November | 2011 | Rivertowns Real Estate News

November 2011
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9 Ways to Create a Not-So-Standard Bathroom

Posted on November 30, 2011 11:42 am by Scott Rosasco

From Houzz.com: Sometimes it’s hard to get inspiration for a potentially uninteresting 5′ x 8′ bathroom space, and there are good reasons for it. Once you install the sink basin, toilet and bathtub there is not much room for accessories, and most homeowners and builders tend to choose neutral tones and colors for finishes because they are thinking of the resale value. The results are bathrooms we don’t want to spend much time in besides doing our daily routines. Here are some designs to spark ideas for your next bathroom.
Read the full article at:
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/890524?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery13&w=518816

Filed under: Real Estate, Rivertowns Design | Tagged: Dobbs Ferry Real Estate, Houzz.com, Scott Rosasco | Leave a comment »

Sleepy Hollow Set For Mercury Cleanup

Posted on November 28, 2011 1:40 pm by Scott Rosasco

Map of Affected Properties

Gillette expects to do soil remediation, with respect to mercury contamination, for at least 78 properties in Sleepy Hollow NY, near the old Duracell battery plant. The remediation is not planned until spring 2012 and the work is to start with affected properties located closest to the old plant with work moving outwards from there.
Soil remediation involves taking away old contaminated dirt and replacing it with new dirt. Some landscaping will also be done to return the affected areas as close as possible to their pre-remediation conditions. Approximately 2,000 soil samples were initially taken from 149 properties, in an area bordered on the south by Depeyster Street, on the west by Clinton Street, Barnhard Avenue and Barnhart Park, to the north by Elm Street and to the east by Cortland Street, as well as in the area around the apartment building at 95 Beekman Avenue.
The affected properties showed lead levels of between 0 and 28,000 mg/kg and mercury levels between 0 and 180 mg/kg. The plan is to clean up the mercury to a maximum level of 4.8 mg/kg which is well above the NYS Department of Health maximum threshold of 1.2 mg/kg. However, according to remediation officials, the 4.8 mg/kg level “is well below the exposure levels that may cause health effects in animals or humans“. Mercury levels below that, in the area, can be attributed to other “historic fill” that has been placed there from sources besides Duracell.
There are no plans to clean up the lead to the state mandated maximum level of 400 mg/kg, as it has been determined that the presence of lead, as well, can be attributed to other sources than just the Duracell plant.
More information can be found at:
http://www.sleepyhollowny.gov/images/Documents/Notices/Report.v360011.2011-04-01.PhaseIRIDSR%20R3dDURACELL.pdf

Filed under: Local News, Real Estate | Tagged: Duracell, Gillette, Lead, Mercury, Scott Rosasco, Sleepy Hollow | 1 Comment »

Dobbs Ferry “Rivertowns Square” DEIS Released

Posted on November 23, 2011 1:39 pm by Scott Rosasco

The DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) for Rivertowns Square, located in the vicinity of Ogden Avenue and the Saw Mill River Parkway has been released by the village of Dobbs Ferry, to start the public review process.
At last nights Board of Trustees meeting it was reiterated several times that this is just the start of the review process by the public and that the first public meeting must be held no later than 60 days from today’s release. In fact, there is already a public hearing on Rivertowns Square scheduled for December 19 starting at 6:30 PM in village hall. However this is an open-ended process. The Board of Trustees has the option to extend this public hearing process as many times as is necessary to be sure all questions are answered to the satisfaction of the Board and the public. Further, the developer, as a matter of law, is required to answer every question and comment made by the public with respect to the DEIS.
This is an exhaustive document (well over 500 pages in itself with an almost 2000 page appendix) that represents the proposed project from the perspective of the developer and how they plan to mitigate any concerns associated with it. This document does not represent the perspective of the village board or residents. Now is the time for any comments, questions or concerns that the pubic has, to be made during the public hearing process and read into the record for a response by the developer.
The PDF documents are available here: www.dobbsferry.com
CD’s can also be burned by the village upon request and with some notice for a fee of $5.00 each.

Also see: https://dobbsferry-rivertowns.com/2011/08/06/rivertown-square-development-review-moving-along/

Filed under: Local News, Real Estate, Rivertowns Design | Tagged: Dobbs Ferry, Dobbs Ferry Real Estate, Ogden Avenue, Rivertowns Square, Scott Rosasco | 1 Comment »

55 Homes For Sale In Irvington

Posted on November 21, 2011 5:19 pm by Scott Rosasco

The Charm of Irvington NY

There are currently 55 houses for sale in Irvington NY, ranging in price from $475,000 on the low side for a “Handyman Special” on almost an acre, to $4,200,000 for brand new construction, in a development of similar homes, within easy walking distance to the village and transportation. Mortgage rates are still hovering around 4%.

Filed under: Real Estate | Tagged: Irvington, Irvington Houses For Sale, Irvington Real Estate, Scott Rosasco, Walking Distance | Leave a comment »

Online Valuations of Real Estate are Often Wrong

Posted on November 18, 2011 11:55 am by Scott Rosasco

Online real estate valuation services offered by companies such as Zillow.com, Homes.com and Realtor.com have become ubiquitous in the past several years. They automatically collate information on all listed and sold real estate, available from a variety of sources and using advanced algorithms compile that information into data used to estimate the value for your home. The only problem is: they are often wrong. When not outright wrong, they are wildly inaccurate. There is no way to value property purely based on numbers unless all properties are exactly identical in every way. Few properties, even in the most homogenous of neighborhoods are. These valuations don’t take into account many of the variables that your local real estate broker or appraiser considers when accurately valuing a house. Some of the variables include location, condition, taxes, house style etc.
Personally, I have had clients using Zillows “Zestimate” as a baseline for deciding what offers to put in on houses, when the baseline was off by as much as $100,000 from the actual values. This results in a very frustrating experience for the buyer, the seller and of course the Realtor. These actual clients had to look at over 60 homes to finally convince themselves that the local Rivertowns neighborhoods they were looking in and the valuable advice their Realtor was giving them was not reflected by Zillow.com. While they did eventually purchase a home, they lost several well priced homes in the meantime, that they really wanted and could afford, because they could not disassociate themselves from the gospel advice of online valuation.
A recent article in Smart Money Magazine confirms that these estimates “seldom hit the bulls eye” being off by 20, 30 or even 50 percent. Using a service which can be off by as much as 50% is almost worse than using no service at all, especially when valuing one of life’s most expensive investments. In one legendary instance in Brooklyn, the Zillow Zestimate for a brownstone was $31 million. The property is currently listed for $5 million. Sounds like a good deal. Remarkably though it is still unsold.
More information at:
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/real-estate/the-fuzzy-math-of-home-values-1320260595148/?mg=com-sec-sm

Filed under: Real Estate | Tagged: Dobbs Ferry Real Estate, Realtor, Rivertowns, Scott Rosasco, Smart Money, Zillow | Leave a comment »

A Dobbs Ferry Pizza Truck?

Posted on November 10, 2011 11:56 am by Scott Rosasco

A pizza truck from Eddie's Pizza, New Hyde Park NY

There is currently a proposal before the Dobbs Ferry Board of Trustees regarding a Peddlers Permit for the operation of a “pizza truck” from The Cookery Restaurant in the village. At Tuesday nights BOT meeting, concerns were raised by two village pizzeria owners as to whether the village really needed another pizzeria to compete with the existing businesses and whether, if it did, a mobile truck parked at the Farmers Market, across the street from existing pizzerias, seemingly capitalizing on their location, at little or no comparable cost to the truck owner, was really the way to go. Other options included parking the truck at the waterfront.
The larger question is whether, in these tough economic times, it makes sense for the village of Dobbs Ferry to be looking for ways to make it even more difficult for existing village businesses to survive and flourish. Given that the village already has three pizzerias within one block who either pay high rents, high taxes, or both, the addition of a mobile pizza truck would seem to be an affront to those businesses.
There can be no doubt that the Farmers Market already competes with other brick and mortar village businesses in the selling of produce and other foods. Village residents have recently lamented the loss of Brothers Market, a local produce purveyor which left because it couldn’t afford to pay its rent. Providing alternative places to purchase the same products (pizza, produce, wine, baked goods etc.), from outside vendors, who don’t have the same level of investment in the village downtown, would seem to be an odd choice in this economy.

Filed under: Dining and Entertainment, Local News, Real Estate | Tagged: Board of Trustees, Dobbs Ferry Pizza, Dobbs Ferry Real Estate, Farmers Market, Scott Rosasco, The Cookery | Leave a comment »

Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Timetable Moved Up

Posted on November 3, 2011 8:50 am by Scott Rosasco

In an interesting turn of events, the timetable for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge has been moved up, irrespective of the current state of the economy. Primarily because of its inclusion, as one of 14 other projects, on a fast track list by President Obama, it is expected to receive an expedited federal review and approval. Construction could begin as early as Spring of 2013. The current price tag for the new bridge is set at $5.2 billion.
The proposed bridge, carrying I-287 over the Hudson between Tarrytown and Nyack, would feature 8 lanes, 4 in each direction along with wider shoulders and bike and walking paths. One notable difference however between the new bridge in its current iteration and most of the previous proposals is the sudden lack of mass transit options. There are to be no Bus Rapid Transit or Commuter Rail Transit services included, for what now would seem to be a significantly scaled back project. This omission does not sit well with most elected officials or residents, who envisioned the mass transit option as a great forward thinking way, to alleviate what are expected to be ever-increasing traffic loads on the roadways and pollution concerns in an ever greener world. Granted, the mass transit options would at least triple the price of the bridge, but from the aspect of long-range planning, a concept perhaps not fully explored with the current deteriorating structure, this would seem to be a glaring omission. As always, it is still a mystery to all concerned as to the actual funding sources for the bridge. At the moment though, the more pressing concerns are to get the mass transit options back on the table.