Tag Archives: South Salem Luxury Homes

Local Farmers Markets | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Opening Day in Tarrytown with Music & Many New Vendors;
TWO Vendors Debut in Rye + More
May 15th-21st, 2014
DowntoEarthMarkets.com
Lettuce_MSP
What’s New, In Season, and On Sale This Week

BBQ Special: $2 OFF Packages of Chicken Breasts, Leg/Thighs
& Wings
Yellow Bell Farm

Fresh Whole Chickens
Stone & Thistle Farm

Drunken Goat Cheese
Raw milk aged cheese, soaked in wine
“Fruity with firm interior, reminiscent of Parmesan”
Acorn Hill Farm


Ground Beef: Buy five 1lb pkgs
& get $2 OFF per pound!
(Reg $9.75/lb; now $7.75/lb)
Kiernan Farm

Lamb
Pre-order at the market
Kiernan Farm

Parisian Baguette
Voted New York’s Best by Serious Eats – $0.50 OFF this Saturday!
Orwasher’s Bakery


Pork Sausages: 20% OFF!
Choose from Andouille, Breakfast, Chorizo, Hot Italian, and Sweet Italian
Kiernan Farm

Ramps
Wild and sustainably foraged
Yellow Bell Farm


Click on a Market to see all vendor and event details…

Westchester
County


Rockland
County

Ossining

Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm


Larchmont

Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm
 Piermont

Sundays
9:30 am-3:00 pm
L
Croton-on-Hudson

Sundays
9:00 am-2:00 pm


Rye

Sundays
8:30 am-2:00 pm

Spring Valley

Coming in July

Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow

OPENING DAY: MAY 24th
Saturdays
8:30 am-1:00 pm


New Rochelle

OPENING DAY: JUNE 20th
Fridays
8:30 am-2:30 pm


Headed to the city soon?

Visit a Down to Earth
Farmers Market in NYC!

Announcements
Ossining

The summer market season begins this Saturday in Ossining. Help us welcome the return of Taliaferro Farm and R & G Produce, along with additional new vendors to come. AND now the market opens at 8:30 am! See you there.

Tarrytown

Celebrate Opening Day of the 2014 farmers market season in Tarrytown with Deuces Child!
The duo of Gigi Tanglewood and Lou Patrick create a unique and lively musical program with their acoustic guitar interplay and amazing harmonic vocals. They will play from 10:00 am to noon.

Visit the Down to Earth Markets Calendar for full details.

Stay tuned to all market happenings via our Down to Earth Markets Facebook page
and follow us on Twitter @DowntoEarthMkts.

Vendor Profile: Introducing Nana’s Home Kitchen
CocoandNana
Coco and Nana

The husband and wife team of Serop and Jasmin Mandijan are best known as Coco and Nana. Serop’s middle name is Gregory, and in their native Armenian language, Coco is the nickname for Gregory. As for Nana, this is the name their grandchildren exclaim as they throw open the kitchen door, wild in delight for the food soon to come. It means “Grandma” in Armenian, and after one bite from Nana’s Home Kitchen, it’s easy to imagine their excitement — along with the patter of their little feet, as they run into the kitchen.

Coco and Nana were high school sweethearts in Armenia and married a few years later. They came to the United States in 1984, and Coco worked as a diamond setter for more than two decades. They have both enjoyed cooking since they were children, and once they married, they shared their love of the kitchen together. “She’s my best friend for more than 45 years,” Coco says of Nana.

As Coco retired from diamond setting, they were able to devote more time to their enjoyment of cooking fresh Middle Eastern foods from scratch. Encouraged by family and friends, they decided to offer their cooking to a broader audience and started Nana’s Home Kitchen around 2010. This weekend, they will debut with Down to Earth Markets with a mix of both savory and sweet foods. For the sweet teeth, they bake maamool, cookies stuffed with dates and walnuts, along with baklava, carrot cake, and more.

On their savory menu, crowds gather for their spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, hummus varieties, and much more. They are also renowned for their creative pesto sauces, made with ingredients such as sundried tomatoes and roasted peppers. They are inspired by the regional harvest and source from local farmers as much as possible. And, as much as they love the kitchen, Coco also relishes his time at the summer grill. Look for him to fire up delicious chicken kabobs and other specialties at our markets this year!

“Whoever tastes our food, they come back,” says Coco, “They love it. I don’t say it to brag. I say it because it happens.”

Meet Nana’s Home Kitchen all season long at Tarrytown’s Down to Earth Market, and coming up in Ossining, too. ENJOY.

Day Vendors This Week

Croton

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company

Larchmont

Calcutta Kitchens
The Peanut Principle (gourmet nut & seed butters)
Pie Lady & Son
Raaka Chocolate
Trotta Foods

The Value of My Home Went Up: Do I Need More Home Insurance? | South Salem Real Estate

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Most homeowners keep track of changes in the estimated value of their homes. If the estimate increases, does it mean you should increase the limits of your home insurance coverage to accommodate the hike? The quick answer — maybe, maybe not. Why the hedge? It depends on why the value of your home has increased.

The good news? If what increased is the possible sale value, you’re likely in good shape, insurance-wise. The amount of home insurance coverage you need doesn’t change based on real estate prices.

How real estate prices work

Real estate prices focus on demand. The more demand there is for a house, the more a seller can ask to be paid. Demand depends on a number of factors and can change over time.

An example: Location is one of the most important factors in real estate. If a home is in a trendy neighborhood, a great school district or near desirable shopping or entertainment venues, its market value could be greater than that of a house in another location. On the other hand, neighborhoods can fall off “popular” lists, school districts can be redrawn, and stores and theaters can close. That same house likely wouldn’t sell for nearly as much.

Most recently, home values have increased in many parts of the country as the real estate market heated back up after the recession. As more buyers enter the market, sellers can demand higher prices.

How home insurance prices work

When you buy home insurance, you don’t base your coverage limits on what you paid for the house. Instead, you buy enough dwelling coverage so that you can rebuild what’s likely your largest investment in case it is destroyed by a covered event such as fire or wind.

Factors taken into account in arriving at this amount — also called the replacement value of your house — include the size of the house and local construction costs.

Insurance providers then consider the amount of risk presented by a particular home and policyholder. Again, location is important: It determines the types of threats a home can face. For example, it costs much more to insure a home in Tornado Alley than it would for a similar house in a region with less-volatile weather.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.zillow.com/blog/home-values-and-home-insurance-151160/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

FHA, Fannie and Freddie regulator making moves to ease mortgage credit | South Salem Real Estate

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A shift by the federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could soon make getting a mortgage loan easier by giving lenders more wiggle room before the mortgage giants demand that they repurchase loans.

In his first public remarks since taking over as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mel Watt said he wants to address uncertainties surrounding the “representation and warranty” standards that can trigger repurchase demands.

Vault image via Shutterstock.
Vault image via Shutterstock.

Going forward, new borrowers will be allowed to miss two payments during the first three years after taking out a mortgage without triggering a repurchase demand from Fannie and Freddie. The mortgage giants will also not automatically demand that lenders repurchase loans if a loan’s primary mortgage insurance is rescinded.

Watt said Fannie and Freddie will continue to allow Fannie and Freddie to approve loans with debt-to-income levels above 43 percent when borrowers have “other compensating strengths,” and keep current loan limits in place.

Those moves could embolden lenders to approve mortgages to borrowers who meet all of Fannie and Freddie’s other underwriting requirements, but who previously might have seemed to pose too great a repurchase risk.

When lenders have done their due diligence and made sure borrowers meet Fannie and Freddie’s underwriting standards, the mortgage giants keep payments flowing to investors in mortgage-backed securities that mortgages are bundled into, even when borrowers default.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.inman.com/2014/05/13/fannie-and-freddie-regulator-making-moves-to-ease-credit/?utm_source=20140513&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm

California city looks to sea for water in drought | South Salem Real Estate

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This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last time California withered in a severe drought more than two decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water.

The $34 million desalination plant was fired up for only three months and mothballed after a miracle soaking of rain.

As the state again grapples with historic dryness, the city nicknamed the “American Riviera” has its eye on restarting the idled facility to hedge against current and future droughts.

“We were so close to running out of water during the last drought. It was frightening,” said Joshua Haggmark, interim water resources manager. “Desalination wasn’t a crazy idea back then.”

Removing salt from ocean water is not a far-out idea, but it’s no quick drought-relief option. It takes years of planning and overcoming red tape to launch a project.

Santa Barbara is uniquely positioned with a desalination plant in storage. But getting it humming again won’t be as simple as flipping a switch.

After the plant was powered down in 1992, the city sold off parts to a Saudi Arabia company. The guts remain as a time capsule — a white elephant of sorts — walled off behind a gate near the Funk Zone, a corridor of art galleries, wineries and eateries tucked between the Pacific and U.S. 101

 

 

read more….

http://news.yahoo.com/california-city-looks-sea-water-drought-142629739.html

Step Inside the 1946 Offices of Architect Morris Lapidus | South Salem Real Estate

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14 images


Click here to view the full photogallery.

Despite being best known for speckling Miami with the Neo-baroque and Modern hotels that have since defined old Miami architecture, in the 1940s, architect Morris Lapidus actually had an office headquarters on New York City’s 49th Street. These photos, snagged from the Library of Congress’ Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, were taken years before Lapidus got his most famous commission, Miami’s (James Bond-approved!) Fontainebleau Hotel, and in fact the interiors are far from bold, a surprise coming from a man whose design philosophy was “if you create the stage setting and it’s grand, everyone who enters will play their part.” Sure, there may be no sweeping curves or layer-cake chandeliers, though the photos are far from boring. Have a look at the midcentury office delights—floating bookcases! wood paneling! glass partitions! a hand coming out of a wall!(??)—in the gallery below.

 

 

read more…

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/02/step-inside-1948-offices-of-architect-morris-lapidus.php

Mortgage Rates average 4.29% | South Salem Real Estate

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving down slightly following the release of real GDP estimates for the first quarter.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.29 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 1, 2014, down from last week when it averaged 4.33 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.35 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.38 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.39 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.56 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.05 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.03 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.56 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.45 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.44 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.56 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates were down slightly following the release of real GDP estimates for the first quarter of the year which rose 0.1 percent and fell well short of market expectations. Meanwhile, the pending home sales index rose in March ending eight consecutive months of decline and the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite house price index rose 12.9 percent over the 12-months ending in February 2014.”

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. Additional information is available at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.

Building a Foolproof Low-Slope Roof | South Salem Homes

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Carolyn Wood is building a house 80 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia, and if nothing else she’d like to get all the details in the roof assembly right, since in her last home, she had to get several hail damage roof repair services throughout the years. The question is whether the house is too far along to let her reach that goal.

The roof, with a 2-in-12 pitch, is framed with I-joists, strapped with 2x4s, and sheathed with 1/2-in. plywood. Above the roof sheathing, the roofers plan to install NovaSeal roofing underlayment and standing-seam metal roofing.

Below the sheathing are two layers of Roxul mineral wood insulation, providing a total of R-36. Wood plans to finish the ceiling with 1×6 tongue-and-groove boards. Against her builder’s advice, there will be no polyethylene vapor barrier in the ceilings or in the walls, but Wood would like to know whether, as she has recently heard, there should be a layer of drywall between the T&G ceiling boards and the insulation.

As currently built, an experienced tampa roofing company says the roof assembly has 1-inch-high ventilation gap between the top of the insulation and the underside of the roof sheathing, Wood writes in Q&A post at GreenBuildingAdvisor, but the question is whether 1 inch will be adequate. That’s the topic for this Q&A Spotlight.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/building-foolproof-low-slope-roof

3 reasons you should be rationally exuberant on housing | South Salem Homes

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Have you noticed that there is a cacophony of opinion and conflicting information on the health of the housing market this spring?

Rising rates and regulation will stifle demand. Housing is suddenly unaffordable and there is risk of another bubble.

Aren’t these contradictory arguments?  If demand is going to be stifled, then how can we have another bubble?

After all, an asset bubble is defined by irrational exuberance as exhibited by excess demand. Isn’t the rule, you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Either demand is stifled or there is a bubble, but not both.

Instead, here are the three things that, in my mind, really matter this spring.

1. Availability of Credit

The housing market runs on the availability of credit. Most of us can’t buy a home without it. Analysis of the credit profiles of recent purchase transactions tells us that the only real dimension in which credit availability is “tight” right now is with credit scores. Under more normal circumstances in the early aughts, a little more than 10 percent of purchase originations had credit scores below 620.

At the moment, only 0.3% of purchase mortgage originations have credit scores below 620. There are good signs this spring, however, that standards are relaxing in this dimension as lenders are announcing reductions in minimum credit score requirements. Before you lament the resurgence of the disastrous subprime loan, remember that lending to borrowers with lower credit scores can be done successfully if you don’t also layer on payment shock risk and high leverage.

2. Pent-Up Supply

Most homebuyers are also first home sellers. Even in the best of times, first-time homebuyers account for well less than half of home purchases. The existing homeowner who sells and then buys (we call this housing turnover) is the lifeblood of the housing market. Yet, many still are under-equitied, meaning they’re underwater or have less than a 20% equity stake.

The impressive gains in home price appreciation in many of the hardest hit markets have created a virtuous cycle though, relieving more homeowners’ under-equitied situations and putting them in the position to become sellers and then buyers again this spring.

 

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/29594-corelogic-economist-3-reasons-you-should-be-rationally-exuberant-on-housing

Eroding home affordability carries housing bubble concerns | South Salem Real Estate

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As home prices and mortgage interest rates rise, potential homebuyers are finding that fewer homes are within their financial grasp, prompting parallels to the most recent housing bubble.

A study by real estate portal Zillow has found that, for a full one-third of homes for sale nationwide in the fourth quarter, buyers would pay a larger percentage of their income toward a mortgage than in the pre-bubble era.

Zillow analyzed fourth-quarter income, mortgage and home value data. The company measured affordability by comparing how the share of an area’s median household income needed to cover the mortgage payment of a median-priced area home in the fourth quarter measured relative to the income-share needed to make a mortgage payment on a median-priced home in the same area between the years of 1985 and 2000.

While two-thirds of U.S. homes for sale were affordable in the quarter compared to the pre-bubble years, Zillow expects affordability to wane as interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continue to rise toward an expected 5 percent over the next year. Rates on that type of mortgage have jumped close to 1 percentage point from 3.54 percent in April 2013 to 4.41 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/04/04/eroding-home-affordability-carries-housing-bubble-concerns/?utm_source=20140404&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.BZUVApUm.dpuf

Construction worker dies from fall at Dream Hotel | South Salem Real Estate

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A male construction worker, likely in his 40s, died today after falling from a four-story scaffold at the Dream Hotel, at 210 West 55th Street, a New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing. The identity of the worker is not being released at this time. He fell on top of a sidewalk shed and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Hotels, the owner of the building, was not immediately available for comment.

Hampshire appears to have been  performing repair work to the building’s terracotta facade and general remediation in connection with Local Law 11 compliance, according to Department of Buildings permits.

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/02/construction-worker-dies-from-fall-at-dream-hotel/