Real Estate Information

I was recently asked to market a beautiful hilltop home just outside the Hudson river village of Cornwall. The house is stunning with a contemporary feel, spacious, light and bright. It has windows everywhere opening up the expansive views of the Hudson River far below and the distant Catskill Mountains. The home has four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms a huge family room on the lower level that's full of light from the many windows and French doors leading to a patio. There is a useful study adjacent to the kitchen and even an enormous bonus room above the garage with stairs for easy access, ideal for all your storage or even a playroom or man-cave!

So why has this home been on the market with two other Realtors and had very little interest? Easy answer, it's empty. Or rather, it was empty...now it has been "staged" for sale and the calls are coming in.

Most people that see an empty room without furniture are hard pressed to guess at the dimensions of a room. "Oh this room is too small for our furniture," they say. Or even, "It's weird, I just don't get the floor plan!"  Most that are viewing listings on the MLS or the many other Real Estate websites don't even want to view a home that is empty! Why do you think builders furnish show homes? Having worked with so many buyers over the years I know when this is going to happen and suggest "Staging" to my sellers.

Take a look at the before and after pictures, it's easy to see why most buyers don't "see" their furniture or how it will work in a space, unless they have an idea in front of them.

Amazing what a difference it makes isn't it?! 

How's it done? What does it cost? I bring in the professionals to assist my clients. This particular home was staged by Karen Grey Plaisted of Design Solutions. For the relatively low cost of putting this all together, my clients now have significant interest on their property. Of all the homes I have staged, I haven't ever had one expire on the MLS. All have sold, and several have had bidding wars, yes even in this market. So is "staging a property" worth the investment? Absolutely.

If you don't have the extra dollars to bring in the pro's to help out, there's plenty of advice to be had on the many HGTV shows. Here's a really good article to help you work out what's wrong with your property and the top ten things you can do to make it sparkle and SELL!

For more information on staging and advice on how to market your home to sell, contact Vanessa Saunders at 845 598 5083.

Formerly a studio to Illustrator/Artist Carlotta Petrina, this completely re-envisioned/renovated artist's cottage is picture perfect. Full kitchen and open living area space have 10 foot ceilings. French doors from Master bedroom/bath open onto landscaped patio and Sparkill Creek Estuary. Launch your Kayak or fish off your patio or stroll into Piermont to dine at any one of it's fine restaurants....a new lifestyle awaits you.Contact Angelique Ilo for showings and further information

The W. Rogowski Farm is a family operated farm located in the magnificent black-dirt region of Pine Island in the town of Warwick in Orange County NY. Old-fashioned family values and a progressive attitude gives the farm an atmosphere of warmth and welcome.

The Farms’ Produce is Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) - a grassroots alternative to the USDA's national organic program. Designed for small farmers distributing through local channels - farmers markets, roadside stands, local restaurants and community supported agriculture programs - the farms that make up your local landscape!

They grow many unique and custom varieties of produce for CSA members, high end restaurants and Farmers Market customers.

Take advantage of the great dining experiences on offer at the farm and enjoy the amazing, fresh from the field menus.

Breakfast At The Farm

Field To Fork Gourmet Supper Club

Black Dirt Gourmet

Catering Services

Private Dining Services

W. Rogowski Farm - Phone: 845-258-4574 379 Glenwood Rd, Pine Island, NY 10969

A lovely young couple called me last week, they asked if I would be able to show them any short sale properties in the area and proceeded to provide me with their information, pre-approval, etc. Both are working in good jobs but plan on starting a family sometime in the near future and hope to find an affordable home by buying a short sale property. Their long term plan is to get a better than starter home at a starter home price and hopefully stay in it while bringing up a family.

I was delighted to send them several options and also provided them with some information that they would need to be aware of when buying a SS Property. I met with them yesterday and we looked at four properties, one of which we are putting an offer on today.

When we met, they couldn’t wait to tell me that they had called no less than 12 Realtors in the area with exactly the same information as they provided me. Not one of those Realtors was willing or able to provide them with any short sale listings. Several steered them away to other listings in their price range ($500K - $600K) but not one was willing to help them find or show a short sale property. They continued to tell me that they been given many different reasons but most had told them that a short sale takes too long to negotiate and that because most buyers get so put off by the length of the process, they end up walking away from not only the house but the Realtor. They also told me that they were so frustrated that they started to research Realtors in the area on line and found me on Active Rain. That led them to my blog and they saw that I was a CDPE and have written many blogs about the subject of Short Sales and Avoiding Foreclosure. If we are lucky enough to negotiate a deal on the property they hope to make a home, they are fully aware of the time it may take to close. They are also aware it might not go through and are willing to take the chance. So am I. Given that these buyers have all the pre-requisites we need to go forward.

Wow! Who can afford to turn down business in this economy? Well qualified, motivated buyers are like gold-dust to me. A wait longer than the norm that will culminate in a sale one day (even if it’s not this one,) is certainly something I wouldn’t turn down.

Don’t we owe it to our clients to give better service than this? Who said Real Estate was a slam dunk anyway? Is this yet another reason that we aren’t clearing the backlog? What say you??

Enjoy majestic Hudson River views & distant Catskills from this gorgeous hilltop aerie. Everything you ever dreamed of for a weekend get-away or secluded country living year round. This home has it all! Custom built; light & bright. Ahh menities incl. cathedral ceilings, stone fireplace, fabulous wide open floor plan ideal for entertaining. Huge family room, bonus room above garage for all your storage & fabulous free-form Gunite heated pool with fully fitted cabana. Get away from it all;breath fresh mountain air, listen to the sounds of nature,& enjoy the magical ever changing vista below & RELAX. Commute if you must via train (15 mins away) from Garrison or 1hr drive to NYC. View The Tour! For Virtual Open House and further information.

For more info contact us at info@wesellny.com

This week we have a lot of great listings to share with you. From the hilltops of Orange County and riverviews of the Hudson, to a great co-op in Bronxville, Westchester and an original farmhouse victorian colonial in Congers, Rockland County. There should be something for everyone, including those wanting to own their own horse riding farm. Check out what's on offer and make a note of the website name for any you like, then visit the individual website of that listing for a virtual open house tour and links to area information. Enjoy!

Contact the V Team direct at info@wesellny.com or www.wesellny.com

A two-story Georgian Revival Style house, with a living room, hall, kitchen, two bedrooms, bath, and furnished attic can be yours for the holidays. But you can’t buy it or move into it. Unless you are very lucky or very, very small.

The Historical Society of the Nyacks is raffling a hand-crafted dollhouse with furnishings, made by the late noted artist and miniaturist Helen Norman of Sneden’s Landing. Proceeds of the raffle will benefit the work of the Historical Society, whose aim is to promote interest in local history.

The dollhouse is on display next to the circulation desk at the Nyack Library and tickets may be purchased there. The drawing will be at the Library at 4p on December 22.

The Historical Society of the Nyacks collects and exhibits artifacts related to Nyack history, publishes books and a scholarly newsletter, and maintains a small museum in its headquarters in the Depew House at 50 Piermont Avenue, Nyack. Its current exhibit is of enlarged prints of photographs of the Nyacks taken in the 1890’s and will be open from 1:00 to 4:00 on December 17 and 18.

Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. Purchase your tickets at the Nyack Library or mail your check payable to the Historical Society of the Nyacks, Attention: Betty Perry, 319 N. Broadway, Upper Nyack, NY 10960

10 energy savers that will take you under 15 minutes to put into action...and begin to hear the coins saved!

- Keep your home thermostat no higher than 68 degrees
- Clean your furnace filter
- Install storm windows (or shut them if they are open) If you don’t have any use an inexpensive vinyl film available at many hardware stores.
- Close your curtains, drapes and shades at night
- Use direct sunlight to heat the rooms during the daytime
- Vampire electronics!  Unplug unused electronics
- Shut the chimney flue when not in use
- Remove air conditioning units from windows
- Set hot water tank temperature settings at 120 degrees, no higher
- Learn to wash clothes in cold water (brr!)
For more energy in action hot tips go to

www.nationalgridus.com.  Electric savings here adds up to savings for our environment also.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties you might be eligible for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

I love to make the traditional turkey soup out of the left-over carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey. Another family favorite also comes from the delicious stock I make for the soup base and any leftover meat I have left-over after our Thanksgiving feast in this delicious Risotto.

I use some good mushrooms such as Chanterelles or even shiitake, but not Portabellos as they just don’t work with this recipe. I also like to use Chevre cheese with some Pecorino tossed over right before serving.

Make sure you stir the rice constantly for at least the 30 minutes which gives risotto that luxury comfort food creamy texture. Serve with a crisp white wine or pilsner lager and another yearly favorite will be born!

Turkey Mushroom Risotto Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Serves 4.

Please use risotto rice for this recipe or it will not work. Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano—work best as they contain special starches that slough off when you stir the rice, creating a creamy sauce without any added cream. You can use chicken stock instead of turkey stock,  turkey stock is what gives this wonderful risotto its truly turkey flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1/3 pound chanterelles or other fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, Vialone Nano, or other risotto rice
• Salt
• 2 cups turkey stock
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 2 ounces Chevre or other fresh goat cheese
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 Cup pecorino for sprinkling

Method

1 Bring the stock and the wine, to a simmer.

2 Heat the butter in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, until it begins to brown. Add the shallots and mushrooms and toss to combine. Salt them well and sauté until the shallots are translucent, about 3 minutes.

3 Add the garlic, sage and rice and stir well. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Add 1 cup of the simmering stock. Stirring constantly, let the stock evaporate before adding another 1/2 cup. Repeat, stirring almost constantly, until the rice is al dente, cooked through but still a little firm. This will take about 20-30 minutes.

4 When the rice is al dente, add the goat cheese and stir well to combine. Add the black pepper and stir again, sprinkle with Pecorino. Serve at once.

I love to make the traditional turkey soup out of the left-over carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey. Another family favorite also comes from the delicious stock I make for the soup base and any leftover meat I have left-over after our Thanksgiving feast in this delicious Risotto.

I use some good mushrooms such as Chanterelles or even Shiitake, but not Portabellos as they just don’t work with this recipe. I also like to use Chevre cheese with some Pecorino tossed over right before serving.

Make sure you stir the rice constantly for at least the 30 minutes which gives risotto that luxury comfort food creamy texture. Serve with a crisp white wine or pilsner lager and another yearly favorite will be born!

Small retailers traditionally don't get much of a sales bump on Black Friday, a day reserved for big chains to trot out their deepest price cuts of the Christmas season.

So American Express is sponsoring Small Business Saturday, an attempt to call attention to small, locally owned retailers across the nation as the traditional holiday shopping season kicks off this weekend.

The drive seems to be gaining traction, with just short of a million likes on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com /SmallBusinessSaturday, as of Wednesday afternoon they are even offering a $25 back coupon. This will help a lot of small business, but not those too small to own an American Express card reader and can't justify the stiff charges associated with owning one.

However, the idea behind Small Business Saturday, also being promoted on radio and TV and with newspaper advertisements by American Express, is to remind consumers that money spent in small, independently owned stores is an investment in the community whether or not you purchase with their card. Small Business Saturday founder Cinda Baxter, a blogger from Minneapolis who is a former stationery-store owner and now a retail consultant says,"For every $100 spent... $68 returns back to the local economy from payroll and taxes to related business expenditures," she said. She said that local return drops to $43 if spent in a chain store.

How that thought became a nationwide movement with American Express as its primary sponsor began as a call-to-action blog post by Baxter in March 2009.

She urged her readers to think of three independently owned businesses they would miss if they disappeared, and to consider that "if half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue."

Rosa Sabater, a senior vice president at the credit card giant, has been working with small-business customers for 15 years. What she has heard in the past six months, she said, has been "almost desperation."

"Their No. 1 need is sales," Sabater said. "They need people walking in their real door, or virtual door. If they have that, they can invest in jobs and infrastructure."

The Saturday after Thanksgiving made sense, Sabater said, considering "there's a Black Friday, there's a Cyber Monday," so named for the heavy Internet shopping done the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The small retailers of Piermont and Nyack hope that the weather which is forecasted to be a gloriously warm Saturday will bring out holiday buyers in droves not just to buy from the many wonderful small stores but to enjoy everything our Hudson River Villages have to offer.

See you in the Village!