CHRISTMAS IN ULSTER COUNTY NEW YORK

For a lot of people this is a very hard holiday season. Many people have lost their jobs. Lots of people have lost their faith in human beings due to very dishonest people taking advantage and robbing people of their life savings in many different ways.It seems like every day there is more and more bad, sad news. I want to and need to speak of the wonderful things and the wonderful people I encounter in my travels to counteract all the negative that seems to dominate the scene these days. I invite anybody who is reading this to comment as well on any positve experiences or people you would like to share about this holiday season. So, now unto the wonderful people:

I work with a great bunch of people but I want to talk about one such person. She is always there to help. We had our office holday party the other day and she not only offered her restaurant "The Would" for our party but attended to it like it was one of her "paid" parties. I sit across the way from her at the office and for that I am grateful.

My 87 year old mother lives with me. Our area experiences a lot of outages and I was very worried about this seasons outages and a client suggested to me a person who installs generators. Well, this angel appeared as one Chris Peone, Master Electrician. From our first communication I knew I had an angel on my hands. Not only did he go out of his way to tell me everything I would ever want to know about generators, he was kind enough to offer to bring over one of his extra generators should I experience an outage and lack of heat, free of charge!!!!! My client(and now a good friend) Holli told me he was wonderful and special and now I am experiencing it first hand. So if you need a heating system or air conditioning system or anything electrical call Chris at The Rosendale Hardware Store 845-658-3142(he is the proprietor) and experience a class act of the highest caliber. (Click on photos to enlarge).




THE HAMLET OF HIGH FALLS - I love to go to High Falls. Every store owner has such pride of ownership, the way they decorate their stores, their creativity, the personal attention. It's like all of the great shopping and eating in New York City with out the hassle of crowds and the insane prices. I mean, just look at Jeff and Larry's window at the High Falls Mercantile, need I say more?

Trust me when I say you have to visit each and every store and restaurant in this sweet hamlet to experience the flavor of sweet perfection. Thank you to all of you for creating such delicousness.

I want to praise my friend and manager of my website April Destefano. Not only is she one of my friends and angels, she loves the lord so much it has been so wonderful to be in her company. She also is totally of service to her clients.

Some of my clients will be guest blogging in the near future on the quality of life for them in The Hudson Valley. I look forward to it.

Happy Holiday to all and to all a good night.

Details of Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.

This has been reprinted to share with you, my friends, from Rismedia.

Know the Details of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act

RISMEDIA, Dec. 2, 2008-No matter the circumstances, there’s a lot of stress a homeowner goes through in a foreclosure or a short sale.

Brief Background

Prior to December 2007, if a homeowner lost his house due to a bank foreclosure, and the bank forgave any difference between the price it was sold for and what was owed, the homeowner would owe additional income tax on that portion. Yes, it’s hard to believe, but true.

Let’s say the homeowner owed $300,000 on the mortgage, but the foreclosure sale only brought in $200,000. Then the bank forgave the $100,000 shortfall. The homeowner would have been liable for the income tax on the $100,000 debt forgiveness from the bank.

The IRS considered this money effectively paid to the homeowner, and it would be taxable in their top bracket.

Now, because of the unique stresses in the housing industry lately and on our whole economy, in December 2007, Congress stepped in to provide temporary relief in the form of forgiving this debt, but only for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years. After that, the old rule applies again.

To be eligible for this tax relief, the mortgage must be for your principal residence. It does not apply to vacation, investment or other properties. And no more than $2 million of forgiven debt can be excluded from taxable income.

Home Equity Loans

Another very important detail in this temporary tax break is if part of the forgiven debt was a home equity loan and used for purposes other than to build, buy or substantially improve the property, that portion is still taxable. In other words, home equity loans used for vacations aren’t included.

Short Sales

Now, what happens in a short sale? In brief, this can occur when a borrower is behind on the mortgage payments and the lender agrees he can sell his house for less than what is owed on the mortgage. But all proceeds must be turned over to the bank.

The portion of the mortgage the bank forgives, plus any commission expenses or other selling costs, are taxable income if this debt is canceled. Yes, even the commission and selling expenses count.

A homeowner can now receive a $250,000 (single) and $500,000 (married) capital gain exclusion on the sale of their primary residence.

While $7,500 capital gains tax is surely a lot less than the $100,000 canceled by the lender, the homeowner may not think of this or be aware it could happen down the road, perhaps just prior to retirement. And capital gains taxes are always subject to change.

Mortgage Insurance Affected

It is important to also note this act extended mortgage insurance as an itemized deduction all the way through 2010. Yes, there’s a restriction. The mortgage contract has to be entered into between December 31, 2006 and January 1, 2011.

Chris Kaucnik is marketing director for Home Warranty of America. For more information, please visit www.hwahomewarranty.com. Michael J. Greenen is a certified public accountant and certified financial planner located outside of Chicago, Illinois.

LOTS TO BE GRATEFUL FOR THIS THANKSGIVING

It is the night before the eve of Thanksgiving and I have come home from food shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and as I was reading some emails from various people I had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude come over me. Now please understand, I , like everyone else, have been affected by the state of our economy. That said I must go on to tell you how grateful I am to be right where I am. Gone are the days of doing what I really do not want to do, playing with people I don't like, saying yes when I mean no and vice versa. I have absolutely wonderful people in my life. I have and continue to get absolutely GREAT clients! I love what I do professionally. I love buying and selling antiques as well as my real estate.

I am very grateful to be an American. I know that being an American is not the most popular thing to brag about right now in this world. I would like to tell you what I am proud of. It is very plain to see that our situation in this country is the result of much greed, self centeredness and a total lack of caring for other human beings. I do have every confidence though that our country and all its citizens will band together and work our way through this mess, learn our lessons and become better people for it. This is a result of a few, not the many.

I love the citizens of the United States. I love our diversity. I love that we can be who we are even if others don't like or understand who we are. What I really love is that when the chips are down it has been proven and it will bear true again that we will band together and find a way out of the mess we are in and support each other in doing so. There are lessons to be learned from these times. Each of us can contibute greatly to effect change. This challenge we are facing will strenthen us and help us to become very grateful for everything we have.

This is a time to support our newly elected president, whether we voted for him or not, as he has a long road ahead of him. Remember the total is as great as the sum of all its parts.

Please take the time to look around you and see where you can help. It is sooo rewarding. Giving really feels much better than taking. Give a smile as it doesn't cost a cent and makes people feel like a million.

I want to take the time to thank all my clients. You have enabled me to pay my mortgage, buy food for my family, you all are truly my angels. Many of you are my friends now and we break bread together. I am very grateful you came into my life.

A WONDERFUL,SAFE, HAPPY HOLIDAY TO ALL!

Enough with these car companies already!!!

I am really getting sick of all this bail out baloney! So let me get this right. Your a company and you have all these grandiose ideas, spend lots of money creating this image so people feel the need to buy this product. Pay no attention to places like Europe and Japan who have been making products like yours that are much more efficient, better made etc. You pay your top guys ridiculous amounts of money and do not heed the warnings of many people to change and you want my tax dollars to reward you rather than have natural consequences for your actions BECAUSE NOW YOU ARE FAILING----

WRONG BOZO BREATH!!!!!


If anything, we should be spending our tax dollars to help in placing the workers in other jobs helping them with unemployment money until they find other jobs, maybe retraining them. Lets not forget the working man. BUT THE BOZOS NEED TO HAVE NATURAL CONSEQUENCES



NO BAIL OUTS! THAT IS WHAT BANKRUPTCY LAW IS ABOUT. I AM SICK OF REWARDING GREED!

Of course we all can benefit from taking our own inventory and making changes to contribute to the change we need in our country to survive. But make no mistake we are not that great that we will survive this. Great civilizations have gone before us and fallen flat on their you know whats. Rome fell, Egypt fell. What makes us think we won't.

I, myself am taking this opportunity to take my own inventory and see where I have contributed to this mess and CHANGE!!! I absolutely love my country and the people in it. I want to see it evolve and grow and live. Let's do our part, each of us in whatever small or large way .

BUT DO NOT REWARD GREED!!!!!!!

Hudson Valley Angels

Waking up in pain in the middle of the night is never any fun. I woke up two nights ago with horrible pain in my tooth. Of course that pain never comes at the right time which would be at 8:30am so you could call your dentist, jump in the car and be there in a few minutes for them to access your pain and do something to help you. It always comes in the middle of the night. So, many hours later I call my dentist, MaryAnn Salcetti, in Wappinger Falls(297-4236) and just like the angel that she and her staff are, they tell me to rush right over. I get in my car and cry all the way over there as I am sure I am never NOT going to have this pain(I am a terrible baby when it comes to pain). My dentist accesses my situation and determines I need a root canal done. She makes a phone call, gets off the phone and hands me an address. That easily????? I get back in my car and drive to the address and walk in to this lovely office with wonderful front desk staff. I wait for just minutes and am wisked to the back office where two dentists are working on patients. The dental asst assures me that the dentist will be done and will squeeze me in between her two patients. She takes an xray and goes out of her way to make me comfortable. Within a couple of minutes this sweetheart of a woman walks in and proceeds to explain what she will do and what I can expect. She and her assistant work together in perfect precision and before you know it I am done. Did I mention that they offered to cream my hands and have them rest in this heated bag and offered head phones to listen to relaxing music. I must tell you that as I write about the quality of life in our Hudson Valley, time must be taken to praise these wonderful women of the Assogna Endodontic Specialty Group @ 46 Fox Street in Poughkeepsie NY. 845-473-3636. You would have thought I had a long standing appt. and knew them for years with the wonderful way they treated me. I must also mention that if it were not for my dentist Maryann Salcetti I probably would have had to wait. I am blessed. I love our Hudson Valley and the wonderful people thereof.

NEW LISTING IN NEW PALTZ I WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT

I wanted to tell you about a new listing I have just put on the market. It is a two family with a great four bedroom 1 & 11/2 baths with eat in kitchen, dining room, living room with brand new gas fireplace. There is a nice deck off the dining room through the sliding glass doors. This home has a one bedroom apartment with a seperate entrance. The great thing about the apt is it pays off approx. $110,000 at todays rate for the purchaser with good credit. This home is in the village of New Paltz so you will enjoy the benefits of municipal water and sewer. So view the virtual tour and see if the tush matches the seat! If it doesn't feel free to sign up with me and creat a listing alert. Great way to shop. Just put in your parameters to include price range, area, bedrooms, baths etc. and every time a brand new listing comes on the market that matches your criteria, the listing will be emailed to you.

Happy home to you,
Sandy

Veterans day remembered

As I was a teenager of the 60's, Veterans Day is very special to me as many of my close friends that I grew up with, knew and loved went to Vietnam and many did not return. That war was very personal to me and taught me to respect the many men and women who came before that war and who fight for us today.

I stopped at my office today to drop off papers to our support staff. For most of the day I had been thinking of the friends I lost and the family and friends who have served in the military and who currently serve in the military. The woman who helps all of us in our office as our support staff person was there and she came up to me to show me the card she sent to one of our co workers in the office who she had come to find out was a Vietnam vet. The card was wonderful and Cindy told me how emotional our co worker had gotten over receiving the card which simply and eloquently thanked him for fighting for us.

I write this blog to specifically point out the quality of life here in the Hudson Valley. This beautiful gesture is just one part.

I love where I live. I love where I work. I love the people of the Hudson Valley.

A Restaurant at the Train Station in New Paltz, NY...

Growing up in Manhattan I was spoiled by the myriad of great restaurants, bistros, cafes etc. that I could go to have anything from an espresso to a six course meal. So when I thought of moving upstate to open my B&B I thought I would give up all that to gain the beautiful country peace and quiet of upstate New York. Wrong grasshopper. Not only have I found the perfect combo of peace and beauty I also enjoy many cafes and restaurants in our area. Just recently I had a lovely meal at Lombardi's. They have a great cappuccino there. Yesterday I met a fried of mine and we enjoyed a great lunch at La Stanzione's, a restaurant housed in an old railroad station in New Paltz. I decided to write this blog to invite anybody who is thinking of moving to this area and who is a restaurateur to seriously give this area a thought. If you can run a good restaurant with great food, I think you will do well here. If you have good Chinese food I will personally commit to spend wads of money in your establishment. Tonight I will be going out with clients who have become friends to a great eatery called "The Eggs Nest". Set in my favorite hamlet of High Falls this funky, eclectic setting welcomes you for an enjoyable meal, good conversation and friendly service. So if you are thinking--where could I move to settle, make a descent living, enjoy a wonderful area with nice, friendly people, have a nice place for my children to grow or my doggy to run, think of Ulster County in the Hudson Valley. I do not think you will regret it.

Views of the Walkill

$164,900

Energy Efficient Home in New Paltz, NY

$210,000 - 3 Bedrooms

TAG SALE

I love what I do. I think it is so multi -faceted. I market a service and a product, I counsel my clients(and sometimes hold their hand, children, pets and relatives through times like these), I continue to educate myself in such area as web technology, mold remediation etc. but best of all----I GET TO GO TO TAG SALES. That's right, tag sales, garage sales, whatever you want to call it. A placed where my clients, who have now successfully sold their home, can gather up years of collections, what not's, want nots, and various other sundries, bag em tag em and present them to garage sale maniac's like myself.

This Saturday September 27, 2008 , my clients are having a tag sale at 340 South Mountain Road in Gardiner New York from 10-4. My clients have never had a garage sale before. I am a tag sale professional, so I offer my services(free to my clients) to coordinate this fun event. I go on to tell them EVERYTHING they will ever need to know on how to run a successful tag sale. I advise them of the tag sale maniacs who will call them, show up three days earlier than the sale begging them to get a look at the antiques they might have because on the day of the sale these same people will be working(it's Saturday, are they really working or are they antique dealers in disguise). They make a list of all they are willing to part with, come up with reasonable prices so as not to have a thing left at the end of the sale, put an ad in the paper and on Craig's list and we are ready. This will happen rain or shine as it is inside their lovely home which, by the way, sold in about 10 days of listing it. Not bad in a market such as we have right now. I must say, that this house was a gift. From the moment I walked in I thought,how lucky am I to get this lovely home as a listing. So, how lucky am I? I get to do what I love to do, I get first pick of the "stuff" my clients are selling and my clients get to go on their next adventure. I am a happy camper.

SEE YOU AT THE SALE!

THE MONEY PIT

I grew up in New York City. From an early age, I had visions of owning and operating my own Bed and Breakfast and antique shop in a quaint village. On one of my many excursions upstate I fell upon this wonderful area which seemed a bit far from the city but never the less was as quaint and charming as could be. My first ride in Andes NY produced the property I was to buy that very day. As I drove down Route 28 into the village of Andes visions of sugar plums danced in my head.--- That was the last happy thought for years to come, ergo the name of this blog post; The Money Pit. The property needed extensive renovations and I knew absolutely nobody in the area. The rest of my experiences up in Andes followed much of the story lines of The Money Pit. So, years later and now living and working in Real Estate in Ulster County I have decided to create my website and blog to be of service to people moving to our area. It is my hope that you will enjoy reading my blog, maybe enjoy a giggle or two and most of all be able to identify with my adventures and the quality of Life in Ulster County. My resource list is comprised of people who, in my humble opinion, appear to do a descent job in their craft. We are now entering my favorite season. Leaves are starting to change. Time to get some Apple Cider from my favorite place Jenkins and Leukens up on route 299 just outside of New Paltz. Try their delicious Apple Cake. Oct. 4th will see the Oktoberfest up at Hunter Mountain. Hope to see you around the area.