Tag Archives: Waccabuc NY Homes

Designing Your Outdoor Landscape Lighting | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Outdoor lighting isn’t just about safety and security. There’s no reason the  curb appeal of your home should be limited to the daytime.

The tree you’ve also  loved, the garden you’ve worked hard to cultivate, the pond you bought with your  hard-earned money, and all the other landscape features you’ve painstakingly  chosen for your home can achieve some of their best effects at night with good  outdoor landscape lighting.

Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting The electricity running into your home  holds a potentially dangerous 120 volts.

To create low voltage outdoor lighting  you’ll need to install one or more transformers. This will reduce the voltage of  your outdoor landscape lighting to a tame 12 volts. If your wiring gets exposed  by inclement weather and the abuse of the elements, this voltage poses no danger  to you, your family members, or your pets.

The downside to the low voltage outdoor lighting is that light fixtures  become dimmer the further away they are from the transformer. If this becomes a  problem, there are a number of easy solutions. You can upgrade to a higher-rated  transformer or a heavier-gauge cable.

You can use multiple transformers. You can  also simply reduce the number or the wattage of your light fixtures. Moving the  transformer and/or rearranging the layout of the lighting system can reduce the  cable length to each fixture, minimizing the dimming path.

You might also  consider using the dimming as an intentional effect. This is popular in path  lighting, where each light fixture gets stronger as you move closer to your  home.

Read more…

 

http://www.homeadvisor.com/article.show.Designing-Your-Outdoor-Landscape-Lighting.14319.html#ixzz2cndXvQKb

New Renderings Revealed Of Metropolitan By COMO Hotel | Waccabuc Real Estate

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With construction progressing rapidly towards a December opening, new renderings (and what look like interior designer schematic thingies) have dropped of the Metropolitan by COMO on Miami Beach. The hotel, a renovation of the long-shuttered art deco Traymore Hotel, will have a rooftop spa and hydrotherapy pool, a beachside pool with direct beach access, a private dock on Indian Creek, two restaurants, and interiors by italian designer Paola Navone.

HotelChatter suggests that “We envision guests using the hotel’s own private dock on Miami’s Intracoastal Waterway to be transported from the airport to the property” to which we say, that would be sooo awesome, but although the airport’s adjacent to the Miami River, there’s gotta be some major infrastructural issues to work out there. (not to mention, the hotel is actually on Indian Creek, no the Intracoastal, but that’s just splitting hairs)

Realtors lose bid to throw out rival application for ‘.MLS’ domain | Waccabuc Real Estate

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An arbitration panel has rejected a plea from the Canadian Real Estate Association to throw out a competing application for a .MLS top-level domain on the grounds that “MLS” is a generic term in English-speaking countries.

Last year, CREA — the National Association of Realtors’ counterpart in Canada — applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to create and manage a new .MLS top-level domain. CREA’s application has the backing of the MLS Domains Association, a nonprofit group of 55 U.S. multiple listings services representing more than 600,000 agents and brokers.

In early 2011, ICANN, which manages the Internet’s domain name system, launched a process to allow the creation of potentially hundreds of new top-level domains. Examples of top-level domains common today include “.com” and “.org.”

If ICANN approves a “.MLS” top-level domain, CREA and the MLS Domains Association want CREA to be in charge of managing it. Consumers, the groups say, should have a way of distinguishing between websites operated by industry professionals from those maintained by third parties.

Although the MLS Domains Association had originally planned to file an application with ICANN to create and manage the .MLS top-level domain, CREA is taking the lead because CREA’s ownership of the trademarks for “Multiple Listing Service” and “MLS” in Canada were thought to make the trade group a stronger applicant. NAR has applied to ICANN to create and manage several new top-level domains including “.Realtor,” a term it has trademarked.

If granted authority to manage the “.MLS” top-level domain, “only members of CREA and its foreign affiliates will be permitted to register .MLS websites,” CREA said in its ICANN application.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/19/realtors-lose-bid-to-throw-out-rival-application-for-mls-domain/#sthash.5JwkCYdd.dpuf

 

 

Realtors lose bid to throw out rival application for ‘.MLS’ domain | Inman News.

Caramoor Opera Review | Waccabuc Real Estate

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A production of the 1855 French opera “Les Vêpres Siciliennes” by Verdi performed on Saturday at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah was praised in a review in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times.

The Katonah Museum of Art’s new Collage Center might feature artists from around the world, but at the center of it all is North Salem native Pavel Zoubok.

The Bedford Central School District updated its 2013-14school calendar this week, adding dates that teacher and superintendent conferences will take place.

The Journal News is seeking more information on gun owners in Westchester County several months after it posted a controversial map on the publication’s website that gave the names and addresses of legal gun owners, according to an article on the Fox News website.

Caramoor Opera Review Tops Bedford News This Week | The Bedford Daily Voice.

Housing market heats up with young buyers but average real estate agent age 57 | Waccabuc Real Estate

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As the housing market heats up again, the real estate industry is facing a new challenge: finding enough younger agents.

Even though many of the top agents make well into six-figures, a new survey shows real estate executives here and across the country are worried about not attracting new blood.

 

“Clearly there’s a resurgence in the housing market among the Gen X and Gen Y participants, and that’s the next market,” says Kevin Hawkins, the vice president of Imprev Inc., a Bellevue real estate marketing firm that did the survey. “The concern of brokers is not just for today, but what business is going to look like tomorrow.”

 

While buyers are getting younger, agents are not. Only six-percent are under the age of 34.

 

“The average age of a realtor is 57 years old. The average age of an American worker is 41 years old. If you look at the typical age of a first time home buyer, it’s 31. So, there’s clearly an age gap,” he says.

 

During the housing meltdown between 2007 and 2010, there was a tremendous weeding out process in the industry. Hawkins says it was survival of the fittest, and many of the less-experienced agents got out of the business.

 

But the housing market is booming again, yet 42 percent of the real estate executives surveyed said the need for more agents is their number one concern. They’re worried that younger, qualified candidates are going into other industries, and they’re taking their talents with them.

 

“Younger agents are much more adept with technology and the internet and all the other tools that people want to use when they first start looking for a home. The surveys show that older agents are more reluctant to adopting the new technologies,” Hawkins says.

 

Pamela Jensen is a longtime managing broker for Windermere. She has trained many new agents over the last two decades and says being “young” in the industry can work against you.

 

“What I have found is that if they’re too young, nobody uses them,” she says. “Many homeowners want someone who has owned a home, or who’s bought and sold one. If you’re 23, you haven’t done that.”

 

She says even the Gen X-ers who work in the tech industry want someone who’s experienced because buying a home is one of the biggest investments they’ll ever make.

 

But Hawkins says with the average age of a real estate agent being 57, the top execs realize they need to revamp their recruiting strategies so that they can attract younger realtors.

 

“If they don’t do it now and this group of realtors ages to a point they start retiring, which we’re getting close to that tipping point, then you’ll see a real loss of opportunity of taking that experience and knowledge and imparting it on a whole new workforce,” he says.

 

Housing market heats up with young buyers but average real estate agent age 57 – Local – MyNorthwest.com.

One-third of Buyers on Market More than a Year | Waccabuc Real Estate

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You’ve heard of days on market for a listing? How about a year on market for buyers? A new survey found that one out of three buyers has been looking for a home for more than a year and now they are ready to grovel.

A new Century 21 survey found that 33 percent of buyers currently searching for a home have been on the hunt for more than a year, and that the vast majority of them are willing to negotiate with sellers and make compromises to find their next home. In particular, prospective homebuyers are willing to compromise on popular amenities and their home’s location.

Listed inventory in April was approximately 14 percent below one year earlier and 32 percent below the level of April 2011 , which has made it difficult for buyers to find homes. With an increase of buyers coming into the market, the lack of available homes for sale has presented challenges for first-time and move-up homebuyers.

“For the last few years, certain homeowners have been hesitant to list their homes due to unfavorable economic conditions,” said Rick Davidson, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “Today, the recovery in housing continues to gain momentum, and with so many buyers in the market who are competing for so few available homes, it is a great time for sellers to speak with a real estate professional about the advantages of listing their home.”

The Century 21 spring selling survey shows there are plenty of serious buyers in the market who are actively making offers, but due to low inventory and many houses receiving multiple offers, bidding wars are becoming more common.

  • Some 33 percent of those searching for a home say they have been at it for over a year, while 67 percent have been searching for up to a year.
  • Offers are being made, but not many are accepted: 42 percent of those searching for homes have made an offer in the past six months yet only 11 percent have had their offers accepted.
  • Current homeowners looking to buy are more than twice as likely to have their purchase offers accepted as those who rent (15 percent vs. 6 percent). However, renters are nearly three times as likely as homeowners to report that they made an offer but couldn’t agree on price (14 percent vs. 5 percent).

“The recovery has transformed the mindset of many buyers and sellers who grew accustomed to the buyers’ market we saw for years,” said Davidson. “Right now, we’re in a situation where buyer confidence is building back up and demand is strong. As our survey indicates, sellers are now in a more favorable position.”

With competition stiff among buyers, Century 21 Real Estate’s spring home selling survey reveals that many are willing to make compromises on both the home itself and in the negotiations with the sellers in order to get their offer accepted.

 

One-third of Buyers on Market More than a Year | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Home inventory rises sharply in April | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

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Housing inventory rose significantly in April, easing a supply shortage that some experts say has constrained home sales.

Meanwhile, existing-home sales edged upwards in April. Still, sales remain hampered due to limited supply and tight credit, according to NAR.

Housing inventory rose 11.9 percent to 2.16 million homes in April, representing a 5.2-month supply of homes at the current rate of home sales. That’s up from 4.7 months in March. But inventory still remained 13.6 percent below a year ago, when there was a 6.6-month stock.

Existing-home sales ticked up 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March, according to NAR. That put sales at their highest level since November 2009, when a tax credit stimulated purchases, NAR said.

“The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory. Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million-unit pace,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Buyer traffic is 31 percent stronger than a year ago, but sales are running only about 10 percent higher.  It’s become quite clear that the only way to tame price growth to a manageable, healthy pace is higher levels of new-home construction.” Source: realtor.org.

 

 

Home inventory rises sharply in April | Inman News.

MYRTLE BEACH: Better real estate market means scattered tight inventories | Waccabuc Real Estate

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There was a time not that long ago when Grand Strand Realtors were pleading for a lower inventory of foreclosures so sales of traditional homes could pick up.

That’s happened, as remains clear in the April real estate activity report by SiteTech Systems.

But behind the numbers, another potential problem could be lurking: low inventory.

The new low inventory, though, involves the number of traditionally-marketed homes for sale and available lots to put them on. While it’s not a crisis and no one’s saying it’s going to get that way, a tightening of available properties to sell to eager buyers could raise prices which, at some point, could suppress demand.

“The inventory is being pressured in all segments on the south end,” said Lee Hewitt, broker in charge at Garden City Realty.

Hewitt said he believes buyers will accept some price increases, but he’s not sure how much is too much that will cause them to put their money back in the bank.

“It’s going to be interesting how it plays out in the next three, four, five months,” he said.

It’s not just the Murrells Inlet area that is seeing a shrinking inventory, said Todd Woodard, SiteTech’s owner.

Inventories are tight in the Carolina Forest and Forestbrook/Socastee areas as well.

The situation has gotten serious enough, though, that it has prompted one Realtor to send an email seeking potential sellers.

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/05/21/3498105/better-real-estate-market-means.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

MYRTLE BEACH: Better real estate market means scattered tight inventories | Real Estate | MyrtleBeachOnline.com.

Is It Better to Rent or Buy? It Depends on Location and Time | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

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There are many difficult choices to make when deciding whether to rent or buy a home, but one of the most important factors is also among the easiest to determine: How long do you plan on staying in the home or neighborhood under consideration?

It has long been a rule of thumb that if you plan on staying in a home “long-term,” then you should buy instead of rent. But how long is “long-term,” really? Just how long does it take to recoup the upfront costs of buying, or to realize the savings inherent in a mortgage payment instead of a rent payment?

In some places, the answer is as short as one year – or as long as 20 years.

Zillow’s breakeven horizon incorporates all possible costs associated with buying and renting, including upfront payments, closing costs, anticipated monthly rent and mortgage payments, insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance costs. It helps renters or prospective buyers determine the point, in years, at which buying a home becomes more financially advantageous than renting the same home. Because neighborhood selection is such a critical part of the home shopping process, the breakeven horizon is now available at the ZIP code and neighborhood level within individual cities and towns, and can often vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Maybe you’re trying to decide whether to buy or rent in New York City. The breakeven horizon for New York City as a whole is 6.1 years. But at the neighborhood level, the breakeven horizon ranges from a low of 2.5 years in the Parkchester neighborhood in the Bronx, to a high of 11.9 years in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan.

Nationwide, the neighborhood with the lowest breakeven horizon is the Shelby Forest-Frayser neighborhood in Memphis, Tenn., at just one year. The neighborhood with the longest breakeven horizon is the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, Va., at 20.3 years.

So, if you’re thinking of moving to the Shelby Forest-Frayser part of Memphis in the next few months, and you think you’ll be there for at least a year, you should consider buying a place there instead of signing that one-year lease. And if you’re looking to find that perfect place in beautiful Sandbridge, well, you should feel comfortable signing that multi-year lease, or get ready to live there at least 20 years if you want to break even.

5 neighborhoods with shortest breakeven:

Neighborhood

City, State

Breakeven Horizon (Years)

Shelby Forest-FrayserMemphis, Tenn.

1

FairhillPhiladelphia, Pa.

1

La GrangeToledo, Ohio

1

CorlettCleveland, Ohio

1

Sulphur SpringsTampa, Fla.

1

5 neighborhoods with longest breakeven:

Neighborhood

City, State

Breakeven Horizon (Years)

SandbridgeVirginia Beach, Va.

20.3

College HillProvidence, RI

13.3

WiltonRichmond, Va.

13

Arts DistrictDallas, Texas

12.3

Windsor FarmsRichmond, Va.

12.3

 

http://www.zillowblog.com/2013-05-16

How to Generate More Leads With Your Blog, 5 Tips | Waccabuc Realtor

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Does your business have a blog?

Would you like your blog to bring in more leads for your business?

You already know you need to create awesome blog content, but there’s more to business blogging than just that.

You also need to include a few tactics to help you bring in the leads you want.

Here are some useful tactics to entice and capture leads used by top marketing business blogs!

#1: Place Opt-In Forms Around Your Blog Content

There are several areas on your blog that you can use to introduce visitors to calls to action such as free trials, free consultations or a simple mailing list opt-in form. These areas include your header, sidebar, the end of blog posts, your About page and your footer.

Unbounce, a landing page software creator, encourages people to try their software or sign up for their mailing list in their sidebar and post footers.

unbounce options

Unbounce has lead generating calls to action in their sidebar.

KISSmetrics, a web analytics software company, uses their blog footer along with the sidebar and ends of posts to encourage subscriptions and free trial signups.

kissmetrics footer

KISSmetrics has lead generating calls to action in the footer of their blog.

While it might seem like overkill to put lead capturing options in so many places on your blog, it’s really not if you consider the fact that a visitor may only notice them at certain points during their visit.

While reading a blog post, for example, readers may ignore your header and sidebar. But if they are impressed by your blog content, then they will notice a subscription option at the end of the post.

Alternatively, if they make it to the homepage of your blog and scan all the way down the latest post titles and summaries, they might be interested in subscribing in the footer.

The key is to place your opt-in form in various locations on your blog where you have captured your readers’ attention.

#2: Regularly Create Free, Downloadable Content

HubSpot has the leading inbound marketing blog to complement their marketing platform. If you follow their blog, you know that they are constantly creating free, downloadable marketing content in the form of ebooks, whitepapers, templates and other valuable digital material. They not only promote their free content on their blog, but on their social networks as well for additional traction.

hubspot free ebooks

HubSpot markets free content on their blog and social networks.

In exchange for all of these downloads, people must provide their name, email and additional information about their business. Free content is the perfect lead generator!

The key to getting the right kind of leads with your free content is to create content that will attract your target customer base. You don’t want to capture just any subscriber—you want to capture someone who will want to learn more about your products and services.

#3: Incentivize Sharing With a Referral Program

What’s better than offering free content to capture leads for your business? Offering more free content to those who help you build leads.

Marketo, a marketing automation software business, created a free coloring book for marketers. Their incentive offer was a free hard copy coloring book—and crayons—for each person who referred five people to download the digital copy.

referral for free content

Using referral incentives to generate leads.

Now, instead of just one new lead from their blog, they have the opportunity to capture five more!

Consider ways you can incentivize your readers to refer more leads to your business.

 

 

How to Generate More Leads With Your Blog, 5 Tips | Social Media Examiner.