A Katonah broker will lead a national television audience through the real world of Westchester’s residential real estate market. Justin pieragostini, agent at William Raveis Real Estate, will be featured with his clients on a July 3 episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters.” The show will air at 10:00 p.m. In November 2012, Pieragostini was working with steven and megan Grskovic, a young couple with three children looking to relocate from Boston, Mass., to northern Westchester. Through a passing conversation, the homebuyers and their broker decided to apply to be a part of “House Hunters” and were selected for the show. Pieragostini said it was the first time the Westchester area has been showcased on the series. “Westchester is a part of the country unlike anywhere else,” he said in a press release. “We’re a hub for individuals who commute back and forth to New York City, but we still retain a lot of the small-town charm that homebuyers are searching for.” The broker led film crews through Bedford, Mount Kisco and downtown Katonah. Highlighted along the way are local
SISTERS ACQUIRE fAMILY AGENCY
Linda Rey and Laura Rey Iannarelli, principals of Rey Insurance Agency in Sleepy Hollow, announced they have bought out the 35-year-old business from their father, Francisco Rey. The purchase price was not disclosed. The sisters have led the family company through more than 15 years of steady growth. With Iannarelli as licensed agent and office manager and Rey as licensed agent handling sales and marketing operations with a focus on brokering and underwriting, the agency at 219 N. Broadway has grown from 750 customers in 1997 to 3,000 today., with a 90 percent retention rate. Their father stepped down as head of operations in 2008 and formally retired this year. — John Golden and Crystal Kang
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WESTCHESTER fEATURED ON ‘HOUSE HUNTERS’
Douglas Elliman Real Estate is venturing into new Westchester housing markets with the recent opening of an office at 26 Popham Road in Scarsdale. The approximately 2,200-square-foot office will serve as a strategic marketing hub for Scarsdale and the Long Island Sound communities of Rye, Larchmont, New Rochelle and Pelham, said Dottie Herman, president and CEO of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Based in New York City and the area’s largest residential brokerage, Douglas Elliman entered the northern Westchester and Putnam County markets in January 2011, when it acquired the Prudential Homes & Kennedy brokerage with offices in Armonk, Bedford, Chappaqua, Katonah, Pleasantville and Somers. Gabe pasquale, executive vice president of Elliman’s Westchester brokerage, in the expansion announcement said the Scarsdale location is expected to “bridge the New York City market to Westchester. Scarsdale and its surrounding towns resonate with people moving from the city when making a move to the suburbs.”
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Westchester County’s unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percentage point in May, but is still one of the lowest rates in the Hudson Valley and 1.6 percent lower than the state unemployment rate, according to the state Labor Department. Westchester was tied with Genesee and Suffolk counties for the seventh-lowest May unemployment rate in the state. The seven-county Hudson Valley region saw monthly unemployment rise slightly in May to 6.6 percent, but was still down from 7.6 percent a year ago, according to John Nelson, a labor market analyst at the state Department of Labor in White Plains. Westchester County had the third lowest unemployment rate in the region, at 6.2 percent, trailing Putnam (5.8 percent) and Rockland County (5.9 percent).
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COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT HITS 6.2% IN MAY
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INBRIEF
landmarks such as the 500-year-old Bedford Oak, businesses that include Richard Gere’s Bedford Post Inn and equestrian properties in Bedford Riding Lanes Association country. Not to give away a happy ending, but Pieragostini’s clients bought a home in Katonah.
HV Biz • WCBJ • July 1, 2013
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