Yonkers, NY

The City of Yonkers Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration will take place on Monday, December 8 starting at 3:30 p.m. in Getty Square. The free celebration will feature the lighting of Getty Square's 25ft Christmas Tree at 4:45 p.m. More details about the festive event follow.

From 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. holiday entertainment will be provided by the BID. At 4:30 p.m. Mayor Amicone will join officials from the Downtown Waterfront BID to present a special Business Award. Following the presentation, Mayor Amicone and the award recipient will light the Getty Square Christmas Tree at 4:45 p.m. Also included in the celebration will be holiday performances by the Yonkers Idol, Junior Idol and members of Good Sheppard Parish Young Adult Chorus from 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. And last but not least, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will make a special visit to Getty Square at 5:30 p.m.

Free parking for this event will be available at the Chicken Island parking lot from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information, please contact the Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation at (914) 377-6439.

Cold Temperatures is in the region, City is reminding landlords to follow the heat regulation for their tenant building. City in Westchester are enforcing the heating regulation throughout the city and is encouraging residents with problems to contact them.

The city of Yonkers requires landlords to maintain minimum temperature in the building whenever the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees. The requirement is as follow"

From 6:00 am to 11:00: 68 Degrees F

From 11:00 pm to 6:00 am: 65 Degrees F

And the hot water to be maintained at 120 degrees at all times.

When I first started as a real estate investor, I thought I should buy as many properties as I possible can. A property allows you to make money with out any limit, but there are only two methods that are commonly used.

Method 1) Buy and flip: Find a TLC / Handyman Special / or a Total Rehab property then buy It very low and sell it higher including cost of repair and labor. And in this market if you search hard enough you can buy a short sale with little or no work needed.

Method 2) Buy and hold: When you purchase a property hold it to generate income and appreciate in value over time. Real estate demand continues to grow as population continues to grow and people are willing to pay for place to live.

The two common problems investor doesn’t invest into Real estate.

Problem 1) Tenant problems is the biggest reason investor quit in real estate before reaping the benefit of investment appreciation. There are many avenues you can take to tackle this problem, hire a management company many big investor that buy 15 or more units use a management company. Want more for your buck; hire a small management company that is flexible with their fees: most small company is just starting off and wants more business. Another avenue is to hire a realtor to rent the property and to help in (problem with tenants, in the eviction, get advice , knowledge about the area, rental of apartment, or just maintaining a property) for very low cost but with much more benefit.

Problem 2) Over spending on budget: When flipping houses many investor don’t know what to look for or even have budget in place. Understand that a investment needs to keep cost low but sell it quickly. My experience as an investor on flipping property was a eye opening experience and hit on my net profit. So hire a realtor that has good track record working with BUYER’S they know what a buyer looks at when buying a property. And don’t go over broad with high end product where houses in your market is selling with low end product example (crown molding, cherry hardwood floor, etcc)

When flipping a property focus on, Kitchens – Bath room: now every property should have 2 bathrooms, and don’t forget to keep good layout of the property.

Hire a local realtor with 2 or more year of experience in the market, for investors this is best time to buy don’t miss this boat again. Start small with Buy and hold. Good Luck.

When I first started as a real estate investor, I thought I should buy as many properties as I possible can. A property allows you to make money with out any limit, but there are only two methods that are commonly used.

Method 1) Buy and flip: Find a TLC / Handyman Special / or a Total Rehab property then buy It very low and sell it higher including cost of repair and labor. And in this market if you search hard enough you can buy a short sale with little or no work needed. Method

2) Buy and hold: When you purchase a property hold it to generate income and appreciate in value over time. Real estate demand continues to grow as population continues to grow and people are willing to pay for place to live.

The two common problems investor doesn’t invest into Real estate.

Problem 1) Tenant problems is the biggest reason investor quit in real estate before reaping the benefit of investment appreciation. There are many avenues you can take to tackle this problem, hire a management company many big investor that buy 15 or more units use a management company. Want more for your buck; hire a small management company that is flexible with their fees: most small company is just starting off and wants more business. Another avenue is to hire a realtor to rent the property and to help in (problem with tenants, in the eviction, get advice , knowledge about the area, rental of apartment, or just maintaining a property) for very low cost but with much more benefit. Problem

2) Over spending on budget: When flipping houses many investor don’t know what to look for or even have budget in place. Understand that a investment needs to keep cost low but sell it quickly. My experience as an investor on flipping property was a eye opening experience and hit on my net profit. So hire a realtor that has good track record working with BUYER’S they know what a buyer looks at when buying a property. And don’t go over broad with high end product where houses in your market is selling with low end product example (crown molding, cherry hardwood floor, etcc) When flipping a property focus on, Kitchens – Bath room: now every property should have 2 bathrooms, and don’t forget to keep good layout of the property.

Hire a local realtor with 2 or more year of experience in the market, for investors this is best time to buy don’t miss this boat again. Start small with Buy and hold. Good Luck.

The third quarter residential closing continued to drop for Westchester and Putnam counties below are the status for the 3^rd quarter compaired to last year 3^rd quarter 2007.

Westchester County

Single -Dropped - 21%

Condo- Dropped-26%

Co-op - Dropped - 23%

2-4 Family-dropped- 37%

Putnam County

Single Family - Dropped - 11 %

Condo & Co-op - Dropped-40%

We also see an increase in inventory from last year 3 quarter in 2007 - This year inventory higher than last year:

Westchester County:

Single - Increase- 112 (2.8%)

Condo - Increase-21 (2.2%)

Co-op - Increase- 158 (11.9%)

Multi Family - Increase- 16(2.0)

In Putnam County we see decrease in inventory for single family homes:

Putnam:

Single - decrease- 65(6.2%)

Condo & co-op - increase- 16(13.8%)