Merry Christmas from New York. 

One of the things I love about where I live is a Christmas Eve tradition in my old neighborhood where the people line the streets with candles. It is a sight to behold in person, and even though it was late on a Christmas Eve, you can see other cars driving through in the video to see the lights for themselves. I always loved this as a child, and I was jazzed to show it to Catherine, my 6 year old daughter, for the first time tonight. We live in the adjacent neighborhood now. 

I have blogged about this “Indian Village” neighborhood tradition before, but this is the first time I ever posted a video of the lights. 

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has rejected Westchester County’s latest proposal for affordable housing to be built in the county as a result of last year’s settlement of the government’s lawsuit.

The “problem” is as old as the county, but the upshot is that the government has said enough is enough and it is time to break down the economic barriers that have kept some towns in the county overwhelmingly white. You can read more background on the issue from the NY Times and Anti discrimination Center website. 

There are some who will accuse the government of trying to be a social engineer, and I can understand the sentiment. However, I think that the crux of the matter is that the county has been taking money from the government under false pretenses for decades, and government money comes with mandates that if not met can get you in hot water. In our county’s case, that hot water spelled out to a $50 million settlement and the construction of 750 affordable units in towns that had a dearth of diversity or housing priced to foster it. 

In actuality, the real social engineering has been by the local municipalities themselves since the Second World War. When you are less than an hour from Manhattan and your population is some ridiculously high percentage white, the fix is in, whether it is zoning, selective rejection of development, or whatever else they have going on. The result is that neighboring towns become very diverse, creating a checkerboard -like quality in the area that is only spoken of in hushed tones in polite company. 

It is almost 2011. That doesn’t wash. The Not in my Back Yard ethic has to go, and the towns that are behind the affordability and diversity curve need to step up and dispense with the excuses and foot dragging. It is the right thing to do. 

I suppose I could find a real estate angle for just about anything, and I will now as well: in today’s paper, a “spa” located down the street from my office was raided and the police arrested two in a prostitution sting. Earlier this month, the same thing happened in Mohegan Lake, NY a hamlet of Yorktown. Smarter people than I could write volumes on who, why, and how. My observations are those of a guy who brokers real estate, not a commentary on morality. Full disclosure: I have had clients in the, shall we say, adult industry. 

While I know Westchester is considered affluent, the world’s oldest profession has always been with us. And while the perception is that it was always on the other side of the tracks, it has always more or less been in our back yard. Concealed, but there. That said, I have never seen “open and notorious” examples of the thing as much as I have since the economy went south. And brother, I mean almost overnight the change occurred. Here’s what I mean: doctor’s offices, storefronts, and office space are now getting, um clogged with these places, almost all of which popped up (sorry) in 2008 or after. More than one of my friends is going to kid me about this, but you can set your watch now by when your suspicions about a place are confirmed with an arrest report in the paper. You’d read about it once a year before, now we have two reports just this month. 

This tells me that the recession has hit retail and commercial space as hard as it has hit housing. What’s worse, a vacant storefront or a rent-paying “spa?” I don’t blame landlords for erring on the side of paying their bills. 

Another peculiar thing is the practitioners. If you are a child of the 80’s and think Pretty Woman, think again. The ages of the women arrested were 46, 46, 47, and 54. We’re not talking about Julia Roberts working her way through college. Whatever granny was doing before the economy crapped out she’s not doing anymore. 

I think what it all means is that nature abhors (sorry) a vacuum, and that when the real economy goes south the underground economy steps up. The space is there, the cheap rent is there, the willing landlords are there, and the workers desperate for money are there. The clientele has been there since the ink dried in the bible. 

The funniest part of the whole thing was the report that mentioned that the Mohegan Lake place charged credit cards as the “Han Deli.” I am going to go out on a limb and say that an encounter with a prostitute costs more than a corned beef on rye. Can you imagine the look on the wife’s face when she sees a $300 charge to a delicatessen? I want one of those subs! 

One last slightly unrelated item: On one of the tributaries of Google I hit while researching this post I came upon the fact that the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics was won by a team that researched how strippers who were ovulating earned higher tips than those who were doing that other thing. 

At any rate, I expect to read about fewer 50-year old hookers as the economy recovers. Then I’ll know we’re doing better. 

I suppose I could have rounded off the title to $300,000, but why not be precise. $297,500 buys a really nice cooperative apartment in the Edgemont complex with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a balcony. As you can see, the place is fabulously updated with a sparkling new kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. It also has newer updated bathrooms, refinished floors, and a fantastic location near all that Central Park Avenue has to offer: shopping, commuting points, and great restaurants.  

The complex itself has great amenities, with a ample parking, laundry on every floor, security, playground, fitness gym, and a beautiful swimming pool. 

We have done business in the Edgemont before, with a 3 bedroom unit we closed on this past summer for $360,000 listed and sold by Yours Truly. Not bad for a little brokerage in Briarcliff Manor. Tom Ricapito, one of our best agents, listed the unit and reported a smooth transaction for the clients. Thanks to Sothebys in bringing the buyer. This one is gone, but we can help you buy or sell others. If you’d like to peruse the inventory, get yourself a free Listingbook account! 

For the second time in a week I had a conversation where the idea came up that a high volume producer (which, I guess, I am for my market) doesn’t typically give the same level of service to the client as a smaller numbers person who ostensibly has more time. I don’t take umbrage with the thought; there might be some truth to it, but not here. So I’ll share something. 

One of my agents brought in a listing once that was a co op apartment in serious arrears to the bank and the management company. An auction date was set for a week hence, and no agency was going near this home owner. She didn’t have the money to hire an attorney, and even if she stopped the auction, problems with the co op loomed large. 

She had one thing: equity. The mortgage was relatively small, and the apartment, while in disrepair, would sell if priced right. New York agents know, however, that you can’t just dump a co op; the board has to approve the price. It is an obstacle course. This much I knew: If I advanced her the money to stop the auction, then all I’d need to do to make the sale, get her out of hot water, and get paid back would be to simply sell the place. 

So I drove her to a good lawyer referred by the real estate attorney we were using and paid him, myself, to help her file. We then drove to the courthouse and filed. The auction was stopped 3 hours before it was to occur. 

Now, you should know that having owned the place for 30 years and a septuagenarian, my client was more than a little stressed. A teacher for decades, she was ill at ease with financial distress and all that came with it. She needed hand holding, patience, support, and now then, a shoulder and handkerchief. 

We then got to work at selling her apartment, which took another 4 months and another procedure to stop an auction. I paid for that also. Finally, we found our own buyer, and ironed out a deal we thought the co op could live with. And, with some cajoling, they were approved. They closed 6 days before a 3rd auction date that was set. 

In total, I was paid back every cent of the $2700 I advanced the client. She realized almost a quarter million in equity that she rolled over to start her new life again as a retiree. Does she love me? Yes. And not because I threw money at a problem. I treated her like she was a million dollar client. The lawyer who help us stop the auctions still to this day can’t believe it and he told me on more than one occasion that I was absolutely nuts, and it was impossible to make this work. But it did, I I frankly give more credit to my first broker, who taught me the business, than my own wits. After it closed, I called him to thank him, again, for teaching me how to solve problems just a little better than the other guys. 

I’ve loaded moving vans, dumpsters, and picked up shovels to fill holes for FHA or to show a footer is legal. But I am more proud of the mundane, day to day, person to person caring that clients get. So, I would say that my little company, while being perceived by some as a transaction mill, gives service that goes above and beyond the regular, the hardworking, and maybe even the sane. But I like it like that. 

$350,000 goes pretty far in Brewster these days. Today we closed on a listing at that very price which was quite uncommon: a Victorian manor house on 2 acres with a carriage house/garage and a view of the reservoir. It had been purchased in 2005 for $562,000 and restored before the economy tanked. An 1870 build (by circus entrepreneur Seth Howes), it had all the original moulding and trim, a root cellar, a greenhouse, a small out building, cobalt glass windows, porches, balconies, the original outhouse, and had been featured in some publications for its beauty and architectural note. As a matter of fact, the new owner is only the 4th owner since it was built during the Civil War reconstruction period! 

The home is 2300 square feet and has 5 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The whole setting is private, secluded and wonderful, yet the location is convenient to the highways and the village of Brewster, just 5 minutes away by car.

The home was a short sale, and in the process of getting the approvals, we were able to procure for the seller a $7,000 relocation credit from the first lender. Happy endings all around-not easy, but happy all the same!  

Every first of the month Ronnie, our administrative assistant, arrives at the office and begins the daunting task of addressing letters to several hundred homeowners whose listing expired at the end of the previous month. One of the good people who came off the market on November 30th called me and we met just this evening to see how I could help them sell. The details of why homes do not sell are not unfamiliar to me; price is certainly a big reason, but there are often other fatal mistakes the prior agent made that punctuate the home’s failure to sell. In this case, the home’s MLS data indicated as the size of the yard as “0 acres.” In other words, anyone who put the yard size in their search criteria would not find the house. Not good. 

In discussing the options facing the home owners and what could be done to get the house sold, I was impressed with one of the seller’s concerns about the feelings of their prior agent. They didn’t get the job done, and they didn’t have my record in sales, but all the same she felt bad about letting them go after they tried so hard and were so nice. 

I have to say, I wish more people cared about my feelings the way she cared for theirs. This is a woman with a good heart. I told her that this is business, not personal, but she was still kind of bummed about her old agent. 

I wish there were more people like her. We spoke about it more, and the thing she acknowledged in our discussion was that it doesn’t take a cold and calculating person to make a smart business decision. You can still be a good person and do what is right in a business sense without being mercenary. Being good to people is important. That does not mean, however, that you subordinate your financial health and well being to appearing nice. If the right thing for her is to get a new, better broker, she owes it to herself to do so. 

Selling a home is serious business. And it is not a vehicle for relationships. It is something some people do but once in their lives, and they owe it to themselves to have the best representation, even if their prior agents were cordial and nice. Huge money is involved, and there are no do-overs once a closing is over. I would say that all people should have a good agent, but good people especially deserve a good agent. I know of no other Westchester agent that sells more homes that previously expired with other brokers than myself. It is what we do, what we excel at, and how we grow the company in these rough times. When we do get started with this particular family, we’ll get them the results they very richly deserve. 

According to the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service, 82 single family homes closed in Westchester County this past week, with a median sales price of $586,000. In the same period last year, there were 96 single family home closings with a median sale price of $608,000. Given the general abysmal year that 2009 was, that makes this past week not much to write home about. 

HOWEVER…overall, we are far ahead of the 2009 totals for the county. Last year through December 10, there were 3130 single family homes sold at a median price of $580,000. Thus far in 2010, we have seen 3,812 homes closed at a median sales price of $635,000. 

With 248 homes pending sale, we have a strong chance of breaking the 4000 closing mark, which would be almost a 33% improvement by volume over 2009. 

Low rates, more realistic sellers, and a general sense that the sky isn’t going to fall after all have contributed to the improvement in sales. Hopefully, we are in the beginning of a very steady, sustainable recovery. 

Carmel, NY is a community located in Putnam County, NY about an hour north of New York City. It is very close to Westchester County, but the cost of living, especially the cost of homes and property taxes, are often less than Westchester. 

What can you get for $525,000 in Carmel? Well, we just sold this 3000 square foot 2001-built 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath colonial on nearly 2 acres this past week. Located on a cul de sac, it has a beautiful master suite, an additional 1300 finished square feet in the walkout basement, rocking chair porch, 2 car garage, fireplace, rear deck, rear patio, and an updated kitchen.

The subdivision is very close to the downtown area of Carmel, with Mahopac and Brewster a short drive away as well. I-684 is about 7 minutes away.  

Our sellers got 100% of their asking price and the home spent just 81 days on the market. As you can see, in Carmel these days, $525,000 buys quite a nice home.  

The Scarsdale postal address can mean Scarsdale/Scarsdale schools, or Scarsdale/Edgemont schools. One is co-terminus with the town/village of Scarsdale and the other (Edgemont) is in the town of Hartsdale. Both are wonderful places to live. 

$720,000 in the Edgemont area can buy a nearly 2500 square foot split like the one pictured that we just closed on this past week. It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths (including a mater bath), a 2 car garage, formal dining room, family room, rec room in the basement, a den which could be a 4th bedroom or guest room, a rear patio and central air conditioning, all on a half acre lot. 

Edgemont is a very convenient area as well, with all the amenities and advantages of Central Park Avenue just a stones throw away- shopping, restaurants, bus, you name it. This home is also a decent walk from the Scarsdale train station, making it great for Manhattan commuters. 

Our buyers are planning on doing some updates to this 1964-built home, and when they are finished they’ll have an even more beautiful home on their hands. We wish our clients many happy years in their new home.