My 3rd Installment of Marketing Tips  My next installment of easy marketing ideas to get you started. 7. E-mails, we all like to use them. They are fast and convenient, but they require constant monitoring. Put your e-mail address on everything you do and check your mailbox 2-3 times a day. 8. You should market yourself as the expert in your area. This requires constant direct mail contact with the information take keeps your potential clients up to date on what is going on in their neighborhood. 9. All your marketing should have a point you want to get across. Kept this in mind when selecting something to mail or E-mail. My 3rd Installment of Marketing Tips  Check out the previous 2!!   01/03/2018

Some Marketing Tips, Westchester County Real Estat These are just some of the things                      I do to get myself started;                           1. You should have your picture on everything you do.          I have people walk up to me all the time who know me          from my blogs and ads that have my picture in them.         Also you should update it at least          every 24 months if not more frequently.2. Have your advertising materials done professionally. This will illustrate your success and if you are a new agent this will give you instant credibility.3. Most successful businesses have some kind of brochure depicting their business. You should have one also describing yourself and your company.MORE TIPS TO FOLLOW! Some Marketing Tips, Westchester County Real Es... 12/28/2017

Why Should You Hire a Professional Real Estate Agent?A well qualified, competent real estate agent will help you navigate the countless number of decisions that arise when buying and selling a home.An agent provides value to the homeowner in many ways:  They pay for all the marketing and advertising costs.They add experience and expertise in all aspects of the sales process including marketing, financing, negotiations and more. They co-ordinate all of the showings that take place on your home.They bring a system of known and trusted real estate professionals. If your agent doesn't have the answer then he or she most likely knows someone who does.They always have your best interests in mind so you always have someone on your side.They can handle and advise you on all price and contract n... 12/14/2017

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE3362 Quinlan Street - Yorktown Heights NY 10598SUNDAY April 9th, 2017 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM Nicely updated Yorktown Heights Raised Ranch on large private corner lot surrounded by majestic White Birch trees. Fabulous heated pool built into large deck right off new kitchen. Entry hall to bright living room w. stone fireplace & vaulted ceiling, spacious dining room, stunning new kitchen w. high end stainless steel appliances, updated hall bath, 2 bedrooms, plus a generous master bedroom w. beautiful en-suite bath. Lower level offers family/media room, guest room, half bath, storage, utilities & attached 2 car garage. Above ground oil tank in garage. Lots of updates throughout. Natural stone accents & hardwood floors as shown. New liner in pool which is built right into ... 04/06/2017

If you are up for a great New Years Eve Celebration then celebration with several thousand of your clostest friends in Yorktown NY. Last year this was a great success.   Have all the fun you would have watching this on TV and there will not be frozen zones like there are at Times Square.Many participating restaurants are hosting New Years menus. Here is the link to some on the restaurants!Wherever you choose to celebrate I wish you a happy and prosperous new year.  Information provided by Grant Schneider, Performance Development Strategies.  Would you like to know how to make your local business thrive? Contact us!  12/29/2016

For many years Jennifer Gurahian has been my recommended source for handling estate sales whenever I’ve had clients who were downsizing. And only now when I am engaging her services myself have I experienced a change of perception about the whole process of getting rid of “stuff” no longer needed. Counting what my wife and I had stored from a former antiques business as well as from a couple of other enterprises, we might as well have had a warehouse operation going in our 18th century farmhouse, currently on the market. Why were we holding on to so many things? Sentiment? An overrating of our collectibles’ value? Whatever the reasons, we found that when it was time to let go of many possessions, we had an attic, basement and garage chock full of furniture, collectibles and other things... 04/04/2016

Having long term relationships with your home suppliers has its advantages, I’ve found. In effect, they become advisors you can trust, almost like members of the family. And when the business itself is an extended family affair, it’s especially nice. Take the example of Absolute Flooring of Yorktown that re-did my kitchen floor three years ago. My sales consultant Diane Darby was infinitely patient as I went through sample after sample, not knowing the material or color I wanted when starting out. But Diane knew all the right questions to ask. And the end result was a black and white checkerboard pattern of high-quality vinyl that brought a kitchen done in hand-crafted pine cabinetry vibrantly to life.  It was on a recent visit that I found that I could benefit by being a repeat custome... 03/31/2016

A whole new world was opened to me years ago when the owners of a tasteful antiques shop in Brooklyn Heights invited me to their condo in one of the grand houses in that landmarked neighborhood. When I looked up at the ceiling in their living room, I found that I was looking at a painted sky with clouds that extended the already-high ceilings to infinity.  Technically known as trompe t’oeil or “fool the eye,” this technique is just one of the many ways that faux or “false” painting can be used to transform any room or object into a work of art.  The objective of faux is to have its objects or surfaces look as much like the originals as possible, whether they be marble, wood, grain or suede. With professional faux painters, it’s amazing how realistic their work can be. There have been ti... 03/21/2016

In an age when the wealth of human knowledge and culture can be accessed through a tile-sized tablet, many people would assume that we no longer have any need for a library in the home. This does not necessarily indicate a decline in literacy. In fact, the members of Generation Y are the most avid purchasers of books. Not only should we not judge a book by its cover, we also shouldn’t assume it will be printed on paper. And yet, the printed book still holds its appeal as an artifact, a memento, or an artistic creation, and those who own these objects will want them displayed safely and attractively. (And if their physical presence inspires children to read more, so much the better.) If you have seen collections of books in other people’s homes, you may have noticed how they seem to reve... 03/16/2016

Last month, residents of Mount Vernon breathed a sigh of relief as a long-abandoned home in their city was finally torn down. The building had stood empty for four years, and was then damaged by fire two years ago. Finally, the high winds and snow accumulation from the recent winter storm caused the structure to begin to tilt. The city got ahead of the problem and razed the building before it could collapse and hurt someone. Abandoned homes of all types cause many problems, and making sure that empty structures are being maintained properly is important to the safety and property values of the surrounding community. The house in Mount Vernon was an example of a “zombie home,” a sub-category of abandoned homes with a unique set of problems all their own. Zombie homes, despite their super... 02/08/2016

As we settle into the year 2016, it’s time for the Home Guru to report on the closing of the fourth quarter of the housing market in 2015 and to take a look into his crystal ball and see how experts say it might behave in the months ahead.Closing out 2015: Just in are the results of the last three months that show continued heavy residential sales volume in Westchester with strong economic conditions in the region as well as declining affordability in New York City as key motivators of demand.Listing inventory fell 4.1 percent to 3,814, the lowest fourth quarter total since 2004. The absorption rate, which is the number of months to sell all listing inventory at the current rate of sales was 4.7, 14.5% faster than a year ago and the fastest market pace we’ve seen since 2003.Days on the ... 01/21/2016

In the early days of our marriage, my wife and I lived in a small New York City studio apartment, and we had to make the most of what space we had. Some of our neighbors opened up floor space by sleeping on Murphy beds that folded up vertically into the wall. We opted instead to purchase an extra-long convertible sofa, a Lawson style, upholstered in red velvet, and had that as our regular bed. It followed us through many moves, and the daily ritual of folding the sofa up again early in the morning became ingrained in us.Eventually we settled into our home in the suburbs and acquired a queen-sized bed in its own bedroom. Our old convertible sofa became part of our living room furniture. We imagined that it could still be unfolded for our relatives when they came to visit, but as we alrea... 01/04/2016

It is a New Years Eve and time for an annual tradition.  Of course, I am talking about the annual ball drop counting down to the New Year.It is great to experience it in person but do you really want to go to Times Square?  In just a few hours they will be locking down the grid and people will be standing there for hours.Wait, there is a better solution!  This year the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring the first ever Westchester Ball Drop!What could be better than enjoying New Years Eve and also meeting some new friends who can help you group your business in 2016.  So here are the details: Date: December 31, 2015Time: 11:00pm to 12:30amLocation: Corner of Veterans Rd and Commerce St                  Yorktown Heights, NY Happy New Year! Information provided by Grant Schnei... 12/30/2015

As I observe holiday wreaths dotting the front doors of homes, I am reminded that I’ve written about how important the condition of the front door is when it comes to the sale of a home. I thought about that recently when I opened a couple of doors for showings where the owners might have benefitted from the points I considered.Basically my reasoning has been that the front door can be the key to a home’s personality, either reflecting the condition of the space within…or contradicting it. A beautiful, sturdy door with quality hardware greets the visitor with a confident hello; a weathered door, perhaps out of alignment, with old or poorly functioning hardware, conveys something quite different, something unappealing.I suspect that some homeowners are just not as aware of a front door b... 12/23/2015

Come holiday time, my wife Margaret and I have always engaged in a practice I suspect many homeowners share: in addition to buying gifts for each other, we also buy gifts “for the home.” Over the course of our marriage, these have ranged from practical choices, such as new appliances, to objet d’art found during our frequent visits to antique stores and auctions. A gift I was considering for this holiday was an antique decorative screen that would have been perfect for covering a central air control panel in our dining room, but Margaret is now more fond of modern décor so I agreed to let it go.After so many years of gifting our home, we’re hard pressed to think of anything more for it, but thinking back, if I had it do over again, I would have invested more in purchasing gifts that wou... 12/16/2015

While I wear the mantle of The Home Guru, I get practically all of my ideas and advice from others who are specialists in their fields. But most times, the spark of an idea comes right at home, faced with a chore to be done or some small improvement to make life easier or more enjoyable. And frequently, they are suggested by my wife Margaret.Just recently, she came up with a clever organization idea for her walk-in closet resulting from her frustration of having to fumble around in a jewelry chest for just the right necklace, among many she has collected, to match her outfit for the day.To the left of the entrance is a corner with two small stretches of bare wall where she suggested I nail several rows of brass brads from which she could hang her necklaces in plain sight. “See it to use... 11/24/2015

Steps. Some people seek to avoid them in their housing choices, preferring one-level living, while others insist on having sleeping quarters on a second level. And, the reasons for either preference can be quite different.When I was very young, maybe five or six years old, I had a recurring dream of tumbling down an endless flight of steps, but they were of a rubbery consistency and I just bounced like a ball the entire way. Maybe my subconscious had absorbed the story my mother had told me about how as a toddler I miraculously survived a fall down the steps to a concrete basement floor.The experience never dampened my enthusiasm for a beautiful staircase, however, from the time I discovered that I could enjoy a bumpy ride down the bare wooden steps on my romp from our second floor.When... 11/15/2015

Normally built-ins are utilized to transform dead zones into functional space, such as under stairs or windows, or between fireplaces and corners, but with our most recent project, there were a couple of other objectives to achieve besides organization, storage and display.Because my wife and I would be moving from a historic home with architectural detail in each room, such as chair rails and corner cupboards, to a new condo where, basically, we were dealing with clean, sleek lines and plain white walls, we wanted our built-ins to add that missing architectural definition, especially in our great room.We also wanted them to have a more organic feeling as though they were planned as part of the construction, rather than an afterthought. In essence, we wanted to treat the room as an empt... 11/08/2015

I’ll confess that I’ve always been a country boy at heart, having been reared in the Tidewater area of Virginia where, as a boy, I spent most of my time outside and barefoot at that. So, it was a real transition for me when I went to college and lived in a third floor dorm room and couldn’t just swing open the door and feel the lush softness of grass under my feet. Now as I contemplate a transition from a single family residence with a yard to a top-floor condominium in a five story building, I have one particular concern: how would I adjust to living without my own outdoor property? I began my adult life in a series of apartments and townhouses in New York City and Boston, so at least I was not completely new to the notion of my home being “in” a building, but the decades of living on ... 11/01/2015

The classic sitcom Seinfeld may rival Shakespeare for the number of neologisms it has given us—“low talker,” “regifting,” and “anti-dentite” among them—and it has also brought us the holiday Festivus and the career of The Original Soupman. But there is still one area of the Seinfeld universe that has yet to come into being: I am still waiting for my coffee table book about coffee tables.Okay, granted, Alexander Payne published The Coffee Table Coffee Table Book, a collection of a few avant-garde coffee table designs, but it didn’t seem to measure up to the all-encompassing exploration that many of us envisioned Cosmo Kramer producing. It also did not unfold into its own coffee table shape.The original coffee tables were actually tea tables, developed in the late 18th century in Europe a... 10/25/2015