My Decision to List at the Bottom of the Market

 By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

 Almost two years ago when I was invited to develop a column devoted to the real estate industry and care of the home and garden, I shared with readers that I was planning to sell my own home and that some of my columns would focus on the various steps I took to get ready for that.  Those steps have been taken, and I’m now listing my antique home, which includes an apartment and professional offices, on the very day this column appears.

But wait a minute, aren’t we at the bottom of the market?

Actually, the housing market was already well into its decline when I anointed myself The Home Guru, and since then, it has further eroded. Home values have plunged as much as 20 percent in my town, Yorktown, but that is not as bad as in some other communities served by this newspaper. While it might not be the best of times to venture forth as a seller, it’s not the worst of times either. It all depends on a number of factors including how any property fits into the mix of availability, its features which perhaps no other house on the market might offer, and the seller’s personal objectives.

The housing market in this area is really a mixed bag right now, where home values and sales can vary greatly just by crossing a town line.

For instance, in the area that we realtors refer to as the “golden triangle,” comprised of Larchmont, Rye and Harrison, sales and home values have actually increased significantly since this time last year, reflecting the recovery of Wall Street. But just 20 miles north where I live, the market is still on a bumpy kind of bottom. Here a house will still sell if priced right, but normally it takes longer and the buyer is in the driver’s seat.

Some potential sellers have decided to stay in place until the market recovers.  Just this month, I advised a family whose mortgage is now higher than the value of their home, to do exactly that, because they really don’t need to sell at this time. Sure, I may have lost a sale, but I know I gave the best advice I could. There will be another day to be of service to them.

While I have decided to list now, I’m not just jumping blindly into the fray. Even though the market for antique homes is small, perhaps only one percent of home buyers at any given time, my property also includes an apartment capturing a good rent and professional offices, placing it in a different category of offerings. In fact, with a special use permit, the entirety of the property can be utilized as professional offices where the owner does not have to live on the premises, as formerly required.  This capability was adapted into our town code recently as one way to help preserve large historic homes.

Some of my friends question why my wife and I would want to move from such a beautiful home that has been so good to us, literally paying for itself many times over in rent and business deductions. I in turn joke that I need more material for this column, but for us, it’s more an emotional and philosophical decision rather than a financial one. 

Many years ago when I was considering the public relations field, I was told that each project would be like having a new job, and I could roll many careers into one.  I have found that to be true. Likewise, I feel that enjoying a new living environment is like living a new lifetime. And both my wife and I are ready for yet another one.

Our move involves two transitions, actually, because my public relations business is housed in the office suite where much of my real estate business is carried out as well. When we had 12 staff members here, we needed the space, 3980 square feet to be exact, which is a larger home in my town. With the advent of new technologies, we don’t need as large an office.  If my next home is a smaller one, and I plan that it should be, I may simply rent the office space I need.

Here’s how the plan has gone so far, much of which I’ve reported. We did the “big” stuff like  replacing the roof, the boiler and oil tank, and restored a really gorgeous in-ground pool.  We cut down large trees that had gotten too close to the house and refreshed the gardens. Then we layered that with most of the preparatory work that I advise sellers to do. 

I invited in a professional home stager, and in the ensuing weeks have followed most of her advice, including de-cluttering, de-wallpapering, and painting both inside and out.  And where we could, we de-personalized, mainly by removing many personal photographs of four generations of our family, all in antique frames. 

So, I’m having a broker’s open house this Thursday and we’re almost ready to show. We’ve hidden much of our collectibles that we’re not quite ready to let go of and, as long as agents are asked not to open our closets, our secrets of concealment remain safe.

The weekend that this is written is filled with a mad dash of jobs nobody likes to do, such as cleaning the basement and attic.  Indeed, we didn’t do them but hired a terrific handyman, Ralph Nappi, to get them done which he did skillfully and in record time (for contact information, call me).    My wife and I just continued to organize the house and clean, clean, clean.

The hardest part was pricing the property “just right” for today’s market, considering that there are no comparables right now with other income properties. The easiest part was selecting which realtor to go with! 

If I don’t get an offer in a reasonable amount of time and at my price, which I think is right on target, I won’t be terribly disappointed. As my promotional flyer states, “this house isn’t for everybody, but for just one special family who needs a large home or for one business practice that requires professional offices in a high visibility location.”

If that special buyer is not out there right now, that’s okay.  We’ll enjoy living and working in the spruced up, new look of the house for a while longer, maybe slowly re-personalizing it by retrieving and displaying all those family photographs! 

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

Fall Chores in the Garden, Yawning, Ready for Sleep

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Autumn in the garden and yard can be the most gratifying time of year as deciduous trees and perennials start to yawn, preparing for a long winter’s sleep, accompanied by that sweet smell that comes from plants releasing their chemistry and the crisp, clean sound of decaying leaves falling to the ground

It all tells me that I can rest for a few short months of shorter days, much like when the children are asleep. The only outdoor chore that remains is clearing walkways of snow and ice.

While spring is probably everybody’s’ favorite time in the garden, helping its rebirth after being pummeled by winter, I like fall for the very finiteness of garden chores.  When I pull a weed, it stays pulled and doesn’t replace itself with double the aggression. When I deadhead perennials, I know that I can take a furlough from assuring that they are properly fed and watered, but will welcome them back in spring after we have both rested. 

The very proportions of my garden change as I whack back the perennial and annual growth, which makes the vistas more open from one bed to the other.  Also, it eliminates many of my planning mistakes from one season to the next, as I abandon errant plans and move bulbs and perennial roots to other locations.

My more creative joy comes from choosing which mums I’ll feature as the color transition from fall to winter.  While you will see drifts of mum plants on some properties that have every color in the fall palate, I like to stick to one color or at the most, two.  We all know that it’s best to plant in uneven numbers, so when I got a real deal this year with four nice sized mums for $20, I bought a total of 12 and planted them in four sets of three.

For the longest display of mum flowers, it’s best to buy those where most of the plant is still buds. When the mums fade, just leave them where they are; they maintain a nice mound throughout the winter, and you can cut them back in the early spring. If you’re lucky, they may return, but sometimes they don’t, depending on winter conditions.

My most gratifying fall job, as well as a good aerobic/resistance training exercise, is building up the mulch beds to make them look well-tended, as well as to keep the perennial roots from heaving.  I ask my tree service to send me a truck load of wood chips if they are very clean (no leaves) and processed into smaller chips. Truly, it’s as good as expensive mulch. In fact, I like it better because it offers more texture and somehow looks more natural to me.

    Here are other garden tips at this time of year:

• Harvest any vegetables left on plants. I have made a decision not to grow vegetables at this juncture in my life, but I used to love growing tomatoes. If there are still some on the plant, but they’re still green, they can be placed in brown paper bags and stored in a cool dry place. They will ripen slowly.  It’s important to pull out all of the crops because debris left over the winter can cause diseases to enter the soil and re-appear the next spring.
• This is the time when you can add horse manure or compost to the soil, because that allows plenty of time for them to break down.
• For those who like to bring houseplants inside, they should all be gathered into a shady area for a few days to get them used to low light level conditions. Make certain that they are clean and free from little critters.
• Perennials that are overcrowded or growing in a large ring with the center portion missing means that it’s time to subdivide.  You’ll become popular with your neighbors if you share the excess. Cut back the remaining perennials to a height of three to six inches.
• Prepare for brilliant displays of daffodils, tulips and crocus in spring by planting bulbs now. Do not plant them in tidy rows but rather “broadcast” them in drifts on the surface, and plant them where they land for a more natural look.
• For those who have the patience to endure the rigors of rose maintenance, it is time to prune dead branches and cut off any old flowers.  Rose bushes should be mounded using topsoil or mulch and the canes should be cut back to six to twelve inches.  For even better protection, the bush can be covered with a bushel basket.
• Also, this is the best time to transplant shrubs or young trees to new locations.

I don’t advise readers here about preparing lawns in the fall for next spring because I must confess that I don’t aerate and thatch the soil, and I don’t fertilize.  Because my property was first cultivated in the early 18^th century, I feel that I get a free pass to a very naturalized lawn accepting both crab grass and dandelions with grace.  After all, that’s the way it looked back then when lawn mowing was accomplished by grazing sheep.  Is this what they call rationalization?

Does it help if I promise to talk to a lawn expert soon, by spring, and write about the advice I receive?  Maybe I’ll even follow it myself! 

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

Insulated Windows: From Cynicism

to the “Wow” Factor

 By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

“Wow” is always a good response to hear from customers or clients who are considering any kind of purchase, right?

And in real estate, whether the exclamation is prompted by pulling up to a home with great curb appeal, or ascending a handsome staircase and peering down to the impressive living space below, the “wow” response always tells the realtor that the job of finding the perfect property for that client can now more easily coast to a comfortable conclusion.

I heard myself say “wow” spontaneously the other day at a demonstration of the effectiveness of the top rated types of insulated windows at the showroom of Franzoso Contracting in Croton-on-Hudson, a company long known for quality window replacement and other home improvement services. 

I was set up to be impressed by a preliminary conversation with Mark Franzoso, founder of the company, who explained to me the basics of energy efficient windows. When he said, “We offer windows only between the U-factor range of .30 to .18,” and I responded, “Huh?,” we both knew I needed more  information,

Franzoso then outlined the fundamentals of energy conservation in terms of measuring effectiveness by both U values and R values, admitting that the understanding of these values, or even talking about them, can be confusing. Basically, U-value measures thermal conductivity.  A lower U factor means a better insulated window.  R-value refers to the resistance of the window to heat conduction and is the inverse of the U-factor.  Better energy efficient windows have high R-values and lower U-factors. Confused yet? To keep it simple here, let’s refer only to the U- factor.

To demonstrate the U-factor associated with different types of window construction,   Franzoso called in Doug Toback, president of sales management, who introduced himself by saying, “You’re the Home Guru, and I’m the Window Guru.”  While not usually a hard-nosed reporter, I opened my interview with a somewhat cynical question based on a warning from a well-meaning friend who had advised me not to be lured into a more expensive three-paned insulated window, when double-paned windows would do just as well.  I wanted to know the difference in effectiveness between the two.

Toback smiled, and said simply, “Hold on.” He left the room for a moment, then returned with a big black box containing a selection of different types of window samples.  He placed an infrared lamp on one side of a table, with a BTU reading device three feet from it. Between the two, he positioned the first type of window pane, a single pane of glass, and asked me to place my hand behind it. The conduction of heat through the window was as though there was nothing solid between the heat source and my hand.  The BTU reader registered a high number for conductivity, going from an original number of 600 to 480.

When the window progressed to two panes with just an air space between them, there was just a nudge of a difference, with the number on the meter decreasing from 480 to 434.

But, wow (this is the point at which I said it), when the double pane window featured the addition of Argon gas, heavier than air, in the open space, the conductivity of heat dropped on the meter from a reading of 434 to 66. There was practically no feeling of heat on my hand behind the window. And, when the window progressed to three panes with Argon gas, the reading fell from 66 to 18. Another product used to lessen conductivity is Krypton gas (yes, that’s right, from Superman land).  “Not even Superman could penetrate this Krypton,” Toback joked. And in testing the triple paned window filled with the latter gas in the open space, the meter reading dropped still further from 18 to 14, and I could feel no warmth whatsoever on the far side of the window.

Fransozo stepped in at this point to place a panel with fiberglass insulation between the lamp and the meter, approximating the transmittance of heat through a solid wall, and it was the same low reading.  Triple pane windows with one of the insulating gases in the space between them, in other words, are equal in energy conservation to a solid wall.

When replacement windows are selected by consumers, appearance is usually the first consideration, followed by initial cost. But if energy efficiency were something that could be seen and touched, it would be first on the list. Look at it this way.  Windows are basically thermal holes, through which the average home loses 30 percent of its heat or air-conditioning energy.

It all adds up to knowing what you’re paying for and whether a larger investment upfront pays off in the long run.

When I think of the years in which I’ve been losing 30 percent of energy through my windows, I realize that I could have paid for replacement windows many times over and, at the same time, significantly lower my annual heating and air-conditioning costs.

After the “physics lab” demonstration at Franzoso, I know exactly what to request when I replace my windows. Those that produce the highest efficiency rating, or the lowest U rating, may cost more initially, but in the long run, they win the race in performance and savings. If a picture is worth 10,000 words, this demonstration to me was worth a million.

Franzoso Contracting can be reached at 914-271-4572, and its website is www.franzoso.com.

Bill Primavera is a licensed Realtor® (PrimaveraHomes.com), affiliated with Coldwell Banker, and a marketing practitioner (PrimaveraPR.com). He can be emailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or reached directly at 914-522-2076.

Things Your Burglar Won’t Tell You, But Listen Here

By Bill Primavera

 The Home Guru

The distant memory of that morning still makes my blood run cold. When we awoke, my wife told me that she had dreamed someone had been in our bedroom while we were asleep. Until we were wide awake, we had no idea that this had actually happened. 

When we went downstairs, we found that our back door had been taken totally off its hinges and that an intruder had spent considerable time with us. He had scoured ever one of our rooms, looking only for cash. We knew this because every book in our library had been leafed through. He even stayed long enough to help himself to a meal of snack foods in our kitchen.

The combined anger and fear I experienced when I realized that a stranger had been in my child’s room, close enough to her bed to have stolen her piggy bank, makes me shudder when I think about what might have happened had I awaken. 

At the time, living in a single family house in New York City with no alarm system, we were totally vulnerable to burglary or worse.  Never again, I thought.  Since then, and following our move to the country, I have taken the traditional precautions, as well as some unconventional ones, to guard against robbery and home intrusion.

Just recently I received a forwarded email from a buyer client, a police officer in the Bronx, with the subject line, “Things Your Burglar Won’t Tell You.”  While I already knew many of its points, I found some of its content new and useful. Credit for the advisory is given to several investigators and criminology professors who interviewed a large number of burglars in prison systems.  

You may have received the same or a similar email but, if so, the points bear repeating as a reminder. I have extrapolated some advice from the burglars’ comments  in the list below.

1. I may look familiar to you because I was at your home recently cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or power-washing your siding and deck.

2. Thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.

3. Love your landscaping. Lots of flowers tell me you have taste, which means there are nice things inside, and I can hide behind your shrubs since you don’t keep them pruned.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway.

5. If it snows while you're out of town, I’ll know it because there are no foot tracks. But, you might get a neighbor to provide them for you.

6. A good security company also alarms windows on your second floor where I might be agile enough to enter for direct access to your master bedroom and jewelry.

7. If it’s raining and you’re fumbling with your umbrella and forget to lock the door, remember, I don't take a day off because of bad weather.

8. I always knock first. If you answer, I'll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters, but don’t take me up on it.

9. I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, under the mattress, the refrigerator and the medicine cabinet, but I almost never go into kids’ rooms (this was not true with my burglar who was quite thorough).

10. I won't have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it's not bolted down, I'll take it with me.

11. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system.

12. Too things I hate most: loud dogs and nosey neighbors.

13. I'll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he'll stop what he's doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn't hear it again, he'll just go back to what he was doing. It's human nature.

14. I'm not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for an alarm system and leave your house without setting it?

15. I love looking in your windows to know whether you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems. I'll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.

16. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It's easier than you think to look up your address.

17. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it's an invitation.

18. If you don't answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.

19. If someone in your family dies, get a house sitter when you go to the funeral. I always check the obituaries to know when a family will be out of the house.

Here are two other suggestions I’ve heard recently; one is legal and the other may not be.

Keep your car keys next to your bed. If you sense that someone is trying to enter the house, press the panic button for your car. With the alarm going off, the intruder won’t want to hang around.

Another email making the rounds recommends the use of wasp spray rather than pepper spray for self defense. It reports that wasp spray can shoot up to 20 or 30 feet and is more accurate in hitting its target. I researched this and found that federal law prohibits the use of a pesticide that is inconsistent with its intended use. However, some might argue that this method of self defense might be compared to a homeowner’s hitting an intruder over the head with a shovel, which is certainly not the intended use for a garden tool either.

It may be unpleasant to think about the possibilities of burglaries, or worse, the terror of a home invasion, but we know that they do happen and, lately, they seem to happen in our communities more often. Being informed and taking every precaution possible, rather than trying not to think about it, is the smartest thing to do. 

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