WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. John Bailey Interviews Bob Meyerson. June 22, 2008: To get a sense of what today’s housing market is really like in White Plains, WPCNR interviewed Bob Meyerson, a mortgage banker with offices in White Plains with Wachovia Mortgage. Meyerson has been a mortgage banker for thirteen years in the White Plains market, and as he put it, he was there “when the real estate boom started, and now here at the end.”

Asked how the White Plains market is today, Meyerson described it as “coming back, slowly coming back. Real Estate firms are starting to do business.”

He said larger real estate firms in the White Plains market were doing better, but felt the smaller firms were hurting and not all of them would survive.

Everbody Wants to Live in White Plains

In the White Plains market, from his perspective, the $400,000 to $800,000 homes were holding their own:  “When a good house in that range comes on the market, it is snapped up, while homes priced at $800,000 and above are taking a longer time to sell.”  Marginal houses with issues, i.e. location, and condition are languishing no matter what the price.

 He said that lowering the price on a higher-end home does not necessarily mean it will sell faster.  Upper end mortgages are harder to come by.  The right buyer is out there but there are fewer qualified.

The Jumbo Problem

Meyerson explained that mortgages on homes priced at $400,000 to $800,000 range are routinely sold to the secondary market while most larger banks continue to service them. However, mortgages (jumbo mortgages) over $729,000 and up are not as attractive to the secondary market as the loans sold to Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac

He said banks are not eager to make mortgages for a million to $2 million any more. He said this is a factor that keeps homes priced over a million dollars from selling quickly. He noted that a client of his had gone to contract on a property, but could not sell his present house in time for the close of his new residence. Fortunately, Meyerson said, other buyers were interested in purchasing the new property for more money, and his client was let out of the contract. Liers Loans (State Income) for Jumbo Loans, if they exist are more expensive.

Timing is Everything.

Meyerson warned a homeowner cannot expect a quick turnaround and needs to have a strategy for the transition period from the time of sale to the time of purchase. This could take many months of being homeless.  He recommended selling a home first, then looking for a home to buy, and be prepared to be homeless for a number of months after you sell, living with relatives, at a hotel, or renting another home. He warned that finding a house you want first and going to contract can lead to “financial suicide” in today’s market because you may end up carrying two mortgages.

Gone are the sell-in-the-morning, buy-in-the afternoon days, Meyerson said.

He said the first-time buyer of a home has to have good credit, but better ‘good credit’ than previously. He noted that the first-time buyer needed to keep his credit card debt below 50% of the credit card maximum credit lines. Bills have to have a history of being paid promptly. He is looking for credit scores of 660. Some loans can be written as low as 580.

The DEBT Ratio: PITI

Another factor in landing a mortgage, is  the Debt to Income ratio:   PITI is  the total of  Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance.  When you compare PITI  to Income. the ratio should be no higher than 33%.  When you add in the existing borrowers debt into the ratio Meyerson said ideally lenders want this ratio to be under 45% of total income.

First Home Seekers

Meyerson advised those seeking a first home in White Plains should consider a condominium or coop first, then move up to a house as a second step. (Taxes are less, and credit history is created.) Meyerson said White Plains condos and coops are coming back and will come back more, and are available for less than a decent house in White Plains.

He pointed out that a decent house in White Plains starts at the $600,000 range, “and that is not a starter house.”  He said, “I am still in my starter house.”

Preparing for that First Buy

Meyerson said his firm Wachovia is making loans but as noted previously, credit standards are higher. He encouraged paying down debt before taking on a first mortgage, and to pay as much down on a first home as possible. He did not advise a commitment that placed too great a burden on the owner, and not to overextend themselves.

Foreclosures and White Plains

Meyerson said in his experience in White Plains he has not had a foreclosure in 13 years. He said he did not particularly see the sub-prime loan crisis as a vexing problem in White Plains, because of the topping out of home prices in White Plains staying relatively stable – and that the values are not declining substantially.

He said the financial problem occurs (foreclosure) when a borrower is in the subprime level of mortgages.  Normally in a variable-rate mortgage that the homeowner can no longer afford. These loans become unaffordable when they start to adjust past the initial fixed rate period of 2 to 3 years.  Many of these mortgages start out when a borrower comes to a mortgage broker and wants to purchase a home with no money down and has to finance the closing costs into the mortgage. 

From day one they are 6% under water. 

The borrowers are normally put into a 2 or 3 year adjustable mortgage with the instructions to fix or keep their credit scores in good shape.  The borrower also hopes that home prices will continue to appreciate. 

 The perfect storm hits when the adjustable mortgage starts to adjust to levels the borrower can no longer afford.  In today’s real estate market many home prices have dropped 10 to 30% and if the lending institution could find another mortgage for the borrower they would not have the capital to make up for the new lending values on the home. 

Most people also have not heeded the credit warnings and have not kept their credit scores up to the new requirements.  In the end the borrower with no equity in the home becomes a victim of foreclosure.  

Meyerson does not see this as likely to happen in White Plains.  Loss of income to pay a mortgage due to job layoff or outside circumstances of course, is a different matter, WPCNR notes.

White Plains Property Taxes and the Market

Asked if property taxes in White Plains were a problem for persons who own in White Plains, Meyerson offered the opinion that the city, county and school taxes were high, (about $13,000 for a median home — $700,000, WPCNR notes),  but relative to other communities, taxes are not as high and that White Plains is a “stable market,” that is attractive with good schools.

Meyerson has suggested to the City of White Plains a plan that would defer tax increases on homes owned by seniors, and treating a percentage of increased taxes as liens on the property due at the time of sale. He feels this would insulate the homeowner on a fixed income, from the steady 7% a year increase the city has been seeing in its property taxes from school, city and county tax.

Selling

He said that persons wanting to sell their home have to first present their homes well: sprucing up the exterior, removing “clutter decorating”  from the interior, and repainting the interiors if needed, and executing repairs. (WPCNR is taking notes.)

Talking with Mr. Meyerson, it seems as if nothing has really changed in 40 years.  Houses were always impossible to afford for the starting out couple.

If you have a good house to sell you can sell it. If you want to buy a home, condo or coop for the first time on a mortgage, you have to make a sacrifice: get your debt down, save money, and show good or better  credit history and management. You simply have to make your numbers better to the lender.  There is no shortcut to your dreams. It is hard work. Hard choices. Sacrifice.

And as far as overly attractive mortgages are concerned,  Alicia Nugent’s song says, “If it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.”

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WPCNR BUMPER TO BUMPER. Traffic News & Comment By John F. Bailey. June 22, 2008: At a recent meeting of the Old Oak Ridge Neighborhood Association, that “Oak Ridge Boys” got to hear City Traffic Commissioner Tom Soyk and Mayor Joseph Delfino on what the future holds in store for White Plains. What they learned according a citizen present at the meeting was there’s more diabolic construction to come. The flollowing does not represent either Mr. Soyk’s nor Mayor Delfino’s views of the project. They simply showed the plans. Has the DOT got plans for us? You bet they have.

 Department of Transportation plans for finishing their scorched earth twisted concrete construction at the always-fun Exit 8 interchange from Dr. DOT Demento – a gas-wasting, aggravation levitating approaching proportions of the old Bruckner Traffic Circle in The Bronx (remember?) – were showcased by Mr. Soyk and they do not look good, gasoline-mindful drivers! At lower right is the 333 Westchester Ave former Kraft Foods property. At lower center is the North Street interchange, planned to go under a new Westchester Avenue Superramp. For Southenders coming up North Street they have to cross the Expressway and take a left into White Plains to access I-287 Eastbound via the SuperRamp upper left of picture.

 After all the construction is finally done on Exit 8 Westbound, traffic exiting westbound on the Cross Westchester Expressway will still cross with traffic entering the Expressway to go eastbound. You will still have 4 lanes of traffic merging into one long narrow one. Are they kidding?

Pardon me,  I thought the whole point of this construction was to eliminate the X flow of traffic crossing exiting traffic. That “Playland bumper cars” situation will continue on a slightly lesser scale. Never mind that the new lowert, more slanted road levels  being created on the expressway there are creating severe flooding every time it rains already.

But whenever they complete that – sometime in 2010 – if anybody can still afford to drive cars in 2010, Mr. Soyk showed the Oak Ridge “boys” what they and every other resident of the east side of White Plains what they can look forward to: perhaps five years of not being able to get on I-287 eastbound without circling into the Bloomingdale Road area. What a concept!

Gee, we thought taking out every tree around Grant Street and along the Central Westchester Parkway entrance, perching homes on the north and south sides of the Cross Westchester Expressway canyon on the edge of a cliff and creating the narrowest traffic lanes this driver has seen in sometime during the construction was enough – not to mention the flooding problems they have created by removing the trees and making the roadbed deeper.  (Long sentence, hey? Try driving through it!)

But, there’s more DOT construction torture in store starting in 2010 – if the state’s money holds out.

Exit 8: X’s in picture show elimination of present Westchester Avenue. North Street is planned to continue UNDER a ramp allowing eastbound exiting I-287 traffic to continue up to the new Westchester Avenue to enter the southend of town via Bryant Avenue, it appears. Traffic exiting White Plains crosses over I-287 on Superramp that splits into two lanes Westbound, and two lanes to enter I-287 eastbound. North Street traffic going for eastbound I-287 would have to cross over I-287, make left onto the Superramp and enter it at mid upper left to enter I-287 eastbound in a series of overhead ramps to be created.

The DOT is suggesting closing Westchester Avenue east bound so if you want to get on the Cross Westchester Expressway eastbound from North Street, you have to cross over the Expressway, circle into the Westchester Avenue fork into downtown White Plains, take a left onto Bloomingdale Road and enter the flow onto to Westchester Avenue to shoo through to I-287.

The plan essentially takes all eastbound I-287 traffic from North Street and funnels into the eastbound traffic to I-287 coming out of the city downtown. Are they kidding me? If they do this, I venture to say the bottle neck of an extra lane of I-287 eastbounders will create an honking, jamming mess at the Bloomingdale Road entrances.

Bottom line – if you’re coming North on North Street, you cannot simply turn off onto Westchester Avenue and ease onto Anderson Hill Road or enter I-287 slightly ahead anymore if the DOT does this. You’re going to have to cross over I-287, make a left and circle back into White Plains to get onto the super flyover ramp that takes all the eastbound traffic out of White Plains.

See what you think.  

This is an overview of the proposed construction for Phase II of the Exit 8 Interchange makeover. The parking lot of 333 Westchester Avenue is at the bottom of your picture.  You will note in the bottom left of the picture, there are xxxxx’s showing the proposed closure of Westchester Avenue as it exists now. That will be fun when they do this prior to constructing this nightmare.

You will see a flyover elevated roadway leading you to Anderson Hill Road over to Purchase, being planned to the right of your picture, and you will see that the new improved Westchester Avenue leads into I-287 with 2 lanes entering for eastbound and 2 lanes for Westbound, creating a cross- pattern merge on the ramp out of White Plains. How does this improve what has existed before? This superramp flies over North Street now.  Won’t traffic trying to go eastbound snarl up traffic attempting to go Westbound? Does this make sense?  Won’t this create backup on North Street northbound?

Area to the Right of North Street — 333 Parking Lot is at bottom of your picture.

Not only that but the lane taking westbound traffic from the super Westchester Avenue ramp and Eastbound I-287 traffic from North Street is two lanes! Are you kidding me? There are two lanes for Westbound traffic off the Super Ramp coming up off Bloomingdale Road and two lanes of East-Westbound I-287 coming off North Street. That my friends recreates what we have now every evening in White Plains – four lanes of traffic going into one narrow merge and you will have cross flow! Eastbounders from North Street crossing in front of Westbounders from the Superramp who are trying to ramp onto I-287 westbound. At least now, if you’re going to I-287 eastbound from North Street, you avoid the Exit 8 mess altogether. With this DOT preliminary plan you go into it! 

But, traffic route planning aside, what is wrong with the present setup. According to Mr. Rudikoff, the plan is to remove the traffic light jamup at North Street and Westchester Avenue, which creates a backup on the present Westchester Avenue .  However this seems to be an awful lot of expensive elevated construction that will create a nightmare on the city’s eastern gateway for the next seven years.

But, it does keep the DOT engineers at their drawing boards for another seven years, doesn’t it?

Is that what they were thinking when they came up with this plan? Employment for another decade?

They certainly could not have been thinking of the people of White Plains and those who drive in White Plains.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michele Schoenfeld. June 22, 2008:  Over 200 students received awards at the annual White Plains High School Underclass Awards Night held in May.  Among the awards were the following:

            College book awards:  Lorena Hoyos received the Barnard Book Award; Petergayle Patterson, Bryn Mawr College President’s Book Award; Danielle Solinski, Colgate Book Award; Max Chapnick, Columbia University Book Award; Tania Noriega, Cornell University Book Award; Jacob Paul,  Harvard Prize Book Award; Rebecca Neubardt, Mt. Holyoke Book Award; Rachel Fishkis, Oberlin  College Alumni Book Award; Anshu Hemrajani, Princeton Book Award; Stephen Zachary Sorrow,  Rutgers University Book Award; Paul Insinna and Sarah Lorden, Saint Michael’s College Book Awards; Minuse Thelsuma, Smith College Club Book Award; Caroline Couzens, University of Pennsylvania Book Award; Sandra Bonilla, Wellesley College Book Award; Jeanie Chen, Williams College Book Award; and Victor Brady, Yale Book Award.

            In other presentations, Melissa Hidalgo received the Rensselaer Medal; Fernando Luo received the Rochester Institute of Technology Award; Victor Brady received the University of Rochester Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award; Liscare Castro received the University of Rochester  Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities & Social Sciences; Shamique White Received the University of Rochester George Eastman Young Leader Award; and Elie Rosen  received the University of Rochester Xerox Award for Innovation & Information Technology.

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WPCNR’S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik, of Cap and Gown Weddings. June 21, 2008: To insure or not to insure, a common question in this day of $100,000 plus events.  But even at $20,000 dollars, families and couples are spending more and more of their relative income on large affairs and with that comes the fear of losing it if the unexpected happens.  Common concerns include weather related disasters, illness of an important family member or cancellation of the event for any reason. 

The primary question is whether or not to insure yourself against any of these things from happening. Depending on the range of insurance that you choose to buy, costs can range from $200-$1200, but the average tends to be between $400-500.  A popular company from which to purchase wedding specific insurance is www.wedsafe.com.

It’s important to note that “change of heart” cancellations are NOT covered by this company or any other wedding insurance firm.  There are of course exclusions as to what will be covered; pre-existing conditions being among the most common.  If you are worried about the health of an elderly immediate (this word is important; clarify with each company what immediate means) family member, who has a known condition at the time of insurance purchase, this will not be covered.  As with anything, read the fine print carefully. 

Wed Safe makes it easy to navigate the site and determine both what the best policy for you might be, as well as the actual wording in each – there is a sample policy available right on the site.  Wed Safe also offers Liability Insurance, which some locations and venues will require of the couple; especially for events at private residence.  This can also be obtained directly through or as a result of the home owner’s insurance company that might be in place for a private residence already, but if you are hosting an event at a new location, or a rental property, then Liability Insurance from Wed Safe is easy and provides necessary coverage. 

Wed Safe also runs www.privateeventinsurance.com, which as its home page indicates, protects against loss for anything from holiday parties and Bat Mitzvahs to family reunions and house warming events.  Often, for 1% of the cost of the event (if we assume a $500 policy for a $50,000 event) families take great comfort and piece of mind from knowing that they are covered in case of an unforeseen event.  In the aftermath of both 9/11 and the north east blackout in August 2003, we found that insurance, which was not remotely common then, would have been useful, but the damage to the bottom line was still inevitable.  In both cases, the weddings with which we were participating went ahead as planned, but with major alternations and a great deal of sensitivity and understanding. 

So, to finally put the age old question of whether to insure or not to insure to rest, it comes down to nerves.  If you are a type A, control everything and have back plans for anything type of person, then event insurance is definitely the way to go because it provides priceless piece of mind at a reasonable level.  Would I get insurance you might ask?  Absolutely.  If however you are pretty relaxed and more of the “whatever happens we will deal with it”, then keep the $400 and go to a nice dinner.  Much of what happens when insurance is a necessity cannot be covered or replaced, so more important than insurance is good planning and being prepared for any thing that happens.    

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. June 19, 2008. The City Hotel Tax projected to replace $400,000 cut out of the city Reserve for Financing by the Common Council in a budget cut move in April, is not going to happen, WPCNR has learned.  WPCNR has placed calls to city representatives in Albany to find the reasons behind the reported failure of the hotel tax.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, said the city was going to move forward, and expected the Mayor to make a case for an additional 1/4% sales tax to Assemblyman Adam Bradley and the state legislature, as the city had originally proposed last year. A quarter per cent increase was approved by the legislature this spring with Bradley spearheading the legislation.

Wood said “This is exactly what the Mayor warned (the council) about when the budget was approved with the $400,000 cut out of the reserve for financing. He warned the council about this. It (the hotel sales tax) was only projected by us to bring in $300,000 at the most. I fully expect we may run a deficit next year as a result.”

Wood said he expected the city would make its final quarter sales tax projection, but that next year was now in doubt. He said he did not expect projected union increases now being negotiated to be as much as 5%.