How To Calculate Capitalization Rate for Real Estate!!! First find a recent sold price of an income property, such as an apartment complex or Office Building. Example: Six unit apartment building (Office Building)sold for $400,000 For that same building, determine the net operating income, or the net rentals realized by the owners. Example: The rental income after expenses (net) is $36,000 Then divide the net operating income by the sale price and that will give you the cap rate. Example: $36,000 / $400,000 = .09 or a 9% Cap Rate (The Capitalization Rate) How To Calculate Capitalization Rate for Real Estate 04/25/2014

4 Critical Home Fixes To Do Before Mom and Dad Move In With You   When an older relative decides to join your household, these four projects belong on the top of your to-do list: 1. In the bathroom, have a carpenter install safety rails in the tub and put up a grab bar disguised as a towel rack. Neglect to do this and your mom will use the towel or toilet paper racks to steady herself as she moves around the bathroom. When this causes the racks to give way, you’ll have to repair the drywall. Add a rubber bathmat or peel and stick non-slip strips to the bathtub or shower. 2. Get rid of throw rugs and rearrange furniture so your dad doesn’t have to walk around any pieces as he goes through the rooms in your home. Coil or tape any cords or wires to the wall, or have new electric outlets in... 04/25/2014

Coldwell Banker Moves an Award Winning Web Site! This web site brings in a fantastic amount of business.As you can see from the chart below it out performsRaveis.com, Eliman.com, Randrealty.com, Houlihanlawrence.com, Juliabfee.com!  This web site brings in a fantastic amount of business.As you can see from the chart below it out performsRaveis.com, Eliman.com, Randrealty.com, Houlihanlawrence.com, Juliabfee.com! Coldwell Banker Moves an Award Winning Web Site! 04/18/2014

2014 FIRST QUARTER RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE SALES REPORT The Market in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange Counties, New York Has been on the rise for the past three years.Westchester, which accounts for about 60% of the region's Real estate Sales, led the way with a powerful 19.4% sales increase in it's single family house sector, and 21.0% in it's cooperative unit sector. 04/15/2014

Women who have fought to claim their right to have jobs traditionally reserved for men have always fascinated me, and I have championed their cause.    When I was an Operations Officer at The Culinary Institute of America in the 1970s, I looked around and saw that only two of the 1200 enrolled students were women. I knew that something was wrong and set out on a promotional campaign to open American kitchens to women chefs. By the time I left the Institute in 1980, a third of the student population was female, and today when I read about remarkable achievements of women chefs, I feel that somehow I had a little something to do with that. It was only natural that when I showed up recently at Author’s Day at the Mahopac Public Library to talk about my book, “Musings of the Home Guru,” I w... 04/07/2014

This column comes with an advance warning: You may not believe it, but I swear to you, it’s true. It involves a feng shui seminar The Home Guru Team sponsored last week for my fellow associates at William Raveis Real Estate to celebrate my birthday.  I had recently met a fascinating feng shui practitioner named Deanna Trust whom I invited to join the Home Guru Team in order to offer her services to listing clients over a certain price point. Midway through the two hour presentation, my mouth was open, my eyes open even wider, as I realized that, unwittingly, I had created a set of conditions within my home that has revolutionized my life within the past three years. Would you believe me if I told you that only a few years ago, as a direct result of the tragedy of 9/11, I was down on my ... 03/30/2014

God has a great sense of humor. In the early 2000s when the Cappelli Organization came to Yorktown to reveal a plan for a large, luxury residential complex it wanted to build, I thought to myself I’d never want to live in a place like that. I thought it was just too big and expensive for our area. But, as I announced last week, I just bought into it. What happened during the intervening dozen years that has rendered me an enthusiastic buyer just dying to get into the place? A number of things. When first announced, the units were to be priced from the mid $500,000s  to $1.3 million. In our sleepy community where the average single-family house sold at the time for under $450,000, that seemed to me, as a member of our architectural review board, a bit out of whack. When I brought this to... 03/30/2014

Buyers are liars and sellers are storytellers is the first adage I heard when I got into real estate. While I got the gist of what the second phrase meant, I couldn’t quite grasp what agents meant when they called buyers liars. Then I caught on when I would hear such things as, “let me talk to my husband, I’ll get right back to you.” In my own case, I have a completely different interpretation of the expression. I was a liar, but only to myself, in what I said I wanted as a buyer because what I ended up buying just last week is completely different. After some years of promising–or threatening–to move from the home in which I have  been ensconced for 43 years, The Home Guru is moving. After having utilized my beloved and historic Ebenezer White House for a broad range of articles as I p... 03/27/2014

National Association Of Realtors® Award   03/22/2014

The Home Guru has been away for a couple of weeks. The announced reason was that I was enjoying some well-deserved vacation after five years of never missing a single deadline, but really, I just needed to stop. I just needed to pull the emergency cord on practically everything that goes with holding house and home – and head and heart – together because I had a real emergency. It all started when I got involved with a community issue that was highly charged and polarizing. I took a position and utilized this column, in retrospect not the best venue, to engage readers and to express my views on the matter, using a metaphor unthinkingly that caused quite a ruckus. Some community members on the other side of the issue, some of them friends, became upset with me, some saying so quite point... 03/11/2014

It’s late and I’m sitting in my easy chair, comfy cozy with my comforter pulled up from my toes to my chest, protecting me from a cold winter’s night. My half glasses resting on the bridge of my nose, making me look like old man Silas Marner, I’m squinting into my laptop, happy as a clam in my not-so-humble abode, happy to be working on a project I love doing. Yes, life is good, life is perfect, safe and secure. Suddenly, I hear a warning buzz, then ominous silence. Then, the sound of a skillful landing nearby, unseen. I look around with trepidation. Is it on the lampshade? The end table? The side of my chair? Oh my God, could it be on ME?  I see nothing. Silence. Maybe that nasty little creature with the primitive shield on its back slithered into some crack in the space between the fl... 03/06/2014

“Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see,” was one of my mother’s favorite expressions when teaching me how to find my way in life.  When I became old enough to think for myself, however, I would say to myself, what kind of nonsense is that? But after a fancy, formal education as well as enduring a rather rigorous college of hard knocks, I find myself still relying a lot on those pearls of wisdom doled out at my mother’s knee. From time to time, however, I forget. Recently, I found myself in a situation where I believed everything I heard when I shouldn’t have. And I was ashamed of myself for it. As registered voters where we own homes, we all take part in the process of shaping what our towns are and what they are to become in the future. Through zoning codes and ... 02/15/2014

While usually it is the function of buyers to order a home inspection once they decide to place an offer on a house, would you consider it an outrageous notion if I were to suggest that you as a seller order an inspection even before you list your home? Would you think it even more extraordinary if I suggested that you order a home inspection even if you are not considering selling your home in the near future? I thought about these things recently when Matthew Albano of True View Home Inspections emailed me the design for a brochure he is planning which encourages home sellers to beat buyers to the punch by engaging his services to inspect their homes in advance of listing. Matt’s note to me reminded me of that cautionary and amusing sign I found on the exit door of the men’s room in t... 02/14/2014

Perhaps you’ve never thought much about foam rubber as a stuffing for furnishings, but I for one have never cared for it. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, but I’ve always had a kind of inborn aversion to the way it feels and performs. A few months ago when the wingback chair in my man cave (actually a misnomer – my hideaway is really a rather nicely appointed room) literally fell apart, I ordered a replacement from Macy’s from a newspaper ad. I didn’t think about the materials used when I ordered it, but it seemed to have an appealing shape, considering that it was a lounger in disguise. When it arrived, however, I was disappointed to find that its arms, seat and back were upholstered in foam rubber. Well, I thought, it is not as though I bought the ... 02/10/2014

Never one who was big on remembering or quoting verse from the Bible, I do sometimes think of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verses 1-4. You know, the passage about the appropriate times to do this or that, when to mourn or rejoice, and all that? It’s gotten me through the low spots when I’ve thought, oh, okay, I guess this is one of those down times when I should just lie low or, I guess this is when I can kick up my heels. During 2013, we realtors were able to say, this is the time to rejoice and this is the time for homeowners to sell and buyers to buy. At least that’s what the report of the Multiple Listing Service, released last week, confirmed that we should do. The good news was that the real estate business was better in 2013 than it had been since we laid a big fat egg after 2007. We... 02/09/2014

This is 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. We ads experience and expertise in all aspects of the sales process including marketing, financing, negotiations and more. We co-ordinate all of the showings that atke place. That brings a system of known and trusted real estate professionals. If your agent doesn't have the answer then he or she likely knows someone who does. Always has your interests in mind so you always have someone on your side. Can handle and advise you on all price and contract negotiations. Provides yo... 01/20/2014

Want to sell your HOME? Well, you better have it on the market. And I don't mean for sale by owner. Real buyers are out there with their agent looking for homes, not driving around looking for FSBO signs. Those buyers that do look for FSBO's are the ones looking for a bargain. They know that most FSBO's sell below what a Realtor could have gotten. Only between 5%-15% of FSBO's are successful in selling their home. I like to call a FSBO the BEST KEPT SECRET in REAL ESTATE! There are over 7,000 Realtors in our MLS and only a hand full may know you are on the market. List your home with a Realtor today and get it sold at the right price in a time period that works for you. There are not enough homes on the market right now! Beat the Spring Market and get your home on the market while the  ... 01/10/2014

Land Listings Wanted!!! Westchester and Putnam County Residential Vacant Land Are you considering selling your Land? Or even better yet, do you need cash and have land to sell if so, I can help! I am experienced in: Evaluating Vacant Land. I have a vast Knowledge ofCounty and Town Zoning Codes & the Planning Process. Land Marketing is not for everyone!!! This Is My Objective!!To sell your property, within the time frame you need to have it sold, under the most favorable terms and conditions possible. If you are thinking of listing your land in Westchester, Putnam or Dutchess County please give me a call. 845-590-5488   01/05/2014

In history civilizations varied when the year started & ended. Going back, far back in history, a way of marking time varied from area to area. Even when the year began was different. some civilizations celebrated the New Year just before new crops were planted, usually what we call March today. Some areas say the New Year would cleanse the bad things and bring in good new things. I truely hope they were right and this year will bring in a great new economy and a healthy atmosphere around the would. Good Luck to Everyone in Your adventure into this great New Year we are entering!!!   In history civilizations varied when the year started & ended. 12/31/2013

In the real estate world, 2013 was quite a year to observe and ponder, wasn’t it? Quite unlike any other in recent history. Considering that it was clawing its way back from the doldrums of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, it had a lot of catch-up to do and, while uneven, it rose to the occasion. Prices rose an average of five percent nationwide and in some tony pockets of Westchester, as much as 20 percent. Instrumental in the price increase was the low inventory compared with the number of buyers in the market competing against each other in bidding wars, unheard of during the recession. And mortgage rates remained at historic lows. Much of that is about to change according to the pundits whose expertise The Home Guru culls from his crystal ball to present a li... 12/30/2013