Tag Archives: Mt Kisco Homes for Sale

Migrants buying after Spanish real estate market bottoms out | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Buyer confidence is now returning to Spain via emigrants’ purchase of Spanish property at rock-bottom prices.

Recent house price data released by major real estate agents in Spain indicated that, in the most popular areas, prices have bottomed out and are attracting migrant buyers as a result. Russian and Far Eastern buyers are picking up bargains and the British and Scandinavians are re-entering the market.

There’s much to attract those wishing to emigrate, with prices in the Costa Brava, Marbella and Barcelona, recently down by up to 50 per cent on pre-crash prices, now showing a slight recovery due to renewed interest from overseas. The luxury market is faring best, particularly in beachside destinations such as Ibiza and Mallorca.

Buyers’ demographics are also changing, with increasing numbers of younger people in the 30-40 age group and fewer retirees being noted. Indian, American and Chinese investors are showing the most interest in the popular areas.

According to real estate agents, sellers are still open to price negotiation even although the best properties as regards location and amenities are listed at around 30 per cent below their true value. The Spanish government’s recently announced scheme to give residency to non-EU nationals purchasing a home for over €160,000 would seem to have kick-started the country’s ailing property market.

– See more at: http://www.emigrate.co.uk/news/20140102-8412_spanish-property-now-attractive-to-migrants#sthash.f3MLCa6e.dpuf

Classic European architecture mixes with modern furnishings in a newly open Edwardian home | Mt Kisco Homes

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Architect Stephen Sutro of Sutro Architects grew up in San Francisco just four blocks from this home, alongside one of the owners, who was a childhood friend. Years later, when the friend and her husband hired Sutro for this project, that long relationship made it easy to communicate and share ideas for the transformation of the couple’s Edwardian flat from a dark warren of small rooms to a light-filled family dwelling.
Houzz at a Glance Who lives here: A couple and their 2 children Location: San Francisco Size: 2,900 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms Year renovated: 2013
Photography by Aaron Leitz

“We call this project Parisian Modern Flat, because it uses the European idea of classic architecture as the backdrop for modern elements and furniture,” says Sutro. The architect reordered the rooms, making a large, open space up front and relocating the bedrooms in the rear of the house. Now the living room, dining room and kitchen are in one space.
Sofa: Dizani; art: Matt Lipps
The architect staged a delicate design balance. “By using classic molding and a herringbone-patterned floor, we referenced the era in which the house was built,” the architect says. A sofa with multisided seating has decidedly modernist attributes; it allows people to relax and enjoy the contemporary fireplace, the avant-garde photo collage, the more traditional bay window or the modern kitchen. “It is the perfect piece, because it has seating on all four sides,” says the architect. “It knits the room together.”
“The modern interventions create an interesting juxtaposition and a pleasant tension between the old and new,” says Sutro. The design of a fireplace in Tom Ford’s New York City flagship store inspired the architect to create this wood and limestone surround and mantel in the living room.
“The Lindsey Adelman light fixture defines the dining area and adds a formality to it,” says Sutro. Although the architect removed the division between the rooms, he left a suggestion of a wall between the dining room and kitchen to make a slight visual separation. “It’s just enough to suggest two spaces,” he says. “Dim the lights in the kitchen during a dinner party, and it seems to disappear.”
Light fixture: Lindsey Adelman; dining table: Link by Jakob Wagner, B&B Italia; dining chairs: Masters by Philippe Starck, Kartell

2014 good for housing, not so much for economic growth | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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The coming year will see the continued slow-but-steady recovery in housing and housing-related industries, minimal interest rate movements, less than stellar economic growth, and an improving purchase market.

That’s the prediction from the brain trust at FBR & Co. FBR is a leading investment bank that focuses its efforts across a broad array of industries including financial institutions and real estate, among a host of others.

Despite the overall tepid outlook, the FBR forecast does point to good signs for the origination market.

“Financials, particularly banks and thrifts, outperformed the broader indices in 2013, and, generally speaking, we expect in-line performance at best over the coming year as stock prices have drastically outperformed fundamentals for most spread-based lending businesses,” the FBR 2014 forecast states.

In particular, the mixed overall news looks good for housing.

“We expect that those subsectors most levered to a continued recovery in housing will outperform in 2014, as housing-levered industries should have the largest opportunities for growth in the near term,” the report states.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28386-fbr-2014-good-for-housing-not-so-much-for-economic-growth

 

U.S. Home Values Seen Gaining Most Since ’05, Zillow Says | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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U.S. homes gained $1.9 trillion in total value this year, the biggest jump since 2005, as the real estate market rebounded from the recession, Zillow Inc. (Z) said.

At the end of 2013, the housing stock will be worth about $25.7 trillion, Zillow said today in a statement. U.S. homes as a whole lost $6.3 trillion in value from 2007 through 2011 and have recovered 44 percent of that, according to the Seattle-based property-data firm.

Home prices are rising across the U.S. as investors drain markets of inventory and improving employment brings in more buyers. Almost 90 percent of the 485 metropolitan areas analyzed by Zillow had price gains this year. The total value of the nation’s housing stock jumped about 7.9 percent from 2012, the second straight annual increase, according to the report.

“The housing market continued to build on the positive momentum that began in 2012,” Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, said in the statement. “Low mortgage rates and an improving economy helped bring buyers into the market.”

Price increases will slow next year to a pace closer to the historic norm of 3 percent to 5 percent, according to Humphries.

The Federal Reserve yesterday said it will scale back asset purchases that have bolstered housing demand by keeping interest rates low. Improvements in the job market spurred the decision to cut spending on Treasuries and mortgage bonds to $75 billion from $85 billion starting in January, the Federal Open Market Committee said at the end of a two-day meeting in Washington.

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-19/u-s-home-values-gain-most-since-2005-zillow-says.html?cmpid=yhoo

Why today’s homebuyer needs a real estate agent more than ever | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Last summer I got an email from a local real estate attorney who wanted to buy a house. He’d just gotten engaged and wanted to save some money by representing himself.

This attorney wanted to do all the work an agent would do to find and buy his first home, and get paid a commission for his work. I explained to him that the commission is payable to the listing agent who agrees to pay a portion of it to the Realtor representing a buyer.

Usually, if there’s no buyer’s agent, the seller’s agent gets the entire commission. Some agents will accept a reduced commission for representing both parties.

The seller saves some money that way. Sometimes the savings get passed along to the buyer. I get several emails each year from homebuyers, usually first-timers, who want to know how they can get a real estate license so they can save money on the purchase of a home.

They find me through my blog, and apparently decide that I am too scary to work with, but not so scary that they can’t ask me a question or two. I always let them know that they do not need a license to buy a home, and that they do not need a real estate agent.

After I explain to them how to get a license — and that they have to work through a broker, who generally gets a percentage of each commission — they start to let go of their dream of being paid to find their own home. The buyers who want to do this are usually planning on buying a home that costs $300,000 or more — higher than average for a first-time homebuyer in this market — and planning on saving at least $9,000 by doing the work themselves.

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/12/12/why-todays-homebuyer-needs-a-real-estate-agent-more-than-ever/?utm_source=20131212&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.GuPAbDvB.dpuf

Design Details In New Batch of Hyde Midtown Renderings | Mt Kisco Realtor

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now.jpg The folks at exMiami have procured more renderings of the Related Group’s Hyde Midtown condo tower project, which they say show the “Arquitectonica touch” (more renderings at exMiami, this way).  A sales center is currently under construction at the 3 Midtown site.

The more detailed renderings show that the ground floor, if not exactly a head-turner, is at least well-designed. · New Hyde Midtown Renderings Show Arquitectonica Touch [exMiami] · Previous Hyde Midtown coverage [Curbed Miami]

We vent attics for four reasons | Mt Kisco Homes

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Most homeowners and builders believe that attics should be vented. If you walk down to your local lumberyard and lean on the counter, the employees and nearby customers will offer a variety of opinions about why attics need to be vented. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely that the statements you hear will be true.

Here are the four most common reasons people suggest to explain the practice of venting attics:

  • To reduce the chance of moisture build-up in the attic or condensation on the underside of the roof sheathing.
  • To make roofing shingles last longer.
  • To lower cooling bills during the summer.
  • To reduce the chance of ice dams.

Although attic ventilation is sometimes able to contribute in a very small way to addressing the problems on this list, there are much better solutions to all four problems than ventilation.

What does the code require?

If you plan to install insulation on your attic floor, then most building codes require that your house be equipped with soffit vents.

The standard code formula requires 1 square foot of net free ventilation area for every 300 square feet of attic floor area, assuming that half of the ventilation openings are located in the soffit, and half along the ridge. If a roof has only soffit vents and no ridge vents, most codes require 1 square foot of net free ventilation area for every 150 square feet of attic floor area.

BoomTown earns Google Partner status | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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BoomTown is set to receive special training and support from Google that it says will help it improve the marketing services that it offers agents.

The customer relationship management (CRM) system and marketing services provider has achieved certified Google Partner status in search advertising, giving it exclusive access to private Google events, Google beta programs, marketing support and a Google Partner profile page, the company said.

“BoomTown is proud to be part of the Google Partner program, and thrilled to offer this heightened level of service to our clients,” said Rivers Pearce, director of inbound marketing at BoomTown, in a statement. “We work diligently to exceed client expectations, and demonstrate their PPC dollars are expertly managed.

This partnership enables us to continue maintaining Google’s high standards while enjoying the benefits and continued learning provided in the partner program.”

 

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/12/02/boomtown-earns-google-partner-status/#sthash.mHtJldSo.dpuf

Indian Point Responds To Schumer’s Security Remarks | Mt Kisco Homes

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Officials from the Indian Point Nuclear Facility issued a response to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) suggestion that the plant’s maritime security be upgraded with around-the-clock boat patrols.

Here is the statement issued by Indian Point officials:

“We take every aspect of the security of Indian Point seriously, including the safety of the waterfront. The plant’s security capabilities are reviewed regularly by federal inspectors at the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), including during mock scenarios where our security teams must effectively defend against water-born adversaries in extremely realistic drills. The NRC has said that Indian Point is secure and that our highly-trained onsite security teams can protect the facility on land and at the waterfront. We look forward to working with the Dept. of Homeland Security in any additional review and expect that their work will confirm Indian Point has significant security capabilities and is a secure facility.”

Day and night boat patrols are not currently required of Indian Point, but Schumer said that 24-hour security by boat is a reasonable and achievable goal – by drawing on the combined resources of the U.S. Coast Guard, New York State, and local law enforcement – and called for federal experts to provide recommendations on the best way to close any gaps in Indian Point’s security.

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/news/indian-point-responds-schumers-security-remarks