Tag Archives: Westchester NY Homes for Sale

Westchester NY Homes for Sale

Are Sellers Losing Control? | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Will the long-awaited sellers’ market be extraordinarily short-lived?  An email survey of big market agents found that the pendulum is shifting in favor of buyers.

An August survey of 522 Redfin agents found that fewer believe this to be a good time to sell than in the second quarter and more than half, 55 percent, said it is “a good time to buy,” up from 46% in the first quarter.

Inventory shortages (87%) and bidding wars (79%) remain the biggest challenges for buyers, according to the agent survey.  Some 62% of agents say that sellers have unrealistic expectations about the value of their home and 30% say that sellers are having difficulties getting their home to appraise for the contract purchase amount.

Markets are cooling down.  Some 56% of agents believe the market over the last three months has become less competitive. Only 22% believe it has become more competitive.

Price expectations are changing dramatically.  Most (68%) expect price gains in the coming months but fewer than in the in the first quarter (97%). Only five percent expect home prices to “rise a lot,” down from 44% in the first quarter.

“At the end of this summer, you could smell the rubber on the road from buyers hitting the breaks,” said Redfin San Diego agent Sara Fischer. “The cutthroat competition and frenzied demand has relaxed considerably.”

Respondents spanned 22 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/are-sellers-losing-control/

What’s LEED All About, Anyway? | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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How can you tell the difference between houses that look environmentally friendly and ones that actually are? Home certifications can help. Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is just one certification that helps all sectors of the home-building industry use some of the best methods of sustainable design and construction.
Your first two questions about certification are likely going to be, “What’s in it for me? and “How much is this going to cost?” Let’s look at some of the basics.

modern by Butler Armsden Architects

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Benefits of LEED Certification
The benefits touch everyone involved. For the homeowner a voluntary certification like LEED for homes increases accountability for quality checks on the construction site, therefore decreasing the frequency of costly mistakes. Plus, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED-certified homes use on average 20 to 30 percent less energy and water, with some homes reporting up to 60 percent less energy use than a home built to meet code minimums.
In addition to the decrease in monthly utility bills, many states and cities have tax breaks and incentives for environmentally friendly construction. While the LEED rating itself doesn’t address individual incentives, the requirements often overlap. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy has a searchable Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. You and your project team can look up federal and state incentives to give your budget a little boost.
Finally, if you ever need to sell your home, you can ask for a higher price for a LEED home than similar houses on the market. One study in California, for example, showed an 8 to 9 percent increase in the market value of green-certified homes.
Meanwhile, any builders wanting to set themselves apart should consider learning how to build according to LEED requirements. Most agree that there is a steep learning curve, but with more than 100,000 home units certified in the U.S. (and many more in the pipeline), it could set an experienced business even further apart from the crowd or help a new business leap ahead. The same goes for designers who want to show clients that they can be creative even within environmental parameters.
Costs of LEED Certification It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact percentage increase in construction costs that you are likely to see with a LEED home. It depends on what you are comparing it to. In an apples-to-apples comparison with a high-quality, uncertified construction that follows best-practice guidelines, the cost difference is hardly noticeable: maybe 2 to 5 percent higher).
In a comparison with the average home on the market that just meets the minimum building codes (apples to oranges in this little fruit metaphor), the percentage would be much higher: maybe 20 percent.
contemporary exterior by Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture

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By earning points in eight categories, the finished house can achieve one of these ratings:

  • Platinum (90 to 136 points)
  • Gold (75 to 89 points)
  • Silver (60 to 74 points)
  • Certified (45 to 59 points)

Whether you are in the market for a LEED home or looking to build one yourself, understanding what goes into these scoring categories can help you formulate your questions for your real estate agent or home builder.
1. Innovation and Design Process (ID)
Points available: 11
Points earned for: Making sure that the home is sustainable, durable and cost efficient, with a well-rounded approach to the design.
Things to keep in mind: This category of credits is meant to see if you really mean it — if you really want to build a sustainable home or if you’re just looking for a quick certification. The lesson: Plan early and plan often. You need to get your project team on the same page as soon as possible and make sure that every professional involved is willing to use the best methods, rather than the easiest methods.
The design of your home should be integrated with the selection of your team. It should take into consideration the path of the sun and the use of solar heat to reduce consumption. The home should also be durable and high quality, not only to last you through the years, but also to provide a good base for whatever the future of building technology may hold.
2. Location and Linkages (LL)
Points available: 10
Points earned for: Selecting a sustainable location for your home. To be truly green, you must try to use an existing infrastructure.

45 Social Media Tools and Tips to Improve Your Marketing | Waccabuc NY Realtor

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Are you looking for some practical tips and tools to help with your social media marketing?

Do you find it difficult to keep up with how quickly social media is evolving?

In this article, I outline a collection of technology tools and tips you’ll want to consider using to improve your presence across social media.

Why Tools?

It takes a lot of time to create quality content, engage on social profiles and sustain online relationships that support your business goals.

Larger businesses and corporations often have teams of people dedicated solely to these tasks.

For smaller businesses that don’t have the luxury of staff or financial resources, there are tools to help. But there are also efficient shortcuts and tips to help you get more out these technology tools.

By using some of these tips to strategically choose your tools, you can get more out of your social media marketing.

Here we go.

#1: Monitor Your Blog Visitors’ Activity With Lucky Orange

The more you know about your website visitors, the more you cater to their needs with content, layout and design.

Lucky Orange monitors and interacts with your blog visitors and lets you:

  • View details of who’s on your site now, what pages they’re visiting, where they’ve come from and how long they’ve been on your site
  • Interact with visitors in real time, through a chat box
  • View real-time or recorded videos of your website visitors browsing your site
  • View an overall heat map which shows the key areas your website visitors are clicking on

In the image below you see the time people spent on your site, how they found your site, the previous site they were on and the country they are browsing from.

Lucky Orange provides great information about your visitors.

Start by recording sessions of individual users browsing your blog and see where they’re scrolling and what they click on. Then interact with visitors while they’re on the site and ask them questions about their experience on your website or the content they’re browsing.

Use what you learn to fine-tune your site.

#2: Use Smush.it to Reduce the Size of Your Images

The load time of your page is one of many factors that Google uses to determine your web ranking, so it’s important to reduce the size of your images where possible.

Smush.it is an image compression tool that’s “lossless.”

You upload the images, reduce them and then download a version that’s smaller in size but not in quality.

Upload your images and reduce them in size.

Use these smaller images to improve your social media marketing performance.

#3: Implement a Content Distribution Network

When I browse a website or blog from Ireland that’s hosted in the United States, it’s likely to run slower for me than for someone who’s browsing from within the United States.

To standardize your load times, use a hosting provider that uses a content distribution network (CDN). A CDN keeps the latest copy of your website on various servers around the world so visitors get your content from the server that’s nearest to them, which results in faster load times.

 

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/45-social-media-tools-and-tips/

 

 

 

 

 

Q&A: Patching Water-Damaged Plaster | Cross River Real Estate

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Q.

My company has done plaster repair work for many years. After repairing water-damaged walls or ceilings, we occasionally get called back to “fix” an unsuccessful repair. Our second repair attempt involves digging out a very bumpy, chalky substance, and more often than not, we have to repeat this process a number of times until the patch finally takes hold. What causes this reaction on some water damage jobs and not others? What is the most efficient way to deal with this problem?

A.

Mel Hines responds: The problem you refer to is caused by efflorescence — salts in the plaster are brought to the surface by the intruding water. The water often causes the magnesium in the lime coat to expand and produce the blisterlike effect you refer to. One of our recent reader, hired a water damage restoration contractor in Phoenix area and got rid of such problems.

Assuming that the water intrusion has been stopped, the first step is to chip away the lime coat at the affected area. Other than this, if you want a best solution then go for plumbing service in the sutherland shire.  There is a good chance that the bond between the finish lime coat and the plaster base coat has been weakened.

When faced with this situation, I use a wire brush to scrub away any loose base-coat particles, then apply a coat of Kilz (Masterchem Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 368, Barnhart, MO 63012; 314/942-2510) to the base-coat plaster. Kilz is an alkyd-based sealer, primer, and stain blocker. The plaster base coat must be completely dry before application. Next, I apply a coat of Durabond (United States Gypsum Corp., 125 S. Franklin, Chicago, IL 60606; 800/552-9785). Durabond is a fast-setting, low-shrinkage compound with tenacious bonding qualities and accelerated setting times. When the plaster walls and ceilings in your home are damaged, it can cause various practical problems, as well as decrease your home’s value. To fix this eyesore, you’ll need to repair the plaster, hire professional contractor like Plaster Installation New Jersey Agency.

Finally, I apply a skim coat of ready-mixed all-purpose joint compound. After a light sanding, the repair is ready for painting.

Mel Hines owns Atlanta/Pro-Serve, a ceiling and wall repair service in Atlanta, Ga.

Everyone agrees: Even higher rates won’t impact affordability | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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A panel of esteemed housing experts speaking at the ABS East 2013 conference underway in Miami disagreed on Robert Shiller’s recent call that U.S. housing is in a bubble.

Moderator Howard Esaki, managing director at Standard & Poor’s, who himself puts out regular morning emails encapsulating finance news, played a video on Bloomberg of Shiller talking of a housing bubble.

Shiller co-developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-10 Home Price Index and actually said housing was looking bubbly. His words were later moderated in a column in the New York Times.

The panel elaborated on whether or not U.S. housing is actually in a bubble. No one believes it is.

Mark Fleming, chief economist of CoreLogic, said price appreciation is slowing down, and is only correcting for an overshoot in price collapse. He didn’t think it would return to the inflated pricing before the housing bust.

“We are certainly not in a housing bubble,” said Laurie Goodman who heads up a housing thinktank at the Urban Institute. Both Goodman and Fleming said housing could absorb higher interest rates and remain attractive. Goodman posited that even with a 6% interest rate, affordability would remain at 2000-2003 levels, which were pretty stable compared to 2006-2007.

“I don’t see interest rates going to 6% any time soon,” she added.

Esaki then addressed the crowd at ABS East, where attendance is at a record high (3,500+) with an estimated 1,000 investors, according to data released by organizer Information Management Network.

Esaki asked for a show of hands: “Do you think there is a housing bubble?”

Not a single hand went up.

Later an audience member pointed out that “no one raised their hand, so maybe we are.” The devil’s advocate then sat back down and the panel moved on to talk about the slim chance of near-term GSE reform.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27270-abs-east-panel-says-shiller-wrong-on-housing-bubble-call

 

Short Sale Coding Correction on Credit Will Take Effect November 2013. | Katonah Real Estate

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SHORT SALE CODING CORRECTION ON CREDIT WILL TAKE EFFECT NOVEMBER 2013.

   

For some time now, many short sellers were treated the same as homeowners that foreclosed when applying for a mortgage.  Due to a credit coding issue that lumped short sellers into the same category as a foreclosure, the waiting period for loan approval was extended substantially.  This forced millions to put their dream of participating in homeownership again off to the distant future.  With interest rates climbing, and the real estate market improving, the increased future cost for purchasing would seem more of an obstacle down the road.

But new policy changes could bring more options starting in November.  After Sen. Bill Nelson focused on bringing this coding error to the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Board, things started to change.

“This is the nature of the evolution of this business,” says Fannie Mae spokeswoman Keosha Burns. The agency will input the new software into its computer system on Nov. 16. After that, if a short sale is marked as a foreclosure, the new code will allow the loan servicers to bypass it, correct it and move forward with the loan. Short sellers should speak with their bankers about the new options for homeownership, what the qualifications will be, and whether the state of their credit needs improvement.

PLEASE CALL TRACY BECKER:

North Shore Advisory, Inc. offers credit repair, restoration, credit log in site, and education services. We’ve been providing credit education and credit improvement for almost 25 years. For bankers and realtors we can review your clients credit reports and scores to see if we can improve them.

 

We can help you with your business credit needs as well as any personal credit scores.

 

Contact Us:

StreetEasy redesign rankles users | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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It was a rough couple of months for New York City brokers who rely on technology — and, really, isn’t that nearly all of them? Not only did the Real Estate Board of New York roll out its new, long-awaited listings transmission system (which some had doubts about) and Apple unveil its much-maligned new operating system, but StreetEasy debuted a website redesign that has rankled brokers and inflamed some consumers.

“I am a big StreetEasy fan – it’s the biggest driver in the market,” said Donna Olshan, president of residential brokerage Olshan Realty. “But there are a lot of issues with the new interface that they need to work out. My brokers are complaining.”

The popular listings provider, greeted with skepticism when it first launched in New York City in 2006, has since become an indispensable tool for residential brokers to advertise homes, connect with clients, and mine data on listings, sales and rentals. Now operating in a handful of markets across the U.S., the site proved successful enough to catch the eye of Zillow, which acquired the company in August for $50 million.

Some brokers who spoke with The Real Deal assumed the new interface, launched Sept. 30, was tied to the Zillow buy, and some warned that StreetEasy would soon mimic Zillow’s sites around the country, which they criticized for promoting agents who do not have exclusives on listings.

“The word that’s going around my office about it is that it got ‘Zillowfied,’ meaning it looks like Zillow,” said Eric Benaim, founder of residential brokerage Modern Spaces. “That can be a good thing or bad thing, depending on who you’re speaking to.”

But the switchover had nothing to do with Zillow, said Sofia Song, StreetEasy’s vice president of research and communications.

“The redesign has been in the works for months,” she said, adding that the roll out had been planned for the third quarter of 2013.

 

 

 

– See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/10/04/streeteasy-redesign-rankles-users/#sthash.nCICwjUk.dpuf

Free Flu Shots For Westchester Residents Will Be Offered At County Center | Chappaqua Real Estate

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The Westchester County Department of Health will offer free flu shots to residents at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The county has 500 doses of the flu vaccination that it can give to anyone over the age of 9. Since there is a limited number, residents are asked to register by clicking here or by calling (914) 995-7425.

“It’s important for everyone 6 months and older to get a flu shot every year,”  Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, MD said in a statement. “A flu shot now will provide protection throughout flu season, which can last well into the spring. It’s also equally important to wash your hands frequently, to avoid sick people and to stay home when you are sick.”

The Westchester County Center is located at 198 Central Avenue in White Plains.

 

 

http://armonk.dailyvoice.com/news/free-flu-shots-westchester-residents-will-be-offered-county-center

 

 

 

Mortgage relief fails to provide as much promised aid | South Salem NY Real Estate

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While the five giant mortgage firms signed a landmark $25 billion mortgage settlement last year, the real relief did not fulfill most borrowers expectations. Just 20% of the aid dished out under the settlement covered forgiveness of first-mortgage principal. Per the Los Angeles Times:

“We all wish there had been more principal reduction, which is what is most helpful in keeping people in homes,” said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a 300-member alliance that lobbies on behalf of low-income and minority neighborhoods.

Still, Stein said, the program set a good precedent, demonstrating that debt forgiveness can benefit lenders and borrowers alike without causing a wave of intentional defaults, as critics had warned.

                    Source: LA Times

Latest Update on Brynwood Development | Armonk Real Estate

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Dear Neighbors,

We write to announce another significant step in our effort to transform Brynwood Golf & Country Club into a world-class club and residential community.

As you know, over the last year Brynwood has undergone a comprehensive environmental impact study as required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQR”). Brynwood’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) has been reviewed and commented on by the Town of North Castle and its independent experts, citizen groups, and residents. In the coming days, we will submit a Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) to the Town Board for consideration of acceptance.

We are reaching a critical juncture in the SEQRA review process. The Town Board is required to ensure that the FEIS adequately and accurately reflects the Town’s positions regarding the proposed project, and its potential impacts. The acceptance of the FEIS will be followed by the adoption by the Town Board of its written findings and determinations under SEQRA.  This will conclude the SEQRA process.

With this in mind, we have once again taken a very hard and critical look at our proposal to see how we can best address the concerns most recently expressed in the oral and written comments on the DEIS. We have listened carefully, and as a direct result of these comments, we have offered the following additional mitigation measures to the Town:

  • Any building permit for condominium units beyond 49 will be conditioned upon Brynwood substantially completing the renovations to the golf course and clubhouse – this further ensures the projected property taxes generated by these components are realized.
  • Brynwood will guarantee the Town $500,000 per year in property taxes on the golf course and clubhouse for ten years after they are renovated.
  • Brynwood will contribute $1 million to Water District No. 2 (which serves Windmill Farm) toward the district’s project to rebuild the community’s pipe system. Brynwood will also buy in to Water District No. 2, and its annual use fees from the residences and clubhouse will be added to the district’s revenue, which will save Windmill homeowners approximately $3 million over 25 years.
  • Brynwood will permanently, via a conservation easement, limit the future use of the property to either golf course or open space.
  • Brynwood will maintain all private roads, sewage, snow plowing, ground maintenance and garbage removal at no cost to the Town.
  • Brynwood will withdraw a pending tax certiorari in the amount of approximately $1 million.
  • Brynwood will contribute $150,000 to the Town for a right turn lane on Tripp Lane for cars exiting Byram Hills High School; contribute $250,000 to the Town for the construction of a new bike path; and contribute $25,000 to help fund the relocation of the historic Miller House (Washington’s Headquarters in North White Plains).
  • As stated in the DEIS, Brynwood will implement “green” best practices for the golf course and overall club environment.
  • Brynwood will set back all new structures on the property at least 100 feet in a landscaped buffer from the perimeter property line to reduce visual impact to neighbors.

Over the last several years, we have worked diligently and in good faith to develop a plan for Brynwood that balances the club’s objectives with those of the community. We believe this is a conscientious and responsive proposal for a project that will undoubtedly have a long lasting positive effect to the Town, surrounding homeowners, and our members. Together we are creating something of high quality that we can all be proud of being part of for many years to come.

As noted above, we expect to submit the FEIS to the Town shortly, and it will reflect our new proposal.

Your continued support is greatly needed and much appreciated as we work together in realizing Brynwood’s amazing potential.

Sincerely,

Brynwood Partners