Red Hook, NY

Last month I pointed out that the real estate inventory in Red Hook was high. Sadly it is still high with an inventory of 81 and one sale, that's right 1 sale.

• The only point I am going to make this month is: If you really want to sell you will need to reduce your price.

Here is the breakdown for October.

****Data for this report obtained from the MidHudson MLS System.

PREVIOUS MARKET REPORTS

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

BY: Jennifer Fivelsdal Associate Broker, Keller Williams Realty Team - jfivehomes.com 845-758-6842 Email

Yes that right, Red Hook home sellers and home owners you have a leaf problem and I can sympathize. The truth is we are all in the same boat.  All those beautiful fall foliage now cover your beautifully lawn and it is driving you crazy.

A showing is scheduled and you are wondering what the potential buyer will think about your yard.  Your real estate agent told you how important it was to have a well maintained yard;  something about curb appeal.  Well I am hear to tell you don't lose sleep over this, just look around at the other yards those home owners have the same problem.

However there comes a time when the mess will have to be cleaned up.  There are two ways of approaching this:

• Pay someone to do the cleanup
• Or you can rake, rake and rake

In my case I chose the latter, I rake for hours, days and sometime weeks.   Before I am even finished raking,  new leaves take the place of the ones I had already raked up.

What I try to do is to think of all the positive things about this chore, and this help me to get through this period. So here are the things I focus on:

1. By raking I get to examine the condition of my lawn
2. Raking leave provide me with needed exercise, since I hate going to a gym
3. The leaves can cover my flower bed and provide insulation for my perennials through the winter.
4. The decomposed leaves will be used as fertilizer to provide nutrients for plants in the spring.

Here is a visual tour I prepared that might  make you feel like you are not alone.

Jennifer Fivelsdal, Associate Broker, Keller Williams Realty Team - 845-758-6842- jennifer@jfivehomes.com  and www.jfivehomes.com

A few weeks ago I wrote about the fall foliage in the Hudson Valley. I also spoke about the various ways to enjoy the season. Just this week I took these shots around Red Hook, so now is the time to take that trip to the country like you always planned.

You can check the I love NY site to see where the leaves are at the peak. In my post on fall foliage in the Hudson Valley I provided many useful links.

Jennifer Fivelsdal - Keller Williams Realty Team - 845-758-6842 - jennifer@jfivehomes.com

Tonight I attended a performance at the Frank Gehry designed Richard B. Fisher Center For The Performing Arts at Bard College.

To tell you the truth I was rather skeptical when I was told the dancing would be done on the roof. Now  when you take a look at the roof you will see just what I mean.

To me this looked like it would be sucidal however by the time the performance came to an end I had changed my mind, yes I can admit it, I really enjoyed it especially when the dancers did a piece which reminded me of riding on a train.

This performance is known as Rapture and was specially choreograph by Noemie Lafrance for Bard College.  There are still 2 performance left this weekend, 7:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday.

I was a bit annoyed with myself for leaving my video camera home but I was able to record a short clip on my regular camera, so enjoy this short video.

Courtesy: Jennifer Fivelsdal Associate Broker - keller Williams Realty Team - 845- 758-6842 - Email

(edit/delete)

With less than 3 months until the end of the year Red Hook sellers have much to ponder. At this moment there are 79 homes available for sale in the town, and 5 in the village. In 2007 63 homes sold in the town and 3 in the village. To date only 37 homes have sold, therefore to match last year's numbers 29 homes would have to be sold in less than 3 months. Even if this was achieved there would still be a year's worth of inventory left over.

I won't kid you, this has been a challenging year for many. Who would have imagined that words like credit squeeze, short sales, foreclosure and bankruptcy would have become a part of our everyday speech?

So Red Hook home sellers here are a few questions I would like you to consider.

• Why is your home on the market? And how motivated are you to sell?
• If your home has been on the market a while, have you made the appropriate price adjustments?
• Have you kept up with what is happening in the local real estate market by reviewing market reports, keeping abreast of what your competitors are doing to gain a competitive edge?
• Could your home benefit from home staging to make it more marketable?
• If you are relocating did you know other markets also have high inventory?so if you can't get the price you would like on your Red Hook home it is possible you could get a bargain where you are relocating to?

The existing properties ranged from $ 67,000- $ 2,400,000 with the majority priced under $400,000

****Data for this report obtained from the MidHudson MLS System.

BY: Jennifer Fivelsdal Associate Broker, Keller Williams Realty Team - jfivehomes.com 845-758-6842 Email