Tag Archives: Westchester NY Homes for Sale

Westchester NY Homes for Sale

Metro-North Trains Should Be Up And Running By Wednesday Morning | Armonk NY Real Estate

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Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line is scheduled to be back to normal by Wednesday morning, officials said Monday.

“We are confident that the reconstruction work, inspection and testing will be completed in time for a normal rush hour on Wednesday,” Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a statement Monday evening. “We are grateful for the tireless work of all departments and employees engaged in this huge task.”

Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation have to rebuild 2,000 feet of track after Friday’s derailment and collision on the Fairfield-Bridgeport border. The agencies also need to restring overhead catenary wires to restore electricity to the rail line and retest the track and the signals before trains can begin running.

Train ridership was way down Monday, with about 750 people riding shuttle trains and buses from towns north of the accident Monday, or about 20 percent of the usual number, Metro-North said. Overall, however, ridership on the New Haven Line was down 20 percent Monday. About 2,700 people total had used the Metro-North bus service by 3 p.m. Monday, it said.

Connecticut’s main highways did not see unusually high traffic Monday, Gov. Dannel Malloy said Monday. The Merritt Parkway’s car load was actually slightly below a typical Monday, while Interstate 95 was slightly slower, he said.

“Suffice it to say, the plan worked,” Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said Monday. “People listened, and we had support systems in place.”

For Tuesday, Metro-North will continue the system it set up for Monday’s commute, with trains running from New Haven to Bridgeport, buses taking commuters from Bridgeport and Fairfield to Westport, and trains running again from Westport to Grand Central. The full schedule and plan is available here.

The state will maintain its same procedures Tuesday morning that it did Monday. State Police and tow crews will be on call during rush hours to clear accidents quickly. The state Emergency Operations System will also be open to help manage the rush-hour commute.

On Sunday evening, Malloy had asked Connecticut residents to telecommute to work if possible, and carpool or vanpool if driving instead of taking the train. He asked commuters to take those same steps again Tuesday.

“This is tremendously good news,” Malloy said of Metro-North’s announcement. “However, this also means that we’re going to have one more day of great difficulty, and that’s tomorrow.”

 

Metro-North Trains Should Be Up And Running By Wednesday Morning | The Bedford Daily Voice.

Make Sure To Vote Tuesday In Bedford | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Bedford Central School District residents can vote on the district’s $125,057,000 budget for the 2013-2014 and to levy the necessary taxes included, all day Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the elementary school serving their attendance area.

The vote will also include a choice of three unopposed Board of Education members: Jennifer Gerken and Suzanne Grant are running for re-election, and newcomer Michael Solomon is the only one running for the third available seat.

 

Make Sure To Vote Tuesday In Bedford | The Bedford Daily Voice.

Housing will reaccelerate economic growth: Fannie Mae | South Salem Real Estate

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The year’s solid economic start faded late in the first quarter, but the recent setback is a temporary one, analysts claim.

The slow in activity is partly due to ongoing fiscal drags, including the budget sequester. However, a modest reacceleration is expected in the second half of this year, as the housing market continues to gain traction, according toFannie Mae’s economic outlook.

Housing is expected to act as a tailwind for the economy throughout the year and into 2014, even though there may be a few hiccups in overall economic activity.

“Our May forecast predicts that the second half of 2013 will be a little stronger than the first half, despite the slowdown during the past couple of months,” Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae.

He added, “Employment numbers are getting better, albeit it at a relatively slow pace, and the April employment picture should help boost consumer sentiment toward the economy overall. However, we continue to keep an eye on potential headwinds to our forecast, including the long-term effects of sequestration, spending constraints, the sovereign debt crisis, and the impending debt ceiling.”

Residential investment contributed to economic growth for the eighth consecutive quarter, adding 0.3 percentage points during the first quarter of 2013.

Additionally, the annualized pace of total housing starts in March surpassed the one million market for the first time since the housing crisis, driven solely by a surge in multifamily housing.

Multifamily homebuilding has benefited from a shift in tenure choice over the past several years toward renting, according to Fannie Mae.

For instance, the homeownership rate continued to decline in the first quarter, dropping to 65% — the lowest rate since the third quarter of 1995, the report noted.

By contrast, new single-family home sales rose in March, jumping 51%, which is the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2003.

Despite the robust gain in new home sales in the first quarter, homebuilders’ confidence from the Nation Association of Home Builders’ survey continued to cool in April, declining for the third consecutive month.

 

 

Housing will reaccelerate economic growth: Fannie Mae | HousingWire.

Home Depot reported strong first quarter earnings, citing the recovering housing market | Bedford Real Estate

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Home improvement retailing giant Home Depot reported strong first quarter earnings this morning, citing the recovering housing market as a key driver.

Earnings per share were $0.83 versus analysts’ consensus prediction of $0.77. Revenues came in at $19.1 billion, topping estimates for $18.69 billion.

U.S. same-store sales rose 4.8% during the quarter.

“In the first quarter, we saw less favorable weather compared to last year, but we continue to see benefit from a recovering housing market that drove a stronger-than-expected start to the year for our business,” said Home Depot Chairman and CEO Frank Blake in the press release.

Shares are up 3.6% in pre-market trading.

Below is the full text from the release:

ATLANTA, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, today reported sales of $19.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, a 7.4 percent increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Due to the 14th week in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, first quarter sales benefited from a seasonal timing change that added approximately $574 million to sales. On a like for like basis, comparable store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 were positive 4.3 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 4.8 percent.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO )

Net earnings for the first quarter were $1.2 billion, or $0.83 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $1.0 billion, or $0.68 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2012. For the first quarter of fiscal 2013, diluted earnings per share increased 22.1 percent from the same period in the prior year.

“In the first quarter, we saw less favorable weather compared to last year, but we continue to see benefit from a recovering housing market that drove a stronger-than-expected start to the year for our business,” said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO. “I would like to thank our associates for their hard work and commitment to our customers.”

Updated Fiscal 2013 Guidance

Based on its year-to-date performance and outlook for the balance of the year, the Company raised its fiscal 2013 sales guidance and now expects sales to be up approximately 2.8 percent with comparable store sales up approximately 4.0 percent for the year. The Company raised its fiscal 2013 diluted earnings-per-share guidance and now expects diluted earnings per share to be up approximately 17 percent to $3.52 for the year. The Company’s fiscal 2013 sales and earnings-per-share guidance is based on a 52-week year compared to fiscal 2012, a 53-week year.

The Company’s earnings-per-share guidance includes the benefit of its year-to-date share repurchases and intent to repurchase $4.4 billion in additional shares over the remainder of the year, which will bring the total dollar amount of shares repurchased to $6.5 billion for the year.

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at earnings.homedepot.com.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/home-depot-q1-2013-earnings-2013-5#ixzz2TvsZlvWk

 

 

Home Depot Q1 2013 Earnings – Business Insider.

How smart photos will change real estate | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Everything around us is getting smarter.  Phones, cars, televisions, refrigerators, books, thermostats…and maybe even humans.  I find most of these advancements to be very interesting, and quite useful in the daily lives of most people around me.

Photographs, however, are something that I’m particularly interested in watching (and helping) become smarter.

Photos are everywhere; and are certainly at the crux of online real estate, which, in 2012, included 93% of people who sold a home, and 96% of people (under age 44) who bought a home.  Oh, and don’t forget the hundreds of millions of people who visit real estate websites each month.

Today

Recently, a company called ‘Stipple’ has been making some noise in the image monetization and social shopping arena.  They allow businesses to create content and messaging within an image (without widgets or code), and then analyze & track the interaction with the data inside that image.

As it pertains to real estate, I think Stipple provides a viable strategy to those professionals who are active in distributing (quality) visual content across the web.  You can share a link, or better yet, embed the photo into your social pages, blog or website.

Here is an example, using a real estate photo as the context.  Take a look at the picture…and then the tweet that I’ve embedded with the same photo after it was “Stippled”.  Stipple has actually implemented Twitter Cards (which I wrote about in a previous post) which allows you to view and interact with the photo, directly within the twitter feed.

In addition, check out some of the analytical tools that come with Stipple:

stippled-photo-49486160

Check out this beautiful home in Statesville, North Carolina (stipple.com/photos/49486160) — Jeff Nieto (@jeffnieto) Click Here to view the Stippled Tweet

stippled-photo-49514930

In The Future

While products like Stipple are innovative, and quite fascinating; they are admittedly built for e-commerce, photographers, and bloggers.

There’s no question that real estate professionals can leverage these type of tools today.  However, I think there is more to offer the industry when it comes to intelligent photographs.

In addition to what exists, here are some high points on how I think smart photos can provide additional value to real estate professionals AND consumers:

  • Determine and embed which room/view a photograph is displaying.
  • Identify and attach the “features” of a photograph (i.e. granite countertops, 10 foot ceilings, etc).
  • Embed contact information, bios, and videos from the appropriate listing agent.
  • Allow consumers to search & discover using the embedded data.
  • Compile the data within the photographs that are interacted with; and provide summary analytics and “intelligence” to the consumer and their agent.

If the data is embedded and used appropriately, consumers should be able to enjoy a more enhanced (and effective) search.  Furthermore, real estate agents would be able to market properties strategically, while learning specifics about their listings and customers.

 

How smart photos will change real estate | Inman News.

10 Tips to Create Killer Social Content that Gets You Found | North Salem Realtor

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It’s no secret that in today’s business world, companies must constantly produce new content. But are you producing quality social content with a WOW factor that gets you found? The truth is it’s really not that hard to do. There are so many options to consider when it comes to creating quality content that stands out in a crowd. Blog posts, videos, eBooks, whitepapers, webinars, social media updates, Slideshare presentations…just to name a few. It just takes time, the right dedication and effort.

When done consistently and correctly, quality content will improve search engine rankings, drive new traffic to websites and nurture leads into customers for years to come. Below are 10 tips so that you can start creating killer social content with a WOW factor that gets you found!

Keep up with information relevant to your industry. Setting up RSS feeds, subscribing to industry newsletters and setting up Google Alerts on branded and non-branded keywords are all ways to keep up with news relevant to your industry. You can take these industry articles and create social content with your own spin that identifies trends your clients would be interested in reading and learning how it will affect them. For example, I might create a series of blog posts covering recent Google algorithm updates to teach potential clients about the changing needs and challenges of content marketing and SEO for their business.

Social media conversations are a reflection of your brand. Therefore, it’s important that you monitor and engage with your audience to humanize your brand and let them know you care about them and their needs. Tools such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck can help you manage, monitor and measure your social content marketing effectiveness. Below is an example of engaging social content in Twitter from Celsius, a healthy energy drink company. This is a great example of a company engaging with a customer, making this person feel important which in turn humanizes the brand.Twitter social conversation from @CelsiusOfficial

Gone are the days when content is just written by CEOs and managers. Everyone in your company can write social content around their individual areas of expertise. Create an editorial content calendar that maps out who writes what and when. An editorial calendar really keeps things organized and lays out your content strategy and plans. My area of expertise is SEO and content marketing, so I contribute blog content around topics such as how social media affects SEO results and Pinterest marketing tips. You could have your sales staff create a short video series on how best to choose the products and services you sell. You might even post Q&A with some of your customers like IT business and consulting services firm Tribridge did and how they benefit from your products and/or services.

When it comes to writing, sometimes you just feel tapped out for ideas. Or maybe you have an idea or concept but don’t know how to put it into words at the moment. Keeping a content backlog helps to save your ideas so that you can come back to them at a later time and write then. Keep bullet lists, product reviews, videos, photos, how-to guides and interviews in your backlog so you can write more social content pieces at a later date.

It’s perfectly alright to take content you’ve written in the past and republish it as a fresh, new piece. It saves time, resources and provides an updated spin on a topic. Add a short video and provide updated content to an old whitepaper. Use questions taken from a webinar or presentation to put together an eBook. Turn videos into blog posts or a blog post series. Turn one piece of social content into as many formats as possible – turn a whitepaper into a YouTube video, a shortened Slideshare presentation, a blog post series, a webinar. The possibilities are endless!

 

10 Tips to Create Killer Social Content that Gets You Found | Find and Convert.

6 ‘About Us’ Pages That Are Probably Better Than Yours | South Salem NY Realtor

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When you’re building a website, it’s tempting to get distracted by all the bells and whistles of the design process and forget all about creating compelling content. But having awesome content on your website is crucial to making inbound marketing work for your business.

So how do you balance your remarkable content creation with your website design needs? Why, with your ‘About Us’ page, of course! For a remarkable ‘About Us’ page, all you need to do is figure out your company’s unique identity, and then share it with the world.

I know … easier said than done.

Still, there’s no excuse for you to neglect one of the most important pages on your website — which also happens to be one of the most commonly overlooked pages. Let’s read on to discover six companies with awesome ‘About Us’ pages and see how you can emulate them on your own website. By the end of this post, showing off how awesome your company is won’t seem like such a challenging feat.

1) Yellow Leaf Hammocks

Why the ‘About Us’ Page Rocks: It tells us a story.

Have a cool story about how your product or service was created? Put it on your ‘About Us’ page. Good stories humanize your brand and provide context and meaning for your product. What’s more, good stories are sticky — which means people are more likely to connect with them and pass them on.

Yellow Leaf Hammocks does an amazing job of telling you about its product by describing the founder’s journey to Thailand and the birth of his “big idea” for the brand. Like any good storyteller, Yellow Leaf Hammocks uses words to paint a picture, rather than simply describing the events that happened. Sentences like “the hammock wrapped around him, cocooning him in its cloudlike embrace” immediately give you a mental picture of what’s happening.

Yellow Leaf Hammocks

Our_Story_

Every company has a story to tell, so break out your storytelling skills from that random English class you took years ago and put them to work on your ‘About Us’ page. Using descriptive and emotive copy, an ‘About Us’ page with a story works harder for your business than a generic one.

2) LessFilms.com

Why the ‘About Us’ Page Rocks: It shows some personality.

You’re not like everyone else — so why should you sound the same as everyone else? Stand out with an ‘About Us’ page that shows off who you really are with witty headlines and a real brand voice.

That’s exactly what video production company LessFilms accomplished on its site using witty copy and the image of a large wrestler (yes, a wrestler). Although the wrestler dude and the funny headlines have nothing to do with LessFilms’ business model or product, they show off the founders’ sense of humor and give the brand a personality.

LessFilms

For your ‘About Us’ page, you don’t need to pretend to be a comedian if that isn’t part of your brand’s personality. Find another aspect of your brand’s personality to showcase and make a lasting impression by being yourself.

3) Eight Hour Workday

Why the ‘About Us’ Page Rocks: It’s human.

People tend to think that ‘About Us’ pages have to sound formal to gain credibility and trust. Most people find it easier to trust real human beings rather than a description that sounds like it came from an automaton. Trying to sound formal on your ‘About Us’ page results in stiff, “safe” copy and design — the perfect way to make sure your company stays invisible.

Eight Hour Day does a great job of showcasing the people behind the company to make the brand seem human. Including the founders’ names in the header of the website and featuring the photos of them on the ‘About Us’ page drives home the point that Nathan and Katie are a “couple that loves to create.” Even the picture of their dog makes you think Eight Hour Day has real people behind the brand.

Eight_Hour_Day

 

6 ‘About Us’ Pages That Are Probably Better Than Yours.

Consumer confidence hits highest index since 2007 | Cross River NY Real Estate

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The University of Michigan‘s consumer confidence survey results are out.

The headline index rose to 83.7 from last month’s 76.4 reading. That’s the highest index reading since July 2007.

 

Consumer confidence hits highest index since 2007 | HousingWire.

Famous Miami Beach hotel becomes a foreclosure | Katonah NY Real Estate

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It’s not just homes — foreclosure activity also is changing the face of neighborhoods with once vibrant businesses.

The Miami Herald says the famed Shore Club on Miami Beach became the subject of a final foreclosure judgment this week.

The site was once a popular celebrity hangout, but today the 309-room hotel is facing an online sale.

The sale will hit on June 25.

 

Famous Miami Beach hotel becomes a foreclosure | HousingWire.

Some markets may be pointing toward a bubble | Cross River NY Real Estate

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Prices nationwide rose nearly 6% last year — more than most ever expected, writes CNNMoney. While that has continued so far this year, leading builders to build again, prices in some places have risen faster than incomes. Eventually, they could fall back as homes become less affordable.

“If prices keeps going up at this rate for another six months, we will have a bubble, and people will get hurt,” Dean Baker, co-director of theCenter for Economic and Policy Research recently told Bloomberg.

 

Some markets may be pointing toward a bubble | HousingWire.