Remodeling March 2012 | North Salem NY Homes
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EDITORIAL: The housing market's non recovery | Bedford Corners Real Estate
Freddie Mac issued a report Wednesday claiming the housing market may be emerging from a long slump. The government-backed mortgage giant happily cited the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index, which is up for the fifth month in a row. The home builders forecast increased home sales for the coming year, based on an expectation of higher economic growth. Unfortunately for Freddie Mac, the real data provide little reason for such optimism. Freddie Mac also cites the related reports that jobless claims recently reached a four-year low. Nonetheless, both joblessness and the level of new claims remain at historically high levels, which is particularly troubling at this point in a recovery when the economy should be growing rapidly. More than 7.1 million Americans still claim unemployment benefits, and millions more aren't counted because they have simply given up looking for work. Even with the four-year low, there were 359,000 new applicants for unemploy
Washington area’s housing market is recovering, though unevenly | Chappaqua Homes for Sale
via washingtonpost.com
Differentiate Or Die: The New Rules Of Personal Branding | North Salem Realtor
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Increase Your Profits on New Customers – A Simple Formula | Cross River Real Estate
Follow this simple formula to increase your profits on every new lead or customer you get. It will also insure that you maximize your ROI on each customer What if you had a way to determine the MOST profitable ways to get new customers? Imagine… you could focus more (all?) of your efforts on those methods and sources that were providing you leads and customers at a maximum profit margin. Plus, you could stop spending your money on those sources that were not bringing you profitable leads and customers. Good news! It is not as hard or mysterious as you might think. This is the second part of a simple profit formula of which a surprising number of small and even medium sized businesses don’t take advantage. STOP! If you haven’t already reviewed Part 1 of the profit formula, go to How To Determine If Your Advertising Is Making Or Losing Money … then come back here, where we pull it all together. Part 2 Of The Profitability Equation The second half of the powerful equation we wa
Cheapest | Priciest units to hit the Manhattan real estate market | Waccabuc NY Real Estate news
The most expensive Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a 6,800-square-foot penthouse in Tribeca, according to Streeteasy.com. Located in the Merchant’s House at 35 North Moore Street between Varick and Hudson streets, the condominium unit has six bedrooms, four bathrooms and one half bath. As The Real Deal reported this week, this is one of two penthouses in the Mercant’s House currently up for sale. The asking price is $19.95 million, and Raphael De Niro at Prudential Douglas Elliman has the listing. The second priciest home is an Upper East Side co-op quadruplex penthouse located at 898 Park Avenue at 79th Street. The asking price for the six-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom apartment is $15 million. Square footage was not listed. One of the penthouse’s floors has a wrap-around terrace, according to the listing. Laura Lawrence from the Corcoran Group is marketing the home. The third most expensive listing is an Upper East Side pre-war co-op located at 1185 Park Avenue between
Your Cheat Sheet for the New Facebook Page Timeline Design | South Salem NY Homes
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5 Easy Ways to Get Started On 5 Different Social Networks | Bedford Hills Real Estate
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9 Specific Ways You Can Use Twitter | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
Twitter is increasingly becoming one of the most popular Social Networking platforms. While there are many reasons for the explosive growth of Twitter across the globe; if I had to list down the top 5 reasons on why Twitter has gained in popularity, they are below: 1. The introduction of the Tweet of 140 characters a) You can tweet from the web or mobile b) The 3S Factor – It’s Short, Specific and Simple!!! 2. It gives you the option to choose who you would like to Follow based on your interest – It is your personal choice ONLY! Subsequently you can Follow / Unfollow at will 3. Easy to use interface for typing a Tweet. Of course, it takes time to understand other features but just typing a Tweet is simple and can be done easily 4. Option to choose the level of privacy – You can control who reads your tweets 5. No limit to the number of followers for a Twitter handle – Everyone loves the concept of abundance, infinite and limitless While many individuals use Twitter for many rea
Marty Zwilling's 10 Mental Toughness Fundamentals for Entrepreneurs | Katonah NY Realtor
In sports, mental toughness is defined as the ability to focus on and execute solutions, especially in the face of adversity. If anyone in business ever needed mental toughness, it's an entrepreneur. Investors tell me that startup success is all about execution, all while facing determined competitors and overcoming customers' resistance to change. Dr. Jason Selk, in his most recent book " Executive Toughness ," talks about mental toughness with analogies between sports and business, but he never takes it all the way to entrepreneurs, where I believe it can have the most impact. So here is my interpretation of the fundamentals he outlines, adapted to the language of a startup: Define the win for your business. A startup is not a parlor game. With a for-profit startup, it's all about solving a problem that embodies real pain, for real customers who are willing and able to pay for a solution. For social entrepreneurs, it's all about making the world a better
8 Creative Ways to Use Embeddable Tweets | Pound Ridge Realtor Robert Paul
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How To Build & Boost Your Brand's YouTube Channel Presence | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate
In our opinion, all brands should have a presence on YouTube. In order to maximize exposure and build an audience, it’s important to regularly feed YouTube channels with quality video content. Creating ongoing content can feel like a daunting task, but there are many ways to boost the video in your brand channel without shooting it all yourself, says YouTube executive Eric Meyerson. At a recent conference he offered several tips for brands to boost their YouTube presence through original videos, content curation and consumer content. via reelseo.com
NY fight over Astor's estate ends; millions freed | Bedford NY Real Estate
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. The long dispute over the estate of socialite philanthropist Brooke Astor ended Wednesday with a settlement that frees $100 million for charities and cuts by more than half the amount going to the son convicted of bilking her. The agreement among Astor's descendants and the New York institutions she loved ended a five-year legal fight that the judge feared would consume the entire estate. Westchester County Surrogate Judge Anthony Scarpino signed the agreement Wednesday afternoon. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the details. Astor died in 2007 at the age of 105. Schneiderman said the settlement benefits several institutions, principally the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library and New York City's public schools. He said it cuts by more than half -- to $14.5 million -- the amount going to Astor's son, Anthony Marshall. Marshall and the charities had disagreed on which of several wills and revisions ex
Few U.S. Cities Are Ready for Aging Baby Boomer Population | North Salem NY Homes
The federal Administration on Aging predicts that the population of individuals aged 65 and older will double between 2000 to 2030, but a six-year-old survey of cities by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging found that fewer than 50 percent are ready to meet the needs of an aging population. Five years after the survey, the group still found a need for access to better transportation and housing for seniors. Lawmakers in Ohio -- where 25 percent of residents in half of its counties will be 60 or older in a matter of eight years -- want to make homes more accessible and save money on fall-related hospitalizations, proposing a tax credit for the installation of bar handles, light switches, and ramps. Meanwhile, CityView Executive Chairman Henry Cisneros, a former HUD secretary, says communities should permit denser housing and allow "granny flats" to be built next to homes. Baby boomers are seeking affordable and accessible dwellings, transportation, recreati
Top Mistakes to Avoid With Your Web Site | Waccabuc NY Real Estate by robert paul
Your Web site may be a critical part of your outreach effort to customers, so are you putting your best site forward? Forbes.com recently highlighted some of the biggest mistakes small businesses make with their web design. Make sure you don’t fall for any of these traps, which may send potential customers clicking away: Failing to target your market. Research your target audience and design your site around that audience. Make sure the content addresses the needs of your target audience. Also, ensure the presentation of your web site fits your audience too. For example, if you tend to work with younger buyers, is your site smartphone-compatible? Missing a call to action. So you have visitors coming to your site, what do you want them to do? If it’s to contact you or subscribe to your e-newsletter, you need to make that clear and highlight it. Getting too flashy. “Flashy web sites don’t look good on mobile phones or tablets, and a large majority of Internet users now visit
Real Estate Ads ‘Hijacked’ Online in Scams | South Salem NY Homes for Sale
Scammers are increasingly taking actual online listing ads of homes for sale from real estate agents’ sites and reposting them on sites such as CraigsList as rentals, duping a growing number of renters. Tug Pierson, a RE/MAX real estate professional in Indiana, says he learned of one of his for-sale listings being used in a rental scam, reposted online several times throughout the Internet. Another real estate agent, whose listing was also reposted as a rental, says he learned of it when an unsuspecting renter contacted him to say he was at the house with a truck of furniture ready to move in. Usually scammers repost the for-sale listing as a rental and ask would-be renters to wire a deposit and advance rent to secure the rental. The scammers usually claim they can’t be met in person because they are out of the country working as missionaries. They also sometimes tell the would-be renters that the real estate agent who was handling the property was fired so they should disregard
Katonah NY Real Estate | 3 Ways Foreclosures May Impact Your Customers
A new wave of foreclosures is expected to be coming as banks work through huge backlogs of distressed properties on their books. So what does this mean for buyers and sellers this year? An article at Bankrate.com recently highlighted how foreclosures may be impacting your customers, including: 1. Confusing the perception over price. As Louis Cammarosano, general manager at HomeGain, says in the article, “Sellers think their home is worth more than it really is, and buyers think the prices are too high.” Distressed properties are widening the gap between seller and buyers’ perceptions over price. Why the discrepancy? Sometimes real estate professionals don’t include foreclosures and short sales when showing comparable sales data to home sellers but that might skew the picture. 2. Questioning locations. Buyers might see a home they like in a neighborhood with several foreclosures and short sales nearby, which may then make them reluctant. However, if investors are snagging up pr
Poll: Renters Want to Buy | Bedford Hills Realtor Robert Paul
Americans still believe in home ownership, but they’re spooked about the mortgage process, a survey finds. Two-thirds of renters -- across educational and demographic levels -- say they want to purchase a home in the future, according to a quarterly national housing survey of 3,000 Americans conducted by Fannie Mae. "In spite of the impact of the housing crisis on home values and home ownership rates across the country, Americans by and large still hope to become home owners," says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. "Some may not be financially positioned to own a home in the near future, but Americans may begin to revisit that aspiration as employment and household balance sheets improve over the coming years." However, Duncan says many renters are expressing caution about the homebuying process when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage and navigating the mortgage process. "If potential home owners avoid the process because they believe it to b
Combat Deal-Killing Low Appraisals | Pound Ridge Real Estate
About one in three real estate contracts were canceled in January, up from 9 percent the previous year. Lowball appraisals are most to blame, agents say. A recent article at Zillow points out how home owners may be able to improve their appraisal: Gather about six comps ahead of time. Appraisers will pull their own comparables of recent sale prices to help determine the home’s value, but real estate professionals can walk sellers through at least six comparables beforehand in educating the seller about pricing the home. This can help prepare them for what an appraisal might show later too. Show off upgrades. The appraiser will inspect the property and sellers and their agents should carefully consider what separate the homes that are similar from theirs. This may include a finished basement, the biggest yard on the block, or maybe its location in a scenic area. Sellers should "respectfully tell [the appraiser] what you know," treating them as a member of your team, say