Hudson Valley Happenings Blog : February 2010

Well here it comes again New York.  They are predicting a lot of snow for tomorrow afternoon and night.  The snow is going to be wet snow which is soggy and heavy.  We know what soggy heavy snow can do don't we?

Be careful when shoveling

Expect that we may have power outages throughout the area so get prepared.  

Watch the snow build up on roofs especially flat roofs.

Don't drive if you don't have to.

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide Detector in your house or apartment?  Well if you live in New York you better get one.  Today, February 22,2010, is the day the Amanda's Law takes effect.  This State Law was passed in July and requires every dwelling in New York State to have a working Carbon Monoxide Detector installed.  They can be hard wired or plug in units with battery back up.  The plug in units are easy to find in stores and installation is merely plugging them into an outlet and maintaining batteries to back up the system.  They are like having your own little security system complete with a bouncer to sound the alarm in case of danger.

This law came about through the efforts of Amanda Hanson's parents after her tragic death in January of 2009.  Amanda was only 16 and on a sleep over at a friends house when a faulty boiler emitted the odorless, colorless gas that took her life.  There was not Carbon Monoxide Detector in that house.

As part of the transfer of title and closing on homes in New York sellers have been required for quite a while to certify that Carbon Monoxide Detectors were present in the house they were selling.  Now it is required that all dwellings have and maintain these units.  

Well I am off to check out my house and the rental units I have to insure they all have working units.  I suggest you all do the same.

If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying or selling a home I would be glad to help.  If they are in the Greater Hudson Valley I can act as their agent.  If they are anywhere else in the state or country I can find a great agent for them where they are or want to be.  

These are but a few of the things to do on this Sunday in Orange County New York. For more events see the Orange County Tourism Site. The Greater Hudson Valley is a great place to live or to have a weekend place.  If you would like to start a search for a permanent residence or vacation home in the area I would love to help you.  Working with an experienced buyer's agent can help you to choose what is best for you.  I work in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County NY and I would love to be your Buyer's Agent. If you are looking elsewhere I would love to find someone in your chosen location to help you.  Give me a call  or send an email today.

The Greater Hudson Valley is a great place to live or to have a weekend place.  If you would like to start a search for a permanent residence or vacation home in the area I would love to help you.  Working with an experienced buyer's agent can help you to choose what is best for you.  I work in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County NY and I would love to be your Buyer's Agent. If you are looking elsewhere I would love to find someone in your chosen location to help you.  Give me a call  or send an email today.

Are you thinking about buying a home this spring?  When I was growing up my aunt always had a puzzle out on a table in her living room.  It was always a race to get that puzzle would be completed.  If you are thinking of buying a new home it is time to put the pieces of your home buying puzzle together before you miss out on some extremely favorable buying conditions and incentives.

Deadlines are fast approaching for the Tax Credit and it is doubtful that it will be extended again.  In order to qualify for the $8000 first time tax credit or the $6500 tax credit for buyers who are moving to a new home after selling another home they have owned for 5 or more years, buyer's must be in contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.  In this area of New York state that means you had best be looking in February and early March. With the average closing taking 60 days or longer you need to find that house as soon as possible.  These are hard deadlines in the law and as they get closer you will find that it becomes more difficult to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place in order to meet them.

Experts are telling us that interest rates are going to rise.  Today we had a representative of a major mortgage lender at our company meeting.  He told us that the rates are currently around 5% but they are expected to rise to 6% by years end.  The sooner you find your new home the better your interest rates will be if this prediction is true.

Another important puzzle piece that just fell into place is that some of the conventional lenders are once again able to offer 95% financing.  In the past year our area has been under restrictions that required a 10 % down payment for conventional mortgages.  This 5% down payment will allow more buyers qualify to buy a home now. 

Yes it is time to open the box and start put the home buying puzzle together.  As an experienced Buyer's Representative I can be a valuable asset to you as you fit the pieces in place.  I urge you to start today with a search right here from this blog post by clicking on the house search below.  

Happy Valentine's Day. Did you set yourself up for sadness today?  No one who can count one person as a friend should be sad on Valentine's Day.  I think that many people set themselves up for a depressing day by focusing on what isn't in their lives rather than what is.  On this day of Love and Lovers you may forget that the other Love, the kind we feel for our friends and family is the stronger Love than that sometimes illusive romantic ideal we think we are missing.  We can only be hurt if we obsess about what we don't have instead of celebrating what we do have.

Do we set ourselves up to experience bad things by focusing on the negative in other areas of our lives?  Some of us do it occasionally.  Some of us do it all the time.

In Real Estate it is hard to present a rosy picture of home ownership to a prospective buyer if all we talk about is how difficult this market is.  It is difficult to be enthusiastic for a property if we don't focus on how great it could be.  Oh I am not saying ignore the negatives, I am saying make sure you aren't avoiding the positives.  

This attitude can help you in most areas of your life.  



Just remember to look for the SUNSHINE through the clouds
and focus on that.

These are but a few of the things to do on this Sunday in Orange County New York. For more events see the Orange County Tourism Site. The Greater Hudson Valley is a great place to live or to have a weekend place.  If you would like to start a search for a permanent residence or vacation home in the area I would love to help you.  Working with an experienced buyer's agent can help you to choose what is best for you.  I work in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County NY and I would love to be your Buyer's Agent. If you are looking elsewhere I would love to find someone in your chosen location to help you.  Give me a call  or send an email today.

Pine Bush Central School District residents are asking what they can do to help with the efforts to encourage the State of NY to provide our District with a fair share of the pie.  The State has cut back on state aid to School Districts throughout the state but Pine Bush is one of seven or eight Districts that face severe cuts in aid.  Governor Paterson is proposing targeted school aid reductions based on wealth and student need. In figuring the aid cuts to Pine Bush the state is using data regarding reduced and free lunch participation from several years ago.  There has been a huge increase in students who are using this program in our schools in the past year and although the state has those current numbers they are using the old statistics.  Although it would not make up for all of the funds needed to maintain current programing it would certainly help if the aid was increased to a level based on our current increased number of area households that have fallen on hard times.

The Greater Hudson Valley is a great place to live or to have a weekend place.  If you would like to start a search for a permanent residence or vacation home in the area I would love to help you.  Working with an experienced buyer's agent can help you to choose what is best for you.  I work in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County NY and I would love to be your Buyer's Agent. If you are looking elsewhere I would love to find someone in your chosen location to help you.  Give me a call  or send an email today.

Last night the wind was howling and jack frost was definately nipping at everyone's noses.  We had the woodstove cranking out some heat and it was cozy and warm.  

The cats were a bit chilled on reentry to the house so ......