Tag Archives: South Salem Homes

Dropping Knowledge: When is the Best Time to Sell a Place? | South Salem Real Estate

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Welcome to Dropping Knowledge, a new video series in which we offer pieces of advice—one-minute or less—from experts in the world of real estate and architecture. Our first guest, well-known to Curbed readers, is the one and only Jonathan Miller, who will teach us about apartment values and the market. Want to nominate a future guest? Let us know.

 

Appraiser, graph guru, and Three Cents Worth columnist Jonathan Miller is a source of much wisdom regarding the real estate market, so he was a natural first choice for Dropping Knowledge, a new video series featuring answers to common market questions. Today, JMillz answers a frequent market query: when is the best time to sell your apartment? Have questions you’d like answered in future videos? Please leave them in comments or via the tipline. · Three Cents Worth archive [Curbed] · Curbed Moving Pictures archive [Curbed]

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/10/08/dropping_knowledge_when_is_the_best_time_to_sell_a_place.php

When Mother Nature Meets Your Modern Nature | South Salem Real Estate

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Much like cooking, mixing interior styles can create new and interesting flavors. Consider mixing modern detailing with cabin style. The result is a warm, clean design that allows occupants to focus on the interior architecture and the exterior views.
Mixing two aesthetics that seem counterintuitive can result in a fresh look. The key is highlighting the best attributes from both styles in a way that blends naturally. Here are a few key details that create this unexpected aesthetic.

Live edge slab table. Furniture selection plays a big part in the modern cabin mix. A slab of a fallen tree with its edge left natural sets the tone perfectly. Warm and rustic, this table is also modern because of its simple form.
Modern lighting. Consider modern lighting selections against the warmth of wood. Glass, pewter and iron are great contrasting materials.
Highlight floor-to-ceiling views. The glory of a cabin is the surrounding landscape. Highlight towering pines with a modern-style floor-to-ceiling window. Consider a modern window free of mullions and casings, and let the pines add the rustic half of the equation.
Stair rail with attitude. Add modern elements of metal, iron or steel cable on a stair rail. Cabins often have double-height great rooms with a focal stair rail. Use this opportunity to mix in some modern detailing.
Repeat horizontal lines. A horizontal orientation of materials will translate modern or transitional. Horizontal lines featured within rustic elements like concrete or wood siding is an eye-catching contrast.
Textured neutrals. Consider all of the texture from rustic wood details in cabinets, beams and flooring. Now layer that look with neutral finishes like concrete countertops and several shades of gray for a perfect modern cabin mix.
Full-height fireplace. There is nothing quite like a warm fire in a cabin on a snowy night — even better a fire in a mountain thunderstorm. Add modern drama with a full-height fireplace. Modern and rustic material selections for a fireplace could be copper, natural stone or stainless steel.
Lighten up. Yes, wood beams and siding can be lightened up. Create a clean and modern aesthetic with a lighter, monochromatic palette. Consider whitewashing or a light stain on beams and siding with pale walls.

Nearly Half of Renters Lack Insurance | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Some 46 percent of renters are uninsured even though renters are more satisfied with their insurance than homeowners, according to a new JD Powers study released today.

Price is the leading driver of the satisfaction gap: price satisfaction is a significant 45 points higher among renters than among homeowners.  Satisfaction with insurers is higher among renters than among homeowners (809 vs. 787, respectively, on a 1,000-point scale), the study found.

State Farm captures the largest share of the renter insurance market (26%), followed by Allstate (12%) and USAA (10%).

Customer retention rates with their current insurer are higher among renters who bundle an auto policy (91%) compared to renters who do not bundle an auto policy (67%).

“Many insurance agents focus their time selling high-dollar products, such as auto and homeowners, with higher commissions instead of the average $200 per year renters policy,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the global insurance practice at J.D. Power. “This is shortsighted because agents who satisfy the large renter population today are more likely to retain and service their growing household insurance needs over time” (learn more in the review of SuperMoney).

Rankings
Overall Customer   Satisfaction Index ScoresJ.D. Power.com Power   Circle Ratings
(Based on a   1,000-point scale)For Consumers
Homeowners Segment
Amica Mutual

842

5

State Farm

813

4

Auto-Owners Insurance

812

4

Erie Insurance

811

4

Automobile Club of   Southern California

808

4

Encompass

798

4

American Family

797

4

Progressive

796

4

COUNTRY

795

3

Allstate

789

3

GEICO

789

3

The Hartford

787

3

Homeowners Average

787

3

NCNU Insurance   Exchange

786

3

Nationwide

780

3

MetLife

778

3

Safeco

778

3

Automobile Club Group

776

3

CHUBB

768

2

The Hanover

766

2

Farmers

763

2

Liberty Mutual

762

2

Travelers

756

2

__________________________
USAA*

894

5

*USAA is an insurance   provider open only to U.S. military personnel and their families and   therefore is not included in the rankings.
Homeowners Segment:   Included in the study but not award-eligible due to localized availability   and/or not meeting minimum sample requirements are Alfa Insurance, Allied,   Cincinnati Insurance, Fireman’s Fund, Homesite, Mercury, North Carolina Farm   Bureau, Shelter and Tennessee Farm Bureau.

Completed foreclosures fall 34% | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Completed foreclosures dropped 34% year-over-year in August 2013, according to data from CoreLogic (CLGX). As a whole, August’s completed foreclosures hit 48,000 filings, down from 72,000 filings in August 2012.

From a month ago, completed foreclosures grew a slight 1.3% from 47,000 actions in July 2013.

Overall, the nation has experienced 4.5 million completed foreclosures across the country since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008.

Through August 2013 this year, approximately 939,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, compared to 1.4 million in August 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 33%.

From August to July, the foreclosure inventory declined 3.2%. In August, the foreclosure inventory represented 2.4% of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 3.3% in August 2012.

By the end of August, 2.1 million mortgages, or 5.3% of loans survyed, were seriously delinquent, the lowest level since December 2008.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27288-foreclosure-inventory-plummets-34

 

Claims Cause Hefty Hikes in Homeowners’ Premiums | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Insurance claims can cause significant increases in on homeowners’ policies according to the state where they are located according to a new study commissioned by insuranceQuotes.com

Using a hypothetical two-story, single family home covered for $144,000 with a $500 deductible, the study revealed that how much annual premiums can rise following the filing of a claim for  fire, hail, liability, medical, theft, vandalism, water (non-weather related), weather (except for hail and wind) and wind.

According to the study, U.S. families who file a single homeowner’s insurance claim can expect their annual premium to increase 9 percent (or about $150). However, premium increases varied greatly by state.  Homeowners who file a single claim in Minnesota can expect their annual premium to increase, on average, by 21 percent. Conversely, filing a single claim in Texas won’t result in any premium increase.

According to the latest data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the average cost of home insurance increased 36 percent between 2003 and 2010, which is almost twice the rate of inflation.   The study’s findings come at a time when most U.S. families are already experiencing an increase in their homeowner’s insurance premiums across the board.

The following five states showed the greatest average premium increase as a result of filing one claim:

1. Minnesota – 21 percent increase

2. Connecticut – 21 percent increase

3. Maryland – 19 percent increase

4. California – 18 percent increase

5. Oregon – 17 percent increase

Meanwhile, the following five states, on average, showed the smallest percentage premium increase as a result of filing one claim:

1. Texas – 0 percent increase

2. New York – 1 percent increase

3. Florida – 2 percent increase

4. Vermont – 2 percent increase

According to the study, premiums in 31 states and the District of Columbia increased by an average of 10 percent or more after filing a single claim. What’s more, only 18 states fell below the national average increase of 9 percent. 5. Massachusetts – 2 percent increase

“For homeowners in states where premiums are going up by more than 10 percent for a single claim, that’s a bit troubling,” says Bob Hunter, former Texas Insurance Commissioner and current director of insurance at the D.C.-based Consumer Federation of America, a consumer advocacy organization.

The reasons behind why there is such a disparity from state to state are varied and nuanced, says Chris Hackett, director of personal lines policy at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an insurance trade association. According to Hackett, rate swings between states come from several factors, including the nature and severity of claims filed in a given state, as well as the different ways in which insurance is regulated from state to state.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/claims-cause-hefty-hikes-in-homeowners%e2%80%99-premiums/

Wayne Newton’s Las Vegas Ranch Hits Market for $70 Million | South Salem Real Estate

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Casa de Shenandoah, a 36-acre ranch once owned by Wayne Newton, just hit the market for a whopping $70 million. Newton and his family have lived at the ranch since the 1960s, but in 2010 it was purchased by CSD LLC for the purpose of turning the home into a Wayne Newton museum. Unfortunately the project failed due to legal disputes, and the LLC went bankrupt. The Newton family owns 20 percent of CSD, but not enough to keep the home.

The home is also a zoo; Newton used the home to keep his prized Arabian horses and a few other animals, and CSD acquired even more animals for the museum, including sloths, wallabies, penguins, lemurs, and more than 100 birds. The animals have since been sold to the Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center and the Sloth Captive Husbandry Research Center in Rainier, Ore.

And that’s not the only wild thing about this house. There’s a jumbo jet terminal that allows the plane to pull right up to the home. There’s not just a garage, but a “car museum,” with seven double doors. In addition to the main house, which has three bedrooms and 3.5 baths, there are seven additional homes on the property. Other details include 37 stables, an “equestrian pool,” acres of corrals, a gaming room, green room, and tennis court. According to the listing, CSD LLC has invested in excess of $15-20 million in improvements. It is listed by Dale Thornburgh, Synergy Sothebys International. For photos and more information, check out the listing on Redfin.com.

 

http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2013/09/wayne-newtons-las-vegas-ranch-hits-market-for-70-million.html#.Ui8vBmRATsn

 

Brokerages Step up to One-Stop Shopping | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Despite six years of a depressed housing economy that reduced Realtor ranks by one-third, real estate brokerage companies are closer than ever to achieving the long-sought dream of becoming one-stop shops  providing their customers all the services they need to buy or sell a house.

A new survey Imprev, Inc. found that 75 percent of top real estate executives responding said their brokerage firms offer at least one major ancillary service and mortgages are the No. 1 additional offering.  Some 89 percent of the real estate firms that offer at least one ancillary service offer home loans.

Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) offer title services and nearly half (49 percent) offer home-warranty services.

“For decades, the National Association of REALTORS® has tracked growing consumer interest in a one-stop shop through its surveys,” said Renwick Congdon, chief executive officer of Imprev, a real estate marketing software firm that works with 150,000 agents and brokers nationwide.

“Clearly, the industry’s thought leaders are making it happen in their firms,” he added.

According to a 2011 NAR and Harris Interactive study, the number of consumers interested in using a service provider affiliated with a brokerage firm increased 34 percent from the first survey completed in 2008.

In the NAR/Harris study, 78 percent of homebuyers said that one-stop shopping would save them money; 75 percent said it would make the process more manageable and efficient; and 73 percent said that a one-stop real estate shop would prevent the details relevant to their transactions from “falling through the cracks” — as well as make the entire process “more convenient.”

When real estate executives were asked to select the top benefits from offering ancillary services, 79 percent said “higher profits”; 70 percent said “one-stop marketing opportunities”; 62 percent said “increased customer satisfaction”; and 60 percent said “better quality control.”

The survey was conducted in late May. Poll respondents included top executives at leading franchises and independent brokerage firms responsible for more than one-third of all U.S. residential real estate transactions last year.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | South Salem Real Estate

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Do you use Instagram for your business?

Are you wondering how Instagram can help with your marketing?

To learn how to get started with Instagram marketing, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.

More About This Show

Social Media Marketing Podcast w/ Michael Stelzner

 

The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.

It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).

In this episode, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman, who is known as theInstagram Gal. Sue helps businessesuse Instagram to find their ideal customers. She’s used Instagram herself to increase traffic to her Cape Cod retail boutique by 40% in only 12 months.

Sue shares the strategy behind her Instagram success.

You’ll learn how to take advantage of using photos and short videos and how tomake the most of hashtags.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!

Listen Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:

Instagram Marketing

Why marketers should consider Instagram

Sue states that she didn’t know what Instagram was until a little over a year ago. She became curious when her twin daughters were using it.

Sue shares that one of the reasons why marketers should consider Instagram is because it’s mobile. It’s a great way for your business to communicate directly with people with whom you want to build trust and credibility. There’s no better way for people to see what you are up to.

sue b zimmerman instagram

Instagram is a great way to share with people what you are doing in the moment.

Instagram is a free mobile app, which you can download onto your iPhone orAndroid phone. It allows you to share photos or videos with your target market. It’s very quick, easy and fun to use. There are 20 filters that you can have a lot of fun with.

You’ll discover why hashtags and @mentions are most important for marketers and businesses.

Listen to the show to find out what type of image gets the most likes and comments for Sue.

Who is Instagram ideally for and how does it differ from Pinterest?

Sue believes they are similar but have slightly different approaches. Sue has a very active Pinterest account, which is also very successful for her boutique.

Both Pinterest and Instagram have grown into their own thriving communities.

With Instagram, you can tell a story with both photos and videos. As soon as you upload an Instagram image, you can see within seconds that someone has liked it. With Pinterest however, you tell people what you like. You curate your boards and highlight what you like from things that are already online.

in the moment sue zimmerman

With Instagram, it’s you in the moment.

Sue gives an example of how she is able to seize opportunities presented to her with customers in her boutique. It’s a great way to create a fun mood.

The hashtags that you use to describe the image or the video are how people follow you or find you.

You’ll hear what hashtags Sue uses at an event and why it helps create more interaction. You have to remember that people look for certain hashtags for their industry to stay top of mind.

falmouth roadrace

Make sure you tag the event you are attending to create more interaction.

From a business perspective, when an image grabs your attention, you can choose to click into the account and see if you want to follow the person. Once you start to follow an account, it will show up in your feed. You can also unfollow accounts at any time.

Sue believes that she can put a visual strategy together for any kind of business. You’ll hear the different types of businesses she has worked with.

In the B2B world, it’s not necessarily about the products you sell, it’s about visual feelings. Images of sunsets, nature and oceans get a lot of likes because they are visually pleasing. It’s not just about business.

Listen to the show to find out what the benefits are when you share your passions visually as an individual.

Examples of businesses that use Instagram well

One of Sue’s favorite businesses is Birchbox. They have over 50,000 followers and are super-creative with their products. One of the products is a subscription-based box of goodies, which is delivered to your door once a month for $10.

 

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | Social Media Examiner.

The Week In Video: Mobile Video, Bigfoot And Steam Powered YouTube | South Salem Realtor

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The Week In Video: Mobile Video, Bigfoot And Steam Powered YouTube

Welcome back to the ‘Week in Online Video’ where we catch up with the news  and gossip from the world of YouTube, Cable, Google and all things video  related. This week we take a look at how e-commerce  annotations and the Content ID system are helping those who want to monetise  their video content as well as some of the new tweaks YouTube have introduced.

YouTube Gives Go Ahead For E-Commerce Annotations

A huge percentage of those producing consistent, quality, relevant content on  YouTube will have looked into the ways they can monetise their channel. There  are many avenues to explore, all with various degrees of success depending on  your approach and audience. We have a new kid on the block in the form of Subblime which  aims to provide extra revenue for those that use their services. Subblime is one  of the companies that YouTube have just endorsed that allow content creators to  link out to third parties via their annotations. The company currently has  around 40 creators signed up and confirms the CTR ranges from 20% to 50%. One to  watch.

Read More at: PandoDaily

Great Moments in Mobile Video

Accessing video content via our smartphones seems as second nature as  switching on the TV these days. But with the lightening fast pace of technology  it’s easy to forget that the concept is only 10 years old and it’s only in the  last couple of years that mobile video consumption  has reached stratospheric heights. The team at Spark Qualcomm bring us the facts  and figures.

The Week In Video: Mobile Video, Bigfoot And Steam Powered YouTube

See the full infographic here.

AdRev Opens Up Content  ID Platform To Independent Musicians And Publishers

We’ve already touched on monetisation opportunities and the YouTube Content ID system has been an excellent way for  artists to track down and often profit well from copyright infringements. AdRev,  one of the biggest third party providers of tracking to the huge publishing  companies such as Universal and Warner have opened up their features to smaller  labels and musicians via their new ContentID.com  site. Artists can upload their content to AdRev’s database for free and keep 80%  of the revenue from unofficial, third party videos.

Read More at: NMR

Rhett And Link Producer Jason Inman Wants $10,000 To Go Find Bigfoot

The producer behind YouTube darlings Rhett and Link has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a web  series tracking and finding (because it totally exists) Bigfoot. For a  modest $10,000, Jason Inman and his team of Squatch Watchers – with the help of  the glorious Chuck Testa – aim to do what programmes like ‘Finding  Bigfoot’ have failed to, albeit restricted to filming in the California area  only. Of course, Sasquatch aficionados will know that Cali was the location for  the most famous sighting of all time so anything is possible.  Here’s the trailer for the campaign:

Read more…

 

The Week In Video: Mobile Video, Bigfoot And Steam Powered YouTube http://www.reelseo.com/the-week-in-video-mobile-bigfoot/#ixzz2dq3MPEbT

Protect your data from cloud-based storms | South Salem Realtor

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The recent crash of the dotloop e-signature platform highlights the challenges related to going paperless and relying on someone else’s server for your protection. Whether it’s your email, your website, your e-signature platform or anything else that you store in the cloud, what can you do to protect yourself from cloud-based storms?

In my recent series of articles on the differences between the various e-signature platforms, I outlined the dangers of using a PDF-based e-signature platform such as dotloop that relies exclusively on its company website to track document changes in the cloud. A dedicated web server is one of the basic requirements for any organization in today’s business world. It is used to host the websites of the company or the whole enterprise and possesses the requisite resources for the task. The bandwidth and storage space provided by a dedicated hosting server can never be matched by a shared server, and the exclusivity provided by this server is unparalleled. These servers are usually hack – proof, and are not targeted by malwares, viruses and spywares due to the heightened security provided by the web hosting company. Now that you have finally decided to go for a dedicated server hosting and selected one that suits your business’ demands, you have to think about managing it. You can either manage it yourself or give this task to the firm which is providing you with the server. It is always advisable to hand this task over to the dedicated web server company, which will deal with all the nuances involved in setting up, hosting and managing the server. Even though you can always learn how to manage it, the task will be arduous and take a lot of your time, which is precious for your business’ growth. Typically, Fully Managed Dedicated Server Hosting consists of server monitoring, software updates, reboots, security patches and operating system upgrades. This provides you with ample time to concentrate on other tasks while the hosting company handles your server managing demands. Also, the firms which hire the services of the dedicated web server are provided with individual server administration add-on tools in the standard deals. Therefore, you can be at ease with even the standard deals and see your business achieve new heights due to the fully managed hosting option. Most people choose shared hosting for their website at the beginning. Shared hosting is a hosting account on which you host your website on a shared server with hundreds of other people’s websites. Shared hosting is usually very affordable due to the number of websites sharing the space and resources on each server. The downside of this is your website has to share the resources on the server such as processing power and memory. This means if particular websites are very busy and getting loads of traffic, they will obviously draw more processing power and server memory. This can lead to your website being slow to open and your potential customer won’t wait for your website to display; they’ll just go elsewhere! The other drawback with sharing a server with so many websites is a server is only as reliable as the scripts being written to it. If a particular website uses a bad script it can take the whole server down. Your website will go down as well and through no fault of your own. If your online business is mission critical and you want to avoid suffering any downtime or slowness, your best option is your own dedicated server. And if you are not at all technical then the best option of all is a fully managed dedicated server.You can visit https://www.knownhost.com/managed-wordpress-hosting.html for more information.

A fully managed dedicated server is managed for you by your hosting provider. You won’t have full root access to it but you will get a control panel which you use to set up your website space and that’s it. So in a way, similar to a shared server, except it’s yours with only your websites using it. This used to be quite an expensive option but prices have come down and there are wide ranges of hosting providers who offer fully managed dedicated servers from as low as £50 or £60 a month. The other advantage of your own dedicated server is you can install any software you want. On a shared server you are only able to use the pre-installed software and components provided and this can be limiting. If it’s fully managed your hosting provider will install the software for you and they may make a small installation charge. You also get far more web space to use – if the hard drive on the server is 80GB then you can use about 74GB of that for your websites and software. And with a dedicated server you will get far more bandwidth to use than you would on a shared server. In fact, there are a number of hosting providers who now offer 1 terabyte of monthly bandwidth use which is more than enough for most online businesses.

When I was researching the articles, I posed the following question to dotloop’s CEO, Allison Austin: “What happens if your system goes down, is hacked, or if you go out of business?” His response cited dotloop’s multiple backup systems and that it would be highly unlikely that that would happen. At RadiusBridge we help your business manage internal and external data with a focus on the best use of data to grow your business.

When the dotloop system went down, its users lost access. All digital transaction management platforms send users their documents via email, where they can be archived and accessed for future use.

But unlike DocuSign, Instanet or zipLogix’s Digital Ink products that provide the double protection of both a PDF document trail and independent tracking of changes within the document itself, dotloop users had no backup unless they did one of three things prior to the outage: (1) printed the documents to paper beforehand; (2) downloaded the documents into a separate PDF file on their computer; or (3) stored the documents in another cloud-based solution.

It’s not if they will fail, it’s when Of course, whether you are Google, Amazon, Microsoft or any other technology provider, sooner or later the system goes down. On Aug.16, Google went down for a few minutes. The blackout was “unprecedented.” The result: a 40 percent decrease of global traffic on the Web, according to a CNET article.

read more…

http://www.inman.com/2013/08/22/protect-your-data-from-cloud-based-storms/#sthash.MlrkSiPy.dpuf