What is now known as New Rochelle’s Historic District and embodies Rochelle Park and Rochelle Heights, was once farmland and orchards until the 1870’s. The Manhattan Life Insurance Company bought the land in 1881 (through foreclosure proceedings), and while thought quite adventuresome, the owners decided to transform the somewhat rugged land to a beautiful residential neighborhood, unlike any other in New Rochelle! An English Architect, E.A. Sargent designed the stone pillars leading into the now Rochelle Park area, and 115 building lots were laid out and nearly one third of the land was set aside for streets, sidewalks and pathways of grass. Originally as you entered into the community, there was a 54 foot wide driveway with an 8 foot blue stone sidewalk, and a 15 foot strip of grass p... 07/02/2012

The Glenwood Lake area, New Rochelle 10801 has always been very desirable and generally covers Lincoln Avenue to Webster, and over to Mayflower Avenue.  Glenwood Lake itself covers 6 acres, and is a great place where you can go and while away an afternoon in a tranquil setting. It was originally named after a Captain Bergholz who owned a marvelous estate along with his wife, Mary (the entry pillars still remain at Holly Drive). The lake's name was changed to Glenwood Lake when it was bequeathed to the city, and while the city owns the lake, the Glenwood Lake Association takes care of it.They publish a newsletter entitled "The Back Fence." It is an authoritative newsletter, full of good tips, news on how the association has a 'clean-up day' around the lake - all to make it that always de... 07/02/2012

Mother's Day is always very special in my area.. The day is set aside to keep mom, grand mom, nan, mom's to be, bride's to be all happy. It would be almost sacrilegious to play a baseball game on Mother's Day... and was always frowned upon and a poll taken between parents when my sons were much younger. Father's Day on the other hand, was - well - Father's Day, and many a time, we would be watching baseball playoffs with the little ones on a Father's Day morn... Our local Baseball league would hold a baseball awards breakfast a few times on  Father's Day too..  Since Robert Merrill, the opera singer and who used to sing the National Anthem at all of the Opening Day Yankees home games, lived in New Rochelle, I thought it would be a great idea to invite him to the baseball breakfast one y... 06/17/2012

I love writing this post each year... Tomorrow marks Ray Rice day again at the New Rochelle High School's McKenna Field. The event has been sold out for weeks, and will start at 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and there will be games, lunch, instruction, autographs, and fun for youngsters aged between 7 - 13 years of age.  The event attracted over 600 youngsters last year, and is always a great success.  Ray commented last year " it's a great opportunity to give back." He has already done so much. Ray has long been a hero of New Rochelle, has never forgotten his roots, and likes to involve the Pop Warner football athletes as much as he can - either by inviting them to the locker rooms at the Baltimore Ravens stadium, and offering a tour, or by calling the Pop Warner athletes. I can recall that whe... 06/15/2012

  This past Monday evening, I had the privilege of awarding David Johnson, a New Rochelle High School Senior, the "Power to Excel" Award (a $250 check) on behalf of A.J. who is training in Canada. I am now in awe of anyone who speaks publicly... I did not realize there would be an echo as you speak into the microphone, and as soon as I started speaking, heard the echo, it went down hill from there. Yikes! I had the privilege of meeting David and his mom after the ceremony, and so apologized to him in person for messing up! (I assure you I negotiate well in real estate but not in public speaking!) - and I was so impressed by David's poise, humour and intelligence that I know that he will be a great success in life. Congratulations to you David, and to your nice mom! You definitely have t... 06/14/2012

With text messaging fast replacing emailing - especially amongst the younger population, and since I recently was misunderstood when I used LOL  (lots of  love- my interpretation) for LOL - Laugh out Loud, I thought I should delve deeper into the acronym world.. I found some pretty interesting sites... http://teens.lovetoknow.com/Text_Message_Acronyms  This is a site for teens... and I couldn't believe some of the acronyms such as CICYHW which means "Can I copy your Home Work?" and MOS - Mom over shoulder (what was the teen writing?) . PIR - Parent in room.. and there were the cute ones like ZZZ - sleeping... mmmh! the teen types in his/her sleep?..                                                          In searching the various sites on how to best text message.. I came across another... 06/14/2012

 Once again,  the New Rochelle High School students excelled. I attended one of the Award ceremonies, and here are the Principal Scholar's Awards with an weighted GPA average ranging from 1.26 to 103.88.     One common recurring theme is the strong presence of math - which would mean New Rochelle has wonderful course instructors and programs....                                 1) Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education 2) Columbia - 3) Yale University - Engineering & Political Science 4) Fordham University 5) Wake Forest University 6) McGill University- Biology 7) Cornell University Medical School 8)  Yale 9) Harvard - Engineering & Math 10) Northwestern - Math & Science 11) Binghamton - Science Medicine 12) Columbia - Engineering 13) Michigan 14) Austin College- Communications 15) ... 06/12/2012

Back in June , 2010, I wrote about the Annual Soap Box Derby in New Rochelle.... well, it is that time of year again, and time to mention the great local sporting event. Quaker Ridge Road will be closed from Sussex Road/Broadfield Road  from 9-4 p.m. on Sunday (give or take an hour or so beforehand and thereafter)... and each year it becomes more competitive, exciting and THE place to be!                                                                      The event is FREE, and is being hosted by the Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 273  for its 10th year. The contestants (who will be competing from all over the County and must compete at a race closest to t her residence) must build a soap box racing car from a AASBD (all American Soap Box Derby)  kit, and the top 2 racers wil... 06/09/2012

Years ago, the buyer always assumed that an agent who was showing the houses for sale, (after all, she was that nice friendly agent) would automatically be representing he/she the buyer. Not so, Many agents were representing the seller, and as a result, the buyers were not properly represented with certain facts (problems within the home/lack of legalizations not being properly disclosed). New York State is a Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) state, and so it became a New York State law for the agent to properly explain agency upon the first substantive contact with a buyer, and to give the buyer the choice of whether he/she be represented by a buyer's agent, seller's agent or whether he/she would consent to dual agency or dual agency with  designated sales agent (buyer/seller).             ... 06/08/2012

When you go into our local Humane Society, I would have to say that the vast majority of dogs are pit bulls. I am sure you could say the same for many animal shelters across the U.S. The New Rochelle Humane Society represents 17 neighboring towns with lost and stray dogs, and is a no-kill shelter which  great. However, it is going one step further and is offering free pit-bull training at the Trinity Church, 311 Huguenot Street (corner of Huguenot & Division Streets), New Rochelle. The training will be for 4 consecutive Thursdays, commences on June 7th at 6:45 p.m., and to register, please call the New Rochelle Humane Society at 914.632.2925. This free training is for owners of pit bulls and pit bull mixes, but registration is required. New Rochelle is GREAT! 06/04/2012

Many buyers do not realize that it is to their advantage to have just one agent in any given area. Your agent will work hard on your behalf, and of course, if you are not entirely happy with that agent, then you should sever the relationship, and if your agent knows you are working with other agents, they might step back also. If someone informs me they are not happy with the agent and would like me to show them homes, then that is different. In that case, I might have the buyers sign not only an agency disclosure form, but also a buyer agreement contract - listing every home I have shown to the buyer with the knowledge that should that home be purchased, it will be done so through myself. No agent wants another agent to appear out of the blue stating he/she had first shown a home and a... 06/03/2012

I have found this year more so than other years, that many buyers will ask that question, only to then inform us to bid even lower than the amount we suggest as a starting point. Either they think they know more than we do, or they have read articles informing them that properties are selling for X amount lower than the list price, and want to act accordingly.                                                           There are are several caveats to that rule though. Many times, a savvy seller in today's market will have priced the property to sell, so it is imperative that you have your agent look at all of the recent sales in the area for similarly sized properties. Look at the price per square foot, how many days the home has been on the market, and listen to your agent. He/she is th... 06/03/2012

An attorney once told me a little story. He was at the closing table, only to discover that a cherished fig tree  was going  with the sellers, and the buyers exclaimed "they were only purchasing the house because of that tree!" The attorney offered to purchase a new tree. Supposedly, everyone did.. but the point was - the buyer used that fig tree as collateral for a nice reduction in the price of the home and made it just another negotiation point.         SO, if you are the seller, make sure you are very explicit about the light fixtures, whether they stay or go, those window air conditioners (that are just one year old), the bookcase that you had 'screwed into the wall' for better stabilization,  those exquisite draperies that were custom made (but can be altered for the next home) an... 05/30/2012

One of the coolest hardwoods I've seen is Shaw's Cosmopolitan Maple.  It's sleek and stylish and fabulous all over.    It actually comes in black - pure black.  It's darker than ebony stained floors and actually looks like they are painted black.   Cosmopolitan Maple is also available in a pure white which also looks super stylish.  Unlike white washed oak (which is rather dated), this has a modern look and again looks like it is painted.    It's really cool.   This hardwood is prefinished, so it's easy to install and has a tough outer layer so it will last a long time. Cosmopolitan Maple comes in a wide plank (5 inches) for a stylish and sophisticated look.   And, because it's prefinished hardwood and because black and white is so chic, you can create some fun designs with this dramati... 05/22/2012

Many times buyers will like to use their family attorney, and of course that is their prerogative. However, sometimes, as well meaning as their family attorney might be, if he hasn't done too much real estate law of late, it could be a hindrance to the client. I think all of us has experienced buyer clients who have used attorneys upstate, downstate, who were hard to reach, in court most days, and it made the transaction that little bit harder.I recently heard of an attorney who didn't not know how to utilize Power of Attorney, and had to ask the other attorney to walk him through the process. One buyer used a litigation atorney, and when my seller asked to rent back for 2 months after the property closed, he wanted $100,000 in escrow! That was negotiated down but the usual amount would... 05/22/2012

I was actually asked that question by some buyers a few years ago. I did not sell them a home.... I sort of dropped them  when I discovered they were not approved for the amount on their pre-approval letter. It would seem they had 'neglected' to inform their mortgage Broker when they sought the pre-approval that they had school loans, but somehow in between obtaining the accepted offer, and before having to spend their money on an inspection, they 'remembered' and asked the mortgage broker to submit their info to underwriting to "double check"....  They were actually approved for $50,000 less because of student loans, and so we had to withdraw our offer. Since I am always honest with my clients, I would like them to be honest with me too, and so we parted ways. That, and since they had ... 05/22/2012

I think that all of us who takes out buyers, will undoubtedly hear the question sooner or later of "so, what is the neighborhood like?". We, of course, are not allowed to comment on the neighborhood based on Fair Housing Rules and Regulations. But, how can we satisfactorily assist those buyers legally and ethically? The question itself is wrought with hidden questions. Are they asking for safety reasons? family friendly reasons? School reasons? Are their lots of parks? Recreation? Gyms?  Or  they are asking for less savory reasons such as discrimination. I always suggest that they drive around at different times of day, evening, afternoon and morning to see how busy the areas are, the traffic, how noisy , how many children they can see playing, etc., Speak to neighbors too if they wish ... 05/22/2012

     A few years back, the New Rochelle powers that be- in an effort to slow down motorists on our street, decided to build several islands at several intersections. It cost the city $100,000 and I personally felt it was a waste of our money, but that is another story. However, one neighbor and friend decided to make the most of it! An Island was built next to her home, and the city enlarged the property area adjoining her home to slow down everyone. It was a nice little wedge of land, and so my neighbor's son and she decided to grow a vegetable garden. So, for the past several years, I have seen cilantro, green bell peppers, zuchini, carrots, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, basil, lettuce, chinese cabbage, cucumbers, garlic, and so much more being grown. It is so nice to walk by and see ever... 05/20/2012

I live close by Beechmont Lake, 10804, and so I am always driving by the lake on my way to meet clients, go to my office, go grocery shopping, etc. Today was so beautiful that I had to stop to take a few photos... Not only do we have the prerequisite geese who lay claim to the area, but we have ducks, a heron (looks like) and even turtles! I have been noticing them for a few weeks now, and I was surprised...  In researching their particualr species (they appear to Red-eared sliders), I discovered that they obtained their name not only because of their coloring, but because thy have the ability to slide quickly of rocks when another animal or human approaches. Such was my case. They disappeared as soon as I was 8 feet away.. The sad tale to this story is that they are indigenous to the S... 05/17/2012

I heard something so nice this afternoon that I had to share.. Clients (and now friends) purchased a lovely home on Victory Boulevard, New Rochelle, 10804. We obtained the 3 bedroom  home for $550,000 . It had been purchased by the previous (builder) owners for far less, and they had then totally transformed the kitchen, bathrooms, basement etc.. and my clients benefited from those renovations. I had negotiated lower on their behalf (of course), and also because the taxes were so high  (we are going to grieve them at the end of this month).  So, I called to wish Kamu ( a physician)  a Happy Mother's Day, and to check in with regard to the tax grievance issue, and during our conversation, my clients mentioned how they were made to feel so welcome on their street and in their new abode. O... 05/15/2012