Self Mastery

Self Mastery
“When you trans¬form your whole dream, magic just hap¬pens in your life. What you need comes to you eas¬ily because spirit moves freely through you. This is the mas¬tery of intent, the mas¬tery of spirit, the mas¬tery of love, the mas¬tery of grat¬i¬tude, and the mas¬tery of life. This is the path to per¬sonal freedom.”
~ Don Miguel Ruiz from the Four Agreements
I ask you? Is personal freedom not the ULTIMATE form of success?
The 4 steps to Self Mastery are the following: Be Impec¬ca¬ble with Your World, Don’t Take Any¬thing Per¬son¬ally, Don’t Make Assump¬tions, Always Do Your Best
If you have followed my newsletter, you know that I strive for self mastery and of course as a human being I often fall short. I truly believe if you follow this path you will achieve unbelievable success. Pete and I are embarking on expanding our efforts on the first step. We are starting personal training with Neil Denault of All Out Fitness. We are making the effort to take the best care of our bodies in order to achieve the goal of being impeccable with our worlds.
Pete and I are in a contest (hot or not) as to who loses the most inches etc…The winner will be crowned “hot” the loser “not”. Of course this part is all in jest in the hopes of a good competition. We will keep you posted. I hope you too can join in…….and embark on the path of self mastery!

Yours in striving for the best life possible,

Jennifer Maher
Owner Incline Real Property Services
President of The Greater Mahopac Carmel Chamber of Commerce

Leo Buscaglia
Perfect love is rare indeed – for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.

remember to work on your business today not in it!

We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”

— Aristotle

Change is on you!

“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Greetings friends and associates, as I write to you it is the morning after Election Day. I want to congratulate all the Candidates that were elected into office. Of course Election Day always gets my wheels turning. I am sure it does the same for you. This year there is a lot of frustration out there but, people are too overwhelmed with daily life to feel they can do anything to make a difference.
If you weren’t aware, The Greater Mahopac/ Carmel Chamber of Commerce has a Government Liaison/Economic Development Committee. If you would like to see the business communities have more say in local issues such as taxes, Business improvement districts, Planning and Development etc…Please join that committee and become a champion for local business advocacy. The time has come to pay attention to our local government that has been functioning with very little input from the business community as a whole. Together we can effect change but it takes awareness, diligence and influence in order to be successful and This Chamber is the best resource we have to do so.
We are very blessed to have people in office who ARE willing to work with us, but we need to ban together, get a pulse on the real needs of the business community and effectively communicate that information to those in office.
The Chamber also has a grant writing committee. This is another area we could use some collective effort. Wouldn’t it be great to uncover some funds to assist the business owners (you) in these times of change? I remind you this is a mainly volunteer organization. We have Eileen and Pete to keep our house in order; however this entity solely relies on volunteer effort for growth. So call the Chamber office today,(845-628-5553) let’s put a plan into action to create positive change with precise vision and input from your business community!

Yours in victory and well being,

Jennifer Maher

P.S. Where is your “locus of control”? A lot of people asked me what that meant I encourage you to Google it Good stuff!

Checking in With Putnam County

It’s been a busy year in Putnam County. Let’s start with Economic Development projects. The county has several shopping centers in the works. On the table there is Union Place that is on the border on Mahopac & Somers, Patterson Crossing right off 84 & 311. And the Putnam County Economic Development Agency is also working on bringing 2 Hotels to the area. Just to name a few.

We now have a visitors center in the Town of Carmel, Hamlet of Mahopac at The Greater Mahopac Carmel Chamber of Commerce office at 953 South lake Blvd (6n). Stop by, bring your brochures, cards & giveaways. You also would be amazed at how much there is to do right in our own County.

The Putnam County Chambers of Commerce have also been meeting jointly exploring the option of becoming a County wide Chamber of Commerce. This would enable us to have a stronger voice on public policy & economic development issues as well as better marketing and exposure opportunities for businesses that participate or are located in the County. Myself(Incline Real Property Services , Grace Vinciguerra (Re/max Classic) and Debbie Boccarosa (524 Realty group) are all on the Putnam County Chambers of Commerce Exploratory Committee. There is a County Wide Chambers of Commerce Event on Dec 9th at The Garrison. Details on this event to follow in the next In Depth.

Lastly but not l least, The Real Estate Market is in my opinion is getting where it needs to be. The prices still need to adjust a bit, The banks need to find some balance, buyers need to get out and buy and sellers need to awaken to the situation at hand. All in all it’s the same as it always has been. You get out of it exactly what you put into it with just a few more obstacles along the way. There is hope that Commercial market stays strong, however with the combination of high taxes, increased expenses, and business down it will be a struggle for landlords. So do your part and Shop Local!

Putnam County is a magical place with an abundance of natural and commercial resources. I am very blessed to both own a business and to live here.
Jennifer Maher

MTA Tax

Just some info on the MTA tax and its effect on Putnam County

Projected financial impact on Putnam County.
895,438,000 x .0034 = 3,044,489.20 excludes self employed (Total Put Co 2006 Payroll)

cty paid 17,778,631in 2007 x .0034 = 60,447 (total govt payroll)

total estimated tax burden of MTA Tax: $3,104,936 (excludes self employed)

MTA tax is unfair burden on local businesses – being asked to subsidize inefficient activity of MTA without any explanation by the MTA of where the money is going.

No accountability or transparency – MTA budget does not reflect the leaner times – everyone else being asked to do more with less

Mortgage Tax currently pays for MTA – now they are looking for additional sources of funding because the mortgage tax revenues are down – should be tightening their belts just like the real estate, mortgage and legal professionals are already doing.

Tax will take millions of dollars out of the hands of local independent businesses (mom and pops), schools, hospitals and charitable organizations

The language in the law that states “An employer is prohibited from deducting from the wages or compensation of an
employee any amount that represents all or any portion of MCTMT.” is naive – businesses, unlike the MTA, cannot count on external bailouts and must balance their books every year. Businesses will compensate for the added tax burden by hiring fewer employees, making less raises/bonuses, offering fewer services, etc.

The MTA tax adds an additional layer of regulation on already-burdened small businesses. Somebody has to account for the amounts deducted from the business’ ledgers – this adds time and expense.

Services remain relatively sparse in Putnam County from the MTA.

Putnam has no real representation to look out for its interests with the MTA.

Form your own opinion.

Loitering…Quality of life issue???

I am wearing several hats as I write this blog.

1. a Business owner

2. a Property owner

3. President of the Local Chamber of Commerce

4. A Realtor sworn to protect property values

5. Someone who strives for and attempts to practices compassion always in all things

So this topic is not one I am one sided on. I can see the situiation from all angles. Its not pretty:(

So here goes……… There is a loitering issue in my hometown where I happen to do most of my business in. The loiterers are day laborers looking for work. They gather in groups of 50 or more in the morning daily. These loiterers happen to be primarily undocumented citizens or illegal immigrants. This obviously creates alot of emotional turmoil regarding the situation.

I mean the public officials are in a situation where their hands are tied due to the impending doom of a lawsuit. It seems you cant open a paper without reading about a town being sued for the same situation.

The bottom line is if this was teenagers or any other group of people gathering in the streets in such large numbers, The police would be able to break them up and send them on their way.

Now on the other hand I am certain that the majority of these people (like any group of human beings)are good, hard working family people and well …………..we let them into our country……………… we definetly have an obligation to their safety and well being.

So how do we do something that will accomplish both?

1.Ridding the town of large groups of ANYONE in front of our Downtown businesses & parks.

2. Making sure that all people are treated humanely and equally.

OR!!!! maybe this is all just perception? Perhaps the loitering is a non issue? Maybe its NOT hurting property values and businesses?

I am using this blog as a tool for some clarity. I hope you can share your opinion with us. I hope you do so in a mindful way….. I dont want to open a negative thread but rather an insightful dialouge.

Time to legalize!

I cant believe how often I take a listing and there are finished basements, bonus rooms,bedrooms,inground pools, sheds, all without C of O’s.

Times have changed! These properties more than likely will not make it to the closing table with these violations! YES even if you bought it that way!
And the code is constantly changing. So I suggest you legalize NOW!!!

This is not just a plug for my company that can help you with these issues, rather just some good ADVICE!

All in a days work.

Today while siiting at my desk at the front window at Incline Real Property Services I did the following: Negotiated a short sale, CMA on 5 vacant lots, in put a new listing to 10 web sites, negotiated a rental, helped 3 of my agents with their transactions, debated with the MLS over the rules, figured out best use for a mixed use piece of property, pulled a property deed to see if there were any deed restrictions, emailed  listings to hundreds of commercial brokers, filed an application to the building department for a finished basement and  took out the garbage.

Favorite style home?