J. Philip's Briarcliff, Ossining & Westchester Real Estate Blog

Max ran out of kibble so I ran down to Arcadian Shopping Center to replentish the dawg Smörgåsbord. You see a lot when you open your eyes, and I am glad I brought the camera. Over the past 2 years, I have seen business in town contract, close, and cause vacancies. That trend appears to be reversing, and Ossining is open for business. Here are a few good signs of growth and expansion of commerce. 

Some of the vacancies are 2-3 years old; a large restaurant just opened in the same shopping center which I'll blog about in the near future. The fact that so much is happening at the same time is significant to me. All of this is happening within a diameter of 300 or so yards. This is no coincidence, and portends a recovery in my view. 

This will have a positive effect on Ossining real estate. Oh yes, another business is expanding, and it is about to put a few signs up as well.

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

One of the great neighborhoods in Ossining is known as the Indian Village. All of the streets have tribal names, such as Mohawk and Seneca Roads. I happened to grow up on Osage Drive. Although most of the streets are pre war, the majority of the homes are baby-boom era housing. In that respect the place is a bit like Levittown on Long Island; the original homes are slowly giving way to larger, expanded structures. 

Here are two homes on my street that are more or less in their original footprint. They happen to be the homes across the street from where I lived. 

Here are two more homes. The ranch in the foreground is pretty typical of an original home. The one to the left was recently expanded. That white home peeking out back to the far left is my old house. My father put on three additions. I added a fourth. 

I was told that the neighborhood was an estate and peach grove. There is a huge apartment house across the street from my old home that was known as the Mundet Mansion (we called it the apartments). It had fallen into disrepair when I was a kid, but the guy who bought it in the early 70's brought it back beautifully. It is a striking building. I saw it every day of my life growing up in that home. It is worth two photos. 

The neighborhood is right off of Pleasantville Road, walking distance from the old Ossining Reservoir, immortalized in the Mad Men TV Series. 

The Indian Village is a wonderful neighborhood to call home. I freely admit my bias, as I still live walking distance from my old neighborhood in nearby Chilmark, on the other side of the Reservoir. I used to ride my bike between the neighborhoods (It was a Murray 5 speed with a banana seat, high handlebars and a fat rear tire). If you are thinking of living in Ossining, check it out. You'll be glad you did. 

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

I grew up in Ossining and still reside in the Ossining school district. Ossining is the fictional home of the Draper Family from the AMC Series Mad Men, and is also home of both Sing Sing Prison (the origin of the phrase "up the river" from the old gangster movies) and Maryknoll Catholic Mission. It is about 35 miles north of Mid Town Manhattan, and beat Houston, TX to the punch by electing an openly gay mayor several years ago. It was a wonderful place to grow up and I am proud to call it home. 

70 homes sold in the village thus far in 2009, compared to 78 during the same time period in 2008. Prices are also down, with the median price of $387,000 in 2009 compared to $416,000 in 2008. 

Overall, $387,000 is down considerably from the 2005 median peak of $443,000. There are 64 active listings now, putting the current inventory of homes at about 11 months worth of available properties. Given the quality of life you can enjoy here, with prices this low Ossining is probably one of the best bargains in Westchester County going in to 2010. 

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

I've blogged about this house before. It is a stunner. The Program was CNBC's "On the Money" with Carmen Wong Ulrich. One of the panelists is Dolly Lenz, Vice Chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, a respected expert and extremely nice person. The segment with my listing starts at 1:30 of the video. 

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

I am from Ossining. I grew up here and no place is closer to my heart. The village lies on the banks of the Hudson River and is an amalgam of densely populated somewhat urban sections as well as more bucolic subdivisions as you go inland. Ossining is a hilly place, with streams, brooks and a nice mix of pre war homes and newer baby boom era housing.

This data is for the village of Ossining only and is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. It compares the sales of single family homes from the first quarter of 2006 through to the first quarter of 2009. I cut the data off at March 27 of each year so the numbers would be consistent.

There was a downward trend from the high point of 2006 until the wheels came off in 2009. Nothing new here; the pool of borrowers is tiny, prices are down, and the number of sales is down more than 50%. The thing that comes to mind for me is not just the market. There are 9 real estate firms in the 10562 (Ossining) zip code with 80 licensees ostensibly serving the area. There are also more agents from numerous firms in nearby Briarcliff that also service the village which probably doubles the number of agents. That is an awful lot of agents to split up 8 sales. I work all of Westchester and neighboring areas, so my wagon isn't hooked up to one marketplace.

Ossining will certainly bounce back, but  money needs to circulate again for more people to take advantage of the lower prices. There are 62 active listings for single family homes alone in the village, making now an exceptional opportunity to buy.

_______________________________________________________________

You can search the MLS like an agent at http://jphilip.listingbook.com.

J. Philip Faranda ranks among New York's premier short sale REALTORS specializing in short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam & Dutchess Counties. www.NYShortSaleTeam.com. Read Phil's short sale blog at http://NewYorkShortSaleBlog.wordpress.com.

J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton on Hudson, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, White Plains, Yonkers, Peekskill, Cortlandt, Tarrytown, Yorktown, Montrose, Hawthorne, Thornwood, Valhalla, Hartsdale & all of Westchester County, New York.

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

My office is located in Briarcliff Manor, NY but technically sits on Town of Ossining soil. The town of Ossining is the unincorporated portion of the municipality located outside the village. It mostly borders the hamlet of Millwood in the town of New Castle as well as Maryknoll, NY, home of the renowned Catholic Mission. The character of the town is far more bucolic and suburban than the more densely populated village of Ossining, and the population of less than 6,000 is dwarfed by the village at more than 25,000. Both the town and village are served by the Ossining Union Free School District.

There are, as of February 27, 2009, 23 single family homes for sale in the town of Ossining. In the past 180 days 7 homes have sold at a median sales price of $464,000. The median asking price of homes for sale is $550,000. 3 homes are under contract for sale and a 4th is pending closing in the very near future.

With 23 active listings and only 7 titles transferred in the past 180 days, there is a severe  imbalance between inventory for sale and closed transactions. At that rate, there is just under two years of inventory available. With the median sales price at $464,00 and the median asking price at $550,000, it would appear that the inventory would clear faster if prices were reduced. The buying public is not showing much enthusiasm at those prices.

There are a number of condominium communities in the town as well, with 9 sales in the past 180 days at a median sales price of $397,000. The active inventory of 14 units is at a median asking price between $405,000 and $425,000. Perhaps because of the smaller gap in sales and asking prices, there appears to be less than a year of inventory available in condos. However, at this time just one condominium is under contract and a second is pending sale imminently.

A healthy Spring market can change many things, so here's to a good March, April and May of real estate activity in Ossining.

This data is unscientific and is derived from the Westchester-Putnam MLS. It does not include non-MLS transactions and is subject to input errors (such as erroneously including village of Ossining property) from other MLS members. This may be reproduced only with consent from J. Philip Faranda, who must be credited.

-----------------------

J. Philip Faranda is the broker and owner of J. Philip Real Estate, LLC, in Briarcliff Manor, NY, nestled between Ossining, Croton on Hudson, Sleepy Hollow, Chappaqua and Pleasantville. We are also in close proximity to White Plains, Peekskill, Yonkers & Yorktown. The firm specializes in residential real estate in Westchester, Putnam & Rockland County. Visit us on the web at www.jphilip.com.

Phil is one of the top selling REALTORS in Westchester County, with over 100 closed transactions in 2007-2008. He is also among the premier short sale specialists in New York. Check out www.nyshortsaleteam.com and our short sale blog, newyorkshortsaleblog.wordpress.com.

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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

Many who grew up in Ossining, NY like I did will remember an old, overgrown algae-covered man-made pond near the Chilmark Shopping Center known simply as The Reservoir. It was the Village's water supply for much of the pre-World War II era, was then was replaced by water towers, and in subsequent decades became a derelict mess. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's the Reservoir was used for skating (AT OWN RISK, as the sign said) and hanging out.

The water towers had their share of graffiti, and nobody really knew what good the Reservoir was. I learned to skip rocks there,and I spent many hours of my youth sitting quietly, watching the water, either alone or with some friends after buying baseball cards and candy at Chilmark Pharmacy. In the Spring and Autumn when the foliage wasn't too thick we'd ride our bikes around it. I had a 5-speed with high handle bars and a banana seat. 

In the earlier part of this decade, the Village cleaned the place up,  added a blacktop ring around it for walking, installed some park benches & tables, and dedicated it as Reservoir Park. An aerator was installed for the algae, and the towers were repainted. Mayor Perillo was vilified by some for the improvement expense, but most, like myself, applauded the move. It is an extremely popular place to sit, walk the dog, stroll the kids, and spend quiet time. The SKATE AT OWN RISK sign is long gone, replaced by 3 LAPS = 1 MILE.

More thoughts here.

 

• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• Read my short sale blog here. 
• 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'm hiring agents. 
• Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.

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