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April 2015 mid month garden city real estate news - Peter Owen

4/16/2015

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Long Island Real Estate Nassau County, NY Homes

Floral Park, Garden City, Manhasset

Peter Owen Licensed Real Estate Salesperson

The Donnelly Group

730 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530

(516)317-2860

Email: petero@TheDonnellyGroup.com

April Mid month, 2015
Hi Everyone
The Sellers Market continues to roll on. There simply are not enough houses coming on the market to satisfy demand. I have 4 buyers demanding to see houses the same day the house comes on the market. The buyers have been making offers close to Asking Price. The downside to this is that some sellers are now overpricing their homes for sale and are not getting any offers. The buyers out there are very educated and they know value. Well priced good houses are selling within 1 week or so. As I have been saying, please do not wait if you are thinking of selling. These buyers are not going to wait around forever. Enjoy the nice weather! Peter Owen

Why You Should Pay Attention to the Home's Furniture LayoutOne thing that occasionally gets overlooked when preparing a home for sale is furniture layout. I've been in many homes where I've felt that something wasn't quite right about a certain room as soon as I entered it. Not anything obvious, but more of an indescribable sense of confusion for lack of a better word.
If you're planning on selling your home, here are some questions you should ask yourself about your current furniture layout: • Does the room look off balance? • Is the flow of the room disrupted? • Does the layout impede pathways? • Is the focal point of the room concealed? • Does the room feel “boxed in" rather than open? • Is there too much furniture in the room?
If you answered “yes" to any of these questions, you might want to take a look at your furniture placement. This is where a professional home stager can help you.
At a recent staging consultation that I carried out, there were some issues with furniture placement. The space in question was an open concept living room/dining room/kitchen. If you take a look at this BEFORE photo, you'll see that some changes were needed.

Now let's ask the questions about this space:
Question #1: “Does the room look off balance?" Although you can't see it from this photo, the dining area was directly behind the sofa. This area was comprised of a small round table and four chairs along with a small dining hutch. The living area was weighted down in comparison with too many pieces of heavy furniture, which made the overall space look off balance.
Question #2: “Is the flow of the room disrupted?" The large sofa split the space between the living and dining areas in half, making the room look smaller and broken up.
Question #3: “Does the layout impede pathways?" The pathway to get from the dining area to the kitchen was tight due to the length of the sofa. As well, the pathway between the sofa and loveseat to reach the seating area was cramped.
Question #4: “Is the focal point of the room concealed?" Absolutely. In this case, the focal point of the room was the fireplace. With the current furniture configuration and the large TV, the fireplace did not take main stage.
Question #5: “Does the room feel 'boxed in' rather than open?" Yes, you can see this from the BEFORE photo.
Question #6: “Is there too much furniture in the room?" Yes, from a staging point of view there was too much furniture in the space. While living in a house and not considering selling, you're obviously going to arrange your space to suit your needs as was the case here. Due to the amount of entertaining the home owners did, they required more seating. However, now that they were going to sell, they needed to make some changes.
So here's what we did…
We removed the sofa, moved the loveseat over to where the sofa previously was, and brought in a chair that was being used upstairs in the master bedroom suite. Fortunately, this chair matched the loveseat so we were in luck. While we were at it, we removed the TV for good measure in order to also help open up the space and make the fireplace the main attraction.
Once the TV was gone, we brought in a glass console table that was previously in the basement to help ground that area, yet not detract from the fireplace.
Now take a look at the AFTER photo …

In the AFTER photo you'll see how the space is more open, there's flow, and the fireplace now takes its place of prominence as it should. This photo was taken before any styling took place. You can see how different the space looks already and that's without any decorative accessories, an area rug or small glass tables.
The way your furniture is arranged while you are living in your home should be configured to suit your needs and to work with your intended purpose for the room. However, remember that if you're going to sell anytime soon, you should always ask yourself some important questions about furniture placement.

Garden City Floral Park
Malverne
If you would like a free Comparative Listing Report to see what price you can expect in this market, just call or email me. Absolutely no obligation or pressure. Peter Owen Licensed Real Estate Salesperson The Donnelly Group 730 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530 (516)317-2860 Email: petero@TheDonnellyGroup.com Website: http://www.nassaucountynyhomes.com/
http://peterowen.thedonnellygroup.com/
Best, top, most trusted and dedicated agent covering Garden City, Stewart Manor, Floral Park, Malverne, Lynbrook, Roslyn Estates, and Roslyn Heights displaying a high degree of integrity, service 24/7, professional attitude and actions.

Your privacy and email preferences are very important to us. If you no longer wish to receive e-mails like this you can unsubscribe by clicking here. If you would like to change your email address, please click here. To ensure delivery, add petero@thedonnellygroup.com to your address book. Peter Owen, West Hempstead, NY

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April 16th, 2015

4/16/2015

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April 2015 Garden City, NY Real Estate News - Peter Owen

4/8/2015

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Long Island Real Estate
Nassau County, NY Homes
Floral Park, Garden City, Manhasset
Peter Owen
Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
The Donnelly Group
730 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530
(516)317-2860
Email: petero@TheDonnellyGroup.com

April, 2015

Hi Everyone
The Spring season is well under way. The situation I have been talking about since September stays in tact, mainly, there are a lot more Buyers than Sellers out there. It is a Seller's Market and the Asking Prices have risen from last year to test how far buyers are willing to go for a good house. Interesting that the actual selling prices are up, but not as much as one might thing given the rise in Asking Prices. This is an absolutely fabulous time to bring your house onto the market if you considering moving. Waiting for further increases in prices is not the way to go, as you will lost all the Spring buyers who want to ensure they are in their new house by the start of the Fall school term.
Enjoy the warming weather (eventually).

Peter Owen

Front Entry Tips and Trends for Every HomeDespite the increased prominence of back doors, mudrooms, and other alternative entryways, most visitors still enter a home through its front door. Here's how you can help buyers and sellers set the stage for a gracious point of arrival.


With pressure to justify every square foot of real estate and conserve energy, the larger-than-life front hall is undergoing a metamorphosis. It's not disappearing, though—rather, it's doing its job of welcoming in a more compact, efficient way.

Design experts may use different terms to describe the space beyond a front door—vestibule, hallway, entryway, foyer. The terms are quite interchangeable with slight variations. A vestibule is generally a small, separate air-lock that stops cold and hot air from entering the rest of the house. A hallway provides entry but also links spaces and rooms—at the front or anywhere in the home, says design guru Marianne Cusato, author of The Just Right Home (Workman Publishing). Of course there are dozens of other words you can use to describe this space. And whether you pronounce the foyer as foy-yay with a French spin or foy-er (rhymes with lawyer) really depends on how grand you or your home owners want the space to sound.

Whatever you call it, it's important to understand the potential impact the entrance to a home can have on a visitor's first impressions, says Stephanie Mallios, e-PRO, salesperson with Towne Realty in Short Hill, N.J. “If there are too many shoes and coats strewn about and no place to put keys or gloves, many buyers will have a tough time imagining how they'll live there," she says.

Study these eight design details to help your clients create a welcoming space that does its job well, both aesthetically and functionally—no matter what it's called.

Size, scale, sequence. Due to energy-efficiency concerns,an entry with a soaring ceiling and sweeping staircase is far less popular than it once was. Still, a modest entryway as small as 4 feet to 5 feet wide can convey a proper sense of arrival, says Cusato. More important than size is the scale (the space should be in proportion with the rest of the house) and the sequence (the rest of the home should flow out in a logical way), says architect Duo Dickinson, author of Staying Put (Taunton Press). Upon entering, people should be able to see other spaces and rooms and know where to go next, says architect Julie Hacker of Cohen-Hacker Architects in Evanston, Ill. In the best layouts, there may even be a view straight through to a backyard.

Height. The number of levels or floors in the structure often determines this factor, though even two- and three-story homes are moving away from entries with soaring ceilings. The location of a stairway will hinge in part on square footage and what role an architect or builder wants the stairs to play. In smaller homes, it's often part of the foyer but off to the side, and goes straight up—being purely functional. In larger homes, the staircase might occupy its own separate hall and curve gracefully to a landing, past a window or window bank, and up to the next level. To carpet or not is a personal preference, though bare treads can be noisy; a good compromise is a runner covering painted or hardwood treads.

Millwork. To fashion a gracious entry, most design pros recommend a door that is at least three feet wide and 72 inches tall. The trend of pricey double doors is disappearing, according to Chicago-area builder Orren Pickell. Whether a door includes a glazed transom or sidelights should depend on how home owners feel about privacy and bringing natural light into the interior. The size of the glazing should be proportional to the door's width and height. For baseboard and crown molding, simplification is the overriding trend, which keeps fussiness and costs down, except for the most traditional houses, says Cusato. Wainscoting is another way to add visual detail. Columns are helpful to screen off adjoining rooms without completely walling them off. Hacker uses two columns with space for books cut out on the back side of each on the living room side to separate areas in her home.

Lighting. Good lighting is essential for safety, but it also sets a welcoming mood. A chandelier or large pendant is the obvious choice, while ceiling cans or sconces also work well. Whatever fixture home owners prefer, advise them to install dimmers. Not only will this allow them to save energy, but options for differing lighting intensity and color can also help set a dramatic mood for a party, a bright feel for an open house, and a low-light one for romance.

Flooring. A visually rich, substantial looking floor will reward visitors, says Dickinson. But due to the wear and tear common for front entryways, it should also be practical. Slate, stone, and porcelain meet that criteria, though they can be cold on bare feet in winter. Avoid soft woods that may dent and scratch; don't use carpeting since it will become too dirty with traffic; and avoid vinyl unless it's one of the more expensive, newer-looking versions. Home owners may wish to set off the area in a different material than adjacent rooms and hallways. But choosing one common material for several rooms produces a feeling of continuous flow and makes smaller rooms appear larger.

Furnishings. Depending on the entry's size, home owners might consider adding a table to place mail, gloves, hats, and keys. Also, a mat or rug to wipe off feet and a chair or bench to put on and take off footwear can be helpful for maintaining tidiness. Finally, a mirror to check one's appearance before heading out the door—or joining a group when entering—can be a welcome sight.

Wallpaper vs. paint. This choice is highly personal. If home owners love color, they should go for the paintbrush, with the knowledge that darker palettes can add drama and romance. Of course, not all future buyers will have the same taste, but repainting is an easy home repair in smaller areas. If your clients are into patterns, the same rule applies, though today many wallpapers are quite easy to hang and remove. The key is for surfaces to appear clean and not look dated, which may mean banishing that old-school floral style.

Bells and whistles. A coat closet is a nice extra, as is a powder room, though newer construction may feature such conveniences at the back of a domicile where they'll be used most frequently. An umbrella stand can hold a variety of other items—canes, tennis racquets—neatly, and niches or shelves can display collectibles. A doorknocker outside, even if rarely used, is a classy touch akin to wearing one great piece of statement jewelry. It can really give the front door a Downton Abbey feel.

Garden City

Floral Park


New Hyde Park

Malverne

If you would like a free Comparative Listing Report to see what price you can expect in this market, just call or email me. Absolutely no obligation or pressure.

Peter Owen
Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
The Donnelly Group
730 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530
(516)317-2860
Email: petero@TheDonnellyGroup.com
Website: http://www.nassaucountynyhomes.com/
http://peterowen.thedonnellygroup.com/

Best, top, most trusted and dedicated agent covering Garden City, Stewart Manor, Floral Park, Malverne, Lynbrook, Roslyn Estates, and Roslyn Heights displaying a high degree of integrity, service 24/7, professional attitude and actions.




Your privacy and email preferences are very important to us. If you no longer wish to receive e-mails like this you can
unsubscribe by clicking here.
If you would like to change your email address, please click here.
To ensure delivery, add petero@thedonnellygroup.com to your address book.
Peter Owen, West Hempstead, NY

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    Peter Owen -Best, most trusted and service oriented Licensed Real Estate Agent in Nassau County focusing on Garden City, Stewart Manor, Floral Park, Lynbrook, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Heights, New Hyde Park, Herricks, Mineola, and more

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