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Testimonial of the Month
"Donna's wonderful staging helped to define the unique aspects of this magnificent townhouse. 317 West 77th Street was completely vacant and had a beautiful bow-front facade which created partially rounded rooms. Her furniture choices complimented the tone of the house perfectly and allowed buyers to see comfortable ways of maximizing the 8000 square feet of space. For those looking to give feeling and perspective to a vacant home, give Donna a call. She is a great asset to have in your list of services."
Brown Harris Stevens |
 Using Original Art to Create a Lifestyle
Designed to Appeal was asked by the owner to stage the first floor of this renovated historic 6 story, $13.75 million townhouse.
Though the finishes were somewhat traditional, we decided to use modern and contemporary furniture to appeal to a younger affluent family market as the home has 4 bedrooms, and is on the Upper West Side, home to baby carriages and dogs.
To further create a lifestyle appealing to our target buyer, we shared photos and floor plans of the furniture with Leon Benrimon, owner of the gallery Benrimon Contemporary and a personal acquaintance of the developer, so that he could bring in original artwork suitable to the style of the furniture and its placement.
Here are the results:
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Market Overview: New York, NY
According to Corcoran's April 2011 report: "Both condo and co-op sales activity decreased in comparison to last year and last month, both of which were very strong months for contract activity." Market Wide: - There are 9,372 units currently listed on the market.
- Absorption is down 8% from March 2011's strong activity.
- New listings in April represent 23% of the total number of listings.
The following is a comparison of April 2011 vs. April 2010: Condos: - The median sale price of $1,127,500 represents a decrease of 5%
- The average price per square foot of $1,268 is a 1% increase
- Discount from last ask to sale at 4.7% represents a whopping 55% decrease
- Days on the market decreased a whopping 30% to 185
- Listed inventory decreased 8% to 4,138
Co-ops: - The median sale price of $720,000 increased 6%
- The average price per square foot of $954 is up 4%
- Discount from last ask to sale is up 14% to 3.4%
- Days on the market also decreased 3% to 155
- However, listed Inventory increased by 8% to 4,638
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Tips and Tricks of the Trade: How to Hang Artwork
- Generally, pictures should be hung at eye level, but whose eye level? Hang it so that the center is at 5'8" to 5'10".
- It should relate to the height of the furniture (and the objects on it) and not be hung too high.
- The width of a piece of art or group of art should be a minimum of 2/3 the length of the piece of furniture it is hanging over.
- If hanging two or more pictures next to each other, the ideal spacing is 3 to 4 inches between them but no more than 8 inches.
- Use a laser level to make it easier to hang pieces side by side evenly
- Use adhesive anchors like ZotsTM on the back of each corner of the frame to ensure that the picture doesn't move
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Did you know....
- ...Memorial Day is always celebrated on the last Monday of the month of May?
- ...it was formerly called Decoration Day because of the practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers?
- ...the name "Memorial Day" was first used after World War II?
- ...it was first celebrated in 1865 in Waterloo, New York?
- ...it was celebrated nationwide in 1868 in honor of Union and Confederate soldiers?
- ...the Indianapolis 500 has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911?
- ...it was declared a federal holiday in 1971?
- ...who started the custom of wearing red poppies? In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields", Moina Michael replied with her own poem and came up with an idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
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Market Overview: The East End
All three of the market indicators: Median Price, Number of Sales, and the Dollar Volume of Sales, showed a downward trend versus 2010, with the exception of Southampton Town.
Note: 2011 figures have been annualized for comparison purposes.
East Hampton Town:
- The median sales price decreased 10% to $850,000
- The number of sales decreased 16% to 474
- The dollar volume of sales decreased 38% to $604 million
Southampton Town:
- The median sales price remained the same at $800,000
- The number of sales decreased 9% to 948
- The dollar volume of sales increased 5.5% to $1.679 billion
Southold Town:
- The median sales price decreased 3% to $455,000
- The number of sales decreased 25% to 237
- The dollar volume of sales decreased 14% to $163 million
Summer Rental Season
So how is it going? Paul Brennen of Prudential Douglas Elliman and a 30-year veteran of the real estate business, said, "The Hamptons rental season will prove to be a vast improvement as measured against the past two rental seasons. More liquidity in the marketplace and the urge to enjoy some warm weather worked in our favor this year for both sales and rentals."
Read what others have to say here. |
