Water View, Please, Even if It's from Sing Sing

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

So Sing Sing may be closing to save the state money and possibly make way for a luxury housing development?  Oh, my.  If this happens, future generations will understand the term “up the river” to mean traveling to classy digs, rather than to the “big house.”

Since 1825, the prison has held sway as the most famous penal institution in the country, perhaps in the world, with the possible exceptions of the Bastille or the Tower of London.  But now, there is strong sentiment to take the place down, lock, stock, and barrel and move all 1,725 inmates to another location. 

Much like Indian Point Nuclear Plant – oops, I mean, Indian Point Power Plant – there are some elected officials who say that a maximum security prison would never be built at that location today.  When the site was selected, its host town Ossining, then also called Sing-Sing until its name became notorious, was a more remote place. But over the years, the town’s image has traded an association with James Cagney as a movie gangster for the classier Don Draper character of “Mad Men.”

Dismantlement of Sing Sing may or may not happen, but one thing is certain. Homes on that patch of 60 acres on the banks of the mighty Hudson will not be hard to sell. There will always be a percentage of people who demand being on the water, or at least to have a view of it, whether it’s on “the” river or one of our many lakes in Westchester and Putnam Counties.

That preference has changed significantly since the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, when living along the river meant that you had to hold your nose to bear the stench from raw sewage dumped there, especially in New York City, and later, there was the danger of  toxic materials spewed from such industrial plants as GE further north.

Until relatively recently, people were cut off from the pleasures of the river by the necessity of industrial development, built there specifically for water transportation. And, in 1848 the Hudson River Railroad was located at “water level” on the river’s edge to allow the tycoons of Wall Street to travel easily to their country estates further upstate, but eliminating easy access to the river for the rest of us. This fact is acknowledged on tours at Sunnyside, where Washington Irving suddenly had his view of the river punctuated by the clatter of passing trains.

What is it about water “vus” that draw us? Perhaps it’s an imprinted thing that our brains associate water with calm and reflection. Maybe it’s the physical thing that water reflects light like a mirror and doubles our open space.  Perhaps it most appeals to those who enjoy water activities like boating and swimming. Probably it’s a combination of all three.

One of my first listings was for a home located on the shores of Mohegan Lake, and that listing earned me a buyer prospect whose top preference was a lakeside home. Over the next six months, we surely must have visited every home for sale in her price range on every lake in both Westchester and Putnam Counties. We saw some beautiful homes and some of questionable attraction, but it was always the view or the proximity to the shore line that compensated for any shortcomings of the structure that came with it.

Since then I have been asked many times to locate homes with water views and, fortunately, the Multiple Listing Service makes it easy for realtors to identify them. Beyond general criteria, like the number of bedrooms and baths, and the lot size, we can check the tab for “additional criteria,” then go to an option called “amenities.” Among them are “Lake/Pond/Stream” and another for “River.”

Right now there are over 400 homes on or near water for sale in the communities served by this newspaper.  The prices for these properties range from $299,000 for a place on Mohegan Lake in Yorktown to $3,250,000 for a combination horse farm with its own lake in Holmes in Putnam County.  And I’m sure that the sale of all of them will be facilitated by their H20 connection.

Me? I love water views as much as anyone, but I found my perfect historic home seven miles inland from the Hudson. However, I designed a pool surrounded on three sides by woods, making it look more like a pond. And if I stand at the window in my dining room and make a telescope out of my cupped hands, focused on the pool, I feel I’m on Lake Placid.

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.

Behind the Headlines of the Real Estate Reporting

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Wall Street Lays an Egg” is the famous headline that appeared in Variety after Black Tuesday in 1929 when the stock market crashed.

Ever since then, headline writers have labored to capture complex issues into simplistic word snippets that correctly capture the news at hand, but sometimes not. Headlining quarterly and annual reports on the housing market offers no exception.

Journalists who may or may not know all the vagaries of real estate must assign a short headline to such statements without the opportunity to explain the back story of what the statistics really represent. That can result in either more optimistic or more pessimistic impressions among readers than what is warranted.

This region’s first quarter housing report, released at the end of last week, offered examples of both.

A front page blurb said alarmingly that the market “slumps” in Westchester, but optimistically cites a “jump” in Putnam. How could such mixed results be separated only by a county line?

Upon reading the full story, we are told that the “slump” is based on this quarter’s comparison to the first quarter in 2010 when sales were artificially inflated by tax credits from the latter half of 2009 and that the “jump” was attributed to a county where sales had been very slow the year before and the good news was based on the sale of only 17 additional homes.

And, who among us homeowners can forget the scare headlines at the beginning of this year based on a forecast by respected housing analysts, namely the S&P Case Shiller Index? While Mr. Shiller projected a sharp drop in home values of as much as 20 percent before the end of this year, his own partner Mr. Case disagreed, and issued a more moderate 5 percent drop possibility. But it was Mr. Shiller’s overreach that hit the headlines.

The moral of this story is: read the find print.

In basic agreement are three observers with whom I spoke who should know:  Gary Leogrande,  president of the Multiple Listing Service for our region; Mike Graessle, president of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors; and Don Mituzas, vice president of the Putnam contingent of the service. 

Leogrande related this region’s real estate health to our proximity to the Manhattan market which is doing well.  Graessle pointed to our lower unemployment rate, now edging below 7%, which augurs well for home sales, as well as the continuing low interest rates offered by lenders. “More optimistic” was the phrase expressed by Mituzas, who said that buyer action is picking up on the listings by his agency.

That said, here is the fine print:

In Westchester 1,247 residential transactions in the first quarter compare with 1,312 in the same period last year, representing a 5% decrease. And, the blip of great optimism in Putnam County was based on an increase of 12% in sales over the last quarter, but, as stated, that involved only 17 additional sales.    

As expected, average prices slipped somewhat along with sales volumes.  The first quarter median sale price of a single family house in Westchester slipped 8% to $552,750 from the same period last year.

As with its sales volume, Putnam County bucked the downward trend with a median price of $349,000 for a single family house, up 13% from last year.   But again, as was noted for sales volume, the base was small and only a few transactions made a big difference.

Overall, prices are now about 15% lower than they were at the top of the market in 2006 and 2007

Westchester’s end-of-quarter inventory of 6,667 units in all categories was just 1.5% more than at March 31 in 2010, and Putnam County inventory was down nearly 10% from last year.

The overview of all this by the MLS is that, given the predominantly negative environment for real estate, the first quarter results are encouraging in that, even without a stimulus program, they nearly matched last year’s elevated sales rates.

“Our market may be ending its total dependence on consumers who must buy or sell for some reason, and those few secure buyers who have the means and the desire to take advantage of the region’s current low housing prices and favorable mortgage interest rates,” the MLS report stated.

“In other words, a return to normal, where people buy and sell properties because they want to, not just need to.  These 2011 first quarter results will serve as a useful baseline against which future market driven sales rates can be measured.”

So now do you feel a little better about what’s going on and that we’re not laying a big fat     egg?

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.

Spring Maintenance Tips and, Sometimes, the Unexpected

by Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Recently I learned that someone is reported to have said something about me that might at first blush seem unflattering.

The comment was, “He thinks he knows everything about everything, but he only knows a little about a lot of things.”  At first I was surprised to hear this, but considering that my critic was speaking in a political context and happens to be from a far different ideology than mine, I brushed off the comment with amusement.

And certainly in terms of assuming the persona of The Home Guru, the assessment is true, except for the fact that I would never want to pass myself off as a “know-it-all.”  I fully accept and profess my limitations as an expert, especially in the field of home maintenance. The study is just too extensive for anyone to know everything about.

My one saving grace for a guru moniker may be that I know how to source information and service for those chores where I know I need help. And, that list could fill a book.

When I need advice about what to do or not do around the house, I go first to my wife who is my chief advisor when I’m looking for direction. “Gee, honey, how should I prioritize all the maintenance chores that should be done around the house this spring?” was the question. The answer: “Make a list.”

Good advice, and she is the consummate list-maker, but where do I start? “Check out the insurance companies,” she said wisely. “They always give good advice about how to keep things safe and sound in the home.”

In my search I stumbled upon a list of spring maintenance tips suggested by Home Farm Insurance and, frankly I was bowled over by its thoroughness. It would seem to require a Mr. Fix-It master’s degree. Any mere mortal would break out in a sweat just in pondering it. 

My suggestion would be to prioritize such a list according to what seems the most important to your particular situation. That is what I did in the selected list I include here.

 And those priorities can change in an instant when the unexpected problem occurs.  And did it ever this week!

The other morning my wife was drying her hair with a blower at her dressing table and suddenly a whole circuit blew that had never blown before.  I couldn’t fathom how that could have happened.  I went downstairs and flipped the circuit breakers assigned to the bedroom, but nothing came back on.  I knew that greater expertise than mine was needed.

When I called my electrician over, he went to the basement and discovered a problem that I never could have expected would be on my spring maintenance list:  my entire circuit breaker panel needed to be replaced. 

How could that be, I thought? It was installed new less than 20 years ago when I upgraded the amps to the house. Didn’t panels last longer than that? Not so, it seems. Inside the panel box, the wiring had started to rust from the dampness of the basement and I was warned that this could present more problems if I didn’t install a new panel. 

So there goes an unexpected, major expense, certainly a priority that could knock some of my other upgrade plans out of the picture.

But as I went down the list from Home Farm, I picked out some spring maintenance tips that seemed prudent and had little or no expense. They include:

 * Inspect and clean dust from the covers of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

* Clean the kitchen exhaust hood and air filter.

* Make sure the light bulbs in all fixtures are the right wattage.

* Replace all extension cords that have become brittle or worn.

* Check the roof for damage and all fascia and trim for deterioration.

* Check the shut-off valve at each plumbing fixture to make sure they function.

* Clean the clothes dryer duct, damper and space under the dryer.

* Replace or clean your furnace filter.

* Have your water heater checked.

* Make sure you have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher handy.

* Review your fire escape plan with your family.

* Consider installing a lightning protection system for your home.

* Look into protecting all your appliances from power surges (look it up online).

* And have a professional air conditioning contractor inspect and maintain your system as recommended by the manufacturer.

 These tips should keep you busy and safer in your home for the rest of the year.

 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.

Early Spring Garden Chores and Memories of Mother

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

Ah, that first breath of spring after a nasty winter really revives the spirit, doesn’t it?  I’m not sure I understand the feeling of near euphoria year after year as I anticipate my first days in the garden, but I know it’s always there to greet me.

And, whenever I get down on my knees for the first time to accomplish some garden chore, I am thinking about the growth and color I’ll enjoy in just a short time. But invariably I also think of my mother.

Frequently my mother gave me advice without telling me any good reason for complying, and one of those advisories was to avoid kneeling, but rather to bend over, for garden chores that required closer proximity to the ground. Why, I don’t know.  I do know that my mother was very pleased with her agility into later life and wanted to demonstrate that ability in all her activities.  Or maybe she had heard of “gardener’s knee.”

In recent years since my mother has passed on, I have became aware that my back seems to go awry more often than my knees.  So, with no small amount of guilt, I do kneel to plant those first seedlings that I buy from my local supplier.  But I protect myself with either a garden kneeler or knee pads which I don’t remember being around when I was a child. 

Of course, squatting is a good in-between measure, but I find that more taxing than either bending or kneeling.

Because I don’t have the time I used to when I was younger to plan and plant my garden, every step I take is orchestrated to reduce labor and maximize enjoyment of color and greenery from early spring to late fall. 

For instance, while I envy those people who can build outdoor frames for planting seeds early or do it inside, I rely on one of the garden centers for my annual seedlings that are all ready for popping in the ground. Vicariously I can enjoy the planting from seed activity by watching my young grandson proudly nurture his own vegetable garden.

Here’s my earliest spring garden routine:

I first clean up all that nasty debris that I left last fall that kept the ground from heaving and, at the same time, fed the birds, but now lies in a state of rot in my annual and perennial beds. 

Then, if I’m quick about it, I can still prune my apple and cherry trees before they develop buds (and I must scurry to do this because I didn’t have time last fall).

I am no longer into vegetable gardening, but if you still are, you can put lettuce seeds in the ground right now, and every couple of weeks, start a new row to get results throughout the summer. And if you’re into planting onions and other hardy vegetables, now is the time to do it.

I redefine my beds with a slight new edging around all of them. Lately my wonderful lawn care people have been doing it for me without my asking, and it’s like a gift. Love those guys.

Light thinning can be done in April to any shrub or tree except lilacs. The latter should have been done after blooming last year, because if you do it now, there will be no bloom this year.

Prepare your flower beds by adding compost or fertilizer right now. I have a natural compost pile that I’ve been cultivating for a long time, and each year, I rob this black gold to enrich the soil, depleted from last year’s growth.

Mulch now for a weed-resistent summer. I’ve already called my trusty tree man to drop off a load of finely chopped chips. One load which I hide behind my garage does my entire property for a season.

As you are preparing for planting your annual and perennial beds, the earliest spring bulbs will be blooming. Afterwards, be sure to deadhead them (remove the remains of the blossoms) but don’t remove the leaves. Let them die back naturally so that they can feed the bulbs for next year.

Also, remember to schedule the time needed to trim spring-flowering shrubs, everything from forsythia to azalea, right after blooming, for thicker growth and more blooms next year.

And, for anyone who gardens like I do, kneeling rather than bending, remember to protect your knees with those knee pads or kneelers. Sorry, Mom.

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.