Tag Archives: Mount Kisco Homes

Fed taper remains guessing game | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at news coming across HousingWire’s weekend desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues.

Looking forward to the week ahead, one of the most anticipated events will be the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday, where Ben Bernanke will give his last press conference as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Most observers expect no major change in interest rates. There is, however, speculation about the Fed’s Treasury and bond-purchase policy. Decisions on whether or not to continue at the same pace is decided in FOMC meetings. While many economists expect the Fed’s bond-buying program to remain unchanged until January or even March, there is growing sentiment that Wednesday might see some announcement.

It is important to note, that for every report showing a sentiment to taper this year, there is another suggesting otherwise.

“Fed officials face a more difficult decision at their meeting next week, as the employment and growth data have picked up since the October meeting” said analysts at Goldman Sachs in a weekend note to clients. “But our central forecast for the first tapering move remains March, with January possible as well.”

In a Reuters poll last week of 60 economists, about half expected the Federal Reserve to wait until March to start the tapering program, but 12 economists — almost one fourth — now see this week as more likely. That’s a steep increase from the three who predicted that in a poll a month ago.

The November drop in unemployment to 7% is certainly a factor in considering tapering, but there are still plenty of signs that the U.S. economy is not strong enough for a cutback in the stimulus.The positive affect on the housing market of that lower unemployment number may be offset by the expanded unemployment benefit that expires at the end of this month.

In the two-year budget deal that the House of Representatives reached this week, that benefit — which has been providing the unemployed with an extra 14 weeks of help — was not renewed. That will immediately affect 1.3 million Americans who are receiving that help now, along with another 3.6 million who would have qualified in 2014.

And although the unemployment rate declined for young workers — 16 to 24 year olds — from 15.1% in October to 14.1% in November, that number is still double the national average. As HousingWire reported last month, the decline in the overall homeownership rate to 63.9% this year shows that there are still significant barriers to first-time buyers — including that Millennial market that will be key for the future of housing.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/28305-monday-morning-cup-of-coffee-fed-taper-remains-guessing-game

 

Investors’ Market Share Rises as Foreclosures Fade | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Despite a seasonal slowdown in activity, the housing market continued to post some interesting metrics in October, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

One of most interesting was a rise in home purchases by investors despite declining numbers of foreclosures. Since hitting a 23.1 percent home purchase market share back in February, investor participation has tumbled through most of this year – hitting a three-year low of just 16.6 percent in August. The monthly rate is based on a three-month moving average.

But over the past two months, the investor share has actually risen, climbing to 16.9 percent in September and then 17.4 percent in October. The two-month rise in investor activity is significant given that it occurred at the same time that the proportion of distressed properties in the housing market has continued to fall.

The HousingPulse Distressed Properties Index, which reflects the share of home purchases involving real estate owned or short sales, fell to a four-year low of 24.1 percent in October based on a three-month moving average. This was down from 24.6 percent in September and 35.1 percent in October of 2012.

Among the other positive housing market metrics seen in the October HousingPulse results were continuing low average time-on-market for non-distressed properties and high average number of offers for non-distressed properties. The national average-time-on-market for non-distressed properties was 8.9 weeks in October, while the national average number of offers on non-distressed properties last month was 2.1.

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/11/

Monetize Your Social Media Campaigns With These Tech Tools | Mt Kisco Realtor

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Social media has become an even bigger part of consumers’ lives in the past year, making it clear what some once thought was a trend is likely here to stay. In fact, social media users are finding more innovative ways to interact, with videos and photos playing a greater part in the way people communicate with each other online.

Marketers are hard at work, as well, trying to find new ways to leverage the power of social networking to reach new customers. Fitting social media interaction time into busy schedules is an ongoing challenge for business owners, however, with Facebook and Twitter accounts often abandoned for days at a time as professionals deal with more pressing issues.

Fortunately, help is available. Numerous tech tools can help professionals manage social media accounts, even taking care of posts for them. But with so many tools on the market today, how can a professional possibly sort through them all? To help, I’ve put together a list of some of the best resources for managing, tracking, and getting the most out of your social media-based marketing campaigns.

“The only way to sort through all the tools out there is to do your own research and try them out. Many tools have a free 30 day free trial so you can feel comfortable with what you’re getting” Anne Ward, CEO of CircleClick said in a recent interview.

Klout for Business

“Influence” has become an important word in the world of marketing, with businesses having rapidly realized the reach of those who have large online followings. Klout for Business helps businesses identify influencers in their own social media circles to allow them to reach out to those individuals to spread their message. Using “Perks,” businesses can offer trial versions of products to top influencers in exchange for a mention on their high-traffic sites, allowing those businesses to reach a large number of social media users at once.

Rowfeeder

With Rowfeeder, businesses can gain insight into topics that are trending, including topics that concern their own industry. This analysis can be used to tweak your own campaigns, allowing you to reach out to consumers using the terms that interest them. In other words, you can include the terms in your campaign that are most likely to be searched, driving customers directly to your posts. It also can be used to track your own campaigns by following a particular hashtag and delivering data about activity on that hashtag. How many times was it re-tweeted? How many followers did each re-tweeter have?

Mention

This alert program monitors a user’s social media accounts and sends notifications when a specified search term receives a mention. Mention searches posts in 42 different languages, delivering those back to give businesses a global view of a message’s reach. Social media interactions can also be conducted directly through the Mention interface for added convenience.

MediaFunnel

MediaFunnel is ideal for organizations interested in involving multiple team members in managing and monitoring accounts. Posts can be deployed across multiple social media platforms at once, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress, and LinkedIn. Items can be set up to post at specified intervals, allowing businesses to choose the best time of day to reach their individual customer base.

HootSuite

Popular social media dashboard service HootSuite integrates with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ Pages, Foursquare, WordPress, Mixi, and almost every other service available through its supplemental App Directory. Users can schedule posts and monitor activity, as well as pull reports to identify the performance of campaigns. Through an app, users can manage social media accounts on the go.

Chirpify

Imagine if you could sell event tickets or gather entries for a contest directly on Twitter. Chirpify gives promoters that capability, allowing them to connect an account that is then assigned a specific hashtag. Customers Tweet using a hashtag (#entertowin, #partytickets2014) and the information is captured by Chirpify, who processes the payment or logs the entry for the business.

Triberr

One of the best ways to grow your audience is to interact with others. Triberr connects you with people who are interested in the same topic you are, separating topics into “Tribes” to better help you find blogs that relate to your own interests. You can gather social media followers on Triberr, since you’ll be regularly interacting with others who share your interests.

Shortstack

Shortstack helps businesses create professional-looking Facebook pages, complete with polls, forms, and more. The service provides more than 60 templates and 70 themes to let small businesses find the look that fits their own unique style. For pages with less than 2,000 likes, the service is completely free, with the price increasing as a page gains more fans.

Infogr.am

Infographics are a great way to connect with today’s visually-driven social media audiences. Infogr.am is a tool that helps businesses put together infographics that convey a message for free. Businesses can import existing spreadsheets or create new ones in order to populate pie charts and bar graphs. Once an infographic has been created, it can be downloaded or shared to social media sites directly from the site.

Feedly

One way to keep social media audiences interested is to repost news that is relevant to your industry. Feedly provides a way to keep up with what’s going on in the world, with information delivered in one compact dashboard. These links can then be shared to Twitter directly from the app. Feedly is also a way to keep up with information your social media contacts recommend to better keep you informed.

VideoRascal

In case you haven’t noticed, animated explainer videos are all the rage. In just a short snippet, you can create a fun explanation of what your business does. Visitors to your website, looking for a quick description of your product or service, will be intrigued by the animated characters and you’ll save the money you would have had to spend hiring a camera crew to record you talking about your service. VideoRascal promises a video for less than $99, using the templates the site provides. You then add a script, record a voiceover, and choose the music you want to go with the video. Once complete, you can export the video for use on your website and social media sites.

Social media remains a vital part of business marketing. Using these helpful tools, businesses can maintain and manage their social media accounts while still remaining on budget.

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2013/11/13/monetize-your-social-media-campaigns-with-these-tech-tools/

10 Affordable Big Cities for Renters | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Homeownership isn’t for everyone. Some, including many young adults, simply  don’t have the money for a down payment on a house. Others covet the  flexibility of renting, which makes it easy to move across town for a  better apartment or cross-country for a better job.

Renting is an especially popular option in big cities, where career, social  and educational opportunities tend to be clustered and populations tend to be  more transient. In fact, renters outnumber homeowners in six of the ten  most populous cities in the country, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.  But not all rental markets are created equal. An apartment in Manhattan goes for  an average of $3,350 a month, more than triple the typical American’s mortgage  payment.

That’s why we went in search of the most affordable big cities for renters.  To pinpoint these promising places, we started with the nation’s 75 largest  metropolitan areas and ranked them based on average monthly rent, median  household income for renters, residential rental vacancy rate and overall cost  of living. Our top ten cities exhibit an appealing combination of  affordable living expenses, including rent, relative to the typical earnings of  renters. Take a look.

 

 

 

Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/real-estate/T006-S001-affordable-big-cities-for-renters/index.html#JL1FdUKlUHrD8dvx.99

Despite uncertainties, homebuilders remain optimistic | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Despite some recent wobbling in economic and housing indicators, more homebuilders still view market conditions as good than poor, the National Association of Home Builders said today.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index remained at 54 in November unchanged from October after a downward revision.

“Given the current interest rate and pricing environment, consumers continue to show interest in purchasing new homes, but are holding back because Congress keeps pushing critical decisions on budget, tax and government spending issues down the road,” NAHB Chairman Rick Judson editorialized in a statement accompanying the release of the latest index.

“Meanwhile, builders continue to face challenges related to rising construction costs and low appraisals.”NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said that uncertainty about government policies and economic uncertainty is undermining consumer confidence, but that builder confidence remains above 50 “is an encouraging sign, considering the unresolved debt and federal budget issues cause builders and consumers to remain on the sideline.

”The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months, and asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers. Scores from each component are used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index, with any number over 50 indicating that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

The HMI index gauging current sales conditions in November held steady at 58. Expectations for future sales fell one point to 60, and traffic of prospective buyers dropped one point to 42.

 

 

Source: nahb.org – See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/despite-uncertainties-homebuilders-remain-optimistic/#sthash.5wFo8nm7.dpuf

DIY Garden Lights | Mount Kisco Homes

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Reuse plastic bottles to make these easy, elegant DIY garden lights that cost  almost nothing.

After you’ve gathered the materials and tools, it takes only about 10 minutes  to put together this garden light for your property.

Step 1: What You Need

Materials and tools you’ll need to make one DIY garden light:

  • One plastic bottle (A translucent bottle works well; you can reuse plastic  bottles that originally held laundry detergent or fabric softener.)
  • One old bicycle inner tube, or at least 6 rings cut from an inner  tube
  • One broomstick, as long as you prefer
  • Pair of scissors
  • Small hacksaw
  • Tea light (small candle in an aluminum container)

Step 2: Sawing

Use the hacksaw to cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle as well as a thin  slice off the top of the cap.

Step 3: Quarters

Make four long cuts with the scissors along the corners of the plastic  bottle.

Step 4: Petals

Shape the four parts from Step 3 into leaves by trimming off the rounded  corners.

Step 5: Cap Adjustment

Unscrew the cap from the plastic bottle. If there’s an inner ring on the  bottom of the cap, remove it with the hacksaw. The goal is to make the cap flat —  and open — on the underside.

Step 6: Big Match

Cut six rings from the bicycle inner tube. Pull the rubber rings over the end  of the broomstick, one at a time, so that they cover each other and form a  layered gasket. Make sure the broomstick’s end has been built up with enough  rubber layers so that the bottle cap can be pushed on only with some effort. You  may need to cut more rubber rings if the seal is too loose.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/plastic-bottle-garden-lights-zboz1309ztri.aspx#ixzz2kiv0ie9F

Bed-Stuy eyed as next Williamsburg | Mt Kisco Realtor

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A brokerage firm born 11 years ago in a once coming Brooklyn neighborhood called Williamsburg is opening an outpost in another area where it sees loads of potential, Bedford Stuyvesant.

Aptsandlofts.com recently inked a lease for 2,000 square feet on the ground and second floors at 308 Malcolm X Blvd. between MacDonough and Decatur streets. It will be the broker’s third office in the borough, the second having opened just last year in Cobble Hill.

“I’m seeing in Bed-Stuy what I saw happen in Williamsburg in 2002,” said David Maundrell, founder and president of the firm. “We’ve been working out there for a very long time.”

As low inventory and high costs push more prospective buyers and renters into Bed Stuy, sales transactions have been heating up, according to Mr. Maundrell. For example, he has seen families move into the neighborhood and plunk down $1 million to convert a three-family home into one just for themselves, something that would have been unheard of just a few years ago.

The neighborhood is home to a diverse housing stock, including blocks of brownstones that Mr. Maundrell said are more reminiscent of Cobble Hill, which has also been attracting a steady increase of buyers.

Aptsandlofts.com is far from the only brokerage doing business in Bed Stuy. The city’s biggest residential firms, among them Douglas Elliman, Corcoran, Halstead Property, and Brown Harris Stevens all have numerous Bed Stuy listings. What they don’t have, however, is an office there. Instead, Aptsandlofts will compete head to head in Bed Stuy with a number of smaller home-grown brokerages. Mr. Maundrell said he hopes to offer something in between.

 

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20131112/REAL_ESTATE/131119972

Hong Kong Luxury Property Prices Choked by Tightening | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Hong Kong businessman Raymond Chiu says he has perfect credit and is prepared to spend about HK$16 million ($2 million) on a 1,000-square-foot apartment in the city’s Mid-Levels residential area. There’s just one catch. The government requires a 50 percent down payment.

That’s “really putting us off,” said Chiu, 45, who owns an information technology consulting company. “I run a business so cash flow is important. It’s frustrating because this is non-negotiable, though I have perfect credit history.”

Prices of high-end apartments, defined as those larger than 1,000 square feet or costing at least HK$10 million, have gained less than the broader market since the second half of 2012 as buyers in Chiu’s price bracket have been hardest hit after the government raised minimum down payments six times over less than three years as part of curbs to make homes more affordable.

The slowing price growth in high-end apartments is the first sign that efforts to temper rampant speculation that has fueled a surging housing market are working even as it stings luxury developers and potential homebuyers. Broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. forecasts that prices of homes valued at more than HK$10 million will fall about 3 percent in the fourth quarter, extending a 3 percent drop so far this year, while those selling for less will be little changed.

“The luxury segment has taken the first and the most direct hit,” said Buggle Lau, chief analyst at Midland Holdings Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest realtor by branch numbers. “The measures were aimed at driving the speculators away and they have certainly achieved that, but many people wanting to buy for their own use are also affected.”

World’s Highest

An influx of wealthy buyers from mainland China, mortgage rates close to record lows and a financial-services sector that has thrived thanks to fundraising by Chinese companies helped fuel a 250 percent increase in luxury-home prices from 2003 to the beginning of 2012, outpacing the 150 percent gain in mass-market homes, according to statistics compiled by Savills Plc. The London-based broker defines luxury homes as those with at least 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) or value of at least HK$15 million.

Hong Kong home prices are the world’s highest in a Savills survey of 10 cities, including London, New York and Tokyo. The value of luxury properties will drop as much as 5 percent in the second half after a 3.2 percent decline in the first three months of the year, according to Savills. Prices in the mass market will see no change after increasing 1.7 percent in the first six months, the broker said.

Luxury Projects

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., a developer of luxury residential projects, plans to build more, smaller apartments because of a change in buyers’ appetites, Victor Lui, the company’s deputy managing director, said in September. The company, one of Hong Kong’s two-biggest developers by market value, reported lower profit from sales for the year ended in June.

There were about 86,000 luxury homes — or units of at least 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) — in Hong Kong at the end of 2012, according to statistics from the government. That represents about 7.7 percent of private homes in the city. About 24 percent of the 10,149 new homes completed by developers in 2012 were larger than 100 square meters, government statistics show.

The gap between the top end of the market and the cheaper bracket narrowed last year as the government’s mortgage tightening started to impact the luxury segment. Prices of mass-market homes rose 20 percent in 2012, almost double that of luxury homes, according to Savills. Prices of luxury homes began to decline after the government in October 2012 slapped a 15 percent tax on all non-resident buyers as it sought to stem the inflow of Chinese capital into the property market.

Chinese Buyers

“For a while, Chinese buyers were the main driver for luxury homes,” said Thomas Lam, Hong Kong-based research director at broker Knight Frank LLP. “When you raise buying costs for them, of course it takes away a large part of the demand.”

Mainland Chinese buyers accounted for an estimated 8 percent of private home sales in the city, a former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, in the third quarter of this year, down from a record 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd. Since October 2010, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de-facto central bank, has raised the minimum down payment required for home purchases over HK$10 million to as much as 60 percent from 30 percent, and to 50 percent for those from HK$7 million to HK$10 million. The most recent round took place in February.

Mortgage Rules

That month, the government doubled stamp-duty taxes for all properties over HK$2 million, with new tax rates ranging from 1.5 percent for properties valued below HK$2 million, to 8.5 percent for those priced above HK$21.7 million.

“The extra stamp duties and mortgage rules are like progressive taxes,” said Vincent Cheung, Hong Kong-based national director of valuation at Cushman & Wakefield. “The higher the property value, the higher the tax rates and the tighter the mortgage rules. Of course this would impact luxury properties the most.”

Hong Kong’s government won’t cut back property curbs until there’s a “steady supply” of new housing, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said in June.

There were 607 sales of homes worth over HK$12 million in the third quarter, according to statistics compiled by Centaline. The number is the lowest since the first quarter of 2009, according to the Hong Kong-based realtor.

 

 

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-10/hong-kong-luxury-property-prices-choked-by-tightening.html