Michael's Blog

   No its not Saint Patrick's Day!

Beginning this weekend Yonkers kicked off its first annual Green Week celebration. This event will last until next Sunday April 27th. Some of the highlights will include a blessing of the Hudson River on Tuesday Morning and a tour of the Hudson River aboard New York Water Taxi on Thursday evening at 6pm.

The program is organized by the City Council's Green Policy Task Force. Marcia Bystryn, president of the Manhattan-based non-profit PlanNYC2030 for New York City, has great confidence in Yonkers abilities to become environmentally friendly and says "Yonkers with its major redevelopment effort, has a particularly good opportunity to create a sustainable downtown - one that reduces energy demand in government and private buildings and also preserves open space."

This Sunday in The New York Times Westchester section there was an article titled The House That Green Built features a home in Dobbs Ferry being built green. 

As as always comments and suggestions are always welcomed...

MICHAEL A. BRONW - REALTOR® WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND THE BRONX

Damn that mortgage crisis... Damn those greedy mortgage brokers!! Damn those awful underwriting practices!! Should we label it a natural disaster? Is George W. Bush going to show up in neighborhoods across America showing support?

The latest in mortgage crisis and foreclosureepidemic is the increase in tenants being evicted from their homes due to their landlords defaulting on their mortgages. An article this Sunday in NY Times titled "Even Renters Aren't Safe" embodies this increase.

While renting may have been a safe option instead of buying in the past couple of years, many landlords are also vulnerable to foreclosures, putting tenants out on the streets. Chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, Mark Zandi, said "This is a growing problem nationwide, landlords of all stripes could potentially get caught up in this very severe downturn. I suspect that its going to be more of a problem for lower-to middle-income markets." This could mean neighborhoods like South Yonkers, West Mount Vernon and the Melrose section of The Bronx which consist of many small multi family homes.

Renters and tenants alike be aware and active with the maintenance and management of your building. If you need assistance with finding a new home or getting out of a possible foreclose, please don't hesitate to call...

As always comments and suggestions are always welcomed...

MICHAEL A. BROWN - REALTOR® & ASSOICATE BROKER WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND THE BRONX

"Its taking longer to sell anything" said Bill Shepherd, a 15 year broker with Brown Harris Stevens, in the article Taking the Pulse of the Boroughs in The New York Times this weekend. The sales environment has changed a bit over the past 12 months. Some challenges range from difficulties in finding a qualified buyer to waiting 3 weeks for the bank to set the closing on a short sale.

I find it amazing how neighborhood specific the market is and also how the product demand varies by neighborhood. Take for example multi family(2-4 family) homes under $500,000 in Yonkers vs. Mount Vernon. In Yonkers 80% of the homes sold in the past 6 months were on the market for longer than 120 days, Mount Venon 85% were on the market for longer than 120 days. Now lets look at condos under $500,000 in both neighborhoods. In Mount Vernon 0% of the condos sold in less than 90 days, while 16% of the condos in Yonkers sold in less than 90 days. Those numbers are a bit skewed because there were only 5 condos sold in Mount Vernon vs 38 in Yonkers but I think it paints a bit of a picture in these 2 neighborhoods in Lower Westchester County. I remember the market of '06 when multi family homes where moving in less than 90 days in Yonkers, those were the days.

Has the mortgage crunch shifted the demand for these neighborhoods where mutli famiy homes make up a huge bulk of the volume?

Another neighborhood that has seen a major shift in sales volume is The Bronx which the article also sheds some light on. The Bronxis comprised of many multi family homes and is also feeling the mortgage crunch. I am finding that coops and condos are selling at a faster pace and are highly sought after in many sections of The Bronx particularly the Grand Concourse, Pelham Parkway and Riverdale areas. Along the Grand Concourse you will find some amazing sponsor unit coops in beautiful, art deco, pre-war buildings at a great value. 

The right pricing strategy and a little patience will go along way in today's real estate environment...

As always comments and suggestions are always welcome... 

MICHAEL A. BROWN - REALTOR® WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND THE BRONX

The proposed Struever Fidelco Cappelli redevelopment of Yonkers' downtown/waterfrontdistrict has caused sellers of commercial property in that zone to be a bit unrealistic in there pricing. Peter G. Klein, vice president of Fidelco Realty Group, said the developers have the property deals in place for the first phase of the $1.56 billion project but are assessing other sites for future development.

Will Yonkers stubborn landowners prevent future development in the area? One land owner was quoted to have asked for $2 million for .75 acres of land on Warburton Ave that lacked water views. CRAZY! Klein was also quoted he was unwilling to pay a premium today for property he would develop later. Could Yonkers end up looking like this in 5 years after all the developers have run out of money?

In order for Downtown/Waterfront Yonkers to flourish the surrounding neighborhoods will need to improve. Many of the pioneers like Peter Kelly's X2O on the waterfront will be forced to close if the neighborhood does not improve and/or continue to redevelop.  

Comments and suggestion are always welcomed...

MICHAEL A. BROWN - REALTOR® WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND THE BRONX