Real LI

Retake: Stuffed animals are waiting for you in Bethpage

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:13:00 -0500

Retake this photo, please This home in Bethpage is for sale. Thinking of buying? Talk to these animals first.

Do you believe this Huntington Station real estate sign?

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:31:20 -0500

Just how gorgeous is it?

Meet the peeps in East Islip who grow dahlias

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:02:00 -0500

Meet the gardeners who cultivate marble- to basketball-size dahlias at the Long Island Dahlia Society's "Dahlia Show" from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m tomorrow and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday in the Carriage House at Bayard Cutting Arboretum on Montauk Highway in East Islip. Free. All dahlias on exhibit will be sold at 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 631-754-1002 after 8 p.m or 516-832-3652 during the day, or visit LongIslandDahlia.com - M. BOZENA SYSKA

Long Island neighbors rate each other -- online!

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:32:33 -0500

A Web site called rottenneighbor.com is being "billed as a real estate tool that allows people to rate neighbors so house hunters can make buying decision," reports Newsday. "There's 'Steve' who leaves threatening notes in a village in Nassau, a Suffolk kid who eats 'boneless riblits on his porch with his shirt off wearing a bib,' and 'creepy' red eyes that stare out of a window in Amityville (a horror!)." Read all about it here.

How much does $400,000 get you on Long Island?

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0500

See for yourself in this slideshow of homes across Long Island that are now on the market. And to read more about where the market is headed, click here.

40 HOUSES FOR $400,000

Book review: 'Eat Feed Autumn Winter'

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:01:00 -0500

“Eat Feed Autumn Winter: 30 Ways to Celebrate When the Mercury Drops” (Stewart Tabori & Chang, $35) by Anne Bramley: It’s still summer but it’s already time to start thinking about winterizing your house, including stocking the food pantry. Author Anne Bramley offers dozens of ideas about what foods and household gadgets we should have at hand for when bad weather arrives so we can avoid the last-minute mad dash to the store. She provides plenty of recipes that will have you longing for a snowstorm while explaining what gadgets are essential and giving us a history of many foods, the tools needed to prepare them and how to throw a party for a variety of cold-weather themes. - PAM ROBINSON

Why Karolina Kurkova summers in Wainscott

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:45:00 -0500

The Victoria's Secret Angel, as Karolina Kurkova is known, always rents a house in Wainscott, Hamptons magazine reports. This summer, she lives on a horse farm. She loves the Hamptons, she says, because "it's so close to the city, and you can have a beautiful house and hang out with friends or walk on the beach. I love riding my bike to buy fresh foods from the farmstands." And her favorite beaches? "I always go to Georgica Pond beach and Montauk beach, and I love the beach in Amagansett." Getty Images photo

Huntington's Oheka Castle subject of new book

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:38:46 -0500

"Oheka Castle: Monument to Survival" (Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate, $100) by Ellen Schaffer and Joan Cergol: This oversized book reveals the many lives of the larger-than-life Oheka Castle, built in 1919, nearly torn down 20 years later, once a recreation site, then a neglected eyesore and now a thriving hotel and retreat. The Huntington estate appeared in scenes from "What Happens in Vegas" staring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Financier Otto Hermann Kahn, who used parts of his name for the castle, built the opulent estate as a summer and weekend home for his family. It was hardly a summer cottage: the 443-acre site featured a mansion with 127 rooms and 39 fireplaces. The grounds included servants’ quarters, barns, a creamery, an amphitheater, gardens and reflecting pools. After Kahn died in 1934, his widow began divesting properties for financial reasons. By 1939, the Welfare Fund of the New York City Sanitation Department had acquired it as a recreation center for its employees but that plan removed it from the tax rolls; “Sanita” operated barely a month before shutting down because of building code violations. In 1943, it became a school for Merchant Marine radio operators. By 1948, the mansion and surrounding 23 acres had become the Eastern Military Academy, which closed in 1979. Vandals ruled the abandoned mansion from 1979 to 1983. Railings, statuary and fireplace mantels were stolen; water from efforts to fight arson damaged rooms and ceilings; trash and debris piled up everywhere. In 1984, developer Gary Melius bought the site, planning condominiums. After considerable restoration, he sold it in 1989 to a Tokyo company, which leased it back to him in 1993. He bought it back in 2003. From there, Melius and the surrounding community, struggled, sometimes together, sometimes at odds, to produce the hotel it is today. Oheka was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. - PAM ROBINSON

Retake: Wires take over Central Islip kitchen

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:10:00 -0500

Retake this photo, please This house in Central Islip is for sale. Wires take over Central Islip kitchen, how marketable.

They're sleeping through the night at JLo's Brookville pad

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:16:00 -0500

That's what Jennifer Lopez tells ABC's "Good Morning America," as you'll see from this clip. Max and Emme are indeed sleeping at the same time, too. Which is good for Lopez, who is now training for a triathlon this fall. In the meantime, Star reports that Lopez and husband, Marc Anthony, spend "thousands of dollars a week on baby clothes" and that the twins "rarely wear the same thing twice." In fact, much of what they wear is "designer." And more news from Brookville's most famous resident: New York magazine reports that Lopez will "executive-produce an adaptation of her 2002 chick flick, 'Maid in Manhattan,' creating a series about a 'young Latina from the Bronx working at a Manhattan hotel who tries to make it in the world.' " For the Lopez archives, read here.

Finally, Realtors get commission protection

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:46:00 -0500

Sometimes, sellers and their real estate agents argue about commission, right to down the closing, when everybody’s supposed to get paid. Most agents felt they had little recourse but to take whatever they could get when sellers, for various reasons, tried to cut compensation, said broker Mohsen Zandieh, head of the Long Island Board of Realtors. He compared it to a time long past, when consumers could go into a store, pick out groceries and leave by just saying "put it on my bill." But now, the Commission Escrow Act, signed by Gov. David Paterson this month, requires sellers to put commissions into an escrow account at the county clerk’s office if the dispute is unresolved at closing. This applies only when the contract between seller and agent mentions the law in bold face type and when agents file affidavits with the county about the dispute. It’s not considered a lien, and it won’t invalidate the house sale. "Today, we’re telling them ‘No, you’re leaving the store. You’d better pay, and if you have a problem with this, let’s get into a court in the state of New York,’ " Zandieh said. "People are going to recognize that they’re doing business and they’re going to adhere . . . to the terms of the contract that they’ve entered into." It's taken more than 10 years to get such a bill passed. According to a survey commissioned more than a year ago by the New York State Association of Realtors, 28 percent of real estate agents lost an earned commission after making a sale.

Book review: 'Creating the French Look'

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:45:00 -0500

“Creating the French Look: Inspirational Ideas and 25 Step-by-Step Projects” by Annie Sloan (Cico Books, $24.95) Pick your favorite French look: a chateau, a simple farmhouse or the more colorful Provencal style or an urban decor, and then learn how to transform your space into the look you want. The author shows readers a variety of tasks: how to paint an old gilded mirror frame, make a ruffled slip-over pillow cover, add glasses with a frosted monogram or a crystal chandelier or stencil doors on an armoire to create a pleasing, stylish look to suit any favored French décor. The book is well photographed, with lots of closeups of the accessories or decorations that contribute to the style. - PAM ROBINSON

LI company's down payment program on borrowed time

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:11:00 -0500

The $1,000 down payment program at Continental Home Loans lives on borrowed time, but the Melville company’s chief, Mike McHugh, knew his idea might have a short life. He started the program about eight months ago, but now, the crux of the idea - seller-funded down payment funneled through nonprofits – will no longer be legal on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, which requires up to a 3 percent minimum down payment for buyers, depending on the FHA program. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act, signed into law last month, bars such seller-funded down payments on new FHA-backed loans starting Oct. 1. So far, the $1,000-down program has led to about 100 or so home sales as well as closings under other loan programs, McHugh said. “The product itself got them interested and maybe gave them the impetus to go look at a house and say ‘Yeah, I can do this,’ “ he said. But using housing nonprofits to funnel help from sellers has been controversial. Lenders around the country have been getting around the minimum down payment rule when sellers agree to help on down payment to lure buyers. Sellers to “donate” money to the nonprofit, which would then “grant” the money to the buyer and also get a donation that it keeps from the seller. FHA said this practice led to inflated prices and higher default rates. It tried to shut down that practice but was sued by the nonprofits last year. McHugh, who said his $1,000 program sought qualified buyers, believes there should be seller-funded help on down payments but also thinks there should be restrictions, including higher credit scores for such buyers as a way of limiting risks. Some lawmakers agree and have already introduced bills to allow seller-funded assistance on FHA loans. Continental’s chief said he’s got about 30 to 40 loans in the pipeline to be approved. He’s sent interested buyers, sellers, agents and others in the program emails and letters about the Oct. 1 deadline; the loans have to be approved by then but the closings can take place later. McHugh’s doesn’t think Congress will pass any change before the new law’s provision kicks in, but he’s optimistic his $1,000 down program will come back to life one day. “Do I think it’s the end?” he said. “No, I don’t think it’s the end. There’ll be something to take its place somewhere down the road. Our point is if it’s done well, it can be a viable program.”

Retake: Was it that windy in West Hempstead?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:12:00 -0500

Retake this photo, please This house in West Hempstead is for sale. Was it that windy that no one could pick up the garbage can?

J.Crew chief buys $17 million Wainscott house

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:53:00 -0500

J.Crew chief executive Millard Drexler is in contract to buy a house in Wainscott for $17 million, a source tells RealLI. The house at 120 Beach Lane is listed for $19 million. The six-bedroom, four-bathroom shingle-style house is between the Atlantic Ocean and Wainscott Pond on a three-acre lot. Ronald Lauder owns property next door. Drexler also owns houses in Montauk and Bridgehampton. The agent involved in all three properties was Paul Brennan of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Bridgehampton. He co-brokered Montauk with Linda Stein, who was murdered last year at her Manhattan apartment.