Keep a copy of the major utility bills nearby. Many times an interested buyer will ask what the cost for heating, electricity, water/sewer & insurance is for your home. This information is especially important to the first time buyer.Having this information handy will be very helpful to them. Be prepared to show the buyer or home inspector copies of improvement or repair bills. It will also reflect well on you. They will sense you have nothing to hide, and they will be grateful for your help.Arlene Trunzo, Licensed Real Estate BrokerA.T. Real Estate SpecialistsStaten Island, NY Realtorcmyrealtor@aol.com 718-317-0949 (Office)917-359-1985 (Cell) 05/29/2008

Alice Austin House - 2 Hylan Blvd. Rosebank.Open to the public.Garibaldi - Meucci Museum, 420 Tompkins Ave, Rosebank.Battery Weed - Old Fort at Fort Wadsworth.Boardman - Mitchell House - 710 Bay St.Edgewater Village Hall - 111 Canal St. Tappen Park, Stapelton.Curtis High School - Hamilton Ave, Saint George.Staten Island's first public high school.Staten Island Family Court - 100 Richmond Terrace, Saint George.Borough Hall - Richmond Terrace, Saint George.The 120th Police Precinct - Richmond Terrace Saint George.The Supreme Court Building - Richmond Terrace,Saint George.The Saint George - New Brighton Historic District containing 78 structures.Billou - Stilwell - Perine House, 1476 Richmond Rd.Gardiner-Tyler House, 27 Tyler St West Brighton.Heberton House, 121 Heberton Ave , Port Richmo... 05/29/2008

Visit our parks Staten Island has a lot of natural beauty. Here will find a list of our cherished parks.If you are a nature lover you've come to the right place.Bloomingdale Park - 138 acres Mostly preserved for wildlife. Includes water falls & hiking trails. Areas of the park are for public use which include baseball fields, a soccer field, playground, softball fields, basketball courts.Blue Heron Park - 222 AcresBeautiful nature center, streams, ponds, swamps.The park has free programs which include nature walks and bird feeding. Address 222 Poillon Ave S.I. N.Y. 10312 Clay Pit State Park Preserve - 260 Acres83 Nielsen Ave S.I NY 10309, 718-967-1976Spring fed streams, ponds, wetlands. The park offers bird watching, hicking. Clove Lakes ParkOffers four lakes, streams and lots of greene... 05/29/2008

Please check with your CPA to see if and how you can qualify for these deductions. Many tax advantages: The Home mortgage interest deduction. The deduction for Real Estate Taxes paid. Closing cost or settlement costs deductions. A deduction for home office use. When you sell your house there are some tax advantages, including the Capital Gains Tax Exclusion,1031 Exchange for investment properties. Veterans can obtain special mortgage and tax benefits: The Department of Veterans Affairs originated to provide a large variety of financial benefits for veterans and their dependents. The school tax (Star Program.) The middle income rebate. (Check with the NYC Department of Finance to see if you are eligible) Stability, Homeownership brings a great feeling of stability to you and your family... 05/29/2008

I read this article this morning that is stating that if you are marketing a home with a fire sprinkler system, you've got a great selling feature. It talks about how having a fire sprinkler puts the home on a distinct advantag over others.Does it really??????? I don't know. I add home warranty protection to my listings and using it as a marketting tool to atract more buyers. but you know what?? I don't think that it really helps. honestly, I have not met one family yet, who would be interested in purchasing a home  just because it has a fire sprinkler or a home warranty or whatever. Buyers want to love the house, love the location and love the price. I think, unless you take identical homes on theame block or street to compare, the extra features will not make a differance. 05/27/2008

   Now is a good time to buy a home in Staten Island.  There are a lot of homes and condos to choose from.  You have a number of bank owned and short sales homes on the market also.  On these homes, most people are  able to purchase  a home 10 to 15 percent off their market value.  (Market value is not the same as the listed price).   The homes that are usually bought around 25 percent or more  off their market value are usually homes that needs a lot of work or is in an undesirable neighborhood.  I do get a number of request for foreclosed homes because of the news and commercials.  I have yet to see a $500,000 house sell for $50,000 yet though.  Empty lots sell for more than that.   With more adjustable rates mortgages  coming into play this year and higher costs for everything due to... 05/25/2008

Our company held its second successful Super Sunday Open House Event during this Spring season! We had over 40 homes on the island open for viewing on this rainy Sunday. Acredit to all of our hard working Agents, they didn't let a little rain stop them!  We certainly had visibility from Bridge to Bridge to Bridge to Bridge, yes, we had all four covered today! 05/18/2008

My GMAC Appleseed Real  Estate office is located in a beautiful section of Staten Island.  Southeast Annadale is a very prestigious neighborhood that is filled with very equisite and pristine detached homes.  It is located above Hylan Boulevard and runs from Woods of Arden Avenue through to Arbutus Avenue. It is very close to the ocean and easily accessible to Manhattan, New Jersey and Brooklyn.   I am very actively involved in the real estate business in this specific area, working with many customers that prefer to find homes just in this area.  I just recently listed and sold quite a few homes in Southeast Annadale. Give me a call at  917-575-0583  if you are interested in finding a home or selling your home. I would be happy to assist you in any way I can (even if it is just for inf... 05/15/2008

As a Full time Realtor here on Staten Island, I undrstand that exposure of your home to potential buyers is what will get the right buyer for your house and the most market price possible. So when you hire me to manage the marketting and sale of your home, I will create a professional digital virtual tour with voice  details discription of your home on Television, on the "Real Estate Home Show" This show airs locally , nationwide and Internationaly. 05/14/2008

The word is out there. it has been said that Mortgage banks and direct lenders are eliminating mortgage brokers.  On that note I just wanted to voice my thoughts about it. Buyers! be carefull! when you find the home of your dreams and are negotiating your offer to purchase and getting yourself pre-approved or pre-qualified for the financing of your new home purchase, you are probebly better off speaking to a direct lender vs. a mortgage broker. Now direct lenders not necesarily mean that it has to look like a bank, in other words, you do not have to walk into a bank. There are direct lenders who operate with in an office. You just need to be carefull and use your gut feeling. If you spoke to several lenders and you kind of receiving similar information and then someone gives you an offe... 05/14/2008

Did you know on December 20, 2007 President Bush signed into LAW .... The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Of 2007    H.R. 3648 If you are at least 30 days behind on your mortgage, then you mortgage company is willing to consider completely forgiving a significant portion of your mortgage debt. 05/13/2008

  OPEN HOUSE - SUNDAY - MAY 18,2008 1-4 PM  $959,000 Come view this beautiful tudor/colonial 4 bedroom home on tree-lined street in lovely Huguenot. This home is a two-family with 1 bedroom apartment that has been totally redone.  For more information on this property please call Gaye Granice at Appleseed Homes GMAC Real Estate at 917-575-0583. I am a full- time Associate Broker and I am available at all times to show any properties for sale in Staten Island. 05/12/2008

Grasmere Staten Island is located a few minutes from the Verrazano Bridge on the East side of Staten Island; with many small ponds and lakes. A busy neighborhood plenty of shopping close by & the busses roar thru the neighborhood en route to Manhattan or Brooklyn,  mostly working class people live there.  Staten Island railway runs thru Grasmere and into St George to the Staten Island ferry. The Staten Island ferry is a free ride into lower Manhattan. FYI the Staten Island ferry floats past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"   There is an energy that lives in this neighborhood, ... 05/12/2008

Dear Friends, If you're at least 30 days behind on your mortgage, then your mortgage company is willing to consider completely forgiving a significant portion of your mortgage debt ( providing you go through the proper process ). The portion they forgive, under H.R. 3648, is no longer counted as personal income and CANNOT be taxed by the federal government! So if you are behind on your mortgage, I'd like to introduce you to the light at the end of the tunnel... Program 3648. Program 3648 is a nationwide initiative whose mission is to: 1. Help homeowners receive the mortgage debt forgiveness this new law encourages. 2. Rescue as many homeowners from public foreclosures as possible. You'll be pleased to know that under PROGRAM 3648: 1. You receive all services, consultation, and informati... 05/12/2008

Now that the weather is getting nice every Realtor is running open houses every weekend. Are Staten Island Open Houses a benefit? I heard from some that they are getting plenty of potential buyers but is anyone buying? Others are coming back to their offices with long faces because they did even have one person stopping buy? What do you have to say? I feel the exposure is what is important and whether it's the signs, balloons, newspaper advertisements they are all part of our toolbox. Sometimes some work and others don't'. We still need to use them all to be a good Realtor. To all homeowners out there, are you trying to decide if a Realtor is the way to go to sell your home?  Remember open houses is only one tool that the Realtor uses in selling your home.  We have many more tools in ou... 05/03/2008

I have a beautiful 1 bedroom in huegunot near express bus and not far from the train.Its new constructionliving room kitchen combo and a nice sized bedroomMust see to appreciate $850 a month includes heat you have your own thermostat so you set your own tempature no landlord freezing you out.   05/02/2008

I wanted to share with everyone a great web site which gives you great search engine exposure and a free web site for you, which can be customized by you. For the first 6 months your site is free then you pay only $9.95 a month.  Now I am sure everyone thinks I work for the company but I don't. I am the office manager at Appleseed Realty GMAC Real Estate and just think this is a great tool for everyone in Real Estate. I also purchased my domaine name for $12.95 for the year and now my customers can find my site.  I have also optimized it by blogging and putting open houses on the site.  Once  you submit one of your listings on the site it syndicates to 19 different sites, like yahoo, trulia etc.  Oh, I forgot to give you the site.  Its point2.com NLS.  Just click on my link www.kathywyn... 04/27/2008

We tend to spend most of our time on generating referrals, getting referrals, inviting referrals so I thought it would be time for us to rethink what our referral sources really want from us. It is pretty simple actually. 1- Update. they want to be informed. In other words, they want to know, did you make any contact? how did it      go? and can you provide the assistance needed? 2- They want to be appreciated for referring someone to you. 3- They want to be noticed and recognized by both you and the person they reffered. 4- They want great and exceptional service. So let's give it to them 04/25/2008

Check out this new service for New York City residents.  go to  NotifyNYC this is what you will see Notifications: If an emergency occurs and has potential to impact one of the four pilot areas, notifications will provide subscribers with basic information about the incident and status updates.Alerts: If a major emergency - one that will interrupt routine behavior - occurs in one of the four pilot areas, alerts will provide subscribers with status updates and instructions on how to respond.You will get a telephone call from the number 999 9999 and if you're on-line you will get an e-mail alert.This morning there was a brush fire in Great Kills, I got both messages.  You might want to subscribe and save yourself time and energy by avoiding the problem area. 04/24/2008

I just started creating my website for homeowners and buyers.  I am so excited to be able to give to all buyers and sellers a website with links they can click on for school information, points of interest and properties to buy, sell or rent.  I specialize in foreclosure properties and have a complete page dedicated to the homeowner who is in trouble or needs advice on what they can do to refinance their mortgage.  My website is irenapopilevsky.com take a look and let me know what you think.  04/19/2008