Real Estate Information Archive

Finding Fall Foliage at its Finest!

It’s Autumn, and once again, the leaves rustling overhead are soon to change into their glorious fall colors before rustling beneath our feet. Here in the lower Hudson Valley, the fall foliage is particularly spectacular.

“According to www.sciencemadesimple.com, the leaves of deciduous trees change color as a way of preparing for the onset of winter. The website says:

“As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. “

 “During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll. “

“The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. ”

The further north the forests, the sooner they turn color. Prime leaf peeping on the eastern seaboard starts early in Maine and southern Canada, and marches progressively south as the days of late September and early October wane. By November, the show is over, at least for those of us in the lower Hudson Valley.

Going on leaf peeping trips this time of year is a favorite pastime for people living in Rockland and Orange counties in the Hudson Valley. One of my favorite places is the Walkway Over the Hudson. The trees along the Hudson River make a spectacular backdrop to views along the river.

Instead of driving, how about touring the leaf scene by boat? Get on The Pride of the Hudson Cruise in Newburgh. This narrated Hudson River adventure begins at the Newburgh Landing in Newburgh, NY. Your captain will point out the sights along the river including Mt. Beacon, Bannerman Island, Storm King Mountain, Breakneck Mountain, The Catskill Aqueduct, World's End, Cold Spring, and West Point. The price is a reasonable $20 per adults, less for seniors and children.

You can also take the Rip Van Winkle in the Roundout in Kingston. The experienced guide will point out millionaires' sumptuous estates, picturesque Hudson River lighthouses and quaint sleepy villages surrounded by the natural beauty of vineyards, orchards and scenic preservation sites. Or take a Hudson River water taxi shuttle on board their newest vessel, The Lark, from the dock in Kingston, NY to Rhinecliff, where you can dine, shop, and explore the New York shore of the beautiful Hudson River.

A non-nautical way of taking in the colors is a ride on the Catskill Mountain Railroad, departing from Phonecia or Mt. Tremper on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Experience sights you just can't get from your car, and without the hassle of driving. Take a comfortable seat in one of the vintage coaches, or enjoy the fresh air and panoramic views from their open carriages! Season specials run from October 1 to October 31.

Of course, if you must drive, there are plenty of driving tours available.  Some of my favorite tours are in Dutchess County. You can do the Rhinebeck area, Pine Plains to Stanford, the Hyde Park area, Washington, Poughkeepsie and LaGrange, Unionvale, or Wappinger, Fishkill and Beacon. Read more about these fall foliage driving tours on the Dutchess County website. Their department of tourism also has posted their 10 top spots for leaf peeping in Dutchess County.

So enjoy the season in this spectacular part of New York. It’s you last chance to get out and enjoy the weather before winter sets in!

If you need to do something noisy at home, take care not to cause a nuisance in your neighborhood, or disturb its quiet. A drill can produce between 90 and 100 decibels; the threshold of discomfort is 60 decibels.

We all contribuite to the audible environment. Be aware of the time of day that you run a lawn mower, or revert to using a manual mower. Rake leaves instead of investing in a leaf-blower. Enjoy the time in your yard with the sounds of birds and the wind in the leaves, not your machinery.

Greenhouse gases are naturally present inthe atmosphere and maintain temperatures on earth that are favorable to life. Too much greenhouse effect, however, leads to warming of the global climate. In the space of a century, world energy demand-used for electricity,heading,and trasportation,for example- has increased by a factor of thirteen. Most of this energy comes from oil, gas,and coal,which produce greenhouse gases.

By making a point of switching off lights that do not need to be on we can all save energy, especially when leaving a room, and by using daylight instead wherever possible. The less that electricity is used, the less energy is needed, and therefore less greenhouse gas is pumped into the atmosphere.

Domestic hot water should never be above 120F. Above that temperature the excessive heat tends to lead to lime scale and corrosion of pipes and apparatus. Lime scale increases heating costs by insulating the water from the heating source, and therefore more energy is needed to heat the water. Moreover, a badly maintained boiler can also lead to air pollution within the home.

To check whether your apparently harmless boiler is poinoning the air in your home or contributing excessively to warming the planet, have it serviced once every year.

Nature gives us rain, and for this, we pay nothing. Like solar and wind energy, collecting rainwater is a means of protecting the environment in a sustainable way. The rain that falls on the roofs of our houses could cover as much as 80% of our current annual domestic water consumption. In addition, collecting rainwater prevents it from flowing along the street, picking up pollutants, and depositing them into stormdreains and eventually into our waterways. Rainwater collection systems do double duty, conserving water and protecting our environment from pollutants.

Have a rainwater collection system fitted to your house to meet outdoor water needs, like watering the lawn and washing the car. At the very least, put a rubber garbage can beneath your rain gutter to collect rainwater. It's great for watering your plants too...

Chemicals affect our health - causing asthma, allergies, cancers and reduced fertility - and the health of the environment. They disturb the reproduction of certain species, kill aquatic life, make waste water even more difficult and expensive to treat, and pollute air and soil. Despite all this, human beings continue to come up with about 1,000 new substances every year, which are added to the 70,000 chemical products already on the market.

Most of the toxic chemicals used to unblock pipes contain lye or sulphuric acid. they are highly corrosive and extremely dangerous. Instead, use a mixture of boiling water, baking soda, and a plunger.

A large volume of the water taken from nature to meet humanity's growing needs is drawn from rivers. Rivers such as the Colorado in the USA and Mexico, the Jordan in the Middle East, the Indus in Pakistan, the Yellow River in China, and the Nile in Egypt vanish into the earth at certain times of the year in certain places because their flow is not enough to reach the sea. Rivers and streams in the United States suffer the same fate becuase of groundwater depletion. This happens during the dry months of the summer when the baseflows of the rivers are low and water is being pumped to irrigate lawns and gardens, as well as for use in homes. This year we have seen a very long summer with temeratures still in the 80'F in September which is putting a huge strain on our water rescourses.

Your dishwasher uses 15 gallons per cycle, which is less than washing dishes by hand. To further save water, only run it when it is completely full.

As O&R prepares for Earl, today's hot, steamy weather forecast has prompted the utility to issue another Summer Heat Watch advisory for today.

The weather is expected to push the load on the O&R electric system past 1,300 megawatts — today's forecast is for 1,382 megawatts — placing O&R on Heat Watch status. O&R's all-time electric demand record is 1,617 megawatts which was set on August 2, 2006.

The Heat Watch advisory means that field crews are focusing primarily on emergency work, with normal work being performed as system conditions permit. The advisory also means that distribution system engineers closely monitor the loads on distribution circuits, transformer banks and other key system components to detect any heat-related issues so any concerns are addressed quickly.

During these watches, O&R asks customers to conserve energy as much as possible to avoid a strain on the power system.

O&R offers these tips to Rocklanders as they prepare for the storm:

• For safety's sake, don't touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, call local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.

• Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash.

• If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away, and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.

• Stock up on non-perishable food, bottled water, manual can opener, baby supplies and pet food. Set your refrigerator and freezer controls to their coldest settings. Fill the bathtub with water.

• Have emergency equipment within reach — portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Update your personal list of emergency phone numbers. Keep O&R's toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.

• If you experience a power outage, don't assume that O&R automatically knows about it or that someone else will report it. To be sure the outage is reported, please call O&R toll-free at 1-877-434-4100 to let O&R know what happened. The more information you can provide, the more O&R can help you.

• Remember, if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.

• If a family member relies on electrically operated medical devices, secure a portable generator or make alternate arrangements for care. O&R does not provide customers with generators.

• Keep at least a half-tank of gas in your car. Consider having extra cash on-hand, in case ATM machines don't work.

• Listen for storm alerts on the radio. In case of power outages, O&R will keep the stations updated on repair progress.

• Learn how to manually open and close any electrically powered garage door, security door or gate.

In addition to its own overhead line crews, underground line crews and its gas department crews, O&R has contractors ready with heavy equipment to help if there is storm-related damage to the O&R system.

Donovan said O&R Emergency Management planners also are consulting with neighboring utilities about the impact along the hurricane's path and have been discussing preparations with the various mutual aid organizations to which the company belongs.

By Vanessa Saunders, MBA, MIMC.

Associate Broker, Baer & Macintosh Realty, Nyack, NY

 Someone said to me yesterday, “I’m not putting my house on the market now. Nothing’s selling in Rockland County!”  This was after the recent New York State Association of Realtors report announced lower July home sales. According to the report, the sale of existing homes fell nearly 37 percent in the Lower Hudson Valley in July. Although lower than the national average, it was at least better than the statewide drop of 50 percent.

 Personally, I’ve had an outstanding couple of months: closings on properties in Rockland and Orange Counties since June, more under contract for September and October, and a really nice collection of homes in Rockland, Orange and Westchester counties that I’ve listed that I know will sell.

 I guess I can see how someone might come to that conclusion. Recent news that housing sales in not only in Rockland County but nationwide went down last month, sent a shiver through wall street and got the talking heads rambling on about a double-dip recession.

 Economists blamed it on the end of the government’s stimulus package for home buyers – that everybody who was going to buy did so before the program ended in June. They say it sucked buyers into June like a vacuum cleaner sucks dust bunnies and left July hanging on the line.

 To that I say, “So what?” This is still a good time to sell!

 For one thing, interest rates are a lifetime low, as evidenced by the recent announcement of reduced “jumbo” loan rates for buyers of homes over $415,000. Buyers can get much more home for their mortgage dollar. We’re also seeing more qualified buyers, because banks have tightened loan requirements, we see many more buyers offering larger down payments to secure financing. I’ve even seen more cash deals than ever – we had 60 in Rockland County in July. I just closed a 1.3 million deal where the buyer bought with cash. Who needs banks!

 The point is, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary hysteria out there about selling a home right now. True, you won’t get the crazy money from the 2007 days. But you can still sell a home at a good price. Several of my sales over the last few months had bidding wars between motivated buyers reaping over listing price sales, even as much as $45,000 above asking price!

 The secrets to selling that homeowners need to know are marketing your home effectively, pricing it aggressively not by “giving it away”, but by doing the math to know that the property will appraise, then by using every tool in your Realtor’s tool box to bring in buyers. Don’t be discouraged by one month’s sales figures. There are buyers out there! I talk to them everyday! People move every month! More and more buyers are interested in Rockland and Orange Counties because of their proximity to New York City their affordable prices! Many corporations are moving personnel to this area. Several firms are in the midst of major relocations and their executives are looking hard at Rockland as it still offers great value, wonderful schools and lifestyle. For long term investments too, Rockland has got to be a good bet. With the Tappan Zee bridge expansion and the new rail link to the city going ahead prices and popularity will soar. If you haven’t seen buyers and you are on the market, then something is sadly wrong. It’s typically the price, sometimes condition and poor marketing. With a huge inventory that’s competing against you, all 3 need to be correct to make a sale.

 My advice to sellers, if you’re retiring, or moving to another job, or have other personal circumstances that say it’s time to sell, then go ahead. Buyers can see the value, if the value’s there.  

 Want to know if your home would sell? Call me for a confidential and candid evaluation; Call 845 598 5083.

Searching for the right neighborhood in Rockland involves feet on the ground as well as a fast internet connection. Here are five tips I think will get you started in finding the home (and neighborhood) of your dreams.