10 Chamberlain Street, Rye

Quality, luxury and comfort define this thoughtfully designed custom home at 10 Chamberlain Street in Rye. Located in the desirable Hix Park neighborhood (within walking distance from the beach, park and school) this spacious 4,182 square foot stunner features 5 bedrooms/4.5 baths, a wrap-around front porch and a breathtaking 2-story entry hall. Throughout the home you’ll find hardwood floors, 9-12′ ceilings and generous closet space in all bedrooms.

Built in 2007, the home offers top-of-the-line amenities as well as uniquely designed rooms with custom flourishes. The spectacular gourmet kitchen shines with custom cabinets, skylights, stainless steel appliances, ample center island with stool seating and marble top and a bright and welcoming sun-filled breakfast area. Adjacent to the kitchen is the family room replete with fireplace and built-ins.

The formal living room is especially lovely with 14′ coffered ceilings and French doors leading outside to the backyard bluestone patio. Finishing out the space on the first floor is a guest bedroom with full bath and a large combination mudroom/laundry room with a sink, custom cubbies, bench and tile floor which benefits from a separate entrance off the porch.

I’ve saved the best for last — the magnificent master suite on the second floor will end your search for a new home. A gorgeous tray ceiling graces the master bedroom, while French doors lead to a private roof deck overlooking the backyard and Rye Golf Course. Space is never an issue in this home; you’ll find that the master bedroom’s two spacious walk-in closets easily store your things. The well appointed master bath boasts luxurious radiant-heated floors, soaking tub and steam shower with seamless doors and double vanity with marble top. Also on this floor are three additional spacious family bedrooms, one including a private bathroom with Jacuzzi tub.

Tour this dream home today! Call me at (914) 329-5329 to schedule a private tour and for more information, please click “Beautifully Designed Custom Colonial” in the featured listings.

Houlihan Lawrence’s Stephen and Chris Meyers, CEO and COO sum up 2011 as follows:

“Overall, 2011 was a year of stability in a still-recovering market, and many positive signs indicate that a base may be forming for the next bull market. Looking ahead, prices are likely to remain at or near current levels for 2012. We also expect the emerging trend of higher transaction volume to begin working its way up from the lower price ranges.” Excerpted from the Houlihan Lawrence 4th Quarter 2011 Marketing Report, this overview is insightful in setting our expectations for 2012.

(click image to enlarge)

When looking at an overview year-to-year comparison (see At A Glance chart above), we see that Rye City Schools saw a drop in number of homes sold from 149 in 2010 to 132 in 2011, but we witnessed a 14% change in Average Sold Price from $1,535,957 up to $1,748,806 in 2011. Sold Price per Square Footage rose 7% up to $566 in 2011 from $531 in 2010.

Homes in 10580 Harrison Schools remained flat with 18 homes sold and we experienced a 6% drop in Average Sold Price from just over $2,000,000 to $1,904,172. There was an increase in Sold Price per Square Foot however, rising from $372 in 2010 to $401 in 2011.

As Meyers and Meyers point out, although there is the largest decline in closed sales in the 4th Quarter compared to 2010, this is a reflection of the lull in contracts signed during the August-October period. Buyer confidence returned in November and a notable number of deals were put together over the final 6-8 weeks of the year.

Based on listings in contract at year-end—which translate to closings that typically take place within 45-60 days—“the stage is set for a relatively strong start to 2012, with the highest and lowest price ranges outperforming everything in between.”

Entertaining will be a pleasure in the large living room and dining room area. You’ll also delight in the ample closet space and the many built-ins (with both shelf and drawer space) throughout the home. Recent updates include a freshly painted interior, new crown molding, renovated kitchen and new master bath.

Besides the lovely interior, outside you’ll find a pool, dock and convenient water access — all protected and maintained by this luxury gated community. Call me at (914) 329-5329 to view this apartment soon, and you’ll be settled into your new home just in time for the first sail of the year!

In an effort to create more exposure for listing clients and widen the radius of buyers in the New York metro area, Houlihan Lawrence joined forces with three other market-leading firms to create the Tri-State Alliance.  This exciting partnership recently launched to share exclusive property listings online between four powerful brokerage firms:

• Coach Realtors (Nassau and Suffolk Counties of Long Island)
• Halstead Property (New York City, the Hamptons, Fairfield County, Connecticut and Hudson and Essex Counties in New Jersey)
• Houlihan Lawrence (Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties in New York)
• Turpin Realtors (Somerset, Morris, Hunterdon, Essex and Union Counties in New Jersey)

The Tri-State Alliance will offer enhanced and exclusive exposure for our listings on Tri-State partner websites. Each firm’s exclusive listings will be searchable across all four brokerage websites, which collectively receive millions of visitors annually and brings together 68 office locations — more than 2,900 sales agents and nearly 8,000 exclusive listings.

Feel free to call me at (914) 329-5329 with any questions — there’s also a press release on the Alliance that you can download below for further information.

Download the Tri-State Alliance Press Release

This year’s honorees include Dennis Deutmeyer, Lorraine Levinson and Rich Savage — all outstanding community advocates of Rye’s youth. You might know Dennis from the Church of the Resurrection where he serves as a member of the Parish Finance Committee and CYO basketball coach; and Lorraine as President of the Board of the Rye Youth Council for three years as well as the President of the Parent’s Organization at Milton Elementary and the Women’s Club of Rye. Rich has been a fifth grade teacher at Osborn Elementary since 1996 and also serves as the Rye Girls Varsity Soccer Coach and Director of Shenorock Camp and has received numerous awards and recognition for his coaching.

This annual event never disappoints! Buy your tickets online today or call the Council to order over the phone at (914) 967-3838.

The first floor also features a formal living room with fireplace and built-ins, with the formal dining room and updated powder room in close proximity.

Home entertaining is a breeze in this comfortable family room with built-ins and sliding doors leading out to the deck. Bring your party from the large, inviting front porch into the house and then out to the back deck while still enjoying your favorite music — the entire floor and outdoor areas are wired for stereo!

All this and I haven’t even begun to describe the upstairs which boasts a newly renovated master bath with a marble topped double vanity, custom built storage and seamless shower doors — or the basement’s mudroom, finished storage space and 400-bottle wine cellar with new cooling unit.

This home is a great value — join me this Sunday to see for yourself or call me at (914) 329-5329 to schedule a private tour. For further details, please view this property in my featured listings under “Renovated Center Hall Colonial, Rye.”

Did you miss last month’s open house at 123 Soundview Avenue in Rye?  Just completed in December, this fabulous new construction showcases CAD Development’s quality design, craftsmanship and lovely architectural details. It’s open for a tour again this weekend at the same time as 8 Bennett, on Sunday from 2-4pm, and only a few blocks away — why not tour both!

Home staging is an important step in listing your home for sale — I’ve seen a number of homes transformed by the process and easily able to recoup the cost of the service. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that I routinely cover my client’s initial consultation fee. As I wrote in the 3rd Quarter Stats Review in October, homes are selling significantly faster than in previous quarters — the recent trend of optimistic pricing combined with strategic home preparation is clearly delivering results.

WILLOW HOME STAGING

Janet Thompson, Owner
Rye, NY  (914) 806-4007
WillowHomeStaging.com

What exactly is home staging?

Home Staging is a marketing tool for sellers to help them get top dollar for their property. Each staging job is different but it can include anything from simply removing clutter and years of accumulated “stuff”, to rearranging furniture or removing furniture to highlight the spaciousness of the home, or adding furniture and accessories to “warm up” a particular room.

Why should I stage my home?
Staged homes sell faster and for more money. Since your home is probably your largest asset, staging is a smart investment. The investment that you make in staging your home will be much lower than any price reduction you might have to make. Buyers are wary of a house that has been on the market too long – staging your house before it’s listed will give it a “leg up” so that it sells quickly.

Why can’t I stage the house myself?
Homeowners are emotionally attached and financially invested in their own homes and can’t be objective. You need a trained professional with experience and a trained eye to create that “wow” factor that will sell your home.

Do you have a favorite project you’d like to share?

Before

After

The before and after pictures above show one room in of one of my favorite home staging jobs. This was a large and beautiful home that had become very tired and outdated and in need of some serious sprucing up. We went through stacks of papers and old magazines, date books, mail, etc. and removed or organized, took out the torn and faded wall-to-wall carpet, removed dated wallpaper, and removed much of the out of style furniture. We refinished all of the beautiful floors, put on a fresh coat of paint, and brought in some furniture and decorative accessories to give a finished look. As you can see in the photos below, the change was dramatic. The owner was thrilled with the finished product and with the neatly organized and labeled boxes of important papers and mementos.

Does Willow Home Staging have a specialty?
Willow has a team of stagers all of whom have different strengths – some are very organized and can tackle the clutter with ease, some prefer the finishing touches – editing and re-styling the bookcases, arranging the accessories to create that warm and lived in look, and some have a great eye for space and making a room appear larger and to flow well. All of the stagers at Willow have a warm and personal touch that appeals to homeowners and makes them feel comfortable and accepting of the changes being made to their home. Willow is unique in that we will work right alongside a client sorting through and organizing papers, closets and kitchens, children’s bedroom’s ; doing part or all of the home for the client.

At 2600 square feet, the spaciousness of the home is readily apparent in the kitchen, which features a large island with stool seating, ample breakfast and sitting areas as well as a household desk space. Besides these luxuries, the kitchen is replete with amenities such as granite countertops, custom cabinetry, double wall oven and Subzero refrigerator.

This is just a taste of whats to come – give me a call at (914) 329-5329 for more details or watch my blog in early January for the specifics once I officially list it.

See you in 2012!

Driving around Rye and Harrison during the holidays, I love seeing all the different ways the front doors of homes are decorated. So, this year thought I would share a few (12 to be exact!) of my favorites with you! I’ll post one photo each day for twelve days on my Facebook page starting today.

Here is today’s first photo, and I hope the next 11 days of photos help carry forward the holiday spirit into the new year and remind us of the beauty that surrounds us daily in our lovely community.

My best wishes for a wonderful holiday, Joan