Tag Archives: North Salem NY Realtor

North Salem NY Realtor

RIP Fail Whale: Twitter’s iconic error image bites the dust | North Salem Realtor

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There was a time when the sight of the Fail Whale was common on Twitter, back when the growing startup struggled to keep pace with its users and the sheer volume of tweets. Much has changed since then — including many more users and, of course, Twitter’s recent IPO — and now the company has admitted it killed off the cult whale this past summer.

Christopher Fry, senior vice president of engineering at Twitter, confirmed in an interview with Wired that the iconic image of birds lifting a whale has been replaced by robots.

The Fail Whale is a thing of the past. Actually, this summer we took the Fail Whale out of production. So if you come to Twitter, and there are always gonna be problems, no service is ever perfect. But right now you will see robots instead of the Fail Whale. So the Fail Whale image is not served by Twitter anymore. It had a long history and some of our users feel very connected to it. But in the end, it did represent a time when I don’t think we lived up to what the world needed Twitter to be.

Twitter had already effectively slayed the whale by improving its service and minimizing downtime, so the chances of spotting it were fairly remote. Still, those of us who were acquainted with it will mourn the passing of a symbolic image.

 

 

http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/11/25/

 

New York Times Explores North Salem’s David Letterman’s Book Of Satire | North Salem Real Estate

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The New York Times recently visited with North Salem resident David Letterman to discuss his new book, “This Land Was Made for You and Me (but Mostly Me).”

Letterman teamed up with illustrator Bruce McCall to create a book of satire that pokes fun at some fictitious habits of the cultural and financial elite.

The Times describes the book as a vehicle for some of Letterman’s ideas that he wouldn’t be able express on his late night talk show.

Read the full article here.

 

 

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/neighbors/new-york-times-explores-north-salems-david-lettermans-book-satire

Angular Inverted Home Built For the Views Asks $5.3M | North Salem Real Estate

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Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We’d love to see what you’ve got.

Location: Bar Harbor, Maine Price: $5,300,000 The Skinny: If you’re building a home on a wooded lot just outside Maine’s Acadia National Park, how do you get to the ocean and mountains views without taking a bulldozer to the vista-blocking trees surrounding your plot? Simple: you build an angular four-level home that towers above the trees, stack the floors in ascending order according to square footage, cover the whole thing in wood shingle siding and call it a day. That’s exactly what “organic architect” James Schildroth did with his Starbird house, and while the home gives off an unmistakably dated whiff of the mid-1990s (we direct your attention to the built in dining table surrounding the central stairwell), the stupendous panoramic views from the open-plan top level cannot be denied. The rest of the five-bedroom, six-bathroom, 7,800-square-foot home continues the top floor’s theme of plentiful windows, high ceilings, and ample recessed lighting. There’s also a faux wood-paneled elevator to serve the stair-averse. The property, which was owned by the late regional watercolor artist Mary Anne Starbird, is listed for $5.3M. —Scott Garner

Stabilizing September Prices and Inventories Build Market Equilibrium | North Salem Homes

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In September, inventories have returned to levels of a year ago and the buying season ended with the greatest price gains seen in years, according to realtor.com’s September trend report.

Many markets in California, Arizona and Nevada–plus Detroit–that were the center of the housing crisis now appear to be well on the road to a robust recovery. More than 20 percent of the markets covered by realtor.com reported exceptionally large year over year list price gains of 12 percent or more and exceptionally large inventory shortages.  As both prices and inventories become more balanced, affordability and availability will improve, creating better market conditions for both sellers and buyers, realtor.com said.

The recovery has yet to make an impact on markets where prices are the same or lower than they were last year at this time. Representing 20 percent of realtor.com’s markets, these are located in the Midwest, South and Northeast, including Cleveland, Trenton, Hartford, Cincinnati and Buffalo.  The impact of a weak economy continues to takes in toll in many of these markets but most have put in place the foundation for future growth.  Both inventories and age of inventories are down compared to a year ago.

The recovery is having an extraordinary impact on the heartland.  A number of major markets that didn’t suffer the brunt of the housing crisis nor face difficult local economic conditions had in an amazing buying season.  Chicago, Boise, Portland OR, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Ann Arbor, Washington, DC, Nashville, Houston, Denver and Corpus Christie have all achieved price appreciation of 12 percent or higher over last year.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/stabilizing-september-prices-and-inventories-build-market-equilibrium/

60 Sensational Social Media Facts and Statistics on Twitter in 2013 | North Salem Realtor

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Social media facts and statistics are often pieced together from sites that  seem credible but sometimes they leave a lingering doubt. Is it smoke, mirrors  or is it a fact? Stating it can be easy but verifying it can be almost  impossible.

As they say… “there are damned lies and then there are  statistics“.

When you are raising $1 billion in a public float, the numbers are under the  microscope. The government is glancing over your shoulder and the investors are  casting a withering eye and wanting a return. You are moving from private to  public and that can be unforgiving. Just ask Facebook’s executives after they  went public last year.

Twitter is floating part of its business to raise capital as it seeks to  continue growing on a web that doesn’t like downward subscriber and revenue  trajectories.

What has Twitter revealed?

Here are some of the numbers that were part of the 800 page filing for the  Twitter IPO.

  1. In 2010 Twitter’s revenue was $28 million
  2. Last year (2012) Twitter achieved sales of $317 million
  3. The first half of this year saw revenue of $254 million
  4. If this rate of growth continues it will exceed $656 million for the full  year
  5. 87 percent of revenue is from advertising
  6. Twitter currently has 218 million active monthly users
  7. 169 million of these users are from outside the USA
  8. Twitter has never made a profit
  9. It has lost an accumulated $419 million since launch
  10. Private investors have put a total of $759 million into the social networks  coffers
  11. Twitter has $375 million cash in the bank
  12. Twitter has generated 64 cents per user in the last 3 months.(Meanwhile in  the same period Facebook created $1.58 per user and LinkedIn a $1.53)
  13. Twitter is mobile centric and 65% of its advertising earnings are from ads  on tablets and smartphones
  14. There are 2,000 employees
  15. Market value on floating is predicted to be as high as $20  billion

So they are the numbers for the float. What are some other interesting social  media facts and statistics about Twitter?

The facts on tweets, hashtags and other numbing numbers

Twitter thrives on tweets and hashtags. What are some of the latest figures  on the 140 character web tweeting? I have pulled some numbers out of the  Infographic below for those who have to rush off to a meeting or are having a  short sharp coffee while reading this post.

  1. 135,000 Twitter accounts are registered every day
  2. 58 million tweets a day
  3. There are 2.1 billion searches on Twitter every 24 hours
  4. Some of the top and interesting hashtags include the potential reach  generated by these hashtags:  #mancrushmonday (5.5 million),  #TransformationTuesday(10.17 million) and #ThrowBackThursday (31.4 million)
  5. Justin Bieber has the largest following with over 44 million followers
  6. Katy Perry is second with more than 42 million
  7. Lady Gaga comes in third at 40 million plus

If you want to find out the other 38 facts you cn view them in the  infographic below

 

 

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/10/09/60-sensational-social-media-facts-and-statistics-on-twitter-in-2013/#CDD9LDdPvPxZ1meU.99

Wolfgang Puck Drops $14M on Pritzker-Approved L.A. Villa | North Salem Real Estate

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21 images

Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker—members of über-rich American family noted not only for its Hyatt fortune, but also as the benefactor of the famous architecture prize—have finally found a buyer for their eight-bedroom villa in Bel Air: celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. According to The Real Estalker, Puck laid down $14M for the Mediterranean spread christened Villa les Violettes. The place listed for $21.99M over a year and a half ago, when the Pritzkers’ new spread, a positively palatial compound boasting 53,000 square feet of living space and a bowling alley, wrapped up construction. That original ask was shaved down with painful sluggishness—18 times over the course of a year, to be exact—until, in March 2013, Villa les Violettes blinked off and on the market, emerging with a new $16.495M ask.

Inside the 1938 manse, which the Pritzkers bought in 2001 for $9.5M: a limestone foyer, a “ballroom-sized living room” with parquet floors and 15-foot ceilings, a double-height library, a media room, a silvered dining room, and a marbled kitchen The Real Estalker insists “will get a soup-to-nuts overhaul.” Outdoor details include a 3,500-square-foot garden and trellised flowers like whoa—plus a pool, a fancy-pants outdoor dining area, palm trees, resort-style furniture, and a tennis court.

 

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/08/wolfgang-puck-drops-14m-on-pritzkerapproved-la-villa.php

This home is a true homage to midcentury style | North Salem Real Estate

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Call it kismet. Call it a pipe dream come true. Matthew and Bobbie Fisher fell in love with a renovated midcentury modern house designed by architect Irwin Stein. But it was so out of their price range that they stayed put and kept house hunting. A year later Craig Wakefield, the Realtor who’d shown them the Stein-designed home, sent the Fishers an email letting them know that the house was still on the market — at a drastically reduced price. The Fishers landed their dream home, which turned out to be in nearly pristine condition. Perhaps that’s because the previous owners were dentists who had operated a practice out of the house. They had built a wing that included a waiting room, exam rooms, a reception area and a parking lot. The Fishers turned the latter into a sprawling meditative lawn, while the rooms became extra living spaces and storage. For the rest, all they had to do was fill it “with things we love,” Bobbie says.
Houzz at a Glance Who lives here: Matthew Fisher and Bobbie Ann Tilkens-Fisher, and their cats, Lucha and Lincoln Location: Wallingford, Pennsylvania Size: 2,600 square feet, plus a 600-square-foot attached former dentist office; 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 2 half bathrooms That’s interesting: The house was originally designed for a young  dentist the was voted among the best dentists and his wife, and included space for a fully operating dental practice, although now a days you can see post for several dentist services online, While Stein’s designs often incorporate wavy rooflines, he designed this home to mimic the leaves of the landscape’s tulip poplar trees, some of which still remain on the property. even in this website, that offer the best services for this.

midcentury entry by Adrienne DeRosa

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Simple lines come together to create dramatic planes and volumes across the exterior.
midcentury entry by Adrienne DeRosa

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The foyer offers an impressive view of what lies ahead.  Repeating materials and a neutral color scheme give the home a sense of flow that feels as natural as the surfaces themselves.
Bobbie found this vintage Turkish rug at auction; the sideboard was inherited from Matthew’s grandmother.
midcentury living room by Adrienne DeRosa

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A sunken den off the foyer receives abundant light from a bank of windows.  This room was added in 1968 after the original owners requested more space to accommodate their growing family.
Bobbie bought the curved 1950s secondhand sofa for $10 and had it reupholstered in durable Crypton fabric to save it from their cats’ claws. Built-in bookshelves clad in white laminate wrap most of the perimeter.
Cocktail table: vintage Adrian Pearsall
midcentury kitchen by Adrienne DeRosa

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While the Fishers might appreciate a little more wiggle room, they are in no hurry to make drastic changes to the kitchen, which bears the original cabinetry. “Matthew and I always said our next house would have a big gourmet kitchen and a big bathtub, and we have neither,” Bobbie says. “When we first moved in, we thought we would definitely need to replace the two-burner cooktop with a four-burner, but we haven’t. The kitchen is surprisingly efficient.”

False Alarm. First-time Buyers are Not Declining | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Are the numbers of first-time buyers shrinking, victimized by cash-bearing investors, credit-tight lenders mounting mortgage interest rates and soaring home prices? Are they “increasingly getting left behind in the real-estate recovery” as the Journal reported n July?

Well, not exactly, argue two economists from the Atlanta Federal Reserve.  Reports based on surveys of Realtors to the contrary, first timers are doing just well as ever, thank you very much.  “We do not share the concern about weakness in housing demand going forward because we are not convinced that the data indicates a material decline in first-time buyer participation,” concluded researchers Jessica Dill and Ellyn Terry.

Examining date from the Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey Public Use Microdata and the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey as well as other sources.

Claims of a decline in first-time buyer participation that appear to be based on a comparison of data across different surveys should be treated with caution, they said. There are several sources of data available for tracking the first-time buyer share of market. “In comparing the trends of each series separately, we don’t find there to be much in the way of a material decline in the share of first-time home buyers over the time periods and data series we examined.”

They examined the monthly American Housing Survey time series and he long-term linear trend line from October 1983 through September 2011 was slightly upward-sloping. Many have argued, though, that the first-time homebuyer tax credit program pulled demand forward and that the tax credit period (July 2008-September 2010) distorts the overall long-term trend. Indeed, when we exclude this time period, we find that the slope becomes slightly downward-sloping. They observed a similar trend when we fit a trend line to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers time series. From 2001 through 2012, the trend is slightly upward-sloping when they included the tax credit period and slightly downwardly-sloping when they excluded the tax credit period.

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/09/false-alarm-first-time-buyers-are-not-declining/

 

Most Americans Think Home Prices Will Rise Next Year | North Salem Real Estate

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Most Americans think home prices will go up over the next 12 months, especially upper-middle-income households according to a new Bankrate.com report.

Among households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 per year, some 65% expect prices to rise and just 6% expect prices to fall. Twenty-seven percent say they will stay the same and just nine percent forecast a decline.

In July, Bankrate established that 23% of Americans believe real estate is the best way to invest money not needed for more than 10 years. That was the second-most common response, slightly behind cash.

“It seems like Americans’ love affair with real estate has returned,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com’s senior financial analyst. “But there are still some clear headwinds, including rising mortgage rates, stubbornly high unemployment and the relatively low U.S. household savings rate.”

McBride said he didn’t see concern over rising rates reflected in the survey, which was taken during the first week of September.  Rather, he said the data indicated a higher degree of confidence in real estate as an investment than the stock market, which “puts a lot of eggs in the homeownership basket,” he said,

Bankrate found that Americans’ financial security turned negative in September for the first time since February. The Financial Security Index slipped from August’s 100.5 reading to 99.5 in September. Readings below 100 indicate deteriorating financial security compared with one year previous.

The readings on debt, net worth and overall financial situation dropped from August to September. Americans’ comfort level with their debt took the biggest hit; those feeling less comfortable than one year ago (21%) now outnumber those feeling more comfortable (17%).

Savings remains a drag on financial security, with those feeling less comfortable with their savings now compared to one year ago outnumbering those feeling more comfortable by a margin of greater than two-to-one. Whether looking at age group, income bracket or educational attainment, no group feels more comfortable with their savings now versus last year.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/09/6635/

 

Your relationships with inspectors don’t have to be scandalous | North Salem Real Estate

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In a recent Broker Notebook column, Inman News columnist Teresa Boardman discussed how, in her view, taking care of the buyer’s inspection is a questionable business practice. As someone who has been on both sides — a former real estate agent and current owner of a home inspection franchising company — I understand where the author is coming from.

I see her point of view and agree to a certain extent. But I don’t believe home inspectors and real estate agents fostering trusted networking relationships is necessarily a questionable practice.

On the contrary, I think it can really help the customer. Undoubtedly, it can become a problem when home inspectors and real estate brokers become too buddy-buddy for the homebuyer’s own good.

But, having been on both sides, I believe that when a real estate broker finds a certified professional home inspector who consistently offers an unbiased third-party look at a property, it is oftentimes in the best interest of the homebuyer to utilize that trusted home inspector.

Let’s consider an example from that highly popular Fox program “Scandal” for clarity — and please disregard the fact that the name of the show is “Scandal” for the purpose of this analogy.

Those who have watched the series know that the lead character, Olivia Pope, is a professional fixer who is hired by clients to fix things, no matter the problem. Along with her associates, Pope uses any means necessary to protect the client. In a dramatic turn of events during one episode, one of her clients is working against Pope’s dearest friends

 

Read more…

 

http://www.inman.com/2013/09/27/your-relationships-with-inspectors-dont-have-to-be-scandalous/#sthash.wqvhMii9.dpuf