Where To See Fireworks & Firework Safety

This will more than likely be a controversial blog with not only Fourth Of July weekend here there are graduation parties, and many summer festivities going on and I am hearing more and more fireworks.  Now although most of these are not legal, and you are not supposed to I still think it is important that I take the time to educate those who will still put on a show for friends and family.  

Now you might be saying this blog has nothing to do with real estate, but many people who have just bought their first home will be partaking in the summer fun I think it is important to keep everyone informed even if it is just about how to use fireworks safely.  

• Keep all children away from fireworks, even sparklers can reach over 2000 degrees and those tiny fingers are clumsy even in older kids.  

• Make sure you have a garden hose or bucket of water nearby in case it is needed.  

• Never try to re-light a firework that did not fully ignite. 

• If you are blowing off mortars or any large firework be sure that you are doing so in an area that is clear of trees & wires.  If your firework mistakenly hits a tree or a power line do not try and put it out to avoid any trouble, you can cause a much larger issue by doing so.  

• Be aware of traffic & neighbors, before you light any firework no matter how big or small be sure that you check to make sure there is no traffic coming.  

• Once you have lit the firework, MOVE don't try and lean over to check if it has ignited, if it did not ignite just light another one.

• Make sure your on-lookers are a safe distance away from the "shooting" this way they do not accidentally get hit with debris from the fireworks.

• Once you have finished your "display" hose down the debris that is left on the ground before cleaning up the remnants.  DO NOT just leave the debris behind in the streets, it is a safety hazard even if you think otherwise.   

I do not advise setting off any sort of fireworks, they are illegal to do so in New York and I am not suggesting that anyone goes and does so.  The only safe way to partake in fireworks is leaving it to the trained professionals, so here is a quick list of where you can go this Fourth Of July to safely and legally enjoy fireworks!! 

Where To See Fireworks 

Wednesday, July 4

Fourth of July Carnival and Fireworks

School Playing Fields, 720 Front St., Greenport         Time: 10pm
This is a great show that never gets too packed. It is free, no tickets required. You sit on the grass, with a great view of the fire trucks and launching tubes, which are not all that far away. To your left the Ferris wheel and lights of the carnival twinkle merrily. When the fireworks start, lie back and gaze up at them exploding right over your head. The show isn’t Grucci, but it is breathtaking all the same. Park in the school parking lot entrance off of Front St. or in front of the carnival on Moore’s Lane. Encore performance on July 7.

Stars Over Montauk by Grucci
Umbrella Beach, Montauk                  Time: 9:00pm
Umbrella Beach is located one-third mile west of Montauk Town on the Old Highway. Fireworks can be viewed from any ocean town beach. If you do not have a parking permit, there are several lots in town that do not require a permit and are only about a half mile or less to Umbrella Beach. You can also park along the roads. For more information call 631-668-2428. Rain date is July 5.

Westhampton Beach Fireworks
Westhampton Country Club            Time: 9pm
The public cannot enter the country club, but the fireworks should be visible from nearby beaches.

City of Glen Cove July 4th Spectacular
Morgan Park at the end of McCaughlin St, Glen Cove             Time: 6pm
At 6pm there will be a musical performance in the bandshell followed by fireworks at 9pm. The event will be crowded and details of parking and parking restrictions may be found here. For more information call Glen Cove City Hall at 516-676-2000  Rain date is July 7. 

Star Spangled Blast at Bald Hill by Grucci

Brookhaven Ampitheater
, 55 Bicycle Path
, Farmingville
                  Time: 7:30pm

Starting at 7:30pm the Long Island Philharmonic will present a free concert followed by a spectacular fireworks show by Grucci. Arrive early for parking and seating. Parking lot opens around 4:30pm and doors open around 5:30pm. There is also seating on the grass. Refreshments are available. For more information call 631-293-2222.

Long Island Ducks Ballgame and Fireworks by Grucci
Bethpage Ballpark - 3 Courthouse Dr., Central Islip                Time: 7:05pm
Watch the Long Island Ducks take on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs and then sit back and watch an amazing fireworks extravaganza by Grucci. Tickets are available online or by calling 631-940-3825. 

Go 4th on the Bay by Grucci

8pm
Grucci will produce another spectacular off the South Shore of Long Island, this time in Patchogue Bay, West Bay,
 and off East Islip at Champlin Creek. The fireworks should be visible from Fire Island and all the beaches in the vicinity from Smith’s Point Beach to the Bay Shore Marina.

Village of Valley Stream 20th Annual Fireworks Show
Fireman’s Field                        Time: 6:30pm
Tickets are available at Collision Concepts on Rockaway Ave. at Sunrise Highway, Hendrickson Pool Facility, Village Hall and the library. Tickets are $5, children under 2 are free. Parking is available at the Hendrickson Pool Facility with free transportation to the show. Gates open at 6:30pm. Rain date is July 5.  For more information, call Boris at Collision Concepts 516-825-4433. Tickets sell out early.

Jones Beach Fireworks???The fireworks were canceled for the past two years and it is still unclear if they will go on this year.  But they are listed, with a question mark, on the Jones Beach Events Calendar so you may wish to check that here closer to the date.  

Friday, July 6

Southampton Fresh Air Home’s American Picnic Benefit by Grucci

1030 Meadow Ln., Southampton               Time: 7–10pm
This family benefit event for the Southampton Fresh Air Home features a carnival, a buffet, and fireworks over Shinnecock Bay. Grucci is classifying this show as National Class. Tickets for adults are $250 and children $100. 

Saturday, July 7

Fireworks at the Riverhead Raceway

1797 Old Country Rd, Riverhead                       Time: 9pm
Fireworks take place during a break in the racing schedule. There is no on-street parking nearby so you pretty much have to pay admission and watch a race to see the fireworks. Rain date July 14th.

Devon Yacht Club Fireworks by Grucci
Fresh Pond Beach, Amagansett                  Time: 9:15pm
This is a private show, but the fireworks can be seen from Fresh Pond Beach or by boat in Napeague Bay.

How To Make Sure Your Home Sells At The Right Price !

COLDWELL BANKER® SHOWS YOU HOW TO MAKE SURE THE YOUR HOME SELLS AT THE RIGHT PRICE

Establishing a reasonable and profitable listing price for a home is perhaps the biggest challenge for every home seller. Before coming to a final figure, many sellers ask themselves: "That home down the block went for a lot; can I just price my home in the same ballpark?" "Can I jack the price up in a hot market?" These and many other factors must be considered before settling on a listing price. The professionals at Coldwell Banker Residential Homes recommend taking the following steps before setting an asking figure.

         

Choose the Right Sales Associate
While many people use a friend or relative's referral to select a sales associate, it is smart to interview many prospective agents. Invite several sales associates to show their listings presentations. Pay attention to how they plan to market the home, and find out the reach of their company's Web site. Also, make certain they plan to list the home on the multiple listing service (MLS) and inquire about how broad their real estate contact network is.

 

Do The Homework.
Ask a real estate sales associate for a written comparative market analysis (CMA). This will provide a list of recent sales prices of similar homes in the area (with comparable numbers of bedrooms, baths, square footage and lot size), the asking prices of homes currently for sale nearby and other important information. Then a sales associate will provide a professional estimation of a legitimate selling price.

Take the Emotion Out of It
While the seller likely has great affection for the home, the sales associate will not set the price based on the seller's emotion. Instead, he or she will evaluate the location, condition and size of the home. A house in a secluded, exclusive area may appeal to some, while others will want to be closer to schools, shopping and health care facilities. What is the physical condition of the home? Is it a fixer-upper? Does it make a good first impression (the ever important curb appeal)? Will it appeal to a growing family, or is it better suited to empty nesters?

Determine If It Is a Buyers/Sellers Market
Home inventory, mortgage interest rates and the economy play a role in determining whether the buyer or seller has a negotiating advantage. Interest rates remain at historically low levels even as the economy shows signs of improving, putting buyers in a good position to shoulder "good" debt of homeownership.

     

Do the Math
Do not forget to figure in closing costs, legal fees and other selling expenses when determining the selling price. The sales associate should be able to provide cost estimates, and negotiate with a potential buyer to ensure a good sale price.

                                                           
Give It the Once Over
There is one more step to ensure that the house sells for your price, or more. Do as much as possible to improve the home's appearance: touch up the paint, fix leaks, seal any cracks, clean up the clutter, and eliminate pet odors. The house has only one chance to make a first impression.

What To Offer For That House?

Let's take a moment and touch on a subject not many Reatlors write blogs about, and that is

WHAT DO YOU OFFER FOR THAT HOUSE!

Let me start off by saying it is YOUR choice what you offer, but you want to put in a strong offer, it requires research and analysis by your Realtor. This is why you must always work with a buyers broker, this is where you believing in there abilites and trust is important. 

A home is not always worth what it is listed for, but on the other hand if the listing Realtor is a reputable agent than the list price will normally be accurate to what the neighborhood and the home is worth.   A low offer is not always the way to go, make sure your offer is fair!

In some towns, there are certain areas that only span a few block that the prices go up higher than other homes within the 1 mile radius that you would normally pull the comps for.  When this is the situation you need your Realtor to explain exactly what it is, sometimes it is simply that the area is more desirable, other times it is school district, or distance to certain amenities a town or village can offer. 

The lack of comps can sometimes cause confusion for the buyer because now you need to do quite a bit of math to add and subtract for the difference, because the comps will not match perfectly to the home they are comparing it to. 

When pulling these comps your agent will try to get it as close to a match as possible but you will still need to tweak these comps accordingly.  Here are some key points to remember when your agent is going over these with you. 

NEW VS UPDATED

NEW appliances have never been used, this means normally you will have the paperwork for the warranties, and they have been put in within 6 months of the home being listed.   

UPDATED appliances have been used by the current homeowner or tenant, these updates have been done usually within 5 - 8 years of the home being put on the market.  So that updated kitchen could already be 5 years old. 

Because of this even when a bank comes in, they will always add value to homes that are new/recently remodeled.  Because of the changes in energy efficiency from the type of insulation that is used to compared to previous years, appliances, and building material these homes have a higher value than a home that has just been updated over the years. 

For a home that is able to boast that it has been completely remodeled, with everything new can add value of anywhere from 8% - 10% compared to other homes that are simply updated.  This is something very important to keep in mind when you are comparing a remodeled home to comps that are not.  As a homeowner I agree that these homes are very much worth the extra money that you pay to own one, your value will rise much quicker, and your out of pocket costs to move in and maintain your home will be less than the average home-owner. 

MAIN RD VS BUSY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD

This is normally quite the debate, I could name many roads that I would consider main roads in a town but when a bank appraiser comes in will not agree, and therefore they will make no price adjustment. 

Location is the one thing you can not change about a home.  You must decide as a home-buyer if this location is right for you or not. 

Keep in mind that when you are putting in an offer, you can reduce your offer if you feel the home is over-priced based on the homes location, but be reasonable when you make this deduction.  This is a time when trusting your Realtor and seeing the comparison is very important, ecspecially if you are not from that specific area. 

Let me also say this, if a location does not work for you for any reason you should never feel pressured to still buy it from your Realtor, they should offer to show you homes in the same area away from your objection area.  Some examples of this can be homes that have busier traffic patterns, sumps, or simply the privacy aspect to your neighbors. 

This will be your home and you will be the one living there for the next 15 years not your Realtor. 

WHAT IS THE BASEMENT REALLY WORTH ?

To me personally they are priceless, to a bank appraiser they don't add any huge value because there are many variables that decide the value for you.   

Let's say someone has a fully finished basement, with no CO, well unfortunately it is worth nothing, because it is not legal. 

For an average size home, with a finished basement with proper permits, the value is suprisingly low, between $5000 and $8000. 

If your looking in an area that does not have basements you can not reduce the price of the home because of it lacking a basement, because all of the comps do not have them either.   

This is often a surprise to those who are looking to live closer to the water, most homes will only have crawl-spaces not basements, and there is no reduction that would be considered reasonable. 

THE MAN THAT WAS GIVEN A HOUSE NOT JUST A ROOM   

The garage typically you will have atleast 1 in some cases 2, and in the rare occassion 3 or more. 

When this happens I call it "The man that was given a house", and I unfortuntaly have to break the news to them that yes I personally appreciate their 5 car garage, painted floors, and custom shelving, but that means nothing to the bank and doesn't add anymore value than a nicely maintained 2 car garage. 

A garage that is over the top is not neccessarily considered a "value" when it is is extremely large, but it is considered a selling "feature" because this isn't something that the average buyer is looking for, but some will appreciate and want. 

Things like numbers of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, are what add that value to a home. 

HOW MUCH ARE THOSE EXTRA ROOMS WORTH ?

When it comes to pulling comps I would personally never recommend using homes that did have the same numbers of kitchens. 

Mainly because kitchens are really what sets a house apart, it can go from a 1 family to a duplex, legal 2 family, 2 family by renewalable permit, or mother daughter.  Also keep in mind if you look at a home, and you notice that 2nd kitchen but it is listed strictly as a single family dwelling, and the listing broker is not representing it as a kitchen than it is because it is not a legal kitchen which makes it worth $0! This is where again it will become a selling "feature", and can quite possible cause some red flags when it comes to obtaining a mortgage. 

As far as bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, and dens these do add value so you will increase or decrease this to the value of your comps. 

Personally I will add between $8000-$10,000 depending on the depicted size of the room for average size bedrooms, and dens.  If a home has a master suite which can include its own separate bath, walk-in closets, sitting rooms than obviously you would add more than $10,000.  

Bathrooms although they have value, are more valued by us than a bank.  Normally I try to stay as conservative as I can between $5000 - $8000.

This is also an area where the difference between NEW and UPDATED plays a huge factor, a home that has truly new kitchens and bathrooms are always worth top dollar as far as putting a number to them.  Most new homes come with granite counters, tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, furniture styled vanities, hardwood floors, CAC, multi-zoned heating these become both a feature and a value. 

WHAT IS A FEATURE WORTH ?

Unfortunately I wish I could put a value on what a feature is worth, but it is practically impossible.  Every feature will have its pros and cons to an individual buyer.   Some features will be worth alot to a buyer, and others will be a drawback. 

My best advice to home-owners is keep in line with your neighborhood when it comes to features.   Do not go overboard because you can not gurantee you can re-coup the investment you made adding features, but you can be sure that your home has simliar characteristics as your competition does, so that buyers will be comparing apples to apples so to speak.   

If all the homes in your neighborhood have beautiful landscaping in the front, than I would suggest small upgrades to be sure you have similiar curb appeal.  If most homes have peeled back their carpeting to expose the hardwood floors beneath, when you put your home on the market either A- Remove the carpeting B- Make sure your agent expresses that their are hardwoods underneath the carpeting. 

For many home-owners their features are not added initially to keep up with the neighborhood, but because they were personal wants and needs for the individual.  If you choose to upgrade your home extensively more so than your neighborhood calls for,  I advise you to stay as conservative as possible because it could be helpful or hurtful in a  home that has been updated, and is not able to be categorized as new. 

 WHAT'S A FEATURE ? WHAT'S A VALUE ?

Features

• Pools, Heated Pools, Sauna's, Hot Tubs  
• 3 Car or more garage
• In Ground Sprinklers
• Brick Pavers
• Outdoor Lighting
• Solar Panels
• Elaborate Fencing, Gardens

Value

• New Renovations & New Construction  
• LEGAL Add Ons (Ex-Basement,Extentsions, Dormers)
• Waterfront/Waterview/Private Beach
• Bedrooms/Bathrooms
• Living Space
• Property Size

 

How Long Should I List My Home FOr ?

How Long of a Listing Should Your Agent Expect to Take?

As you will see the way to determine how long to list your home for is according to the market.  So really although it is up to you to choose, you should be sure you are basing your decision on solid facts! In today's market it takes more than listing your home on MLS get it to the closing table.  You need an agent that is actively marketing your home in all venues internet presence, direct mail and open houses are just some of what needs to be done.  For today's market you should be listing your home with an agent for atleast 180 days, with the option to be released if they are not doing all that they agreed to do to market your home. 
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does offer you this gurantee, if we are not doing everything we agreed to do, we will release you from the contract with us at anytime!

Reasons for a 30-Day Listing

• If your market is steaming hot and homes are flying into pending status within days, your agent might be agreeable to a 30-day listing.
• This way, if every other home on your street is selling within three weeks and yours is still sitting without an offer on day 29, you can easily get rid of your agent and hire somebody else.
• Before you refuse to relist with your agent, though, first look at the price. If your price is too high, no agent is going to sell it.

Reasons for a 90-Day Listing

• In normal markets, 90-day listings are more common.
• During the first 30 days, you should get a lot of showings if you are priced right.
• Ask your agent for buyer feedback and follow up on suggestions to improve the condition of your home and / or price.

Reasons for a 180-Day Listing

• If the average DOM exceeds two months, you're probably trying to sell in a buyer's market and will need a longer listing term.
• If you go into contract on a 90-day listing, your listing might expire while in escrow. In that event, your agent may require that you extend the listing, so it makes more sense to start out with a 180-day listing.
• Ask your agent when you initially sign the six-month listing if the agent will give you a personal guarantee that you can cancel at the end of 90 days if you are unhappy. If the agent won't give you that guarantee, then list with an agent who has more confidence to make you that offer.

Reasons for a One-Year Listing

• If you live out in the boondocks where nothing ever sells under one year, then a 360-day listing might be the norm in your area.
• Unique properties, large parcels and expensive estates might take longer to sell because they may appeal to a limited number of buyers.
• Private islands and lavish vacation homes require a longer marketing time, and agents might not be willing to shell out the big marketing bucks for a short-term listing.