Tag Archives: Luxury

Why You Need A Realtor in Pound Ridge NY | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Whether buying or selling a home, you need a real estate agent to help with the transaction. A real estate agent has access to information not available publicly that can help in pricing the home or determining if the asking price is fair. Additionally, an agent will help in dealing with potential buyers, marketing the home and handling the details of the sale or purchase. 

Proprietary Knowledge 

In most communities, homes for sale appear in a locally-produced publication called the Multiple Listing Service. While much of the information on homes in the MLS can be found on the Internet, not all of it can. You need a real estate agent to help with the purchase or sale of your home because an agent will have access to all of the MLS information.

This proprietary information includes the actual sales price of each home sold, not just the listing price. Additionally, the MLS information will include the number of days a home was on the market prior to closing. Both pieces of information are valuable in knowing how to market your home or evaluate the appropriateness of the price asked for a home in the area that you are considering.

Expertise and Experience

Buying or selling a home is a complicated process. Many homebuyers or sellers feel they need a real estate agent to help them navigate all aspects of their transaction. A real estate agent is experienced in pricing homes, preparing homes to be marketed and attracting potential buyers. Agents are experienced as well in dealing with potential buyers and moving the home through the closing process.

Dealing With Buyers

If you are selling your home, you need a real estate agent to handle calls and questions from potential buyers. Additionally, a real estate agent will show the property, meaning that you don’t have to be available to do so. And if offers are made, a real estate agent acts as a go-between during negotiations. The negotiation process can become emotional, and many people feel they need a real estate agent to keep this process professional.

Help in Marketing

As mentioned above, including a home in the Multiple Listing Service advertises the property to a wider pool of potential buyers. However, there is more to marketing a home than publicizing that it is available. In addition to exposing the home to a wider market, an experienced real estate agent also can help prepare the home to be marketed to its best advantage. A real estate agent will know the strengths and weakness of a home as seen through the eyes of potential buyers and can help stage it to be most appealing.

Help in Closing

Closing the sale of a home requires correctly completing extensive paperwork. Even accepting an offer in the form of a contract needs to be correctly executed. Money can be lost or sales of opportunities missed if this is not done correctly and in a timely manner. An experienced real estate agent should have experience in completing the complex documentation required to buy or sell a home.

Full Article on Trulia

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Astorino And Westchester Legislators Disagree Over Budget Cuts | Westchester Real Estate

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Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino vetoed the 2011 budget sent to his desk by the Board of Legislators, citing reservations dealing with its revenues and spending. A total of 247 lines were struck out.

“The combination of phony revenues, wasteful spending, unfunded liabilities, illegal actions and rejection of generally accepted accounting principles jeopardizes our AAA credit ratings,” Astorino said of the $1.79 billion budget in a press announcement about his decision.

Legislators passed their budget on Friday. It calls for a two-percent tax decrease but with fewer reductions in social services than called for by Astorino, who proposed a series of cuts in November, as part of a budget version that calls for a one-percent tax decrease.

Despite the legislators’ 16-1 vote in favor of the budget, Astorino, a Republican, accused the board’s Democrats of not giving enough time for his administration or legislators in his party to scrutinize the proposal.

The legislators’ approved budget has been defended by Democrats for its treatment of taxes and services.

In an appearance before the New Castle Town Board Tuesday, County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz gave an update on the proposed budget, which he defended as something that “continues to provide essential services,” and listed what is covered.

Majority Leader Peter Harckham, whose district includes Mount Kisco and Bedford, had similar comments when the budget was passed.

Full Patch Article

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Chappaqua NY Housing Market in 2011 | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicted the housing market would improve by the end of 2010. In September 2010, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said that he expected the housing recovery to be “slow and gradual because of lingering economic uncertainty.”

The 2010 housing market has been characterized by lower sales volume than a year ago. However, the median price increased 0.08 percent in August from a year ago. The number of homes sold nationally in August increased 7.6 percent from July, 19 percent below the August 2009 level.

August closings reflect sales made in April when the homebuyer tax credit was still available. We could see lower sales volume and median sale prices moving forward. This will vary from one area to the next.

Real estate is a localized business. In California, home sales for 2010 are predicted to rise 2 percent from the 2009 level. The median sale price is expected to increase 11.5 percent from a year ago to $306,500 and another 2 percent in 2011, according to the California Association of Realtors. The state’s median sale price was $522,700 in 2005.

Research by First American CoreLogic indicates that 24 percent, or more than 11.3 million homeowners, have negative equity. Negative equity occurs when the unpaid mortgage balance exceeds the market value of the property. According to CoreLogic, homeowners with negative equity are unlikely to reach positive equity until 2015 or early 2016.

Foreclosures are one of the factors putting brakes on a housing market recovery. According to NAR, distressed sales accounted for 34 percent of homes sold in August, up from 32 percent in July and 31 percent in August 2009. Foreclosures will continue to impact the housing market in 2011.

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The Powerful Role of Laughter in Small Groups in Bedford NY | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Recently, researchers from North Carolina State University used jury deliberations recorded during a capital murder case to study the role of laughter in small group dynamics. They were particularly interested in using the transcripts of jury deliberations (of a capital punishment case) to study laughter because there is very little research on the role of laughter in communication, particularly when divorced from humor.

What the researchers found was that laughter in this situation was used in a multitude of ways; namely to question, control, and regulate relationships, procedures, and information in the group. For example, sometimes laughter was used to signal support for a group member; at other times it was used to signal a lack of support. At times people used laughter as a tool, intentionally and strategically, to control communication and affect group dynamics, or to shift power.

Full Story on Psychology Today

Westchester Magazine List of Top Towns | Bedford Luxury Real Estate

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Call us gluttons for punishment (and angry letters from you), but this year, we dared to tackle the unthinkable—we’ve numerically ranked (virtually) every place there is to live in our county, from best to worst. Yes, this means there is indeed a Number 1—and it also means there is a Number 40. Read on, and see where your town fell in our rankings.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

 Maybe we all ask ourselves these questions at some point: “Did we make the right decision moving here?” “Are the schools better elsewhere?” “Did we pay too much for our house?”

I ask myself why I moved to New Rochelle every time I drive along one of the city’s crowded streets, with the traffic lights so poorly timed that it seems they’re always red, and I can’t move a block without having to stop. Must be that everyone else in the city feels the same way, because they’re all honking their horns. It’s like a massive case of road rage. But then, just as I’ve decided to pack up and move someplace better—and saner—I catch a glimpse of New Rochelle’s shoreline, and I head for it, down to the marina, where everyone is happy and friendly and smiling, and the city seems to have an entirely different personality.

That’s what this article is about: weighing the plusses and minuses of a community. Of course, we all have different criteria for what makes one town great and another town just okay. Good schools may be super-important to a young family, but to a retired couple, less so. A lively downtown may be what a single twentysomething is looking for, but fortysomething marrieds with children may not care at all about how many clubs their downtown has. Nevertheless, how does one go about evaluating a town? How can we determine the best places to live?

“Best” is, of course, subjective. And while a town may look good on paper—good schools, a breezy commute, plentiful parks—that certainly doesn’t guarantee that everyone living there loves it. Nevertheless, there is some merit in trying to determine the livability of an area, and, fortunately for us, there is a load of information available that helped us do so.

We found reams and reams of statistics to pull from. Our county government, in particular its Databook and its Land Use Report, offers information on just about everything in our 450-square-mile piece of earth that 950,000 of us call home. We also used the online site bestplaces.net to procure other data—e.g., how much houses cost and how much homeowners pay in taxes annually for their homes. To determine the quality of a school, we used the most recent SAT scores available (which we obtained from the New York State Department of Education). And yes, we know that SAT scores do not tell the entire story of a public school’s quality—indeed, we have in previous articles pointed out that there is a high correlation between the wealth of a community and its children’s SAT scores—but SATs are still one of the most frequently used criteria for judging a school’s success, and the scores are, of course, one of the factors colleges use to admit or reject students.

In all, we looked at 11 categories to determine the quality of a town: its public schools (high schools, specifically); housing costs; property taxes; proximity to New York City (as measured in commute time, in minutes, from the center of each town to Times Square as calculated by Google Maps); safety (per the violent crime index from bestplaces.net); diversity (as measured by the odds that two random people from the same town will be of different ethnicities); parks and recreation (average acreage of open/green space per residential unit); proximity to water (distance from the center of each town to the Hudson River or the Long Island Sound, whichever is closer); a lively downtown; shopping; and nightlife. Another brilliant option for incredible nightlife has to be Magaluf as they are some stunning nightlife with some of the best clubs, bars and parties anywhere.

While most of the categories are measurable, the last three—a lively downtown (cafés, restaurants, pedestrian activity, general atmosphere, cultural offerings); nightlife (quantity and quality of bars, clubs, evening dining, and evening activities); and shopping (the quality and quantity of, and accessibility to, retail establishments)—are all subjective, of course. We used our knowledge of the county, as well as that of our trusted writers and sources.

Obviously, every one of our categories is not equally important. Many of us would be willing to do without a few music clubs for safe streets; diversity may be important to some of us but not to others. So we weighted the categories. How did we come up with our formula? We asked visitors to our website to tell us which of the 11 categories are most important to them. We also asked our friends, families, and anyone who would talk to us. And then we hashed it out in our offices (“I don’t care how close I am to the river,” one editor declared. Argued another, “It’s one of the first things I considered when I looked for my new apartment.”) And this is what we worked out, in terms of importance:

Schools
25.3%
Housing Costs
15.4%
Property Taxes
12.1%
Proximity to NYC
9.9%
Safety
7.7%
Diversity
6.6%
Lively Downtown
5.5%
Shopping
5.5%
Parks and Recreation
4.4%
Nightlife
4.4%
Proximity to Water
3.3%
(total equals 100.1% due to rounding)


Is your hamlet, village, or town not specifically ranked? Blame it on the county. As we all know, our county is a confusing hodgepodge of incorporated and unincorporated villages and hamlets tucked into towns, cities, and municipalities (e.g., the town of Rye, which is bigger than the city of Rye, contains two villages—Port Chester and Rye Brook—along with the Rye Neck section of Mamaroneck. Got that?). Which municipalities (very loosely speaking) to include and how to group them was largely dictated by the availability of the stats and how taxes are collected, etc. In all, we looked at 40 communities. Also, since some communities are served by more than one high school, we calculated weighted composite average SAT scores for those towns.

Our goal was to assimilate all this information, weigh the variables, crunch the numbers (we enlisted the help of Pace University Mathematics Professor Augustine B. Mascuilli), and come up with our rankings. Disagree with us? Go online and use our sortable data chart to view which factors you deem most important. Read on for a community-by-community analysis.

Businesses along Irvington’s idyllic Main Street beckon patrons with ample alfresco opportunities.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

[1] Irvington

Diversity: 4 / Housing Costs: 5 / Parks & Recreation: 8
Property Tax: 4 / Proximity to NYC: 7 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 9
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 7 / Shopping: 6 / Downtown: 7

Who isn’t smitten with Irvington? Charming, quiet, green, with a darling Main Street, stunning river views, a burgeoning dining scene (Been to the Red Hat lately? What about Day Boat Café, Chutney Masala, or Mima?), this unassuming rivertown is pretty near perfect. Tucked in next to the mighty Hudson, Irvington, named after Washington Irving, who had the smarts to not only write The Legend of Sleepy Hollow but to live in town (Sunnyside, his cottage, is now a tourist destination), scored the highest in our tally, getting a perfect 10 for safety and proximity to water (duh); a 9 for its schools (where the average SAT score last year was 1778, or 267 points above the national average); and an 8 for its green space (23 percent of Irvington land is reserved for parks and recreation). While no one would claim that Irvington’s houses are bargains—the average house costs $585,780—they are below the countywide average of $725,000. And there are alternatives, with co-ops, condos, and smaller wood-frame houses along tree-lined neighborhood streets going for far less. What’s more, the commute to Manhattan isn’t bad at all: in less than 40 minutes, you can zip into Midtown on Metro-North. All in all, a great mix.

Ossining’s dated but charming main street wends its way down to the Hudson.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

[2] Ossining

Diversity: 10 / Housing Costs: 9 / Parks & Recreation: 6
Property Tax: 9 / Proximity to NYC: 4 / Safety: 8 / Schools: 5
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 5 / Shopping: 5 / Downtown: 6

We understand why Mad Men producers chose to locate their star couple (now, alas, divorced) smack in the middle of Ossining. This rivertown (population 24,146) scored two 10s—one for its nearness to the river and the other for its diverse population (45 percent of its residents are non-white). And in our pricey county, it’s actually among the most affordable towns in which to purchase a home: the average price of an Ossining house is $383,330, which is $341,670 less than the average price of a house in the county. Ah, but what about property taxes? They’re among the county’s lowest; indeed $6,654 less than the county’s average of $16,689. And while it may not be a hop, skip, and a jump to New York City (it takes 50 minutes to get to Midtown), its schools are above average (SAT scores were 1659 out of a total 2400). Plus Ossining, architecturally, has a charming downtown with underappreciated cast-iron buildings (though the shops can use an upgrade), as well as a historic area (many village structures are on the National Register of Historic Places), and lovely streets that wend their way down to the shoreline.

Despite being on the river, Dobbs Ferry doesn’t have as much open space per resident as some of its neighboring towns—but look at those views.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

[3] Dobbs Ferry

Diversity: 7/ Housing Costs: 7 / Parks & Recreation: 3
Property Tax: 7 / Proximity to NYC: 8 / Safety: 8 / Schools: 6
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 7 / Shopping: 6 / Downtown: 7

This densely populated rivertown (population: 10,893), just 20 miles north of Midtown, offers a mix of two-family homes, Victorians from the 1900s, mid-century split-levels and Colonials, and sprawling estates. The average cost of a house is under a half-million, significantly lower than the county average of nearly three-quarters of a million, and its property taxes are relatively low, too: $13,451. Its quaint downtown offers a variety of dining and shopping options, a welcome asset to those whose first choice is small-town living. The village’s public parks—however lovely they may be—are not quite enough to serve the 3,967 households in the village. School performance was above the mid-point but not as high as neighboring Hastings-on-Hudson.

Hastings-on-Hudson’s blend of artsy stores, hot restaurants, and quaint mom-and-pop shops make the village an appealing choice for many.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

[4] Hastings-on-Hudson

Diversity: 4 / Housing Costs: 5 / Parks & Recreation: 5
Property Tax: 5 / Proximity to NYC: 9 / Safety: 4 / Schools: 9
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 6 / Shopping: 7 / Downtown: 8

This rather artsy rivertown is right off the Saw Mill River Parkway, about a half-hour drive to Midtown with good schools and some terrific river views. And the combination of all that plus an un-gentrified but nevertheless charming downtown, a couple of “wow” restaurants, and an interesting array of living choices (houses at different price points, condos, co-ops, apartments, and affordable units) add up to one of Westchester’s top places to put down roots.

Mamaroneck offers a thriving, bustling downtown in Westchester.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

[5] Mamaroneck

Diversity: 7 / Housing Costs: 5 / Parks & Recreation: 4
Property Tax: 2 / Proximity to NYC: 7 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 8
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 9 / Shopping: 7 / Downtown: 9

Mamaroneck bustles with energy along its main drag, with an array of restaurants and shops reflecting a diverse populace. (Indeed, the odds of someone of one race bumping into someone of another race in Mamaroneck is 50/50.) Check it out on a Thursday night—the town is jumping with music, outdoor dining, and shops open late for business. As for proximity to water, you couldn’t get much closer, and there’s plenty for everyone to do along the Long Island Sound shoreline, from the weekly farmers’ market in the warmer months to opportunities to kayak and sail, and playgrounds and ball fields for youngsters.

Traffic moves smoothly during most hours in the downtown, thanks to many pedestrian-friendly crosswalks and a lack of traffic lights. Like Hastings, Mamaroneck offers a variety of housing, making it an attractive place to live for people of many different income levels—although property taxes are high: $22,738 per year on average.

[6] Pleasantville

Diversity: 6 / Housing Costs: 6 / Parks & Recreation: 4
Property Tax: 6 / Proximity to NYC: 4 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 7
Proximity to Water: 4 / Nightlife: 10 / Shopping: 8 / Downtown: 9

This central Westchester village (it’s virtually smack-dab in the middle of the county) couldn’t have a more appropriate name. With the Jacob Burns Film Center (in its scant nine-year existence, it’s become a Westchester institution that not only screens top-notch films but frequently hosts the actors and/or directors of those films for enlightening discussions), quaint shops, quality restaurants, and tree-lined streets along which children can safely walk to school (all kids walk—or are driven; there are no school buses here), the town lives up to its moniker. Shopping, nightlife, and the downtown are all admirable. And if you yearn for a lovingly restored Victorian with front porches to rock on and greet your neighbors, this is the place. Usonia, an enclave of low-slung cantilevered houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects, shares a zip code with Pleasantville (but is outside the village proper). The town offers an easy commute to Midtown, with many residents living within walking distance of the Metro-North station, and is nestled almost equidistant between the shopping/dining areas of Central Avenue to the south and Mount Kisco’s Main Street to the north.

[7] Scarsdale

Diversity: 5 / Housing Costs: 2 / Parks & Recreation: 7
Property Tax: 1 / Proximity to NYC: 7 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 10
Proximity to Water: 6 / Nightlife: 6 / Shopping: 10 / Downtown: 8

Scarsdale is virtually synonymous with great schools. It should come as no surprise that this quintessential upscale village came in in the top 10, thanks in large part to top scores for its schools (the high school’s students collectively got the highest SAT scores in the county: 1899—or 159 points higher than the county average of 1640 and 388 higher than the national average); safety; and shopping (Wilson & Son, La Dentelliere, BoConcept, Space.NK.apothecary, et al). Which may explain why housing isn’t cheap in this beautifully manicured town of 17,672 residents. The average cost of a house in Scarsdale is $876,740, making it the sixth most expensive place to live in the county. And when it comes to property taxes, it’s among the worst towns to live in (it, along with Bronxville, Harrison, and Rye rated a 1 out of 10—ouch!).

[8] Croton-on-Hudson

Diversity: 5 / Housing Costs: 9 / Parks & Recreation: 8
Property Tax: 8 / Proximity to NYC: 3 / Safety: 5 / Schools: 7
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 3 / Shopping: 3 / Downtown: 4

Croton is a little gem of a village—right on the water with lots of parks. It also offers a variety of price points when it comes to housing. But in order to live here, one has to relinquish desires for a quick in-and-out of Manhattan. A daily commute is doable, but it’s still a hefty 35 miles north of the city. It also lacks a sparkling nightlife scene and shopping options are sparse. But the point is—and Crotonites will tell you this in no uncertain terms—you don’t move here for those kinds of amenities. One moves to Croton for its green space, its seven miles of waterfront, its opportunities to hike and boat, and wondrous experiences like witnessing rainstorms barreling across the Hudson from the opposite shoreline.

Bronxville buzzes with one of the loveliest and most vibrant downtowns in all of Westchester.

Photo by Adam Samson

[9] Bronxville

Diversity: 2 / Housing Costs: 2 / Parks & Recreation: 1
Property Tax: 1 / Proximity to NYC: 10 / Safety: 8 / Schools: 10
Proximity to Water: 6 / Nightlife: 9 / Shopping: 9 / Downtown: 9

Like Scarsdale, Bronxville is a community that some might give an eyetooth to live in. And rightly so. In a number of respects (proximity to Manhattan, high-quality schools, a vibrant downtown, great shopping), Bronxville is tops. And it is just gorgeous. Some suspect that Bronxville must have a housing law that prohibits residents from having anything other than drop-dead beautiful houses with lush green lawns. How wonderful.

But, alas, it isn’t perfect. Indeed, when it comes to housing affordability and property tax rate, fugetaboutit. It ain’t cheap; in fact, it has the fourth most expensive homes in the county ($890,210 is the average cost of a Bronxville home) and the highest property tax rate in the county. And as for diversity? Fewer than 9 percent of its residents are minority.

[10] New Castle

Diversity: 3 / Housing Costs: 3 / Parks & Recreation: 8
Property Tax: 3 / Proximity to NYC: 3 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 10
Proximity to Water: 8 / Nightlife: 5 / Shopping: 8 / Downtown: 7

This town, home to the hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood, did especially well when it came to schools (Horace Greeley High School is a nationally revered high school) and safety, scored nicely for parks and recreation (14 percent of New Castle is reserved for parks and recreation). It’s home to our former first family, Reader’s Digest’s ultra-green campus (a proposal to turn it into condos is before the planning board), and lots of rolling hills and beautiful countryside. But it’s not as diverse as many other towns (less than 10 percent of its residents are minority), housing costs are high (the fifth most expensive real estate values in the county), and property taxes are significant (on average $17,619 a year).

[11] Mount Pleasant

Diversity: 7 / Housing Costs: 7 / Parks & Recreation: 8
Property Tax: 8 / Proximity to NYC: 5 / Safety: 10 / Schools: 4
Proximity to Water: 10 / Nightlife: 7 / Shopping: 4 / Downtown: 5

Located in central Westchester, the town of Mount Pleasant includes the incorporated villages of Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, and a small portion of Briarcliff Manor. The remaining area of the town is unincorporated (i.e., not part of any other municipality) and includes the hamlets of Hawthorne, Thornwood, Valhalla, and Pocantico Hills (home to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture). Eleventh on the livability list, it has a near non-existent crime rate, is filled with parks and playgrounds, and its housing costs are not prohibitive. However, Mount Pleasant (especially its villages of Valhalla, Thornwood, and Hawthorne), doesn’t have much of a nightlife scene or great dining or shopping options.

Westchester Magazine Article

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Social Media for Bedford NY Homes | Bedford Real Estate

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Why Social Media Is a Better Investment than SEO

As a blogger, you probably do not have the luxury of having a staff of people to work for you. As such, your time is very valuable and you need to spend it where it will do the most good. We have reached a point in late 2010 where the work required to generate traffic for a normal blog via search engines is much greater than that required to generate an equal amount of traffic via social media.

My thesis is simple: for the majority of bloggers, the time and effort invested on social media is better spent than time spent on SEO.

This post will probably generate controversy. There are an army of people out there who make a living selling SEO products and services. To use an old adage, when you only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail. To them, SEO is the beginning and end of traffic generation.

To be sure, search engines do drive a lot of traffic, however, with the increasing pollution of search engines with content farms, Google’s love of big brands/big media, and the increasing amount of work required to rank for ever longer keywords, SEO is no longer worth the effort for most bloggers.

The power of brands
Google loves brands. The reasoning behind this actually makes some sense. An easy solution to the problem of spam websites was for Google to give extra authority to sites that have large, established brands. This doesn’t bode well for bloggers, however.

To given you an example of how much authority brands are given, several months ago I conducted an experiment. I had an article that I had done some link building on. After several months the article ranked #3 for the keyword I was targeting (behind two large media properties). I had an opportunity to put some content on the website of a very large media brand. I put that article, word for word, on their site to see how they would rank for the exact same keyword. Within an hour, they were ranked at #4, just behind my original article. In a day, they were ranked above me, even though the same content had been on my site for months and I had gone through the effort to do link building.

I realize there is a new content bonus that Google will give articles for a while, but the fact they were able to rank so high, so quickly, even against a previously indexed article with links, shows just how much the deck is stacked against blogs. Google can’t easily tell the difference a legitimate blog from a made for Adsense spam site. If they could, there would be no spam.

If you are in a niche that doesn’t have a large traditional media presence (niches like Internet marketing, SEO, or social media) you might not notice this because there is little media competition. However, if you are in a niche with a large traditional media presence (like travel, politics, news, sports, or food) you might see on a regular basis how difficult it can be.

Brand vs. individual authority
You might think that Darren Rowse has a great deal of authority on the subject of blogging. You would be correct. However, in the eyes of Google, Darren doesn’t have any authority; ProBlogger.net does. This is a fundamental problem with how Google works. People invest trust and authority in other people while Google puts authority in URL’s.

As a thought experiment, lets say Darren sold ProBlogger.net and started up a new blog called The-Blogging-Pro.info (a horrible domain name, but just stay with me). Everyone who reads this site, subscribes to the newsletter or follows Darren on Twitter would know to now go to the new site to get Darren’s advice on blogging. The authority that Darren has developed over the years would stay with him, even if he moved to a new domain. Google, however, would still put its trust and authority in ProBlogger.net, even though the real authority has moved to a different domain.

Social media solves the authority dilemma. You know who is authoritative and isn’t. I often ask people how many people they can name who have written an article for National Geographic in its 122-year history. Most people can’t name a single person. Yet, if I ask them who is behind their favorite blogs, almost everyone can give me a name. We trust the New York Times or National Geographic because of the reputation the brand has developed over the years. Even if the author of a given article knows nothing about the subject (which does happen), they are assumed to be authoritative just because of the brand they are writing under.

Writers will usually give a list of the publications they have written for as their credentials. Their authority is a second hand authority derived from the publications they have written for. (“I am a successful author because I have written for large, successful publications.”)

Blogger authority is first hand authority. It comes directly from the reputation they have developed over time from their audience.

The power of individuals
The fact that people know who bloggers are is exactly the reason why blogs have a comparative advantage in social media. The New York Times Twitter account might have millions of followers, but they can never do more than pump out links to articles. It can’t have a conversation, talk or listen. If it did, who would be the one doing the talking on behalf of the brand?

The part of social media that actually builds trust and authority is totally absent from most large media properties. They are simply not able to engage in a conversation as a brand. Some companies like ESPN have banned their staff from using Twitter precisely because they didn’t want their employees to develop their own authority outside if the network. If they did, they’d become too valuable and they would have too much leverage when it came time to negotiate contracts.

Bloggers have the ability to do an end run around traditional media precisely because we are capable of having a conversation. That is something a faceless brand can never do.

SEO is time consuming
Critics of this article might point out that if you just worked harder, you could rank for anything you want. They are probably right. It isn’t a question of what is possible. It is a question of the return on your investment. The concept of time ROI is absent from almost any discussion on SEO.

As I stated above, the deck is stacked against the little guy in SEO. Google loves brands and can’t associate authority with individuals. To just keep pace with media brands, you have to put in much more work. The New York Times doesn’t have to bother with link building. You do. That alone should tell you how fair the playing field is.

Bloggers have a comparative advantage in social media. We can appeal to human notions of authority, not algorithmic notions. We can have discussions and conversations, and brands can’t do that. Moreover, it isn’t hard to do. All you have to do is talk and most of you are probably doing that now.

Already you are seeing a shift in some media outlets to superstar journalists. What is happening is the same thing you are seeing in the blogging world. People are putting their trust and authority into people, not the brands they work for. It will only be a matter of time before the superstar journalists realize they don’t need their media masters anymore.

Writing for humans vs. writing for machines
Despite what Google says, the key to good SEO isn’t writing for good content for people. This is a bald-faced lie which anyone who has spent time trying to rank for a keyword knows. Human beings enjoy alliteration, puns, jokes and other forms of word play, which are totally lost on an algorithm. What makes for a good article from a content farm is exactly the thing, which you should not do if you want to covert readers into subscribers. Content created with SEO in mind is more often than not fun to read.

Google’s original rational for the “create good content” argument was that people would naturally link to good content. That is no longer true. People share good content on Twitter and Facebook, which is either closed to Google, labeled as “nofollow”, or doesn’t have anchor text. The world Serge and Brin wrote their seminal paper for in the 1990’s doesn’t exist today.

Traffic as a means vs. traffic as an end
Newspapers have developed an obsession with visits and page views. Many bloggers have the same problem as well. They view raw traffic as the end game because they view the world though an advertising model. Under this paradigm, the more traffic you have the better, regardless how you get it or for what reason, because it will lead to more ad clicks.

Many bloggers have wised up to the fact that advertising isn’t the best way to make money. CPM rates keep falling and will keep falling so long as ad inventory grows faster than online advertising budgets. It has reached a point where to make money via advertising you have to either have an enormous media property or have an incredibly targeted site devoted to a very niche keyword.

Most blogs don’t fit into either category. They don’t have millions of page views per month, and they don’t niche themselves into talking about only instant coffee makers. In this middle space, what matters aren’t raw page views to generate advertising revenue. What matters is growing a loyal following of people who view you as authoritative in your area.

In this model, traffic is just a means to an end, not an end in itself. The real end is getting traffic to convert to subscribers and loyal followers. You will be more likely to get a follower from someone who views you as having authority rather than someone who is just looking for bit of information with no idea of who you are.

Google-proofing
Google changes their algorithm all the time. There are companies who have been destroyed by changes made at Google. Fortunes rise and fall based on how Google decides to rank sites. A major question you have to ask yourself is “how dependent do I want to be on Google?”

All the hard work you put into SEO can be destroyed, or at least significantly altered, but changes at Google. Authority and reputation with other people, however, doesn’t change on a whim.

Also, knowing that Google is going to change in the future, in what direction do you think it is going to change? My bet would be towards a greater reliance on social media and less reliance on links. I’m sure there are engineers at Google right now trying to figure out how to translate the authority and trust that individuals have into their search results.

Choose social media for greater ROI
I am not saying you should block Google from indexing your site. I am not saying search engine traffic is bad. In fact, there are blogs out there that would be best served by an SEO strategy.

What I am saying is that outside of a few things you can do in the creation of your blog, don’t worry about SEO. Make sure your permalinks make sense, create a site map, install the appropriate plugins … and then stop worrying about it.

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Going Green is Easy in Bedford NY | Bedford NY Real Estate

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RandomHouse.com.Book Review
Title: “Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life and Save the Planet”
Author: Elizabeth Rogers, with Colleen Howell
Publisher: Three Rivers Press, March 2010; 288 pages; $14

Going green is easy in Bedford N.Y. when you have the right plan in place.

In my personal life (which, by the way, has about 80 percent overlap with my business life), I’m making a constant effort to evolve into a greener and greener life. I used to call myself “light green,” meaning I drove my big old luxury SUV down the street to Whole Foods, all by my lonesome and on a regular basis.

If I had options, I’d choose the green one — as long as it was no less convenient than the guzzly, “regular” way. Over the last few years, though, I’ve just started to, uh, give more of a crap about our planet. And I’ve found that oftentimes the green way to do things has turned out to be less costly as well. Bonus!

So, it was a surprise to me when, during a recent conversation about implementing some additional green living features in my home, a colleague exclaimed that he never bothered trying to green his home because it was just too expensive. What a difference a perspective-shift makes.

I was planning on building a recycling center and a compost area — at negligible cost for the green and organizational upsides. He assumed that unless you were installing $20,000 worth of new dual-paned windows, you were out of luck in terms of greening your home.

Clearly, Elizabeth Rogers’ new book, “Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life and Save the Planet,” is overdue! Not only does it come just in time for my colleague, but also just in time for the many Americans who are currently undergoing perspective, mindset and habit shifts toward both economical and ecological conservation and sustainability.

In “Shift Your Habit,” Rogers not only offers recommendations to readers — she actually took them on the road, and worked with families coast to coast to implement at least 15 of what she calls “Super Shifts” per family, to provide case studies and reality-based money-savings estimates throughout the book. She defines these Super Shifts as “easy to incorporate,” “universally relevant changes that would … provide instant environmental and economic impact.”

Exhibiting just how powerful she believes the Super Shifts are, Rogers sticks them right at the beginning of the book — a powerful two-page numbered list of easy little tweaks to living, along with how much a household can save by making the change. Water filter on the tap — almost $900 per year in bottled water savings. Yep — meaty money savings, with a side order of do-goodism.

Outside of the “Meet the Shifters” features in each chapter, where Rogers tells the story of a family who implemented 15 of her Shifts, “Shift Your Habit” reads primarily as a collection of lists — lists of well-organized small changes that save money and energy or water, reuse or eliminate waste or otherwise implement green values.

Beginning with Home and Garden, Rogers offers tips around lighting, space and water conditioning (heating and cooling), cleaning and tips for every room of the home — from kitchen to bedrooms. She also offers useful charts illustrating the savings that can be had from various efficient appliances and recipes for homemade, organic cleaning products, before moving to exterior landscaping, pool area efficiencies and edible gardening. All told, Rogers estimates her shifts can save a household nearly $6,000 per year — nothing to sneeze at.

From there, Rogers forays into green, money-saving strategies for eating and drinking both at home and in restaurants. My favorite: the section on extending the life of produce and other perishable foods. Savings? Over $9,000 for an average family, according to Rogers! Next? Kids and Pets — Rogers educates readers as to how they can conserve cash and energy, while still feeding, clothing, educating and entertaining their children of all ages, furry and otherwise.

“Shift Your Habit” then covers how those who live green at home can live those values out at work, where they actually spend more of their time. From work to play, the book then shifts its attention to Electronics and Entertainment; Health, Beauty and Fashion; Transportation and Travel and Holidays and Celebrations. Throughout, Rogers offers helpful charts, tips, lists, savings estimates and anecdotes from her “shifter” families.

If you’ve been operating under the impression that living green requires a massive up-front investment of either time or money, “Shift Your Habit” is the perfect way to correct that misunderstanding and do your part for the earth and your own finances, at little or no cost.

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Philip Johnson’s First House is a Bedford NY Home For Sale | Bedford NY Real Estate

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For the first time in 55 years, Philip Johnson’s first commissioned residential home is up for sale. The famed modern architect, known for his inventive use of glass, designed and built this Bedford, N.Y., property known as the Booth House in 1946.

The two-story home with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the surrounding woodlands was a precursor to Mr. Johnson’s iconic Glass House in New Canaan, Conn., built in 1949.

A Glass House Ancestor

 

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Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal

This mid-century home called the Booth House, was noted architect Philip Johnson’s first residential commission.

The home belongs to former architect Sirkka Damora and her late husband, Robert. The couple rented the home before purchasing it in 1955 for $23,500.

“We were intrigued by it because it was a modern house and we were both in architecture,” Ms. Damora said. “We knew it was Philip Johnson’s house but the name didn’t mean much at the time.”

Mr. Damora, an architect and architectural photographer, renovated the basement of the three-bedroom home to include more living space and added an entire wall of glass. He also completed the home’s kitchen and bathroom, which Mr. Johnson never finished. In the early 1960s, he added a separate building with 10-foot ceilings and a 20-foot skylight, which doubled as an office and photography studio.

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Costs of Owning A Home with air conditioning In Pound Ridge NY | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Hidden Costs Of Owning A Home in Pound Ridge, NY

Owning a home in Pound Ridge, NY is no different than anywhere else. The reality is, home ownership is not just about budgeting to cover your monthly mortgage payments and property tax, you also have a responsibility to care for your property- which means maintaining the foundation, structure and inner workings of your house, but also being prepared to pay for UNEXPECTED REPAIRS! Obviously this is easier said than done when money is tight, and you’re not a contractor or have your own live in handyman. Needless to say, whether you’ve owned your home for twenty years, or you’re considering becoming a homeowner for the first time, there are some absolutes that you should know how to fix yourself, budget for, and pay forward, to avoid catastrophic repairs & major surprise expenses!

Repairs to Fix IMMEDIATELY!

1. Don’t Ignore Electrical Inconveniences

Any electrical problem should be taken care of immediately to avoid potential blowouts or worse, A FIRE!

a) Dead Outlets: A sudden non functioning outlet (that does not go out from a blown fuse) could indicate a more serious problem such as a loose wire that could spark and cause serious damage. Get these problems checked out and repaired by a qualified electrician as soon as possible!
b) Dead Light Switch: A non functioning light switch (that does not go out from a blown fuse), could also mean something is shorting out inside the walls.
c) Excessive Static on TV or Radio: These malfunctions could indicate the house is not properly grounded (not safe)- which can cause even more serious problems down the line.
d) Strange Noise from a Major Appliance: Any electrical appliance (oven, stove, refrigerator) that starts humming should be repaired immediately!
e) Frayed Wires: Any frayed wires (exposed or not) should not be used and replaced immediately!

2. Deal with ALL Leaks

a) Ceiling Leaks & Water Damage: If you see water dripping from your ceiling, or if you see any discoloration due to water damage, you may have a small problem that is about to get much worse! Water takes the path of least least resistance, so just because you see discoloration in one spot, it does not mean that that is where the leak has originated. If there is a spot on your ceiling that gets wet more than once, or you see actual water dripping down, find the leak & get it repaired at once!
b) Pipes & Plumbing: A continually running toilet, a dripping sink, a leaky pipe under the sink, or any drips you hear in the wall, all should be repaired to avoid further damage, flooding and MOLD!

3. Maintain Your Heating & Cooling System (HVAC):

a) If you have central heating and air conditioning, have your system professionally maintained at least once a year to prolong the life and efficiency of your system. Have your filters & coils cleaned or replaced, and have your duct work swept. Heating and air conditioning repair and optimization is one solution that can benefit both the tenants and your wallet by improving the efficiency of the system and also decreasing energy consumption. You can check right here on JC’s Heating and Air systems provide ventilation as well as warming and cooling assistance. They are the best solution for dealing with the need for circulation and removal of contaminants and foul odors. This is just as important in an office where many people are sharing the same environment, as it is in large warehouses where the fumes and chemicals can be an unpleasant experience. When properly maintained, these systems offer comfortable environments in any sort of structure. Typically, a professional heating and air contractor will install a complete central system to service the entire building. This is great because with professional installation there is a far greater reliability and efficiency. The drawback is that when they are very large and complex they are difficult to maintain on one’s own. Instead they require a professional to come in and flush the ductwork and service the heat pump and cooling system. Fortunately, many contractors are available to provide continued maintenance after they have installed their products and so it is easy to set up a scheduled maintenance plan. For your commercial enterprise you are saving yourself and your tenants money by retaining this type of work. You will be able to reduce the energy bills that are paid every month because the heating and air unit does not have to work as hard to go through clogged ducts or overcome dirty coils. It is also saving money by eliminating the need for constant repair. It is a simple fact that a clean unit is an efficient unit and that means less calls to the service technicians and more trouble free operation.

b) If you have radiator heat, have the system flushed at least every other year to remove excess build up and air pockets that can decrease the efficiency of the system (not to mention causing that haunting banging sound).

c) Clean the filters of your window unit air conditioner once a month in the summer, and hose the coils at the beginning of each summer. Calling a company for air conditioning repair will save time and get you the professional help you need to make sure you get the best air conditioning service.

4. Mind Your Roof: Replace any missing shingles on your roof, and have any cracks or areas where water is pooling repaired before damage spreads or weakens that spot further. Roofing calculator helps to measure correctly and determine how much roofing material you need for your project.

5. Cracks in Your Foundation:You know what they say about relationships, well it holds true in your house as well! Make sure that any cracks in your foundation are sealed immediately to avoid water damage, mold or potential pest problems.

6. Seal Your Windows: Keep heat or cool air from escaping, avoid leaks and unwanted pests by keeping your windows properly sealed. Replace any old dried out caulking around the inside and outside of each window!

7. Keep Your Gutters Clean: Have your gutters completely cleaned 1-2 times each year to prevent clogs and avoid improper drainage. If the water backs up, it can seep under roof shingles, or the siding of your house and cause it to pull away. Visit GutterAdvantage-PA.com for professional service to clean and repair your gutters.

8. Seal Your Deck: Sealing your wood deck every two to three years is essential not only for looks, but it will prolong the life of the wood as well. If you do not reseal often enough, the wood will rot and the deck will need to be replaced- ouch!

9. Sweep Your Chimney: If you have a working fireplace, and use it often, it is important to have your chimney cap checked and your chimney swept once a year by a schoorsteenvegen. If an animal, debris or build up from use accumulates, it contribute to cracking the inside of the chimney- not to mention causing a major FIRE!

We’ve all heard the phrase little things mean a lot and nowhere is that more true than in the roller-coaster world of home ownership. While owning your own home is of course the proverbial American Dream, letting seemingly small things go can turn it into a nightmare. Spending money on small repairs now, can mean HUGE savings down the line. So the next time that roof starts to leak, know that it could turn into much more than just a drop in the bucket if you don’t fix it now!

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Owning a home in Pound Ridge, NY is no different than anywhere else

Robert Paul is a real estate agent with Prudential Holmes and Kennedy in Bedford, New York. I specialize in new homes, luxury homes, and first time home buyers, in Bedford, Armonk, Chappaqua, Pound Ridge, Lewisboro and North Salem. Give me call at 914-325-5758 for all your real estate needs.

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Katonah NY is a Beautiful Town! | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Katonah NY Real Estate

Katonah NY Real Estate

Katonah real estate sales are up 84% in 2010. In 2009 19 Katonah NY homes sold in the first half of the year. In 2010 the number of transactions jumped to 35. Good to see.

Prices also jumped 15%. The median in 2009 was $595,000 and in 2010 it rose to $684,500. These are very good numbers in a weak market. Sales are up strongly and prices are firming.

In the first half of 2010 the average home selling in Katonah NY was 2896 square feet and sold at $274 per foot. Homes also sold faster in 2010. The average days on market dropped from 202 days to 158 days.

Like surrounding areas in northern Westchester inventory remains the big problem. It is a great buyer’s market. There are currently 119 homes for sale in Katonah NY. Prices range from $379,000 to $14,000,000. The median price is $912,500.

The big number is 20 months of supply. That median price will have to come down to get rid of supply. The economy is not growing strong enough to have a big increase in demand so the only way we clear supply is take your home off the market or lower the price.

We need price adjustments to maintain the pace. Katonah Homes thanks Katonah Realtor Robert Paul.

https://www.robertpaulsells.com/