the brunt of the housing crisis nor face difficult local economic conditions had in an amazing buying season.  Chicago, Boise, Portland OR, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Ann Arbor, Washington, DC, Nashville, Houston, Denver and Corpus Christie have all achieved price appreciation of 12 percent or higher over last year.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/stabilizing-september-prices-and-inventories-build-market-equilibrium/

Shadow Inventory is a Shadow of Itself | North Salem NY Real Estate

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The shadow inventory-the number of homes in the foreclosure pipeline–is down 33 percent from a year ago and now is at its lowest level since August 2008, at least one year before the notion of a foreclosure shadow inventory was recognized.

According to CoreLogic’s August National Foreclosure Report, the overall residential shadow inventory as of July 2013 was 1.9 million homes, accounting for a value of $293 billion and representing a supply of 3.7 months. This was down 22 percent from a year ago, when it was at 2.4 million, and down 38 percent from its peak in 2010, when it reached 3 million homes.

CoreLogic also reported there were 48,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in August of 2013, down from 72,000 in August 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 34 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures increased 1.3 percent, from 47,000 in July 2013*.

As a basis of comparison to the 48,000 completed foreclosures reported for August 2013, prior to the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006. Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure.

Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 4.5 million completed foreclosures across the country. As of August 2013, approximately 939,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 1.4 million in August 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 33 percent. Month over month, the foreclosure inventory was down 3.2 percent from August 2013 to July 2013. The foreclosure inventory as of August 2013 represented 2.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage compared to 3.3 percent in August 2012.

At the end of August 2013, there were approximately 2.1 million mortgages, or 5.3 percent, in serious delinquency (SDQ, defined as 90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or real estate owned, REO). The rate of seriously delinquent mortgages is at its lowest level since December 2008.

“The foreclosure inventory continues to improve, as exhibited by these recent numbers,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “A surge in completed foreclosures and a rise in the foreclosure inventory is unlikely given continued house price improvements and shortages of supply in many markets.”

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/shadow-inventory-is-a-shadow-of-itself/

Climbing interest rate slows refinance boom | North Salem Real Estate

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The mortgage refinance boom is ending on Long Island as in the nation, a change that will take some wind out of the sails of a modest economic recovery.

Since early May, the interest rate on a typical 30-year mortgage rate has risen almost one percentage point, to 4.32 percent, according to mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac.

That rise has choked off banks’ refinancing business by reducing the money homeowners save by paying off their old mortgage with a new, lower-rate deal.

What that means, in turn, is that fewer homeowners have a boost in discretionary income that they might spend on things like home improvements, gasoline, college costs or paying down debt.

While it’s hard to calculate how much of a boost such refinancing gave to Long Island, it appears considerable.

At Bethpage Federal Credit Union, one of the Island’s largest mortgage lenders, president and chief executive Kirk Kordeleski estimates that his refinance customers saved a total of about $56 million in interest from 2009 through 2012.

Add that to the savings won by refinancing customers of others lenders such as Wells Fargo and Chase, he said, and “a lot of money went into people’s pockets to help the Long Island economy during that time.”

Lower payments

Bill consolidation and lower monthly mortgage payments were key drivers of the refinance boom.

Dan and Lisa Donoghu,  of Fort Salonga, accomplished both when they refinanced in May through Lynx Mortgage Bank LLC in Westbury. Their interest rate went down from about 3.88 percent to 3.5 percent, they lengthened their term from 15 years to 20 and took cash out.

“My two boys are in college and my daughter got married in August, so I had some big bills I wanted to take care of,” said Dan, 51, a New York City Fire Department deputy chief in Manhattan and a registered nurse at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Patchogue.

The couple — Lisa is also a nurse — bought their house in June 2001 with a 30-year mortgage at about 7 percent and had refinanced twice before, Dan said. They got lower rates and shortened the term to 15 years. “After my younger son gets out of college in three years, then we’ll have the option of prepaying to get us back to where we’re hoping to be — retiring without a mortgage,” he said.

Nationally, the Mortgage Bankers Association trade group in Washington says refinancing nationwide fell 18 percent from $388 billion in the fourth quarter of last year to $316 billion in this year’s second quarter and is forecast to fall by another 40 percent from the second quarter to the current, third, quarter.

The boom was great while it lasted.

 

 

 

http://www.newsday.com/business/climbing-interest-rate-slows-refinance-boom-1.6155561

60 Sensational Social Media Facts and Statistics on Twitter in 2013 | North Salem Realtor

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Social media facts and statistics are often pieced together from sites that  seem credible but sometimes they leave a lingering doubt. Is it smoke, mirrors  or is it a fact? Stating it can be easy but verifying it can be almost  impossible.

As they say… “there are damned lies and then there are  statistics“.

When you are raising $1 billion in a public float, the numbers are under the  microscope. The government is glancing over your shoulder and the investors are  casting a withering eye and wanting a return. You are moving from private to  public and that can be unforgiving. Just ask Facebook’s executives after they  went public last year.

Twitter is floating part of its business to raise capital as it seeks to  continue growing on a web that doesn’t like downward subscriber and revenue  trajectories.

What has Twitter revealed?

Here are some of the numbers that were part of the 800 page filing for the  Twitter IPO.

  1. In 2010 Twitter’s revenue was $28 million
  2. Last year (2012) Twitter achieved sales of $317 million
  3. The first half of this year saw revenue of $254 million
  4. If this rate of growth continues it will exceed $656 million for the full  year
  5. 87 percent of revenue is from advertising
  6. Twitter currently has 218 million active monthly users
  7. 169 million of these users are from outside the USA
  8. Twitter has never made a profit
  9. It has lost an accumulated $419 million since launch
  10. Private investors have put a total of $759 million into the social networks  coffers
  11. Twitter has $375 million cash in the bank
  12. Twitter has generated 64 cents per user in the last 3 months.(Meanwhile in  the same period Facebook created $1.58 per user and LinkedIn a $1.53)
  13. Twitter is mobile centric and 65% of its advertising earnings are from ads  on tablets and smartphones
  14. There are 2,000 employees
  15. Market value on floating is predicted to be as high as $20  billion

So they are the numbers for the float. What are some other interesting social  media facts and statistics about Twitter?

The facts on tweets, hashtags and other numbing numbers

Twitter thrives on tweets and hashtags. What are some of the latest figures  on the 140 character web tweeting? I have pulled some numbers out of the  Infographic below for those who have to rush off to a meeting or are having a  short sharp coffee while reading this post.

  1. 135,000 Twitter accounts are registered every day
  2. 58 million tweets a day
  3. There are 2.1 billion searches on Twitter every 24 hours
  4. Some of the top and interesting hashtags include the potential reach  generated by these hashtags:  #mancrushmonday (5.5 million),  #TransformationTuesday(10.17 million) and #ThrowBackThursday (31.4 million)
  5. Justin Bieber has the largest following with over 44 million followers
  6. Katy Perry is second with more than 42 million
  7. Lady Gaga comes in third at 40 million plus

If you want to find out the other 38 facts you cn view them in the  infographic below

 

 

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/10/09/60-sensational-social-media-facts-and-statistics-on-twitter-in-2013/#CDD9LDdPvPxZ1meU.99

6 Trees You’ll Fall For | North Salem NY Real Estate

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he leaves are changing, the nights are crisp. In much of the world, gardeners are laying down their tools, cleaning up their gardens and perhaps breathing a sigh of relief that another gardening season has come and gone.
But the planting season isn’t over. Fall — particularly until late October in colder areas of the country and until November in the South — is the preferred time to plant many species of trees. Planting conditions are near perfect: The soil is warm, the sun isn’t too hot and there’s usually more rain. The weather that makes people say, “Fall is my favorite time of year,” is ideal for many newly planted trees, too.
Different types of trees prefer different living conditions. Not every tree should be planted in fall, of course. The reason is in the roots: Trees with larger, thicker roots that reach deeper into the soil, such as magnolias and oaks, are better off planted in spring. Trees best planted in fall, such as crabapples, maples, elms and honeylocusts, have fibrous root systems shallow enough to readily reach water and nutrients. This allows them to settle in and put out new root growth before the weather turns frigid.

traditional landscape by Liquidscapes

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One of the best trees for small gardens, crabapples (Malus spp.) top out at a manageable 20 feet. They flower gloriously in the spring in shades of light pink, dark pink or white. Fruits follow, and although they must be cooked for humans to find them palatable, birds depend on them to get through the winter. Hardy to zones 5 (to -20°F) to 8 (15°F), crabapples need full sun and well-drained soil.
traditional landscape by Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

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At the garden center, look for trees that are in containers or that are balled and burlapped. These can be planted in fall. Dormant (bareroot) plants must be planted in spring.
When buying a tree, always check to be sure it’s healthy: no dead branches, splits or damage to the trunk. A damaged trunk interrupts the flow of water up and sugars down the tree. A tree may recover, but a damaged trunk can ultimately kill a tree.
farmhouse landscape by Wagner Hodgson

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Some Great Trees for Fall Planting
Native to North America, honeylocusts (Gleditsia triacanthos) have fern-like leaves that provide airy shade, so they are a good choice if you want shade but not too much. The species has fierce thorns and grows well over 80 feet tall, but cultivars are thornless and grow to about 40 feet. They need full sun and are hardy in zones 3 (-40°F) to 7 (0°F).
traditional landscape by Dear Garden Associates, Inc.

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Green hawthorn (Crataegus viridis) is a lovely tree with three seasons of interest: white flowers in spring, red fall foliage, and in winter, red berries that birds adore. Hardiest in zones 5 (-20°F) to 7 (0°F), hawthorns stay under 40 feet. They require full sun and do best in soil that’s not too rich or too moist. The cultivar ‘Winter King,’ shown here, is especially disease-resistant and drought-tolerant.

Wolfgang Puck Drops $14M on Pritzker-Approved L.A. Villa | North Salem Real Estate

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21 images

Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker—members of über-rich American family noted not only for its Hyatt fortune, but also as the benefactor of the famous architecture prize—have finally found a buyer for their eight-bedroom villa in Bel Air: celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. According to The Real Estalker, Puck laid down $14M for the Mediterranean spread christened Villa les Violettes. The place listed for $21.99M over a year and a half ago, when the Pritzkers’ new spread, a positively palatial compound boasting 53,000 square feet of living space and a bowling alley, wrapped up construction. That original ask was shaved down with painful sluggishness—18 times over the course of a year, to be exact—until, in March 2013, Villa les Violettes blinked off and on the market, emerging with a new $16.495M ask.

Inside the 1938 manse, which the Pritzkers bought in 2001 for $9.5M: a limestone foyer, a “ballroom-sized living room” with parquet floors and 15-foot ceilings, a double-height library, a media room, a silvered dining room, and a marbled kitchen The Real Estalker insists “will get a soup-to-nuts overhaul.” Outdoor details include a 3,500-square-foot garden and trellised flowers like whoa—plus a pool, a fancy-pants outdoor dining area, palm trees, resort-style furniture, and a tennis court.

 

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/08/wolfgang-puck-drops-14m-on-pritzkerapproved-la-villa.php