Tag Archives: South Salem Homes for Sale

5 reasons it’s still a great time to buy a house | South Salem Real Estate

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After years of sluggish sales and false starts, the real estate market is on a tear this summer, with prices posting double-digit gains every consecutive month since April.

 

Prices have increased so much so quickly in some markets that a few experts are already crying “bubble.” There’s no doubt that the bottom has passed.

Tight inventory and climbing prices have created a seller’s market in most places and realtors are reporting bidding wars in the hottest markets — but that doesn’t mean there’s not opportunity out there for home buyers. “Just because it would have been cheaper to buy a home six months ago, doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to buy one now,” says Trulia housing analyst Jed Kolko.

 

That’s good news for the 68% of renters surveyed in March by JP Morgan Chase, who said they wanted to buy a home. It may be risky in today’s market for home flippers looking to purchase and sell a home quickly for profit. But for those retail buyers who want to buy and live in a house for five or 10 years, here are five reasons to act now:

 

1. Home prices are still rising

The massive gains seen over the past few months make it easy to forget that housing only bottomed out last year, hitting its lowest level in March 2012. While recent prices increases aren’t sustainable, there’s plenty of room for home values to climb. Even with four months of improvement, prices remain about 26% below their 2006 peaks.

 

The chief driver of price gains is constrained supply, reflecting modest homebuilder activity; dwindling foreclosures; and continued foot-dragging by potential sellers who are waiting for prices to improve even further. Total housing inventory at the end of May rose 3.3%, to 2.22 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.1 months’ supply at the current sales pace, down from 5.2 months in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. Listed inventory is still 10.1% below a year ago, when there was a 6.5-month supply.

 

Going forward, price increases will vary by region, while prices nationally are expected to see more modest increases of an annualized 3.9% per year through 2017, according to CoreLogic.

 

2. Rates are low by historical standards

Rates, currently at about 4.6%, have climbed a full percentage point since May — but they’re still lower than they were just two years ago and far lower than their long-term average of about 8%. “In the history of America, a 30-year mortgage at less than 5% is a gift,” says Mark Dotzour, chief economist at Texas A&M’s Real Estate Center. “It’s not supposed to be that way, and rates are only that low because of extraordinary monetary policy.”

 

Economists don’t expect the recent surge to continue. The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts rates will remain close to current levels through the end of next year.

 

5 reasons it’s still a great time to buy a house- MSN Money.

4 Steps to Creating a Top-Ranked Business Podcast | South Salem Realtor

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Do you want to create your own business podcast?

Do you have the passion and drive to make it happen, but you’re just not sure where to start?

Keep reading for 4 tips to set you down the path of podcasting success.

Why Podcasting?

Podcasting is a unique tool that allows you to deliver relevant, on-demand and targeted content to a massive, worldwide audience.

What’s special about podcasting beyond its reach is that, unlike any other social platform, it allows you to connect with your audience on a personal, one-on-one level during a time when they are looking for hands-free, audio-only content.

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Podcasting can be a powerful delivery platform in your marketing toolbox. Image source: iStockPhoto.

Pat Flynn of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, who was recently profiled for the success he’s had with his podcast, stated, “I’ve been able to make a much deeper connection with my audience. When I go to conferences, the first thing people who meet me say is, ‘I love listening to your podcast.’”

A podcaster’s ability to create a show that consistently delivers high-quality content to a captive audience, like Flynn does, will determine his or her success.

Here are four steps you can take to set yourself up for podcasting success.

#1: Buy Recording and Editing Equipment

There are a lot of different types of equipment and software out there for recording and editing your podcast. As you can imagine, they range in price from free to really expensive. However, one of the many great things about podcasting is its accessibility—whether you have $100 or $10,000 to spend doesn’t matter.

Here’s what you’ll need to get set up.

A Microphone

One option is to simply use the built-in microphone on your computer to record your podcast. While you will definitely be forfeiting some of your audio quality by going this route, it is possible.

The Logitech ClearChat Headset is a low-cost option ($26.78) and a big step up from your computer’s built-in microphone. This headset will connect straight to your computer via USB.

If you’re not willing to forfeit your audio quality on any level and have some money to spend on a high-quality microphone, the Heil PR-40 is a great option that will cost you just around $300.00. This microphone functions via an XLR connection, not via USB, and thus requires that you also purchase a mixer.

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The Heil PR-40 is a great choice for a microphone because it delivers high-quality audio every time.

A Mixer

A mixer allows you to manipulate the audio signals, dynamics and frequency of your recording. While a mixer is not a requirement, it is an important piece of equipment to have if you want to provide your audience with high-quality audio.

If you’re going to purchase a mixer, an all-in-one is the way to go. The PreSonus FireStudio Project is a great option and allows you to record audio on two separate tracks, which is a huge benefit if you plan on doing interviews. With this, you cansilence out background noise and easily edit both sides of the interview. The Presonus Firestudio mixer runs around $400.00.

Recording and Editing Software

Recording and editing software is required because this is what actually allows you torecord, edit and convert your audio into an MP3 file.

Much like the microphone equipment, there is a free option and an option that costs money.

  • Free options: Mac users can use GarageBand while Audacity is available for PC users.
  • Paid option: Adobe Audition is a top-notch recording software program that has amazing capabilities. If you do not subscribe to an Adobe software package likeCreative Cloud, then you can check out package options or simply purchase access to Adobe Audition alone for $19.99 per month.

 

4 Steps to Creating a Top-Ranked Business Podcast | Social Media Examiner.

The Strokes’ Nick Valensi & Wife Amanda de Cadenet List Home | South Salem Real Estate

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Does a home once showcased on a TV talk show help with a sale? It depends on the home, of course, but in the case of this New England-style traditional, the TV fame is just one more feature added to a list of amenities.

Located at 12701 Hortense St, Studio City, CA 91604, the home is currently owned by The Strokes’ lead guitarist Nick Valensi and wife Amanda de Cadenet, host of Lifetime’s “The Conversation.” The TV show is filmed in the residence, with the British actress and photographer interviewing Lady Gaga, Rita Wilson, Portia de Rossi and Gwyneth Paltrow, among others. Valensi and de Cadenet have it on the market for $1.799 million.

“An ideal buyer is a family with kids who love the proximity to Studio City’s best park and new library,” said listing agent Craig Knizek of The Agency. “It’s a wonderful neighborhood to walk your dog [or] have kids ride a bike past friendly neighbors.”

According to property records, Valensi and de Cadenet bought the home for $1.3 million in 2011. Built in 2009, the 4,000-square-foot house has an open floor plan, with the family and living rooms centered around a chef’s kitchen with center island. The 5-bedroom house includes a main-floor guest suite, and the space above the garage has been permitted for a 2-bedroom guest apartment. Currently, Valensi is using the space for his music. The walkable residence is filled with top-of-the-line finishes and tucked away behind every celebrity’s favorite feature: high-privacy hedges.

“A unique attribute about the house is what it retains from your own treasured past — memories of how you grew up and felt comfortable and safe,” Knizek said.

 

The Strokes’ Nick Valensi & Wife Amanda de Cadenet List Home | Zillow Blog.

Antique Homes Are Popular Again In Westchester | South Salem NY Homes

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Antique homes are making a comeback on Westchester’s real estate scene, especially among houses built before 1900.

Many homebuyers are looking to these homes because of their history, unique layouts, and to cultivate old-fashioned pursuits such as gardening, knitting, and even raising chickens. One Westchester real estate office,Douglas Elliman, has more than a dozen historic listings on the market in Westchester.

In Chappaqua, a 1740 red Colonial on King Street is listed for $1.39 million. Nestled on just under 3.5 acres, the 5-bedroom, 4-bath home has been updated to include a dishwasher, eat-in kitchen, central air conditioning, and updated electrical systems, while still maintaining its antique charm. The nicely landscaped grounds feature extensive stonework, perennial, and vegetable gardens. There is also a pool and a two-car detached garage.

“Antique homes are really in vogue right now because they appeal to people who want an authentic living experience. Some people like the new turn-key look, but we are seeing that people are also really adamant about living in a highly unique space with a sense of history that echoes the values of a bygone, simpler time,” said listing agent Nancy Strong. “Westchester is steeped in history, and we are lucky to be ahead of the trend when it comes to antique house hunting.”

 

Antique Homes Are Popular Again In Westchester | The White Plains Daily Voice.

Remembering New York’s Historic Baseball Stadiums | South Salem Real Estate

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o avid baseball fans, summer is everything: season tickets, double plays, the crack of the bat, doubleheaders, cracker jacks, the disabled list. These days, New Yorkers have some elegant stadiums to watch both major and minor league ball—but the oldest among them, the Richmond County Bank Ballpark and MCU Park, where the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones play, were built in 2001. Citi Field and Yankee Stadium’s latest incarnation are even newer. So as the summer wears on, the All-Star break comes and goes, and the Subway Series grows ever more heated, take a moment to remember the city’s great ballparks that were. Journey from the very early days of the Capitoline Grounds to the expansion of Harlem’s Polo Grounds, where people perched on bluffs to watch the matches for free. Remember the dear departed Ebbets Field (sadly replaced by an apartment complex, though its flagpole stands at Barclays Center) and the wonderfully retro 60s-era colored paneling of the original Shea Stadium. If we missed any of your favorites, please let us know in the comments or by email. Now please doff your cap to rise for the national anthem. And play ball!

↓ Union Grounds
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Team: Brooklyn Hartfords
In operation: 1862-1883

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↓ Washington Park I, II & III
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Teams: Brooklyn Atlantics, Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Brooklyn Tip Tops
In operation (in various locations): 1883-1915

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↓ Eastern Park
Location: Brownsville, Brooklyn
Teams: Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders and Brooklyn Dodgers
In operation: 1890-1898

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Remembering New York’s Historic Baseball Stadiums, In Photos – Summer Flashbacks – Curbed NY.

NAHB to Critic: We’re Right for Wanting Lead-Paint Rule Reform | South Salem Real Estate

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NAHB Remodelers chairman Bill Shaw sent the following to REMODELING today regarding a letter to the editor from Wayne Baruch that we entitled: “Why NAHB, Inhofe Are Wrong About Lead-Paint Rule.”

In response to Wayne Baruch’s letter published in this magazine on June 21, Mr. Baruch does not understand the reasonableness of the opt-out provision that the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) supports and I testified to Congress about. Since the regulatory process began, NAHB has been involved in making this workable for remodelers but most importantly crafting a rule that protects children and pregnant women from lead hazards.

The bills NAHB supports, S. 484 and H.R. 2093, would reinstate the opt-out, permit emergency renovations to help families after disasters, and allow remodelers to correct paperwork errors.

The removal of the opt-out provision dismantles everything that the EPA included in its original 2008 RRP rule to ensure that it would not be overly costly to small businesses and inadvertently places home owners and their families at risk of exposure to lead.

As the costs of complying with the rule without an accurate lead test are revealed, homeowners balk at the price and opt to do the work themselves or not at all – both of which increase the chances of lead exposure if lead paint is present.

As many professional remodelers who comply with the rule can attest, they are being underbid by ‘fly-by-night’ contractors who are not certified or properly trained. Consumers who hire these contractors are risking the health of their family. This serves neither those rule-abiding remodelers like the people who attend Mr. Baruch’s RRP classes nor the intent of the rule.

The unavailability of an accurate test kit, which EPA promised by September 2010, is a major problem. NAHB has urged EPA to support the introduction of an accurate test kit for years because the current EPA approved test kit has such a high percentage of false positives that many projects are being completed under the RRP guidelines when in fact no lead exists. This puts an additional and unnecessary financial burden on the consumer and contractor and leads to the risky scenario involving untrained, fly-by-night contractors or DIY demolition.

Under the rule, if a pre-1978 home is tested and the results indicate there is no presence of lead-based paint, the contractor can bypass RRP compliance. NAHB supports this reasonable component to the rule, but it also hinges on the existence of an accurate testing kit.

 

NAHB to Critic: We’re Right for Wanting Lead-Paint Rule Reform – Lead-Safe Practices, Legislation, Remodeling – Remodeling Magazine.

Remembering The Granddaddy Of Miami Hotels, The Royal Palm | South Salem Real Estate

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Painted in ‘Flagler Yellow’ with white trim, green shutters, and a red mansard roof, Henry Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel, along with Flagler’s railroad, was for many years the reason for Miami’s existence. Originally containing 350 rooms when it opened on January 16th, 1897, with an additional 100 for servants, the six story hotel would grow another huge wing before the rambling wood structure was eventually deemed a fire hazard and demolished in 1930.

Almost as grand as Flagler’s Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, the Royal Palm was fabulously posh and established the basic elements of the city’s identity that really have held up, more or less, until today. Just as the Royal Palm was, Miami is still a tourist mecca. As the Royal Palm was, Miami is still a playground of the rich. The Royal Palm, with its 578 foot long veranda, gardens, and location on the mouth of the Miami River, celebrated Miami’s natural environment, and the pleasure of being outdoors in the winter months. The Royal Palm established the winter months as Miami’s high season. The Royal Palm’s location became the center of Downtown Miami, on the north side of the river, right up against the bay. The hotel’s outdoor pool, rudimentary by today’s standards, was a hot amenity, featured in many postcards,

For many years after its demolition, the site sat empty as surface parking lots, its lush grounds turned over to Bayfront Park, its marina still in operation where the Related Group’s One Miami condo towers are today. The DuPont family built the DuPont Plaza Hotel on part of the site in 1957, and the InterContinental was built on another part in 1982, but much of the rest remained empty, leading a 1996 Miami Herald article to suggest some thought the site was haunted. But rampant construction since then has filled up practically all the empty land. The last remaining bits of the hotel, a few steps of a veranda staircase and some bricks for decades buried under concrete and asphalt, recently were discovered by archeologists but, after documentation, will soon be buried again under a new tower. Aside from the park, and a few preserved worker’s cottages, just like that the Royal Palm Hotel, the granddaddy of all Miami Hotels, will be gone again.

 

Remembering The Granddaddy Of Miami Hotels, The Royal Palm – Hotels Week 2013 – Curbed Miami.

Second-home sales shift to Generation X | South Salem Real Estate

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The average age of a consumer looking to buy a second home is 50, said Chris Kelsey, president of Long Cove, a private community on Cedar Creek Lake built to give Dallas-area families a close-to-home getaway. 

“A lot of people are wondering how the desires of consumers are changing now that we’re coming out of the recession,” said Kelsey. 

The whole second-home industry has been predicated on Baby Boomers, said Kelsey, although the industry is now crossing the threshold from Boomer to Generation X. 

“Boomers are becoming grandparents,” said Kelsey, who noted that their motivation for buying is often for extended family. On the other hand, Generation X is simply approaching the natural point in life where a second home becomes a feasible option. 

What’s interesting, notes Kelsey, is the language used by the Baby Boomers compared to Generation X. Boomers often refer to their second home as a “vacation home,” while Gen X typically calls it a “second home.”

“This distinction is important to them because they don’t see their resort property as a place for vacation,” said the Kelsey & Norden Resort Real Estate Survey. “Instead, they think of it as an extension of their regular lives, a second home where they are connected to a community of like-minded friends and can provide their kids an alternative experience to their urban or suburban neighborhoods. And with the shift comes a similar shift in vocabulary.”

Kelsey added that Gen X is notorious for its distaste for gated communities and their dislike of inclusivity. “They may want a gated community, they may just not want to celebrate the fact that they’re in a gated community,” said Kelsey. 

 

Second-home sales shift to Generation X | HousingWire.

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4% | South Salem Real Estate

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Existing home sales improved in May but the supply of homes for sale remains tight — which isn’t good news for buyers, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Total existing home sales increased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April, NAR said. That’s the highest rate since November 2009 and almost 13% above year-ago levels.

The inventory of homes for sale, meanwhile, dipped to a 5.1 month supply, down from 5.2 months in April. That means all the homes would sell in that time frame if no new supply was added and sales continued at May’s pace. Realtors consider a 6-month supply to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Total housing inventory at the end of May was up 3.3% to 2.22 million existing homes for sale.

Despite last month’s “nice” gain in homes for sale, the supply is unlikely to grow unless home building ramps up by an additional 50%, says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Homes are also selling fast. The median time on market for all homes was 41 days in May, down from 46 in April.

Nationwide, 45% of all homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month, NAR says.

Single-family home sales rose 5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6 million and are almost 13% above the year ago pace.

 

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4%.

S&P expects home prices to keep rising | South Salem Real Estate

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Surging home prices throughout the country have spurred talk of a housing bubble, as many markets are still recovering from the last bubble bursting in 2007.

But Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services states that, although double-digit gains are ultimately unsustainable, we may not have reached bubble status quite yet. 

Home price appreciation can be attributed to a number of factors, including historically low rates, property purchases by investors who are renting homes out and a shortage in home inventory. In fact, recently the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index hit an 11% year-over-year increase, from 8%. 

Across the U.S., home prices are back to 2003 levels, yet they remain far from their 2006 peak. Lack of available inventory coupled with high demand has played a large role in this. In April, the sales of existing homes were up 9.7% year-over-year, while existing housing inventory dropped 13.6% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. 

Sadly, housing starts plummeted 16.5% in April after rising 1 million units in March for the first time in nearly five years. 

Yet, despite the slow climb for starts, analysts anticipate that builders will begin to break ground in the next few months. Permits increased 14.3% to a five-year high of 1.017 million, indicating a bounce in starts.

 

S&P expects home prices to keep rising | HousingWire.