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30 Sunday,March 2,2008 WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES PROGRESS 2008 Uncle Sam helps at homes’ high end BORROWING COST LOWERED: New law helps families purchase pricier housing NEW YORK TIMES SAN FRANCISCO — Elizabeth and Ben Kilgore are back in the real estate market. All it took was a little-publicized section of the economic stimulus package President Bush has just signed into law that lowered the borrowing cost of buying a more expensive home. The Kilgores, who live in Tiburon, Calif., just north of San Francisco, are looking for a larger home in town for their growing family. Three years ago, when they bought their first home, they resigned themselves to buying a condominium because it meant taking out a mortgage they knew they could manage. “This will push us into a price range that’s now financially possible,” said Kilgore, a real estate agent in Marin County. And if the limit on loans backed by a governmentbacked housing finance entity like Fannie Mae is raised from $417,000 to the full $729,750 she has been hearing about, Kilgore said, “we will be able to get a 30- year fixed mortgage for less than what we’re paying now plus our homeowner’s dues.” The temporary change in the loan limits is not about to revive the housing market on its own. But in some of the higher-priced regions of the country that have been hit hardest by the flagging real estate market, it could make a big difference. For if anything is going to breathe new life into the local housing economy in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Washington and Boston, it is home buyers emboldened by the prospect of larger loans at lower interest rates. Daniel Billett, a mortgage broker in Seattle, where homes in the downtown area sell for a median price of around $400,000, said that he, like dozens of people he knows, is poised to refinance an existing jumbo loan at a lower interest rate. “As soon as the loan limits are implemented and lenders are accepting applications. I’ll be the first in line,” said Billett, whose company, Response Mortgage Services, has been receiving a steady stream of inquiries from clients in recent weeks. “I’m going to save hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of dollars every month on my current jumbo loan, by switching to a conventional loan.” For years, the rates on jumbo loans, those for more than $417,000, were only slightly higher than rates on conforming loans, those at or below that limit. But now, with the interest rate on conforming loans at around 6 percent, sometimes less, jumbo loans are at least a percentage point higher. “The difference is as big as it’s ever been,” said Bart Welles, a mortgage broker in Larkspur, Calif. For a high-priced home, that 1 percent can make a big difference. A monthly payment on a jumbo 30-year loan of $729,000 at 7 percent would be $4,850. Monthly payments on a conforming loan of the same amount, at 6 percent, would be $4,371, a $479 difference. As the credit squeeze deepens, lenders have been reluctant to underwrite jumbo mortgages. That leaves houses languishing on the market, further depressing an already distressed housing market. The change in the loan limits, which allows the federal housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase or guarantee the mortgages, is intended to encourage lenders to write more mortgages because they can easily sell them to the housing agencies. It should also stimulate house buying and mortgage refinancing. As the thinking goes, once people start borrowing money, they will set back into motion the economic machine of brokers, agents and lenders that has been stalled for the past year and which has helped stall the overall economy. “Of all the various strategies proposed to help the housing market,” said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com, “I think this one has the greatest potential, particularly for expensive housing markets.” The change in loan limits will go into effect sometime in early March and will last at least through the end of the year. In areas where median prices do not exceed $271,050, such as the entire state of Alabama, the basic loan limit will be $271,050. In areas where the median sales price is higher, the limits will be increased to 125 percent of the median price, not to exceed $729,750. (The rules defining which locations qualify and where the borders of the areas will be drawn to determine the appropriate median price are to be written by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.) High-priced housing markets — particularly much of coastal California, with some of the most expensive real estate in the nation — would benefit the most. In a state like California, or in the Northeast and Northwest, where home prices far exceed the national median of about $206,000, jumbo loans are a significant portion of the mortgage market. In San Francisco, where the median home price is $777,000, 35 percent of all loans were nonconforming, according to First American CoreLogic, a data and analytics company in Santa Ana, Calif. The anticipated stimulative impact is all the more important because prices are falling sharply. Prices have dropped 20.4 percent over the past year in Contra Costa County, just east of San Francisco, and 13.1 percent in neighboring Alameda County, according to DataQuick Information Systems. Indeed, California is probably the state hardest hit by the housing slump. As inventories rose in most cities, the median price dropped 16.9 percent from May to December, according to DataQuick. (Prices are still high; the California Budget Project, a public policy advocacy group, estimated that a family would need an annual income of $196,878 to afford the medianpriced home in San Francisco.) Across the state, homeowners stuck with high interest rates and potential homeowners who are still searching are watching the situation closely. The window in the new law is short. But Faucher, the economist, said that if the problems in the market continued, particularly in expensive markets, he would not be surprised to see the higher loan limits extended. “There’s nothing set in stone,” he said. At first, the strongest interest is expected to come from people refinancing existing loans. In Berkeley, Calif., where the median home is worth about $776,000, MPR Financial, a mortgage brokerage firm, has received dozens of calls from clients asking about the possibility of refinancing their existing loans. “Quite a few people who got their loans when the rates were higher have called in,” said Paul Riccardi, the firm’s president. “We tell them we have their application, and we’ll have it ready to go.” In other places where housing prices are high, there is a similar anticipatory buzz about a change in the conforming loan cap. In San Diego, real estate activity has dropped off noticeably in the past year. Noted writer’s estate may be in final chapter NEW YORK TIMES The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Mass., is in danger of being put in foreclosure, says Stephanie Copeland, president of Edith Wharton Restoration, the organization that owns and maintains this stately residence and its gardens. Since 2002, Copeland explained, the Mount, which is open to the public — much of it has been restored in recent years to match the period when Wharton lived there — has been covering its operating expenses by borrowing from the Berkshire Bank in nearby Pittsfield. It now owes the bank some $4.3 million, and in mid-February, when it failed to meet a scheduled monthly payment of $30,000, the bank sent a notice that it intended to start foreclosing unless the default was remedied promptly, Copeland said. To stay open, she added, the Mount needs to raise $3 million by March 24. “The bank has really been very patient,” she explained. “They’re eager to help us work this out.” If the Mount succeeds in raising that sum, Copeland said, an anonymous donor is waiting in the wings who has pledged to match it. The money could be used to help restructure the bank loan and to settle another outstanding debt, roughly $2.5 million, that the Mount incurred from a private lender in 2005 to buy Wharton’s 2,600-volume library from George Ramsden, a British book collector. The Mount also owes Ramsden roughly $885,000, to be paid off in nine yearly installments, and recently it defaulted on a scheduled payment to him, too. “The situation is quite serious,” Sandra Boss, interim chairwoman of the Mount’s board, said from London, where she works. “On the one hand, the Mount is winning awards for preservation and is internationally renowned as an institution. And it’s well run from an efficiency perspective. We’ve made great progress by cutting costs and raising revenues. On the other hand, our current debt levels are unserviceable and unsustainable. We’re not in control of our own destiny unless we can mount a restructuring of our debt.” Boss became a board member in late 2006, when the board was reformed to include people with business expertise and fundraising experience. “We knew the situation was challenging,” she said. “But we didn’t anticipate it would get this bad.” She added that raising money for nonprofit organizations was more difficult in a downwardtrending economy and ruefully recalled the flinty Gryce, a character in Wharton’s novel “The House of Mirth,” who only “subscribed to Institutions when their annual reports showed an impressive surplus.” The 35-room Mount, which receives some 30,000 visitors annually, was built by Wharton in 1902. She designed it herself, in accord with the simple aesthetic — simple for the time, anyway — she had championed in her first book, “The Decoration of Houses,” written with Ogden Codman Jr. Wharton lived at the Mount only until 1910, when her marriage to the troubled Teddy Wharton became unsalvageable, and she moved permanently to France. But the house, which she treasured in memory, was where she came into her own as a writer. From 1912 to 1942 the Mount was owned by private parties, including Carr V. Van Anda, a former managing editor of the New York Times, and then it was bought by the Foxhollow School, a girls’ boarding school, which sold it to a developer in 1977. In 1980 the property was purchased by Edith Wharton Restoration, which leased it to Shakespeare & Co., a local theatrical troupe, until 2001, when long-postponed renovation began. The Mount has received numerous preservation grants over the years, as well as private gifts. N ORTHERN N URSE P RACTITIONERS Joan D. Hawthorne, FNP-C Catherine M. O’Brien, FNP Accepting New Patients Specializing in Skin Conditions: Acne, Psoriasis, Sun Damage, Skin Cancer 26495 NYS Route 3, PO Box 8009 Watertown, NY 13601 (315) 786-1924 128 Watertown, S. Massey N.Y. St. RESIDENTIAL WATERFRON • COMMERCIAL T • LISA A. L’HUILLIER, BRKR/OWNER Quality “Real Service Estate Is Our Commitment” Business - 782-4100 A Touch of Grace rst o u o ea uarters! Dresses & Veils and Boy Suites Dresses start at $49.95 ★ First Communion Gifts ★ CORNER OF COFFEEN & CITY CENTER DRIVE MON.-SAT. 10AM-5PM • 788-6164 LISA A. L’HUILLIER, GRI NYS LICENSED Cell: 315/783-2188 BROKER / OWNER www.hefferonrealestate.com Home: 315/786-9999 Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street lisal@nnymls.com Syracuse Office: Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 Fayetteville, 108 Clinton NY Street Office/Fax: 13066 315/637-2726 Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 NYS LICENSED Cell: 315/486-5685 SALESPERSON www.hefferonrealestate.com Home: 315/376-6720 E-mail: paulad610@yahoo.com PAULA K. DELONG Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 KATHRYN NYS HOLLOWAY C. Home: LICENSED SALESPERSON Cell: (315) 778-6941 788-8598 E-mail: kayh@nnymls.com Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 CAROL E. REFF NYS LICENSED Cell: 315/778-2511 SALESPERSON www.heffersonrealestate.com Home: 315/686-5970 E-mail: preff@twcny.rr.com Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 NYS Home: LICENSED SALESPERSON Cell: (315) 486-3379 786-2830 E-mail: nysharon47@yahoo.com SHARON BROCKWAY PATRICIA & KENNETH NYS LICENSED SCOTT SALESPERSON Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street NYS LICENSED Office: 315/782-4100 SALESPERSON Cell: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/286-0812 STACEY GARRETT Rt. 37 Lumber Attn: Ken 315.482.9551 Merriman Lumber Attn: Tom 315.353.6626 Watertown Builders Attn: Mike 315.788.1500 O.D. Greene Lumber Attn: Lee 315.232.4800 Steeles Ace Attn: Jeff 315.376.6022 Hughes Hardware Attn: Chuck 315.942.2013 Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 MILAGROS MILLET LICENSED Home: NYS 315-688-2029 SALES AGENT milagrosmillet.point2homes.biz milagrosnet@yahoo.com Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 REAL CBR, ESTATE CRS, BROKER GRI, RECS ASSOC. 315-783-6737 HENDERSON BETTY M. Betty@callbettyhenderson.com - Cell Phone www.CallBettyHenderson.com Office: 1 Watertown, 28 S. Massey NY 13601 Street Office: Fax: 315/782-9056 315/782-4100 JODI C. JELLIE NYS LICENSED Cell: 315/783-3268 SALESPERSON, ASP www.hefferonrealestate.com E-mail: jjellie@twcny.rr.com
PROGRESS 2008 WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES Sunday,March Day,Month Date,Year 2,2008 31 C5 BUSINESS UPDATE Haylor, Freyer and Coon report ‘07 sales of $265m Haylor, Freyer and Coon Inc., 1402 Washington St., Watertown, whose Syracuse parent firm turns 80 this year, is a fullservice property and casualty insurance agency, offering commercial and personal insurance products, financial services and employee benefit programs. It also provides enhanced support, including business advice and assistance, to clients in industries including construction, transportation, manufactured housing, milk hauling, brewing, municipalities and schools. Specialty services include loss control and safety analysis, workers compensation claims and property and liability claims settlement. The employee-owned corporation is one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the country. Corporate employment is 240, up from 232 five years ago and 224 a decade ago. Next year it projects to employ 250. Annual corporate sales were $265 million last year. For 2008, projected sales are $275 million. “We don’t just sell insurance. We specialize in providing enhanced, comprehensive services that enable us to work in partnership with clients to develop and implement innovative risk transfer and risk management systems that will reduce losses and insurances costs — ultimately resulting in improved customer bottom line performance,” the companty reports. “This past year we significantly enhanced our large risk specialty unit, creating a specialized team of professionals, and expanded our surety department to give clients access to a full array of bid, construction, performance/payment, maintenance and commercial bonds. We offer expertise not only in surety consulting, but also in environmental risk management, loss prevention services and claims consulting. We also provide clients with education and support in meeting governmental compliance and industrial guidelines.” HF&C continues to serve an increasingly global market as a member of Assurex Global, a worldwide network of insurance firms. The Web site, www.haylor.com, serves as an informational, marketing and business tool. The agency sells products and services throughout New York, New England and the Mid- Atlantic states; in Colorado, and, thanks to a new office that opened this past year, Virginia. Offices are in Watertown, Carthage, Theresa, Oswego, Syracuse, Pittsford, Utica, Morrisville and Johnson City, N.Y.; Broomfield, Colo., and Richmond, Va. Victor A. DiSerio is chairman and chief executive officer; C. Bruce Wichmann, president, and Richard C. Howland, chief operations officer. Local manager Joseph La- Clair, vice president, is based in the Watertown office. This past year April LaRock was promoted to branch manager of the Carthage office in anticipation of the retirement of that office’s long-time manager, Sharon Connolly. 7 News, Fox 28 Web site complements newscasts WWNY-TV 7 News and sister station WNYF-TV Fox 28 are reaching viewers with news not just in the north country, but around the globe. 7 News recently expanded its Web site, www.wwnytv.com, to give visitors access to news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to world and national news, visitors have access to detailed local stories, videotaped reports and links for further information. Local sports, feature and health reports are also available online. The number of people logging on to wwnytv.com has exploded, with more than 247,000 visiting the site in January alone. On a typical weekday, the site receives more than 10,000 visits. In addition to north country residents, people around the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East log on to the site. The Web site fully complements 7 News and Fox 28 in providing the region with top notch programming, award-winning news and public service. Through its affiliation with the CBS television network, WWNY continues to show hit primetime entertainment programs including “CSI” and “Survivor.” Syndicated programs include the ratings winners “Ellen,” “‘Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” Meanwhile, WNYF is home to FOX network hits, including “The Simpsons,” “American Idol,” “House” and “24.” 7 News, which recently received national recognition for having some of the mostwatched local newscasts in the United States, has the most experienced team of broadcast journalists in the region. 7 News covers events in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties seven days a week. In addition to broadcasting in high-definition television, or HDTV, 7 News serves the north country through a number of local community events and programs, including the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, holiday greetings from troops serving overseas, Academic All-Star and Athlete of the Week. WWNY has been broadcasting to Northern New York and southeast Ontario, Canada, since 1954. In April 2001, WWNY expanded its services by putting WNYF Fox 28 on the air. ADHD Educational Services hires 15 new employees ADHD Educational Services, 259 Thompson Blvd., Watertown, was founded in 1999 by Deborah A. Cavallario, a retired teacher and mother of an AD- HD child. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and an ADHD consultant acts as a liaison with the educational community, the medical community and the parents for the success of the ADHD child. The Watertown City School District and the South Jefferson School District contract for services through the JeffwersonLewis BOCES, making it free to ADHD families. Parents seeking help can contact their building principal for a referral to this service. Five years ago, besides the owner/director, ADHD Educational Services had one employee working part-time between eight to 10 hours weekly. Within the past year employment has increased dramatically. ADHD has gone from one employee to 16. This is the result of ADHD Educational Service’s development of a research-based Homework Assistance with Parental Involvement (HAPI) program. HAPI hires degreed teachers to act as mentors to assist students with their homework by teaching the skills necessary to complete assignments. The program is designed to create a positive bond between the educational community and the family unit to promote the academic success and selfconfidence of the child. HAPI has expanded to include two schools in the Watertown District and three in the Carthage Central School District. These districts pay directly for the HAPI program. HAPI uses a full-time supervisor to go into the home and work toward improving the learning environment. The family is thus enabled to be positively connected to their child’s academic setting through one-on-one parental homework integration and able to provide collaborative support for the classroom teacher. It is the company’s goal to have HAPI in as many school districts as possible, in order to raise academic standards and improve classroom behavior. The HAPI philosophy is that the best intervention is prevention. For more information e-mail adhd60@hotmail.com. Kelly Services helps match employees and businesses For more than 20 years, Kelly Services, 200 Mullin St. Suite 202, Watertown, has helped businesses find skilled employees and area residents find employment. Opened in 1987, the Kelly office has placed thousands of skilled employees in positions that range from receptionist and administrative assistant to marketing and light industrial for a wide range of industries, in addition to the specialty areas of contact center, legal and medical office staffing. Longtime resident Beth Mac and her staff provide customer needs assessments and help start and advance careers. For those entering the work force, returning to the workforce, or advancing in their careers, Kelly can assist in finding positions that match their skills, ambitions and work preferences. As north country organizations increasingly face new economic pressures to improve productivity and enhance service, many are turning to Kelly Services to provide temporary, temporary to hire and directhire staffing. For more information, call 788-4345 or visit www.kellyservices.com. JLaP marketing celebrates twenty years in business JLaP marketing, an international marketing and manufacturers representative group based in Watertown, is celebrating 20 years in business. The company specializes in retail packaging products, including tissue paper, shopping bags and ribbons, and specialty packaging for the gift and value-added foodservice industries. The company sells to a variety of distributors across the northeastern U.S. and Canada and with some products, across North America. JLaP marketing represents manufacturers based in the United States and Canada as well as Italy, and has a sales base of $4.5 million. The group consists of owner James O. La Plante, a Watertown resident with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, and F. Marshall Weir, a Watertown resident, who additionally has extensive experience in retail packaging. Mr. Weir worked with two industry manufacturers before joining Mr. La Plante in 2001. Mr. La Plante is responsible for successfully bringing several new products and companies into the North American market and is active in the Retail Packaging Association, an industry trade group. JLaP marketing can be reached by phone at 785-9345 or by e-mail at jlap15@aol.com. Cutting Edge Lawn Service plans to expand business The Cutting Edge Lawn Service, in business since 2005, will operate starting in April from a space on Arsenal Street next to Garns Auto Barn, owner and sole employee Monty Groff reports. The Cuting Edge’s services include water delivery, bag and bulk mulch, spring and fall cleanup, snowplowing and tree removal. This year, Mr. Groff plans to expand his water delivery business and add mulch sales, he reports. For more information call 778-6132. 2007 was a successful year for Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in many respects. We are a stronger, healthier organization thanks to the hard work and dedication of our employees, medical staff, and Board of Directors. Our successes are also due to the support we receive from you – our community. Here are a few of our successes that help us achieve our vision to be your family’s first choice in health care! - Bringing qualified healthcare providers to our community is an important challenge. In 2007, CHMC welcomed: Juan-Diego Harris, MD, Pain Management Judy Murphy, NP-C, Dermatology Manasvi Jaitly, MD, Internal Medicine and Nephrology Rodolfo Ongjoco, MD, Psychiatry Michael Lynch, MD, PhD, Pediatrics Allison Smith, RPA-C, Ogdensburg Health Center James McLoughlin, MD, Orthopedic Medicine M. Iqbal Vakil, MD, Hospitalist - We Began new and improved current services helps us meet the healthcare needs of our community: -Expand our radiology department -PET/CT scanning -GE 1.5T Signa Excite HDx MRI -New ambulatory surgery unit on the 1 st floor - In early 2008, Claxton-Hepburn will complete expansion projects that will further enhance the care we provide. -New obstetrics unit -New mental health unit -Expanded Wound Healing Center -Aquatic therapy program -Primary care Thank you for a great 2007! - Claxton-Hepburn’s achievements for 2007 were: -All of Claxton-Hepburn's properties and campus became tobacco-free -Winter Cancer Treatment Center was accredited by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons -At the National Institute for Healthcare Improvement Conference a storyboard was displayed for a ICU ventilator management and insulin control initiative -American Diabetes Association Education Recognition Certificate -Use of Green Seal approved cleaning products were implemented -Expand services in Canton: -Dermatology -Mammography -Bone Density 214 King Street Ogdensburg, NY 13669 315.393.3600 www.chmed.org
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Page 27 and 28: WE SELL HOMES ... LOTS OF THEM! CAL
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coldwell banker cb - Watertown Daily Times

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