More years ago than I care to remember, I arrived in New York with a college buddy and, together, we sought an apartment for which we would share the rent and expenses. Apartments were easy to find in those days because the rental market had been overbuilt, so we had a wide choice of possibilities, including new buildings that were offering concessions of three to six months free rent to sign a lease. Imagine that?

I experienced my first awareness about discrimination in housing at that time when an on-premise landlord of one of our favored apartments asked directly "are you two just buddies or are you a ‘couple’?" From the way he asked the question, I strongly suspected that if we had been a "couple," the apartment would not be ours.

While I didn’t know anything about Fair Housing laws at that time, it was only as late as 1986 when New York City, where the gay revolution began with the Stonewall riot in 1969, passed a law banning discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation. In 2000, Westchester County followed suit, as did New York State in 2002. Understanding and complying with Fair Housing laws are an important part of every realtor’s training, and every listing contract requires that the owner of a home agree to its tenets as well.

And, with the passage last Friday of the Equality in Marriage bill by the New York State Senate, observers agree that will be further impact regarding sexual orientation in real estate..

In sheer numbers alone, the bill can bring the benefit of marriage to an estimated 42,000 committed couples raising 14,000 children, according to Change.org, the organization that championed the cause in encouraging voters to petition their legislators in Albany.

Amid the jubilation of gay and lesbian couples in the past couple of days for winning their hard-fought battle, there is a healthy economic prospect to the bill’s passage concerning real estate. In the simplest of terms, it should provide a tremendous economic stimulus as couples from anywhere in the country will come to New York State to be married. They will be spending their money here, resulting in more jobs, and more jobs mean more people will be buying homes.

It probably won’t make a noticeable difference in the fabric of our neighborhoods because committed gay couples have always been part of them, but perhaps under the radar. I remember how surprised I was at a political campaign meeting some years ago to learn that, according to statistics supplied by the LOFT, a Westchester-based LGBT organization, my town was one of two identified as having the largest concentrations of gay and lesbian residents in Westchester County. So who knew?

Immediate legal and financial issues related to the new law were articulated by some of my friends who deal on a daily basis with home buying and selling.

Lawrence Horowitz, a lawyer based in White Plains, said, "Now that the legislation is law, it will be both easier and harder for gay couples to deal with the issue of ownership of real property. 

"It’s easier because, if they are considered legally married, for estate purposes, they would be protected against the loss of their residence. It’s harder in a divorce situation, unless there is a ‘pre-nup’ - which now may be more common in gay marriage - because the couple would be subject to the same laws that married couples have always faced, including equitable distribution and custody.  There are of course many more issues which can come into play."

One of those issues, according to Irene Amato, owner of A.S.A.P. Mortgage with offices in Cortlandt Manor and Yorktown Heights, will be the impact on qualifying for a mortgage with the gifting of cash for the purpose of buying a home, allowed only among those related to the purchaser. "Now, for the first time, one member of the gay marriage will be permitted to gift money to his/her spouse or spouse’s children for the purchase of a home," she said.

Amato classified her agency as "gay proud" and directed me for further comment to a branch manager of her company who happens to be gay. He is Doug Petri, well known and much respected for his long term work as a mortgage broker in the region.

"The most important benefit of this new law is its impact on the concept known as Tenancy by the Entirety, a form of ownership that is for married individuals," Petri said. "It means that if two people are married and they own a home together, if something should happen to either one of the spouses, the surviving spouse automatically gets ownership of the house without probate or any other form of estate issues."

When I interviewed Petri, it was by phone at his East Hampton home where he and his partner were throwing an annual fundraiser to benefit young gay people for educational scholarships. Petri’s wrap-up statement on the news was, "It’s about time, isn’t it? And, really, why should anyone care about who loves who?"

For gay and lesbian couples planning to be married in this area and contemplating buying a home, you might check for legal counsel with Larry Horowitz at 914-282-7171. To discuss mortgage needs, call Irene Amato or Dough Petri of A.S.A.P. Mortgage at 914-736-9230. And, of course, any realtor I know would be more than happy to work with you in finding the perfect neighborhood and home in which to enjoy your new legal status.

Is Your Beautiful Lawn Dangerous to Your Health?

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Have you paid attention to those official notices we see posted on lawns when they are treated with pesticides? They are not placed there by the courtesy of the homeowner or the lawn care company but required by New York State law.  That might give us all pause to wonder.

I must confess that I haven’t participated in the chemical vs. organic debate in the use of fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides to treat lawns and to make them beautiful.  I had figured that if the law allows the use of chemicals for that purpose, they can’t be all that bad for us, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

John Jones, owner of Healthy & Happy Lawns, an all-natural lawn care company serving the lower Hudson Valley region, presents a strong argument for thinking about going totally organic for lawn care.

“When people have their lawns treated chemically, it’s almost like a toxic waste dump,” Jones said in a recent discussion. “It’s true that they have an almost-instant beautiful lawn,” he conceded, “and we are a society where the majority wants instant gratification.” he continued. “But Mother Nature just ‘don’t’ work that way!”

Jones admits that when he first started in business in the 1970s, he offered only chemical lawn care “because I didn’t know any better,” but when his science teacher from high school strongly urged him to offer organic lawn care, he practiced both methods for a number of years.

The decision for him to offer only complete organic treatment of lawns came to Jones in 1985.  He explained his epiphany with some statistics, noting that in that year, he had 500 customers and found that his accounts were split exactly down the middle between chemical and organic treatment.

“Coincidentally, that year was a bad drought year, and I found that, under those conditions, my organic customers had much better lawns than those that were chemically treated. The organic lawns stayed greener a lot longer,” he said.  “It was proof to me of the superiority of what organics do to both the soil and the grass to make a strong, more resilient lawn.  I knew I was on to something and made the decision to go 100 percent organic.”

I related to Jones that I had read some of the cautionary literature about chemical treatment of lawns and wondered why the government hasn’t placed a total ban on its use, as have some provinces of Canada. “Because the chemical companies like Monsanto and Union Carbide have very deep pockets to perpetrate the myth that chemicals are needed for better lawns and gardens,” he responded. “The advertisements that consumers see on TV are all chemically oriented now. And the chemical companies have mounted a ‘mis-information’ campaign that natural lawn care is expensive and it doesn’t work.”

Jones says that the evidence of the dangers of using chemicals for the landscape will continue to grow.  He keeps up with findings supporting his position and says that there is data about to be released by the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine that links Alzheimer’s disease and Hodgkin’s lymphoma to exposure to chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

If a homeowner wants to go organic, how do the costs compare? “It’s probably true that some organic landscapers are raping the public with their prices because they know that a certain percentage will pay more for all-natural care,” he said, “but because I use only organic products, I buy in much larger quantities and can be very competitively priced to chemical lawn care.”

While in a confessional mode, I told Jones that some time ago I wrote an article about time-savers for outdoor maintenance that suggested the use of both Roundup and Preen for weed control. With an all-gravel driveway and a large parking area for my business, I told him that I treat them with Preen to inhibit weed growth and follow that up with Roundup to kill those weeks that still manage to pop through.

He didn’t mince words when he responded. “Roundup is probably the most dangerous herbicide on the planet,” he said, “and Preen is way up there too in toxicity.”

He suggested instead that I use natural means to accomplish my goal, recommending that, instead of Preen, I apply corn gluten, a product I knew nothing about.  “It’s even rated for vegetable gardens, but Preen would contaminate the food supply if used in the garden,” Jones cautioned.

And I learned that if weeds do take root, they can be killed by spraying a mixture of 60 percent vinegar and 40 percent clove oil, another product of which I had no awareness.

Jones went on to explain the process of soil testing and how it sets the blueprint or the “bible” as he calls it, for addressing the needs of the soil to host all-natural, healthy grass growth. The process is longer than the instant fix of chemical products, but, according to Jones, it is longer lasting and healthier. That’s fodder for another column about achieving beautiful lawns.

For now, if you want to know more about all-natural lawn care, visit www.organic.org. John Jones of Healthy and Happy Lawns can be reached at 845-733-5296 or visit his website at: www.healthyhappylawns.com.

Bill Primavera is a licensed Realtor® (www.PrimaveraHomes.com), affiliated with Coldwell Banker, and a marketing practitioner (www.PrimaveraPR.com). For questions or comments about the housing market, or selling or buying a home, he can be reached directly at 914-522-2076.

When Parents Are the “Kiss of Death” in Home Buying

 By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Of all the experiences I’ve enjoyed with my family, one of my favorites was helping my daughter, her husband and my six-year old grandson search for the home of their dreams.

Yes, my grandson participated too because of his request that we find a home that featured a “cave” of some sort – a dark space under a stairway or a deep closet, for instance -- and ultimately we found one.

While I feel that I was of some service in my daughter’s home search, many times parents are considered the “kiss of death” when giving their opinions about their children’s intended purchase. This is not a put-down of parents because, after all, we all want to protect and support our children. But many times, parents’ opinions, whether valid or off-the-wall, can kill a deal, much to the dismay of both their children and their realtors who may have thought that an offer was imminent.

That has happened to me many times, and to all realtors I know.

One such instance involved my friends Diane and Bob Arenholz of Better Homes & Gardens/Rand, “the spouses who sell houses.” I had received an email from them indicating that they were representing a young couple who were about to make an offer on a special property I had listed as a “country retreat.”

But, I got a subsequent phone call from Diane saying that, before they presented the offer, the young couple just wanted to invite their parents in for their opinion. Uh-oh, I thought, as we all do . . . the kiss of death.

The second showing took place with the parents and, indeed, the deal went south.

 “It was like the perfect storm because not one, but both sets of parents showed up,” Bob explained, “and it became like a dueling match to see which parent could find more fault with the house than the other.

“One of the fathers came in like an engineer and did a full inspection of the house from top to bottom,” he continued, “and when I asked his son if his dad had a lot of knowledge about home systems and maintenance, I learned that the ‘inspector’ had never owned a home in his life, but lived in an apartment on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. I suspect he never had a hammer in his hand and that the only maintenance he ever did was to pick up the phone and call the super.”

Diane chimed in, saying, “Agents are placed in an awkward position when they disagree with the opinions of their clients’ parents. How can you tell the buyer that their parents don’t know what they’re talking about?” she asked.

“And, let’s face it,” added Bob, “Many times parents are kicking in money for the house, and they feel that entitles them to rip it apart. They are almost always highly critical of the choices their children make,” he said. “It’s very rare that their input is positive and they think the house is wonderful.”

JoAnn Coogan, an agent in my own office who has never had any job other than that as a realtor, said that parental influence has very frequently come into play in her dealings. “One problem is that the parents may not have had a house-buying experience in over 30 years and they come to the current situation with that perspective from long ago, starting with sticker shock at the price!”

And, my own observation is that a young couple may be comfortable with the work that a “fixer-upper” requires, but parents may discourage them because of their own perception of the work it would require.

“I think it all depends on the baggage parents bring with them,” Bob Arenholz said. “With the parents from Pelham Parkway, it was obvious to me that they just didn’t want their kids to move that far away from them. So, now, instead of investing in a good home at a rock bottom price and at low interest rates, they convinced their kids to rent an apartment near them in the Bronx and to wait it out ‘until the market gets better.’

“But what does that mean?” he asked. “Wait until the market gets better and prices go up and they have to pay more for the same kind of house, while they’re throwing their money away on a rental?  Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense.”

Bill Primavera is a licensed Realtor® (www.PrimaveraHomes.com), affiliated with Coldwell Banker, and a marketing practitioner (www.PrimaveraPR.com). For questions or comments about the housing market, or selling or buying a home, he can be reached directly at 914-522-2076.

Gardening, from Hobby to Obsession

 By Bill Primavera

Home Guru

The love for one’s home and property can sometimes produce extraordinary surprises in unexpected locations. And sometimes a whim can turn to an obsession, but a magnificent one.

I was reminded of this when my friend and fellow realtor Andi DePalma told me about a very unusual property in a more rural part of Cortlandt Manor in upper Westchester that has been selected this year by The Garden Conservancy for its national “Open Days” program that invites the public to visit private gardens.

Andi had arranged for a tour of the property for our local garden club, and when she showed me pictures of various vistas of the garden, I couldn’t believe that it was located in a community of midscale to modest homes rather than in one of our most exclusive estate areas. Curious, I asked for a sneak preview.  

From the moment I stepped out of my car, I was enveloped by a garden fantasy land with an Asian theme.  The landscaping all but obscured the modest ranch-style home it surrounds.

The half acre lot, ascending somewhat sharply from the road, hosts not a single inch of lawn. Instead, there are stone walls distinguishing multiple levels of trees, plantings, statuary, paths, architectural elements and structures, including bridges over a stone-lined dry river bed and a large pagoda painted bright red.

Not everything is visible at once, but walking along winding stone paths, up and down and across the property, there are many surprises that come into view as one social setting after another comes into view.

When I met the owner, Dan Meyer, he admitted that, over the past five years of his obsession with his landscape, he had spent considerably more money on the garden than the value of his home in an area where the average price is about $400,000. Why then would anyone spend more money on landscaping alone than can possibly be recouped when he chooses to sell his house?

“I don’t know, it just happened,” Meyer said. “I was driving along Route 9 and saw a new Asian shop that had opened up and there was this giant seven and a half foot long granite dragon in front,” he said, pointing to the statue now guarding the front of his house. “I’ve always loved Asian art, and I had to have it. I bought it along with two large granite Foo dogs, and I got caught up in it.” 

Before Meyer got caught up in landscaping, his property was “mostly just grass.”  Today there is not a single blade of grass to be found. Instead, the property offers a dense and eclectic mix of unusual deciduous trees, conifers, shrubs, and perennials that include maple in many varieties, ginkgo, weeping hemlock, umbrella pine, wine and roses weigela, a Montgomery blue spruce grafted on a weeping Norway, and a tall umbrella pine. 

Other plantings catch the eye endlessly, from azaleas and rhododendron, to yellow lady-slipper orchids and ferns, all enhanced with the color of annual plantings of impatiens and dragon-wing begonias. And where some open area is required to separate the many settings to pause, sit and reflect, various ground covers step in to serve.

“So how is it to not worry about mowing grass?” I asked, only to have Meyer reply, “But oh, the mulching and weeding!”  Having developed back problems mid-way into his project, though unrelated to the rigors of gardening, Meyer now trains workers to do the plantings and maintenance. “Now I just say, plant this here, and move that there,” he said.

During a summer draught two years ago, Meyer says that he watered heavily to protect his investment. “The average water bill was $60, but mine for that period was $360.00,” he confessed. The town asked us not to water our lawns, but I told them that I wasn’t watering my lawn because I didn’t have one! By that time, they knew about my garden and let me get away with it.”

The date set by The Garden Conservancy for touring Meyer’s property, located at 39 Lockwood Road, is Sunday, July 31, from 10 am to 4 pm. To learn about securing tickets, visit: 

www.GardenConservancy.org and go to the “Open Days” tab. 

Bill Primavera is a licensed Realtor® (www.PrimaveraHomes.com), affiliated with Coldwell Banker, and a marketing practitioner (www.PrimaveraPR.com). For questions or comments about the housing market, or selling or buying a home, he can be reached directly at 914-522-2076.