Two seedy looking homeless characters in a mountainous setting are trying to decide how to spend the day. They are reminiscing about the past, and can’t decide whether to go on or wait for Godot. A young boy keeps bringing messages from Godot that he will be there tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and goes and the youth brings the same message from Godot.

Couldn’t help thinking about all those customers who have had great opportunities to buy and are waiting for the perfect house, perfect time, perfect price.

The time is now, the prices are right, and no house is perfect.

Posted By: Barbara Eisert

The media is full of gloom and doom for the real estate market. What the news media does not tell us is that, despite the much publicized increase in short sales and foreclosures, the vast majority of homeowners either own their homes outright or are current on their mortgage payments. For those who are employed, have a good credit score, and a down payment, mortgage money is available and interest rates will probably never be lower. It is important to remember that if interest rates go up by 1%, purchasing power goes down by 10% so even if prices slide to a somewhat lower level, the increase in interest rates would offset that decrease. Finally, the purchase of a home is not the same as a stock certificate–it is a long term investment that historically always goes up, and has the added value of providing shelter, comfort, memories and a lifestyle. So long as a buyer intends to remain in the home for a period of years, there has never been a better time to buy.

Posted By: Marjorie Weschler

What am I talking about? Age, waist-line (I wish) what? No, I am thinking in terms of room size….. There are many homes out there that offer wonderfully sized rooms but how many homes offer such room sizes when priced in the $600,000s? Not many… In fact, I can only currently think of one such home that is available and is located at 9 Vivian Drive in New Rochelle… It actually has a Scarsdale Post Office - which means the Davis Elementary School – and did you know that the Davis School was Number One in the County in 2004, and was ranked 95.7% in reading proficiency scores for the 4th Grade in 2007, and 98.3% in Math scores within the County. Not bad stats….. The school, by the way, is named after George M. Davis, a New Rochelle native born in 1895, who graduated from the New Rochelle High School in 1914. But, back to the 20!!!

When you have 3 bedrooms that are over 20 feet in length (oh my!) like 9 Vivian Drive does (MLS# 2906393), and then you have the lower level great space - so many splits have them - not included in the square footage so cannot be legally claimed, but they are ‘there’ (with a certificate of occupancy one can claim the square footage of such a “great room” on the Multiple Listing Service), it all makes for a good value. The developments were built with the thinking that the original buyers would finish the rooms (which they did) but also legalize them - which many people did not. Over the years, the homes were sold and resold, but today’s standards are different, and only the rooms that are cited on the property cards can be mentioned on the Multiple Listing Service.

I had originally wanted to research the names of the streets, but came up blank…I had called the City of New Rochelle, and was informed that the developers had the choice of naming the streets which one would expect. I do know that there are many interesting names in New Rochelle, Vivian (of course), Frederick, Dora, Alfred, Sara, Ernest, all reflecting on a different time and era… I guess if a developer were to name a development today - one could find street names like Madonna Circle, Lohan Drive, Bionce Boulevard, Mylie Cyrus Court but that’s another story and another blog!

My point? Research the area in which you would like to buy, and then go and view the available homes in your price range, they may have more to offer than is readily apparent, and THEN make your decision! It is a great time in which to buy.

Posted By: Gay Rosen