Staten Island Real Estate News, Advice & Information

The street says Main, but nothing about this section Main Street is. As a matter of fact, this tree lined section of Main Street, Tottenville, is just about as suburban a street as you’ll find on Staten Island. Consequently, our latest listing, a 3000+ square foot, two family Center Hall Colonial located at 487 Main St. in Tottenville, Staten Island surely fits the bill for upscale suburban living.

So, what will you find as you arrive at the home? Well, as you walk through the homes front door, one of thing you’re sure to notice is the two-story grand entry foyer with two large half moon windows. The homes southwestern exposure, allows the sun to rein in through those windows the majority of the day, giving this home a bright and airy feel. It’s that very feature sets the tone for much of what you will find in this spacious home. In the same foyer is the homes second-floor staircase that wraps around the entryway. As you arrive at the top of the second-floor staircase you will arrive at a small landing that overlooks this homes amazing foyer.
On the homes first level you a well sized formal dining room, that sits just off the full sized eat in kitchen. The kitchen features a glass sliding door that enters onto the backyard porch. The living room in this home is another large room and features a wood burning fireplace. As you can see by the photos the living rooms recessed lighting, fireplace and hardwood floors give this room a very warm and inviting feel. Oh, before I forget, hardwood floors are the theme throughout this home. A few rooms like the kitchen, bathrooms, basement and foyer, are all traditionally tiled.
 
Another very attractive feature that you’ll find in this home is a large, full finished, and very accommodating basement. So, what makes this basement so accommodating? Sometimes, in similar two family homes, you will find apartments located in the basement, which in some cases limit usable basement living space. Fortunately, that isn’t the case in this home. The homes one-bedroom, three room apartment sits on the homes second level, which allows for quite a bit of additional space for the basement. The full finished basement is so large in fact; it’s like adding a full additional floor to this already spacious home. The basement currently is these homeowners main entertainment area, and features a wet bar. Let’s just say not having to entertain numerous guests in a homes main living area an attractive feature for most. For those who have children the space is more than enough to accommodate a playroom/family room.
 
The homes main mechanicals, which include a dual zone baseboard heating and high end Amtrol® hot water heating system, all sit in the homes’ basement. The homes washer and dryer hookups are also located in the basement.
On The homes second level sits all three bedrooms and the main bathroom; the master bedroom features a three quarter bathroom. Keeping on the bright and airy theme, the homes main bath features a vaulted ceiling with a skylight.

Transportation, parks and history are all within walking distance from 487 Main St.

For those who commute to Manhattan there is 24 Hour Express Bus Service a few short blocks away, on Hylan Blvd. The homes location just enhances its appeal, from passive and recreational parkland to a beach front stroll, it’s all within a few blocks walking distance from this home. Conference House Park sits at the foot of Main St. and features nature trails and playground facilities. The grounds, as you would expect, also feature the Conference House, a National Historic Landmark.

If you’re in the market for a high end home, our listing at 487 Main St. priced at $699,999 is surely one not to miss. For information or to request a showing on this home you can contact me, Anthony Licciardello, Licensed Sales Associate, Neuhaus Realty @ 718-924-4856.

With the weather these days here on Staten Island, there are no shortage of complaints. But, let’s face it, we really no choice in dealing with it. So, I decided to make the best of it and venture out to capture a couple of shots. Let’s just see the best nature had to offer up the last couple days.

(Photo Bellow ©) After a passing storm on June 23rd, 2009, I happened to photograph an amazing cloud display above Great Kills Harbor at Gateway National Park. The amazing part is, its almost like someone drew a line between Night and Day in the sky.

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Below is a photo of Great Kills Harbor©, what kind of caught my eye was the spot showers that appear at the horizon.

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The cloudy, cool and very damp weather in Staten Island seemed to give my lawn a cave like habitat for mushrooms to grow. It’s the first time i have seen any mushrooms, like these (pictured below), grow on my front lawn.

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All Photos Are Copyright © and property of Anthony Licciardello

I’ve just sold a Single-family property at 244 Winchester Ave. in Staten Island. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

I’ve just sold a Single-family property at 244 Winchester Ave. in Staten Island. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

While it’s been a difficult run real estate wise the past couple years in Mariners Harbor and Graniteville it appears, at least for now, prices have generally held steady in both neighborhoods over past four months.  However, over the past year, home value still declined, with 9% year-to-date (YTD) drop in median home prices in both areas. (YTD= Year to Date)

Another statistic to take note of is, the average days on the market for a home to sell. Along with sale prices, the average days on the market has generally remained steady over the past four months in Mariners Harbor and Graniteville. However, currently it’s up quite substantially year-to-date with the homes sitting on the market an average of 191(YTD) days before selling. Consequently, that is up from the 128 days (YTD) average during the same period last year, which is about 49% increase. There is a silver lining in that the worst of the market took place just around the months following Wall Street’s downturn in late September/ October. Since that point, while the numbers aren’t great, they have remained relatively steady since January ‘09.

Sales volume has seen a decrease from last year of about 16% with 158 Sales taking place last year , over this year’s 133. What are homeowners giving as far as a discount on ask to sell prices? Well that number stands at just about 93 1/2% and that’s down from latest years 94 3/4% ask to sell numbers. For a rundown on these statistics you can always request a market snapshot of the area by logging onto www.realestatesiny.com. For a full updated listings and homes for sale in both Mariners Harbor and Graniteville you can follow the link.

Below is a rundown of recent sales in both Mariners Harbor and Graniteville. The home sales information comes courtesy of the New York City Department of Finance, which issues a monthly report of rolling home and property sales across New York City. The homes listed below are not necessarily those marketed and sold by licensed real estate agents or brokers. Homes listed with a price of N/A means the property transferred without money considerations. You can get a list of recent sales around an address here.

Neighborhood/Property Type/Address/Sold Price/Closing Date.

MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 219 SOUTH AVENUE 10303 / N/A / 3/31/2009
MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 110 VAN PELT AVE 10303 / $86,190 / 3/18/2009
MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 215 DIXON AVENUE 10303 /$280,000 / 3/12/2009
Graniteville / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 464 VAN NAME AVENUE 10303 / $349,830 / 3/12/2009
MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 346 GRANDVIEW AVENUE 10303 / $1,000 / 3/10/2009
Graniteville / TWO FAMILY HOMES / 2 AMADOR STREET 10303 / $265,000 / 3/10/2009
MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 228D GRANITE AVENUE 10303 / $149,792 / 3/9/2009
MARINERS HARBOR / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 145 SIMONSON AVENUE 10303 / $221,567 / 3/6/2009 Read the rest of this entry »

Today, there was some good news out of City Hall that the South Beach firehouse, Engine Company 161, was saved from budget cuts.  However there is an irony to the story, and that is, economic stimulus funds were used for its funding. So, you may ask …what is the problem with that? Well, it really serves as a mask for some serious budget issues in the nation’s largest city. While this story may play out well, there is a chasm in this budget down the line that’s going to need more than some economic stimulus Band-Aids to cure.  Between rising pension costs, falling tax revenues, Wall Street job losses, and Manhattan’s substantial downtown real estate there is no doubt about it, being one of the city bean counters can’t be easy. The pension cost factor has to be pretty huge, considering the fact that all future and current retirees are guaranteed a percentage increase every year. Much of the city’s pension cost was absorbed by the stock market when it was doing great. However, with its recent downturn, that guaranteed interest now has to be absorbed directly by city tax dollars. Thankfully, I’m not one of those people sitting around the table figuring out how to do that math.

For most of the last decade New York City has really sat in budget bliss. Yes, there were a couple of blips here and there over that time-frame. However, it’s hard to imagine just how this economic situation is going to shake down here in New York City over the course of the next couple years. You can be rest assured, these times are going to challenge even the most hardened public servants. But today, let’s be grateful one of our long time firehouses here on Staten Island stayed off the chopping block. Most of all, congrats to the folks that put all that work into keeping  fire company 161 open for business. However, they should keep those vocal chords tuned, because we’re not likely at end of the road when it comes to the city budget.

Well, here we are again with another home sale report from New York State’s southernmost point, Tottenville. While there is quite a bit of small real estate deals in this report, there were some more notable larger ones too. Taking the price cake on March 16Th, 2009 was a Page Ave land grab of 201,000+ square feet, which settled up at $1.3+. On the residential side, 6 Jo Jo Court, A 6000+ square feet waterfront home, nearly settled up beyond 7 figure territory, but fell just shy at $ 990,000.

(Left) Photo of Angelina’s of Tottenville, a Second Empire (Mansard) Style home now Restaurant and catering hall.

Homes listed below were from the June, 2009 publicly issued report on rolling real estate sales from the New York City Department of Finance. The homes and land listed in this report are not necessarily those sold by licensed real estate brokers or agents. Property sold with a price of N/A where those that transferred without money considerations. You can find a full report of home sales around Staten Island here. If you’re looking for homes for sale on Staten Island or just in Tottenville you can follow the links.

Property Type / Address / Sale Price / Closing Date
ONE FAMILY Homes / 17 SPRAGUE AVENUE 10307 / N/A / 4/7/2009
TWO FAMILY Homes / 247 SWINNERTON STREET 10307 /$840,000 / 4/2/2009
TWO FAMILY Homes / 5301 ARTHUR KILL ROAD 10307/ N/A / 3/31/2009
TWO FAMILY Homes / 20 FERGUSON COURT 10307 / $626,223 / 3/31/2009
ONE FAMILY Homes / 6 JOJO COURT 10307 / $990,000 / 3/30/2009
ONE FAMILY HOMES / 44 HONEY LANE 10307/ $520,000 / 3/23/2009

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Here is the latest release of real estate sales from the New York City Department of Finance for Eltingville and Huguenot Staten Island. Taking the price cake at $950,000 in this report was a 5,000 square foot home built in 2001, located at 65 Tuckahoe Ave, Huguenot. That puts this home at $190 per square foot, and that’s a pretty darn good deal in this neck of the woods.

Below is a list of recent sales in both areas. Just a note, homes listed in this report are not necessarily marketed and sold by licensed real estate brokers or agents. Homes and land showing a sale price of N/A means the property transferred without money considerations.  For real estate data and information on Staten Island’s most recent home sales you can follow the link. You can find homes listed for sale in Eltingville and Huguenot, Staten Island here.

Neighborhood / Property Type / Address / Sale Price / Closing Date
ELTINGVILLE / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 59 LYNDALE AVENUE / N/A / 3/4/2009
HUGUENOT / TWO FAMILY HOMES / 567 SINCLAIR AVENUE 10312/ $540,000 / 4/6/2009
HUGUENOT / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 838 LAMONT AVENUE 10309/ $350,000 /  4/3/2009
ELTINGVILLE / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 8 DORVAL AVENUE 10312/ $323,300 / 3/30/2009
HUGUENOT / TWO FAMILY HOMES / 893 SINCLAIR AVENUE 10309 / $837,510 / 3/27/2009
ELTINGVILLE / ONE FAMILY HOMES / 24 BRANDIS LANE 10312 / $305,000 / 3/26/2009
ELTINGVILLE / TWO FAMILY HOMES / 651 LAMOKA AVENUE 10312 / N/A / 3/24/2009
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