Remembering Our Veterans on Memorial Day - 05/30/11 11:41 PM
On this Memorial Day I think it is fitting that we take a look at how our Veterans are fairing.  After all, we have been at war for nearly 10 years and many serving our country  have been on multiple deployments.  Sunday Candy Crowley of CNN addressed Veterans issues in depth on her show “The State of the Union”.  She had several segments on Veterans affairs - two of which I have embedded on this post.  These interviews revealed some shameful facts:
1. Suicide rates among veterans returning home run higher than mortality rates on the field.
2. It can take … (1 comments)

Listing your home for sale – a picture is really worth 1000 words…. - 05/29/11 11:59 PM
When listing your Westchester NY home for sale -  choosing a good  listing agent is critical.  One issue that you should consider in the selection is what kind of photographs they put into the MLS.  Seriously, I am often shocked at what many agents seem to think is an acceptable presentation.  Buyers are pouring over public facing versions of the MLS.  Most will cherry pick the homes with the best photos and discard the rest.  With many homes for sale at this time, the process of elimination begins on line. Poor photography means fewer showings and less offers.  Its really that … (92 comments)

Making an offer to purchase a home - working with the "market collective" - 05/28/11 11:56 PM

In real estate it is a known fact that it is actually the buyers who determine the market.  Home  sellers can put any list price they please on the listing sheet, but  it is the buyer that actually speaks for the “market.”  However, that is not to say that an individual  buyer can determine the market by him or herself!  It “buyers” collectively that determine  where the market is for any given home.
 
The Market Has Spoken! The “market” has its own siren song…it’s own mind and it calls out to both buyers and sellers alike.  It can not … (7 comments)

Half- Price Vaccination Program at Yonkers Animal Clinic… - 05/26/11 11:51 PM

If you love your pet – and don’t we all – you need to take proper care of him or her.  Having 3 dogs in these hard times – I have to say that this isn’t easy.  Vaccinations are easy to “skip” but you are truly tempting fate with your pet’s health if you do.   Well here is something that can help.  My Veterinarian is associated with the County Animal Clinic in Yonkers NY.  They offer vaccines for your pets at half price on specific days and times.  They started this right after the crash and it has proved enormously … (1 comments)

Watch those rents.... - 05/25/11 11:58 PM
There is yet another reason for first time buyers to get off the fence.  Rising rental rates. 
Since the market for rental agents is small at best, I generally don't spend much time looking at rentals - though I do keep an eye on the prices.  Over the last few months I was noticing that the rates were edging up, but it wasn't until I started working with a tenant that I realized the extent of the jump AND the shortage of units. 
Needle in a haystack... 
Easy enough, I thought. I pulled the appropriate listings - my eyes popped … (11 comments)

Patrick McHenry Accuses Elizabeth Warren of Lying…. - 05/24/11 11:59 PM
Apparently everyone likes the the new CFPB  (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)  except the big banks and some members of Congress.  A certain contingency of the Republican party has had the long knives out for Elizabeth Warren for a long time.  Accusing the agency of having “unprecedented power” and of “over reaching”.  Oh horrors - someone might be pushing back to protect the consumer!  That can’t be allowed.
According to the New York Times headline “Decorum Breaks Down at House Hearing on Consumer Finance Agency”
Patrick McHenry Leads the attack on Warren and the CFPB: Patrick McHenry accused Warren of “misleading” Congress … (2 comments)

Coffee Labs and the Lagond Music School – Great coffee and entertainment… - 05/22/11 10:23 PM

Last night I decided to spend some quality time at Coffee Labs on Main Street in Tarrytown NY. after dinner.  It is often a very nice place to relax, grab some bandwidth and enjoy the live music that is offered on Friday and Saturday nights.  I arrived fairly late because I had gone out to dinner with friends, but the band was still playing.  They were from the Lagond  Music School located in Elmsford NY.  The performers were all very young to my middle-aged eyes and the quality of the music was excellent.
The Lagond Music School is a not-for-profit … (1 comments)

Freaky Friday – What Recovery? We can either laugh or cry – So lets laugh! - 05/20/11 01:41 PM
Topics: Freaky Fridays - Just for fun

Save for a few Wall Street executives and the Big Banks just about everyone I know has been touched by this recession.  Some very severely, some more lightly, others by association.  At the very least, everyone knows someone who has been negatively impacted in some way.  But sometimes you have to realize that it is always darkest before the dawn.  Sometimes its just when things look like they will never get better – they just do.  I’m not being a cockeyed optimist here – but I have seen this pattern before.  Indeed – … (17 comments)

Larchmont NY Housing Statistics – Q1 2011 - 05/19/11 11:47 PM

It was a long, cold winter and very few buyers were out during the first quarter of 2011.  If we weren’t having our weekly Noreaster – we were digging out of one.  So Larchmont homes for sale tended to stay on the market longer than they did last year.  The Larchmont NY housing market is a tale of two markets.  Strangely some of the statistics are counter intuitive and I will explain why  the raw numbers don’t tell the entire story.  However, it is apparent that the single family home market in Larchmont NY continues to recover while the cooperative … (2 comments)

The Ritz Carlton – White Plains NY - 05/18/11 11:52 PM
All buyers looking at Westchester condos for sale know about the Ritz Carlton of White Plains NY.   Among White Plains NY Condos for sale  the Ritz Carlton is at the pinnacle on the luxury scale.  Just a block from City Center  (1-5 Renaissance Square)  the Ritz Carlton is at the center of everything.   Getting much closer to the center of town would be difficult.  You can easily leave the car behind and walk to shopping, fine dining, entertainment and the train.  With the likes of New York transplants such as BLT Steakhouse , the newly opened Serafina and Level … (1 comments)

Fotos on the Fly – Tarrytown NY River Walk in Spring - 05/17/11 11:55 PM

There are times when the light is just right and the blooms are at their peak.  Sometimes you just get lucky.  But then again – The Tarrytown NY Rivere walk provides  me with a terrific subject.  If I took bad pictures with all that going for me – I should just stop taking photos altogether.   In any case, Jade, Tundra and I decided to take a walk along the River Walk around 6:00 PM  about 10 days ago.  People were out.  There was plenty of activity  – and who can blame them?   Some areas just lend themselves to gatherings.  … (0 comments)

Pets and the economy – A Plea to Westchester’s Condo and Coop Boards….. - 05/16/11 11:59 PM

It seems as though every single day I hear another story about pets being put into shelters as a result of the sour economy.  These may not even be foreclosures, but may be families forced to scale back from a single family home to a condo or coop.  You guessed it – the condo or coop nixes the pet.  This is particularly hard on our canine friends and I’m getting e-mails and pleas almost daily begging people to spare their beloved pet from the animal shelter.  Most of the time it is to no avail and many of these wonderful … (17 comments)

Rosedale Pharmacy – 1215 Mamaroneck Ave – White Plains NY - 05/14/11 11:11 PM

Being a long time resident of the south end of White Plains NY, I would be the first to admit that there is not a lot of commerce going on the area.  One thing you won’t find at that end of town is Big-Box anything.  However, residents of the area do have access to a variety of services and handful of stores.  These are of the Mom & Pop variety where service is king.
Rosedale Pharmacy is near and dear to my heart.  Why?  Because they handled the often conflicting prescriptions that my father had to deal with during his … (1 comments)

Elizabeth Warren’s Cautionary Tale: Don't Mess With the BIG BANKS! - 05/14/11 01:01 PM
Lenn Harley wrote a blog about the banks trying to once again come through the back door into the real estate industry.   The issue of the banks  getting into real estate has a long history.  But the questions have to be asked:  What was their role in the real estate bubble and subsequent collapse?  How have they behaved since that time?  Have they tried to help homeowners survive or have they been giving them a helpful push off a cliff into the abyss?  Does giving them even more leverage over real estate make any sense whatsoever?   Of course no one … (4 comments)

DANGER, DANGER WILL ROBINSON - THE BANKS ARE GETTING INTO REAL ESTATE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR - SHORT SALES!! - 05/14/11 12:46 PM
This is an issue that should be on every agents short-list.  The banks are back - they never went away and their power is far too great.  Efforts to contain their excesses are met with enormous resistance.  And  I don't think anyone here is counting on Congress to ever do anything about it.  Later I will post an interview with Elizabeth Warren on Jon Stewart.  The sad thing about satire is that it is has become  all too real. So perhaps a comedy show is a great place to discuss consumer protection.
Via Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland (Lenn … (2 comments)

The Peonies are Blooming at the Rockefeller Preserve – Sleepy Hollow NY - 05/13/11 11:56 PM

Each year around this time, people come from miles around to see the blooming of the Peonies at the Rockefeller preserve.  Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001,  Yatsuka Cho, a town in Simane Prefecture, Japan offered a gift of over 500 peonies to the United States as a healing memorial.  It was also a gesture of solidarity and support from a former enemy of the United States who less than 60 years ago were locked in combat with us during World War II. The peony is considered to Japan’s most noble of flowers  and is the “signature flower” for … (3 comments)

ActiveRainPhotoBlogger Contest - Fall Fire in New York - 05/13/11 02:22 AM
The threatening storm had passed us by......and the sun was filtering through the cloud cover creating bright sunlight in the midst of dark cloud cover.  As the sunlight hit the trees, it created a stark contrast to the darker clouds above.  The trees looked literally as if they were on fire. Against the cloud cover, the effect was almost surreal.  I wish I could take full credit for the capture, but let's face it, it would be very difficult to take a bad photograph under such circumstances.A need for renewal.... Although it had been a busy and difficult  day, I was … (18 comments)

White Plains NY Housing Market Statistics – Q1 2011 - 05/12/11 11:56 PM

Since the ending of the tax credit, White Plains NY homes for sale have been suppressed.  The cold winter with heavy snow fall kept buyers away.  Indeed the amount of snow buried lock boxes to the point where there were some properties I simply couldn’t show.  The lull was not specific to White Plains NY, but was generally felt throughout the county.  It is hard to say how much the weather impacted the market. There has been more activity this spring and sales are definitely picking up.
Single Family Home Sales White Plains NY
Median sales prices of SF homes … (0 comments)

Fotos on the fly – Manor Park – Larchmont NY - 05/11/11 11:42 PM

Having featured the Hudson River and surrounds, I decided to pull a photo from the Long Island Sound side of the Westchester NY.  Larchmont NY sits on the Long Island Sound and boasts wonderful views of the  water.  My father was a long-time resident of Larchmont NY and both he and I enjoyed walking in Manor Park.  I took this picture on a midsummer afternoon in 2009.  It was warm but not stifling and the good thing about being on the Long Island Sound is that there is always a nice breeze.   Manor Park is actually a private park that … (3 comments)

Fotos on the Fly – Tarrytown NY – Dusk on the River Walk - 05/10/11 11:49 PM
cs: Fotos on the Fly, Tarrytown, Walkable Neighborhoods in Westchester, Walking Trails in Westchester County Leave A Comment
The other day I  found myself near Tarrytown in early the evening and I decided to see what the was happening on the River Walk.  When public monies go into planning a project -it is always hoped that the public will enjoy the space.  Reclaiming the shore along the Hudson for a long River Walk was a brilliant idea and I was pleased to see that the public was taking full advantage of the weather and the area.  There were many people walking, … (3 comments)

Fotos On the Fly – White Plains NY – Gathering Storm - 05/09/11 11:32 PM

The jet stream has created some particularly volatile weather in our region over the past several years.  Watching storm clouds gather has almost become a hobby.  This was taken about a week ago in the Gedney Farms neighborhood of White Plains NY.  It was in the wake of all of the dangerous tornadoes that hit the south.  There were some isolated tornado warnings in New Jersey – which is rare at any time – although we do get some in the summer around June.  The sky was ominous enough for me to question whether or not I should be out.  … (13 comments)

The Great School Debate – A bromide for the score -obsessed parent: - 05/05/11 04:11 AM
 
Westchester county schools  are known for their competitive nature.   Now, in any competition there are so-called “winners” and some “losers”.  However, as someone who went to what some would call a “fair” high school  and wound up with a Ph.D. from a “name school” and subsequently taught as an adjunct professor in several local universities –  I am going to put on my educator’s hat and touch one of the “third rails” of real estate by offereing some unsolicited advice.
STOP THE SCORE OBSESSION – PLEASE!
This blog came about because I have had several clients recently that are … (21 comments)

Short Sale Seminar by the Syska Group – For Westchester Home Sellers and Home Buyers – Wed. May 4 - 05/03/11 10:30 PM

 
The Syska Group specializes in what are now known as “short sales.”  The public has been (rightfully) confused as to the nature of  short sales and what the implications are for selling their homes short.  Distressed homeowners who owe more on their homes than the house is actually worth -fall into this category. When you are in this situation it is easy to want to put your head in the sand and just  hope for the best.  That’s the worst thing you can do.  Just remember, knowledge is power!  If you are “underwater” on your home loan this is … (0 comments)

Open House- The Broadlawn #C313 – 20 North Broadway 1-3 PM Sun. May 1 - 05/01/11 04:20 AM

This is a unit that I have featured in the past.  It is located at The Broadlawn in White Plains NY – 20 North Broadway.   Recently the unit has undergone a face lift.  The pine paneling which dominated the the living area has been removed and the plaster walls restored and painted. The dramatic mantel remains intact and the French doors to the balcony complete the picture.
The Broadlawn is a stunning complex located in the heart of downtown White Plains just a block from Trump Tower and the Ritz Carlton.   Here is a link to the original listing post … (3 comments)

 
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Ruthmarie Hicks

White Plains, NY

More about me…

Keller Williams Realty - White Plains NY

Address: 120 Bloomingdale Rd. Suite 101, White Plains, NY, 10605

Office Phone: (914) 374-5529

Cell Phone: (914) 374-5529

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