After spending more than 30 years in real estate, Gary Leogrande, broker for Keller Williams New York Realty in White Plains, was still quite surprised to be named the 2016 HGAR “Realtor of the Year” at Member Appreciation Day last month. “Sometimes over the years, I’d be sitting in the audience and thinking, ‘well maybe…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino has proposed a plan to implement a public-private partnership (P3) whereby Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. would manage operations at Westchester County Airport under a 40-year-lease deal. The long-term lease deal, if approved by the Westchester County Board of Legislators, would save taxpayers more than $140 million, improve the overall…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors reports that the National Association of Realtors has approved its proposed merger with the Manhattan Association of Realtors (MANAR). Richard Haggerty, CEO of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, told Real Estate In-Depth that NAR approved the merger deal on Wednesday, Nov. 2. The merger, which becomes effective…
Read MoreKaren Mayo of Exit Realty in Elmsford and Gwen Weiss-Numeroff of Keller Williams Hudson Valley Realty in New City have more in common than just selling real estate—they have both authored books about staying healthy and living a long life. A Realtor since 2013, Mayo worked in banking and mortgage financing with firms like Wells…
Read MoreA Conversation with County Executive MaryEllen Odell CARMEL—Putnam County’s continued push to foster economic development and tourism continued in 2016 with a host of ambitious initiatives, including the continued improvements at the county-owned Putnam County Golf Course, the redevelopment of the storied Tilly Foster Farm and an initiative with the City of Danbury that could…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Chief officials of the Westchester County Association and the mayors of the cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers announced on Oct. 6 that they have signed a “Smart Cities ComPact” to embrace smart growth initiatives. Tops on their agenda is bringing “Gigabit” broadband to Westchester County. The initiative, estimated to…
Read MoreNEWBURGH—U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has submitted new federal legislation that would halt current, and any future United States Coast Guard proposal to expand mooring infrastructure on the Hudson River between Kingston and Yonkers. The U.S. Coast Guard is considering the adoption of a new rule that would establish new anchorage grounds for commercial vessels…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Single-family home construction is currently lacking in 80 percent of measured metro areas despite steady job creation and the low activity is creating a housing shortage crisis that is curtailing affordability and threatening to hold back prospective buyers in many of the largest cities in the country, according to new research from the National Association…
Read MoreA Legal and Business Perspective In the 2011 film Moneyball, Brad Pitt’s character, Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane, opines at the end of a nearly triumphant season, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” Similarly, real estate agents and brokers may ask themselves a similar question about buying and selling homes. The…
Read MoreAs reported in HGAR’s 2016 second quarter residential real estate sales report, the Hudson Valley continues to experience increased sales volume. This long awaited market condition has produced a five-year high of second quarter sales reaching an overall 23% increase in closings over the same period in 2015. Putnam County, at 32%, had the largest…
Read MoreFirst, a disclaimer, I am blatantly biased as I write this month’s article. I have been a huge fan of HGAR’s Legal Counsel Edward I. Sumber for more than three decades. In my opinion Ed has been one of the most effective and knowledgeable association legal counsels in the country, and he has earned the…
Read MorePresident Obama has signed Condo legislation that was approved by both houses of the Congress, into law. This is a big victory for Realtors as well as for future buyers as purchasing a condo is often a more affordable housing option. The new law mitigates current FHA regulations surrounding existing condominium projects, including streamlining project…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors is hosting its annual Hudson Gateway Realtor Foundation Gala on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle. The event theme, “Monte Carlo Night,” will feature an open bar for the entire event, cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—A perfect storm of market forces—strong buyer demand, low interest rates, soaring housing costs in New York City and a vibrant local economy helped propel residential home sales in the four-county market area of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors to a five-year high. The Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service, Inc. reported 4,525 residential…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: The following is the full text version of the 2016 Second Quarter Residential Real Estate Sales Report for Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange Counties, New York released recently by the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service. WHITE PLAINS—Prospective homebuyers who were out in force during the first several months of 2016 came to the…
Read MoreMIDDLETOWN—Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a stop at the Paramount Theatre here on July 6th to announce that the City of Middletown had won a hotly contested $10-million state grant to help revitalize its downtown district. A host of state, county and local dignitaries were on hand for the announcement that Middletown had secured the Downtown…
Read MoreMOUNT VERNON—Mayor Richard Thomas knows the city is playing catch up with neighboring Yonkers, White Plains and New Rochelle. However, the energetic young chief executive believes that for the city to bring in significant private investment it must spend capital to improve its neglected infrastructure. While he knows that the work to bring what he…
Read MoreALBANY - The New York State Department of Tax and Finance has published a form for distribution to new homeowners that provides guidance on the new STAR tax credit program, the New York State Association of Realtors reported on June 7. Homeowners who purchased their current home prior to May 1, 2014 and already receive…
Read MoreSLEEPY HOLLOW—In what Village of Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray described as simply “a defining moment for our village, a real turning point” and a break with its industrial past, the developers of The Edge-on-Hudson, a planned more than $1-billion mixed-use development, broke ground on the former site of the General Motors assembly plant here.…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Despite a blistering rebuke of the actions by the White Plains Common Council over what has been a five-year long approval process, the $60-million French American School of New York development project here is still nowhere near breaking ground. New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan Lefkowitz in her recent ruling described the project…
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