About Town: It Takes a Village

The housing market is suddenly on the upturn, which we discovered, rather unexpectedly, when our Yonksville coop sold after just five weeks on the market.  

Certainly things aren’t back to where they were at the peak of the real estate bubble, nor would we want them to be, but the quick sale came as a bit of a surprise as other units in our building had been on the market for months and months.

The key?  Good, professional advice, which is easy to find in the Bronxville area.  Our realtor, Maria Devaney of , pursued a pricing strategy that was second to none.  A friendly face around town on the outside, Maria is an shrewd negotiator, and you’re wise to have her on your side whether you’re buying or selling.

Of course, the quick sale took us off guard – which meant we had to scramble to find a new place, and financing to go with it.  Maria’s colleague at Houlihan Lawrence, Muriel Aragona, knows the lower Westchester area well, and exhibited the patience of a saint while we dragged the kids to multiple showings, from Scarsdale to Mamaroneck. 

If you’re thinking of a new home in Westchester, we’d highly recommend her.

And Bronxville seems to have lots of good real estate firms – from the affable , to Joe Houlihan’s team over at , who has provided us with great advice over the years.

Once a new home is located, unless you’re paying cash, you’ll need financing.  Sure, go to the bank to get pre-approved, but if you’re looking for the best rate and terms, you should go to a mortgage broker like Gail Cahaney of Thoroughbred Mortgage. 

Gail and her team treated us like royalty – despite the fact we weren’t purchasing a multi-million dollar home – and took a highly strategic, organized approach to securing the best possible financing package in a very tight timeframe.  Whenever we needed a dosage of sanity during what can be a crazy process, Gail was there to put things in perspective and calm our frayed nerves.

Finally, you’ll need a lawyer – Heath Gurinsky is based in New Rochelle and NYC, and knows the local market well.  With a calm, steady approach to dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, Heath and his team made sure all of the paperwork was in order.   We’ve also had a great experience with local attorney Cynthia Tague, so you’ve got lots of options.

Especially in a recovering market, you’ll need all the help you can get, but fortunately Bronxville is a real estate mecca, with excellent resources whether you’re looking to buy or sell in the Village “proper” or beyond.