J. Philip's Westchester Real Estate Blog

Just listed: This 2338 square foot 4 bedroom 3 bath 1920's Lewis Bowman designed New England colonial on over a third of an acre in Pelham Manor. Boasts a rocking chair porch, patio, ample parking, and gorgeous landscaping outside. Inside is exquisite, charming, and updated: Stainless steel kitchen appliances, butler pantry, huge living room with fireplace, formal dining room, all while retaining the 1920's character. A true gem. This is a short sale subject to lender approval. Price: $899,900. Call J. Philip Faranda, Broker, for details. (914) 723-8900. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

This is the market report for the single family home sale activity for the county seat, White Plains, for July of 2010. The city has a number of zip codes, as well as many other types of housing (multi family, condos, co ops) and I can break the activity down down by zip code or property type by request. This should give an overall trend of the market compared to July of 2009. All information is from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in White Plains.

Things are looking up. Sales are up, the median price is up, and there are a whopping 42 homes under contract, which equals almost one third of the available homes for sale. The same condition existed back in May, and the market is showing no signs of cooling off with Autumn approaching. This speaks to the good quality of life that is available in White Plains.  

My previous postings on White Plains can all be found here.

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

I think that only the Northeast has highways that could almost be classified as "pre war." Here in Westchester County, many of our highways are passenger cars only parkways, with old stone overpasses that do now allow commercial vehicles enough clearance to pass through. They aren't interstates by a long shot, but they are busy arteries. By my home we have the Taconic State parkway, the Saw Mill River Parkway, and the Bronx River parkway further down. They are actually rather green and woodsy, devoid of loud commercial trucks, and the overpasses like this on on 9A north (otherwise known as the Briarcliff-Peekskill expressway-but only on the maps) are charming. 

9A does actually allow some trucks, and they label the clearance to avoid the odd shearing off the top of the cargo van. Always a fun thing when you are in a hurry. The road on the overpass is known as Pleasantville Road, aptly named because it connect Briarcliff to Pleasantville (where, funny enough, it becomes Bedford Road. Guess why!).

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

5 Cool Things About Briarcliff Manor, NY

1. Our fire trucks are white. No, the Dalmatians are not red. 

2. Downtown was in the first episode of Saturday Night Live in one of the videos. You can see the Briarcliff Hardware Store on Pleasantville Road clearly. 

3. Howard Stern's first job out of college was at WRNW-FM, which was in Briarcliff in the 70's. 

4. Trump National Golf Course (of The Apprentice) is here, on the site of the old Briarcliff Country Club.

5. Holly Hill, the 60 acre estate of the late Brooke Astor, is here in Scarborough, and is on the market for $10,500,000. 

Previous posts on Briarcliff Manor

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

All information is from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

One of the neat things about the old river towns like Ossining is the pre war architecture, the likes of which we'll never see replicated. Nothing demonstrates that more than the churches in the village, many of which are located downtown off Main Street on South Highland Avenue. It is a menagerie of steeples as you drive through. Many of the churches deserve their own postings, which I'll do in the future. Here are a few highlights. 

Ossining Gospel Assembly is actually up Croton Avenue about a mile from downtown, but the beautiful stone structure should be included. 

Trinity Episcopal is a beautiful Gothic building with a courtyard between the church and parish hall. 

First Baptist is at the corner of Main and South Highland. It dates, as I recall, from the Civil War era, and may be the oldest church downtown. There is often a pithy message on their sign. The bell tower framed against a blue sky is impressive. 

First Presbyterian is one of the highest steeples in the village. There are other more impressive angles of sight for the building, but I liked how First Baptist can be seen in background.

The inscription above the First Presbyterian main entrance reads "To The Triune God." I remember, vividly, how Mrs. Rimm, a family friend, explained what that meant to me when I was about 5. 

Ossining United Methodist has beautiful stained glass and is the hardest to photograph. I chose the side of the whole building this time around. 

Saint Ann's Catholic Church on Eastern Avenue. I was baptized, confirmed and married here. On the far right you can see the top of Trinity Episcopal. 

Saint Augustine's had a beautiful building on North Highland Avenue for many years which was razed when the road was widened. They built this building in the mid 1980's on the old Campus of Mary Immaculate Girls High School, which closed in 1976. The view of the Hudson is breathtaking. The whole campus is gorgeous and worthy of another posting. 

Ironic, isn't it, that a town with Maryknoll Mission and such beautiful churches is also home to one of the most infamous prisons in the country-Sing Sing! 

Perhaps next Sunday I'll pick one of the churches and do it justice. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

This is for single family home activity in the Briarcliff Manor school district for June of 2010. All information is derived from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 

Compared to June 2009, Briarcliff Manor sales volume is about even. Transactions are down one, but the median price is up almost $200,000. 15 Homes are under contract, which indicates more strong activity, albeit at a lower median price. 

In the Active section, you might notice that high listing of $10,500,000. That may be there for quite a while. That is the last Brooke Astor's estate, Holly Hill, which has been on for a while now because there is not a big market for 60 acre compounds with 10,500 square foot mansions. That might become the new Casa de J Philip if I hit Mega Millions this week. 

There are 51 available home in inventory, which is a healthy selection and just under a year's worth of inventory.

Previous posts on Briarcliff Manor.  

If you'd like to search for a home in Briarcliff, get yourself a free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

This is for single family home activity in the Ossining school district for July of 2010. All information is derived from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 

The numbers are mixed. The number of transactions is up slightly from July of 2009 but the dollar value is down considerably. This is not a source of concern, because the median asking price of the homes under contract is well over $400,000. All months are different, and this looks like an anomaly. 

Available inventory is high (146), with lots of choices on the market. 21 homes are under contract, which was the same as in June. 

Previous postings on Ossining.  

You can search for a home in Ossining by getting yourself a free Listingbook account. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

Given Westchester's close proximity to Manhattan, we have many people moving up from New York City as well as a high number of folks who arrive due to a job change or transfer. Whether you are arriving from California, Manhattan, or Europe, there is a degree of culture shock. Consider the following: 

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      • In most southern Westchester towns, your yard may only be about a quarter acre or less. To a Manhattan expatriot, this is a farm. To a guy from Idaho, this is a postage stamp. 
      • Property taxes in Westchester are really high. I mean really high. While it is lower in some of the cities, you could be looking at 2.5-3% of your homes value. The taxes on my old 2000 square foot home are over $12,000. Why they are so high is another book, not a blog post. But it is a fact, and there is no getting around it. Buyers who pass on a house because "the taxes are too high" are dismissed as uninformed morons by some. I say welcome to Westchester- there is no escaping those high taxes. 
• There are three Metro-North train lines that serve the county and take you directly to Grand Central Terminal: the Hudson line along the river towns, the Harlem line through the middle area, and the New Haven line along the Long Island Sound shore communities. There is no "east-west" train line, as all lines lead to New York. 
• Most highways and parkways are north-south thoroughfares because all roads lead to New York. I-287 is one exception, and the other is the Cross County parkway. Both are in southern Westchester. There is NO east-west highway in north Westchester County, and this has been a source of consternation since north Westchester was discovered. Route 6 and route 35 at rush hour make Hell seem like Club Med. 
• No one, and I mean no one, calls Westchester "The 914" in regular conversation.
• No one, and I mean no one, calls Westchester "upstate" who lives here. My wife considered it upstate when she lived in Queens. She no longer does. 
• Have I mentioned that the property taxes are high?
• Westchester has 40 school districts with huge differences in size. Some high schools have fewer than 400 students from 9-12. Some have over 2000 students. The smaller one will never consolidate. If anything, we'll see more fragmentation. 
• There are 45 municipalities in Westchester- 20 villages, 19 towns and 6 cities.
• We have close to 100 zip codes, which means that you can live in a town with a different name from your postal address, which can also differ from your school district. For example, you can live in Millwood, but actually be in the town of New Castle, and also be in the Ossining school district. Or, you could live in Eastchester but be in Tuckahoe schools, or live in Scarsdale but actually be in Eastchester schools. You could live in Yorktown, have an Ossining mailing address, and be in Croton schools. It is like this all over the county.   
• The six cities are Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Peekskill and Rye. I have sold homes in all six Westchester cities. I know of no other person who has. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission