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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/utility/FeedStylesheets/atom.xsl" media="screen"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en"><title type="html">Carol Culkin</title><subtitle type="html" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/atom.aspx</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/default.aspx" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/atom.aspx" /><generator uri="http://communityserver.org" version="2.1.61019.2">Community Server</generator><updated>2009-02-26T01:00:00Z</updated><entry><title>Dutchess County - Not A Declining Market? ...Heard It Through The Grapevine</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/12/08/dutchess-county-not-a-declining-market-heard-it-through-the-grapevine.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/12/08/dutchess-county-not-a-declining-market-heard-it-through-the-grapevine.aspx</id><published>2009-12-08T05:09:00Z</published><updated>2009-12-08T05:09:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="153" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/8/2/6/ar125858124662875.jpg" style="float:left;" width="219" /&gt;Is there good news on the horizon for Dutchess County homeowners?&amp;nbsp; Two mortgage representatives told me this week in separate conversations&amp;nbsp;that the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;Dutchess County&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; area is&amp;nbsp;no longer deemed a declining market by the lenders they work for.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;One rep&amp;nbsp;was specific to state that the term being used now to describe&amp;nbsp;the local market&amp;nbsp;is &amp;quot;soft.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#39;t think we&amp;#39;ll see any robust changes in the near future.&amp;nbsp; Up until now&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;Dutchess County&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;had been considered a declining market for the last 18-24 months.&amp;nbsp; It may remain soft for some time., but this is a little better than declining.&amp;nbsp; Have we hit bottom?&amp;nbsp; Will the market turn around?&amp;nbsp; Nobody has a crystal ball to really know for sure.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All I can say is that I have the statistics to back up what I was told.&amp;nbsp; Something is changing and I think it&amp;#39;s for the good, at least for homeowners. and perhaps not so good news for buyers still sitting on the fence.&amp;nbsp; Click here to take a look at the market summary I posted a few days ago.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1333819/poughkeepsie-area-market-overview" rel="bookmark"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Poughkeepsie Area Market Overview&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=580236" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Durchess County Homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Durchess+County+Homes/default.aspx" /><category term="Poughkeepsie NY" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Poughkeepsie+NY/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess  county relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county+relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Poughkeepsie homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Poughkeepsie+homes/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess  county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county/default.aspx" /><category term="poughkeepsie railroad bridge" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie+railroad+bridge/default.aspx" /><category term="walkway over the hudson" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/walkway+over+the+hudson/default.aspx" /><category term="poughkeepsie real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie+real+estate/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>The Walkway Over The Hudson</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/12/07/the-walkway-over-the-hudson.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/12/07/the-walkway-over-the-hudson.aspx</id><published>2009-12-08T04:58:00Z</published><updated>2009-12-08T04:58:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://activerain.com/action/blogs_admin/write/1288881"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9" size="1"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="158" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/9/7/5/6/ar125579178865799.jpg" style="float:left;" width="212" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Walkway Over The Hudson&lt;/strong&gt; is a story of a community that&amp;nbsp;came together to rescue&amp;nbsp;a landmark bridge.&amp;nbsp; The old Poughkeepsie - Highland Railroad Bridge&amp;nbsp;was abandoned after a fire in 1974.&amp;nbsp; It&amp;nbsp;sat for decades&amp;nbsp;deteriorating because it was too expensive to tear down.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;On October 3rd, 2009 the restored bridge was finally opened to the public.&amp;nbsp; Take the&amp;nbsp;walk and you will see how&amp;nbsp;obvious it is that this river community is so very proud of&amp;nbsp;our new Walkway Over The Hudson, but be sure to bring your sneakers - it&amp;#39;s 3 miles to walk from one end to the other and back (1.5 miles each way).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For a better glimpse of the bridge on fire in 1974 click on this link: &lt;a href="http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/pbpj743.Html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/pbpj743.Html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I visited the Walkway Over The Hudson&amp;nbsp;a few weeks ago&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;had the chance to experience&amp;nbsp;the beauty of the Hudson Valley during the prime time for fall foliage - while standing directly above&amp;nbsp;the Hudson River.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;I am pleased to be able to share my photos below.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This recycled 120-year-old &lt;em&gt;Poughkeepsie&lt;/em&gt;-Highland Railroad &lt;em&gt;Bridge&lt;/em&gt; is now considered to be the world&amp;#39;s longest pedestrian bridge.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fred Schaefer is a local Poughkeepsie real estate attorney who I have had the pleasure of working with during my real estate career.&amp;nbsp; I remember a few years back there had been&amp;nbsp;a couple of different functions within the same month where Fred&amp;nbsp;approached me and several other real estate agents - he&amp;nbsp;couldn&amp;#39;t stop talking so enthusiastically about the development of the bridge.&amp;nbsp; Funny,&amp;nbsp;I just could not see it coming together like it did - and, now&amp;nbsp;today it is just as he had described.&amp;nbsp;Yes, at that time I had my doubts.&amp;nbsp; Fred offered to take us up to the bridge for a sneak preview - I had concerns about the structural integrity and graciously declined.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;No way was I going to go up there on that old relic!&amp;nbsp; I was convinced the deteriorating bridge would crumble and I would fall to my death!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fred continued to&amp;nbsp;pursue his vision and successfully spearheaded this project which has even been featured by the NY Times.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyregion/25metjournal.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyregion/25metjournal.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;What a wonderful legacy!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For more information about The Walkway Over The Hudson and for frequently asked questions click on the link below: &lt;a href="http://walkway.org/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://walkway.org/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For more information about the&amp;nbsp;history of the bridge click on this link: &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poughkeepsie_Bridge"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poughkeepsie_Bridge&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="289" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/7/2/0/ar125572579302729.JPG" width="278" /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;img height="286" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/9/3/5/0/ar12557259205391.JPG" width="270" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;img height="268" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/6/5/2/8/ar12557261382568.JPG" width="377" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="313" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/4/3/1/5/ar125572635451342.JPG" width="286" /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;img height="257" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/3/8/9/ar125572641698329.JPG" width="293" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="326" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/7/6/2/ar125572652226756.JPG" width="410" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is the view of Poughkeepsie from the Highland side of The Walkway On The Hudson (1.5 miles away)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="452" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/7/0/4/4/ar125572659544072.JPG" width="613" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is the view of the Mid-Hudson Bridge from the Pedestrian bridge ,a.k.a. The Walkway on The Hudson&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="600" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/7/6/2/7/ar125572670772671.JPG" width="800" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=580232" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="poughkeepsie railroad bridge" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie+railroad+bridge/default.aspx" /><category term="walkway over the hudson" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/walkway+over+the+hudson/default.aspx" /><category term="historic poughkeepsie" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/historic+poughkeepsie/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Dutchess County, NY - Demographics Statistics </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/dutchess-county-ny-demographics-statistics.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/dutchess-county-ny-demographics-statistics.aspx</id><published>2009-07-15T01:30:00Z</published><updated>2009-07-15T01:30:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;div&gt;&lt;h2 style="margin-top:2px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Dutchess&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Arial;"&gt; County&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Arial;"&gt; is located in the Mid-Hudson Valley, halfway between New York City and Albany.&amp;nbsp; The area continues to attract businesses and new residents. Employment and business opportunities continue to increase. Many&amp;nbsp;residents commute to jobs&amp;nbsp;in Westchester County, Connecticut&amp;nbsp;or Manhattan because Dutchess&amp;nbsp;offers more affordable housing than in&amp;nbsp;other suburbs closer to New York City. Commuting&amp;nbsp;to points south is made easy&amp;nbsp;via I-84, the Taconic Parkway, I-87 and&amp;nbsp;Metro North commuter trains.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;Considering a move to Dutchess Count?&amp;nbsp; The link below offers&amp;nbsp;insight on Dutchess County:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36027.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36027.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;&lt;img height="220" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/3/7/7/5/ar124682391857733.gif" style="vertical-align:middle;" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="86" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/7/3/8/5/ar124417909158373.jpg" width="77" /&gt;Carol Culkin, ABR, SRES, Associate Broker for Houlihan Lawrence, is your source for real estate in Dutchess County. Carol is an award winning residential specialist and has been a Dutchess County top Realtor since 2002. If you are looking for a real estate agent who will be your advocate while providing you top priority service, call Carol today at 845-227-4400 x358 or on her cell phone at 845-430-6543.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=495326" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Durchess County Homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Durchess+County+Homes/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess  county relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county+relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county realtor" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+realtor/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county demographics" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+demographics/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Poughkeepsie, NY - Information &amp; Home Sales Statistics</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/poughkeepsie-ny-information-home-sales-statistics.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/poughkeepsie-ny-information-home-sales-statistics.aspx</id><published>2009-07-15T01:27:00Z</published><updated>2009-07-15T01:27:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Poughkeepsie&lt;/strong&gt; (pronounced &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;/pəˈkɪpsiː/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;) is one of the original towns of Dutchess County. The county&amp;#39;s first house was erected here by Peter Pieterson Lassen in 1688, where its footprint can be observed in Bowdoin Park. Poughkeepsie, founded in 1687,&amp;nbsp;lies on the east side of the Hudson River, halfway between New York City and Albany. Poughkeepsie has a number of notable institutions for arts and entertainment and is the&amp;nbsp;home of two state-of-the-art hospitals, St. Francis and Vassar Brothers, both with heliport facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="Poughkeepsie" height="211" src="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/market_pages_S09/graphics/Poughkeepsie_beauty.jpg" width="357" /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Vassar College&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Distance to New York City: 81 Miles&lt;br /&gt;Metro-North Commute to Grand Centra: From Poughkeepsie Station - 107 minutes&lt;br /&gt;Area: 31.2 square miles&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Home Sales Statistics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="Poughkeepsie Growth Chart" height="292" src="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/market_pages_S09/graphics/Poughkeepsie_growth.gif" width="725" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Source: Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service, single family homes, for the calendar year ending December 31st&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="226" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/1/5/6/3/ar124682542736517.gif" style="vertical-align:middle;" width="347" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="86" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/7/3/8/5/ar124417909158373.jpg" width="77" /&gt;Carol Culkin, ABR, SRES, Associate Broker for Houlihan Lawrence, is your source for real estate in Dutchess County. Carol is an award winning residential specialist and has been a Dutchess County top Realtor since 2002. If you are looking for a real estate agent who will be your advocate while providing you top priority service, call Carol today at 845-227-4400 x358 or on her cell phone at 845-430-6543.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=495324" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /><category term="poughkeepsie" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county realtor" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+realtor/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Town of LaGrange - Dutchess County, NY </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/town-of-lagrange-dutchess-county-ny.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/town-of-lagrange-dutchess-county-ny.aspx</id><published>2009-07-15T01:18:00Z</published><updated>2009-07-15T01:18:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;&lt;img height="143" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/5/8/8/0/ar124742932408852.jpg" style="float:left;" width="193" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The Town of LaGrange in Dutchess County is a scenic Hudson Valley Community located approximately 75 miles north of New York City.&amp;nbsp; LaGrange has long been attractive due to the close proximity to a major north/south route, and the bucolic, scenic countryside. The town is mainly a residential area with most conveniences located in nearby Poughkeepsie.&lt;img height="167" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/6/4/5/ar124743111554628.jpg" style="float:right;" width="200" /&gt;&amp;nbsp; LaGrange includes the communities and hamlets of Arthursburg, Billings, Freedom Plains, LaGrangeville, Manchester Bridge, Moore&amp;#39;s Mill, Noxon, Red Oaks Mill, Rombout Ridge, and Titus.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The town of LaGrange&amp;#39;s name derives from the ancestral estate of the Marquis De Lafayette, who toured the area in 1824.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recreational Facilities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; - Central to Dutchess County, one of the area&amp;#39;s&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;hidden treasures is the 590 acre&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; James Baird State Park. Located in the Town of LaGrange, the park has everything a nature enthusiast would want. The park also has a fully-equipped golf facility, regulation tennis courts, nature center and softball field. There are several miles of marked trails, picnic areas, and shelters.&amp;nbsp; LaGrange offers a summer concert series at Freedom Park with free admission. The LaGrange Community Day is also held here,as well as many other functions.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Houses of Worship&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Include the Valley Bible Fellowship Church, Full Gospel Center, Clove Valley Alliance, Lutheran, Methodist/United Methodist, Nazarene and Presbyterian. There is easy access to many other denominations.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Educational Facilities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; - The Town of LaGrange is served by the Arlington Central School District. The following schools are within the town: Arlington High, LaGrange Middle, Titusville Intermediate, Overlook Primary, LaGrange Elementary and Noxon Road Elementary Schools. The town is also home to the private Brendon Montessori School.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration:underline;"&gt;Home Sales Statistics&amp;nbsp; = &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;By School District for the calendar year&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2.48% CAGR*&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="LaGrange Growth Chart" height="292" src="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/market_pages_S09/graphics/LaGrange_growth.gif" width="725" /&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Source: Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service, single family homes, for the calendar year ending December 31st *CAGR=Compounded Annual Growth Rate&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="86" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/7/3/8/5/ar124417909158373.jpg" width="77" /&gt;Carol Culkin, ABR, SRES, Associate Broker for Houlihan Lawrence, is your source for real estate in Dutchess County. Carol is an award winning residential specialist and has been a Dutchess County top Realtor since 2002. If you are looking for a real estate agent who will be your advocate while providing you top priority service, call Carol today at 845-227-4400 x358 or on her cell phone at 845-430-6543.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=495318" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /><category term="arlington school district ny" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/arlington+school+district+ny/default.aspx" /><category term="town of lagrange ny" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/town+of+lagrange+ny/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Dutchess County NY - Town Information </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/dutchess-county-ny-town-information.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/dutchess-county-ny-town-information.aspx</id><published>2009-07-15T01:12:00Z</published><updated>2009-07-15T01:12:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="269" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/6/3/7/ar12474476273629.jpg" style="float:left;" width="320" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are you considering a move to Dutchess County?&amp;nbsp; Are you wondering where you might want to live?&amp;nbsp; If you are new to this area or just visiting, please take a few minutes to browse the links below for information specific to each Dutchess County town.&amp;nbsp; You&amp;#39;ll see that each community has its own uniqueness.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dutchess County is&amp;nbsp; located in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York and is conveniently situated between Albany and New York City. The area continues to attract businesses and new residents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many&amp;nbsp;residents commute to jobs&amp;nbsp;in Westchester County, Connecticut&amp;nbsp;or Manhattan because Dutchess&amp;nbsp;offers more affordable housing than in&amp;nbsp;other suburbs closer to New York City. Commuting&amp;nbsp;to points south is made easy&amp;nbsp;via I-84, the Taconic Parkway, I-87 and&amp;nbsp;Metro North commuter trains.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_amenia.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Amenia&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;img height="547" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/2/3/1/2/ar124744731321321.jpg" style="float:right;" width="371" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_beacon.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Beacon &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_beekman.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Beekman &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_clinton.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Clinton &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_dover.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Dover &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_east_fishkill.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;East Fishkill &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_fishkill.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Fishkill &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.redata.com/100018/hlawny/media/Fishkill_tour.wmv" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Town Tour &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_hyde_park.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Hyde Park &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_la_grange.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;La Grange &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_milan.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Milan &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_millbrook.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Millbrook &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_northeast.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Northeast &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_pawling.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Pawling &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_pine_plains.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Pine Plains &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_pleasant_valley.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Pleasant Valley &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_poughkeepsie_city.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Poughkeepsie (City) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_poughkeepsie.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Poughkeepsie (Town) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_redhook_town.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Red Hook (Town) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_redhook_village.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Red Hook (Village) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_rhinebeck_town.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Rhinebeck (Town) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_rhinebeck_village.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Rhinebeck (Village) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_stanford.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Stanford &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_tivoli.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Tivoli &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_union_vale.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Union Vale &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_wappingers_falls_town.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Wappingers Falls (Town)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_wappingers_falls_village.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Wappingers Falls (Village) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/town_washington.html"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;Washington &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is a diverse assortment of activities for the whole family to enjoy.&amp;nbsp;The cultural life and educational institutions enrich the lives of young adults, older adults and businesses.&amp;nbsp;You can find whatever you are looking for here in Dutchess County!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go ahead and compare Dutchess County real estate prices to home prices&amp;nbsp;in nearby counties. You&amp;#39;ll&amp;nbsp;find&amp;nbsp;Dutchess County more affordable!&amp;nbsp; Doesn&amp;#39;t being able to purchase&amp;nbsp;the most home for your money&amp;nbsp;equate to a&amp;nbsp;better&amp;nbsp;lifestyle?&amp;nbsp; After all, your not just buying a home,&amp;nbsp;you&amp;#39;re buying a&amp;nbsp;lifestyle!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thinking about moving to the Dutchess County area? Call Carol Culkin at 845-227-4400 ext. 358.&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="240" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/4/9/9/ar124744813199428.jpg" style="float:right;" width="310" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="86" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/7/3/8/5/ar124417909158373.jpg" width="77" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin, ABR, SRES, Associate&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Broker&lt;/strong&gt; for Houlihan Lawrence, is your source for real estate in Dutchess County. Carol is an award winning residential specialist and has been a Dutchess County top Realtor since 2002. If you are looking for a real estate agent who will be your advocate while providing you top priority service, call Carol today at 845-227-4400 x358 or on her cell phone at 845-430-6543.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=495314" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county/default.aspx" /><category term="poughkeepsie" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie/default.aspx" /><category term="wappingers falls" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/wappingers+falls/default.aspx" /><category term="east fishkill" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/east+fishkill/default.aspx" /><category term="fishkill" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/fishkill/default.aspx" /><category term="millbrook ny" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/millbrook+ny/default.aspx" /><category term="lagrange ny" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/lagrange+ny/default.aspx" /><category term="hyde park ny" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/hyde+park+ny/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>2 Story For Sale in Pleasant Valley</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/b8fc23d60ef44f84bf8a411f912fa2ed.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/07/14/b8fc23d60ef44f84bf8a411f912fa2ed.aspx</id><published>2009-07-14T22:45:00Z</published><updated>2009-07-14T22:45:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p align="center" style="float:right;margin-left:10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Pleasant_Valley/New_York/Homes/Pleasant_Valley/Pleasant_Valley/Agent/Listing_1157898.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.point2.com/p2a/listing/0334/a500/7513/7958a6508ecea023a1ab/w210h157.jpg" class="Photo ListingPhoto" alt="5 Pond Hills Court" border="0" style="border:black 1px solid;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="summary" style="margin-top:0px;"&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;4,300 sq. ft., 4 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story &amp;quot;Transitional&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt; &lt;img border="0" height="20" id="Price_mi" src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Office/PortalOfficeShared/images/1x1.gif" style="width:34px;position:absolute;height:20px;" title="MLS&amp;reg; #279036" width="34" /&gt; &lt;span id="Price_r" style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;MLS&amp;reg;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="Price_pl"&gt;$767,900&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;- QUALITY AT IT&amp;#39;S BEST!&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="dateline" id="LeadIn" style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Looking for one of a kind? Designed with perfection in mind, this luxurious custom built home boasts only the highest quality craftsmanship. Located in one of LaGrange&amp;#39;s most sought after neighborhoods, on a no-outlet street &amp;amp; situated on a secluded 6 acre wooded lot. The enormous kitchen with cherry cabinets, granite counters, sub-zero refrigerator &amp;amp; Wolf gas range is a chef&amp;#39;s dream. Features Brazilian cherry floors, a spacious 1st floor master bedroom suite with limestone bath. Soaring ceilings, custom windows, wide moldings/baseboards throughout. The 30ft + family/media room is a perfect retreat for relaxing. A 4 car heated garage with hydraulic lift awaits the auto enthusiast. Partially finished basement is currently used as a home gym/playroom. If you&amp;#39;re looking for a maticulous home with attention to detail - look no further. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Pleasant_Valley/New_York/Homes/Pleasant_Valley/Pleasant_Valley/Agent/Listing_1157898.html"&gt;Property information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="-" style="width:714px;height:478px;"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.1.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.2.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.3.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.4.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.5.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.6.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.7.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.8.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.9.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A14+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.10.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A15+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.11.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A15+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="279" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/279036.12.jpg?ts=7%2F14%2F2009+6%3A22%3A15+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&amp;nbsp; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SPECIALIZING IN DUTCHESS COUNTY RELOCATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;Carol Culkin, Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="86" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/7/3/8/5/ar124417909158373.jpg" width="77" /&gt;Carol Culkin, ABR, SRES, Associate Broker for Houlihan Lawrence, is your source for real estate in Dutchess County. Carol is an award winning residential specialist and has been a Dutchess County top Realtor since 2002. If you are looking for a Dutchess County real estate agent who will be your advocate while providing you top priority service, call Carol today at 845-227-4400 x358 or on her cell phone at 845-430-6543.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=495279" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="carol culkin" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/carol+culkin/default.aspx" /><category term="Associate Broker" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Associate+Broker/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Dutchess County Relocation - My Up &amp; Coming Community</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/04/dutchess-county-relocation-the-up-coming-community.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/04/dutchess-county-relocation-the-up-coming-community.aspx</id><published>2009-06-04T17:26:00Z</published><updated>2009-06-04T17:26:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;I must admit, I was not too impressed with Poughkeepsie when I first moved to&amp;nbsp;the Hudson Valley from a large Metropolitan city in the Midwest.&amp;nbsp; That was 10 years ago.&amp;nbsp; How things have&amp;nbsp;changed.&amp;nbsp; Could it be that this town sort of grew on me, or is it the transformation that has taken place over time which makes me like this place more?&amp;nbsp; Okay, maybe it&amp;#39;s a little bit of both.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Perhaps I was a bit shallow back then too.&amp;nbsp; As I&amp;nbsp;remember,&amp;nbsp;I was&amp;nbsp;first disappointed because&amp;nbsp;there wasn&amp;#39;t a Starbucks and yet Dunkin Donuts was everywhere.&amp;nbsp; Eventually, Starbucks found Poughkeepsie and the neighboring towns of Fishkill and Wappingers Falls too.&amp;nbsp; But, as it&amp;nbsp;took&amp;nbsp;time getting here, I&amp;nbsp;found myself&amp;nbsp;beginning to like Dunkin Donuts coffee even more.&amp;nbsp;No longer a coffee snob, there&amp;rsquo;s no going back to Starbucks unless my sleepy little head is crying out for a latte with a double shot of espresso just&amp;nbsp;because I need&amp;nbsp;a Ritalin equivalent. So, Dunkin Donuts is now my fave - could it be that&amp;nbsp;I just&amp;nbsp;adapted to simpler things?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Well, if I was a coffee snob back then, I was certainly NOT a high end shopper in search of&amp;nbsp;Prada.&amp;nbsp;I also remember being a bit annoyed because Target had not found Poughkeepsie on the map either.&amp;nbsp;Today Target&amp;nbsp;has become a big hit amongst local discount shoppers on a budget. But, before the arrival of Target bargain shoppers had to settle for&amp;nbsp;the grungiest Kmart in the nation - I have been to many cities and this K-Mart&amp;nbsp;was (and still is) the most worn out, ugliest and&amp;nbsp;filthiest.&amp;nbsp;I am surprised to this day that K-Mart&amp;nbsp;has remained open with a competitor like Target.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Then came other brands too.&amp;nbsp; Panera has been here for about two to three years now. &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;But, don&amp;rsquo;t go there at lunch time if you have limited time to spare.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Sometimes customers are lined up to the door.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Coldstone Creamery is another huge hit with the locals.&amp;nbsp;Both Coldstone and Panera are located in Chestnut Plaza - good luck finding a good parking space there.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Restaurant chains seemed to have been long overdue back when I moved to Dutchess County. It was my biggest gripe when I first moved here. I was told that folks in the Hudson Valley prefer the&amp;nbsp;Mom &amp;amp; Pop places and were resistant to national chains.&amp;nbsp; Well, if this were true then why have chains like Red Robin and Chili&amp;#39;s become so well received? And, soon we will have our own T.G.I. Fridays - whoo hoo! At grand opening, I will have to wait until some of the novelty wears off before attempting to go anywhere close to that section of Route 9.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;As for recreation and fitness, our local gyms seemed to resemble&amp;nbsp;the good ole boys club when I first moved here.&amp;nbsp; Even the Gold&amp;#39;s Gym seemed to be filled with intimidating muscle-men who only lifted weights and drove pick-ups.&amp;nbsp;Yes, it felt like a good ole boys club. Then Gold&amp;#39;s relocated and expanded into a real fitness center where people work out without feeling intimidated, attend spinning classes, and the gym is utilized for indoor youth soccer. It&amp;rsquo;s become a family place and the new parking lot is filled with BMWs SUVs and Volvo station wagons. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;I loved to take long bicycle rides when I moved here, but the closest&amp;nbsp;bike path at the time was all the way up in Amenia. Today, the Dutchess Rail Trail is being completed in stages and paths have already opened up between Hopewell Junction and Wappingers Falls. I am so pleased that progress has been made in the form of family recreation. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;I think the very worst impression I had of this place when I moved here was in the City of Poughkeepsie.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;It looked so unkept and almost forgotten at the time.&amp;nbsp;The old historic city buildings&amp;nbsp;had so much potential, yet retailers and businesses had left these locations long ago and the vacancy rate was so apparent.&amp;nbsp;And, the riverfront seemed to be such a desolate place.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;And then it happened.&amp;nbsp;Restoration of the Luckey Platt Building transformed this&amp;nbsp;great architectural structure into&amp;nbsp;apartments and&amp;nbsp;retail space. Located at the corner of Main Street and Academy Street, this building sits at the heart of downtown Poughkeepsie.&amp;nbsp;A neo-classical building, it was once a regional department store servicing the surrounding counties, and is considered the key to continued progress along the Main Street Corridor. The revitalization momentum up and down Main Street began to&amp;nbsp;fast forward after Luckey Platt development began.&amp;nbsp;Various rehabilitation projects surrounding Luckey Platt have been designed to&amp;nbsp;reflect the&amp;nbsp;late 19th century streetscape typical of Poughkeepsie&amp;#39;s Main Street of yesteryear.&amp;nbsp;The Main Street building&amp;nbsp;facades have all been restored to the true original&amp;nbsp;architecture of their time. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Down the street,&amp;nbsp;Metro North Railroad has invested&amp;nbsp;millions into&amp;nbsp;renovations of the&amp;nbsp;Poughkeepsie train station where regularly scheduled&amp;nbsp;commuter trains and Amtrak serve the community.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;More and more, local residents are using the train station to connect to&amp;nbsp;Grand Central, Penn Station, and even to points north.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Hence, an influx of newcomers moving to Dutchess County. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adjacent to the Poughkeepsie Train Station, a once&amp;nbsp;abandoned warehouse is now the renovated Dooley Square which&amp;nbsp;has been&amp;nbsp;converted to&amp;nbsp;retail, office and restaurants. Located right on Main Street, a block from the Hudson River, the Poughkeepsie station and Dooley Square will soon be&amp;nbsp;linked&amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;a waterfront&amp;nbsp;commercial venue and parks. Currently waterfront improvement and construction projects are underway&amp;nbsp;to utilize the&amp;nbsp;park&amp;nbsp;system and&amp;nbsp;link an&amp;nbsp;entire waterfront commercial complex&amp;nbsp;to a public walkway.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;As Dutchess County and the City of Poughkeepsie continue to&amp;nbsp;improve and develop, the transformation has become more noticeable.&amp;nbsp; As a Realtor, it&amp;#39;s reassuring to know that I&amp;nbsp;invested into an up and coming community.&amp;nbsp; Soon the City&amp;#39;s Riverfront and the historic Main Street will offer unparalleled value and opportunity in housing and in business.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Dutchess County has transformed beautifully in the last ten years that I have lived here and it now has a great amount of appeal&amp;nbsp;which attracts newcomers &amp;ndash; mostly from the pricier places south of here (Manhattan, The Bronx and Westchester County). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Moving to Dutchess ....try these helpful links to gather more information:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pkny.info/moving.php"&gt;http://www.pkny.info/moving.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/"&gt;http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt; &lt;img height="155" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/6/0/9/ar123577706890638.jpg" style="float:left;" width="133" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;img height="257" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/0/8/3/1/ar124413873313804.JPG" width="384" /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: &lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:brown;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=478001" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="dutchess  county relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county+relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="carol culkin" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/carol+culkin/default.aspx" /><category term="poughkeepsie" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/poughkeepsie/default.aspx" /><category term="wappingers falls" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/wappingers+falls/default.aspx" /><category term="hudson valley" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/hudson+valley/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess  county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county/default.aspx" /><category term="westchester county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/westchester+county/default.aspx" /><category term="hopewell junction" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/hopewell+junction/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Dutchess County Relocation Specialist (845) 430-6543</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/carol-culkin-dutchess-county-relocation-specialist.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/carol-culkin-dutchess-county-relocation-specialist.aspx</id><published>2009-06-03T00:10:00Z</published><updated>2009-06-03T00:10:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="Panel DesktopModuleTitlePanel"&gt;&lt;tr id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_t_tr"&gt;&lt;td align="left" id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_t_tc"&gt;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;span class="Title" id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_t_mt"&gt;&lt;font color="#003300" size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;Congratulations on landing&amp;nbsp;that new job! ...Are you now considering buying or selling a home in&amp;nbsp;Dutchess County?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:black;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_t_hr"&gt;&lt;td colspan="2"&gt;&lt;font color="#003300" size="3"&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_Table1"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td id="_ctl2__ctl7__ctl0_ct_538883_538883_hh"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;A new job in a new town! The opportunity can open doors and horizons for you and your family. It may be one of the most rewarding experiences of your career.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;The critical decision to accept a new position is only the first of many&amp;nbsp;which surround the relocation process. Such decisions may&amp;nbsp;seem overwhelming. You&amp;nbsp;need&amp;nbsp;a real estate professional who specializes in relocation - an agent who can help&amp;nbsp;make the&amp;nbsp;transition to your new destination&amp;nbsp;smooth and&amp;nbsp;successful.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Carol Culkin is a&amp;nbsp;specialist when it comes to&amp;nbsp;employee relocation and Houlihan Lawrence&amp;nbsp;is&amp;nbsp;a registered relocation&amp;nbsp;brokerage, affiliated with various relocation companies.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:black;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;What sets Carol apart from other real estate agents when it comes to relocation? Before beginning her real estate career, Carol&amp;nbsp;previously&amp;nbsp;worked for the largest relocation company&amp;nbsp;in the world&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Carol has also had to move herself and&amp;nbsp;family several times in the past due to corporate&amp;nbsp;relocation. She can relate personally and professionally to the needs of a relocating family because&amp;nbsp;she&amp;nbsp;understands the relocation process from every&amp;nbsp;angle!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Your company may have made arrangements with a number of carefully selected relocation service providers.&amp;nbsp;Carol is a real estate service provider, registered to work with&amp;nbsp;almost all 3rd party relocation companies.&amp;nbsp;Together, the shared goal is&amp;nbsp;helping you and your family move quickly and easily.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Selling? Now that you&amp;rsquo;ve accepted your new position, one of the first considerations is how to best market and sell your present home. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;color:black;font-family:Arial;"&gt;Carol&amp;nbsp;will provide you a wealth of information to help you determine a realistic listing price for your home. This will include&amp;nbsp;a written marketing plan and&amp;nbsp;strategic pricing strategies. The goal is to&amp;nbsp;competitively market your home,&amp;nbsp;attract&amp;nbsp;interested and qualified buyers, sell your home for the highest possible price - in the shortest period of time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;font-family:'Times New Roman';"&gt; &lt;img height="155" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/6/0/9/ar123577706890638.jpg" style="float:left;" width="133" /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: &lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;color:black;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:brown;"&gt;RELOCATING?&amp;nbsp; CALL CAROL&amp;nbsp;227-4400&amp;nbsp;ext. 358&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:brown;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=477120" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="carol culkin" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/carol+culkin/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Dutchess County - Purchase Offers Are UP 27% From This Time Last Year! </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/dutchess-county-purchase-offers-are-up-27-from-this-time-last-year.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/dutchess-county-purchase-offers-are-up-27-from-this-time-last-year.aspx</id><published>2009-06-02T23:55:00Z</published><updated>2009-06-02T23:55:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Think it&amp;#39;s a buyer&amp;#39;s market in Dutchess County?&amp;nbsp; Think again.&amp;nbsp; Here&amp;#39;s the&amp;nbsp;latest news&amp;nbsp;from The Mid-Hudson Multiple Listing Service.&amp;nbsp; The last numbers released&amp;nbsp;show that purchase offers are up 27% from this time last year.&amp;nbsp; The average number of days on the market is down by 7 days from March 2008.&amp;nbsp; This is another subtle indicator that the local market is picking up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buyers who have been waiting might now be finding themselves very disappointed.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;While prices have fallen considerably and interest rates are at an all time low,&amp;nbsp;the market has started to shift a little and some agents are even reporting multiple offers on their listings.&amp;nbsp; On Friday, my firm&amp;#39;s affiliated mortgage consultant emailed all the agents in my office to let us know that the rates went up .25% towards the end of last week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the $8000 federal housing tax credit which provides an outstanding opportunity for first time buyers, the inventory is suddenly moving at a faster pace in the below 300k price ranges.&amp;nbsp; First time buyers who have waited until now to shop are suddenly finding themselves competing with other buyers.&amp;nbsp; And, many buyers who thought&amp;nbsp;they would have&amp;nbsp;the upper hand in negotiating are finding out differently.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last week a buyer client of mine lost&amp;nbsp;out in a bidding war.&amp;nbsp; There can only be one buyer for every house.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course this is good news for sellers in the below 300K price range.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;First time buyers&amp;nbsp;seem to be out in force right now.&amp;nbsp; The focus for many seems to be to close escrow before&amp;nbsp;the end of November deadline to take advantage of&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;tax incentive.&amp;nbsp; However,&amp;nbsp;the high-end market still remains&amp;nbsp;stagnant with a smaller pool of buyers who qualify or&amp;nbsp;an&amp;nbsp;increasing number of people who are apprehensive to&amp;nbsp;over-extend.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="238" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/3/8/6/8/ar124159015686837.jpg" style="float:left;" width="340" /&gt;In Dutchess County the&amp;nbsp;median Selling Price for March 2009 was&amp;nbsp;$252,000.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This is the price point that is driving the local market.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The home on the left sold through my firm in March for $252,000 and so this is an example of what&amp;nbsp;a home sale at the median selling price looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buyers:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Don&amp;#39;t wait any longer to start shopping, and be sure to understand that you might need to&amp;nbsp;be competitive.&amp;nbsp; Not every property you see will be negotiable, especially&amp;nbsp;if there is more than one interested buyer.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/glance.php"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;For more information regarding the first time buyer tax incentive, click on the link below the picture.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/glance.php"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/glance.php&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="-"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING DUTCHSESS COUNTY REAL ESTATE CALL CAROL CULKIN @ (845) 430-6543.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="155" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/6/0/9/ar123577706890638.jpg" style="float:left;" width="133" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: &lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=477117" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="carol culkin" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/carol+culkin/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess county homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess+county+homes/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Historic Ethol House For Sale - Poughkeepsie, NY </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/historic-ethol-house-for-sale-poughkeepsie-ny.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/06/02/historic-ethol-house-for-sale-poughkeepsie-ny.aspx</id><published>2009-06-02T23:41:00Z</published><updated>2009-06-02T23:41:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;CIRCA 1903 CRAFTSMAN STYLE COLONIAL DESIGNED BY FAMED ARCHITECT ANDRE REID. KNOWN AS THE ETHOL HOUSE ON THE NATIONAL HISTORIC REGISTRY AND HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT &amp;amp; SOPHISTICATED RESIDENCES OF IT&amp;#39;S PERIOD. MADE OF HUDSON VALLEY STONE. BOASTS HARDWOOD &amp;amp; SLATE TILE FLOORING. NEW KITCHEN FEATURES MAPLE CABINETS, NATURAL SLATE FLOORING, GRANITE&amp;nbsp;COUNTERS &amp;amp; STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES. CONVENIENT 2ND FLOOR LAUNDRY. ATTACHED GUEST QUARTERS OR POSSIBLE IN-LAW APARTMENT. TWO CAR GARAGE W/CIRCULAR DRIVE &amp;amp; A GENEROUS .67&amp;nbsp;ACRE CITY LOT. ENJOY COUNTRY ESTATE LIVING ON THE&amp;nbsp;CITY&amp;#39;S CONVENIENT&amp;nbsp;SOUTHSIDE.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;WALKING DISTANCE TO VASSAR COLLEGE,&amp;nbsp;PARKS. FIVE/TEN&amp;nbsp;MINUTE DRIVE TO AMTRAK &amp;amp; METRO NORTH COMMUTER TRAIN STATION, MARIST COLLEGE, VASSAR/ST. FRANCES HOSPITALS AND POUGHKEEPSIE IBM. FIFTEEN MINUTES TO THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (CIA).&amp;nbsp;OFFERED AT $479,900 - (845) 430-6543.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="-"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.1.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A39+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.2.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A39+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.3.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.4.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.5.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.6.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.7.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.8.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.9.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.10.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.11.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.12.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.13.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.14.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img border="3" height="120" id="274" src="http://www.midhudsonmls.com//Images/MLS_Photos/Thumbnails/274731.15.jpg?ts=2%2F27%2F2009+3%3A15%3A40+PM" width="160" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="155" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/6/0/9/ar123577706890638.jpg" style="float:left;" width="133" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carol Culkin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Associate Broker&lt;br /&gt;ABR, SRES&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Telephone: 845.227.4400 Ext. 358 &lt;br /&gt;Direct Line: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Mobile: 845.430.6543 &lt;br /&gt;Email: &lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;cculkin@houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com/"&gt;&lt;font color="#1e77b9"&gt;www.carolculkin.houlihanlawrence.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;FOR TOP PRIORITY, YOU NEED A TOP AGENT! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=477112" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Durchess County Homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Durchess+County+Homes/default.aspx" /><category term="Poughkeepsie NY" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Poughkeepsie+NY/default.aspx" /><category term="dutchess  county relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/dutchess++county+relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Poughkeepsie homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Poughkeepsie+homes/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Buyers....come out, come out - wherever you are! </title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/05/05/buyers-come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/05/05/buyers-come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are.aspx</id><published>2009-05-05T23:36:00Z</published><updated>2009-05-05T23:36:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img height="154" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/2/0/7/6/ar124097131967027.jpg" style="float:left;width:198px;height:154px;" width="198" /&gt;Many wanabee first time home buyers&amp;nbsp;in Dutchess County might be waiting until the end of the&amp;nbsp;year to purchase a home because they think they will take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Think again!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A buyer has to close on a house BEFORE November 30th, 2009 to be eligible for the $8000 credit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take into consideration that once a property has been identified,&amp;nbsp;it takes an average of 60 days to close on a house.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;So, now you think you have until the end of September&amp;nbsp;to find a house?&amp;nbsp; Right?&amp;nbsp; Think again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many of the houses that are for sale NOW in my local market are actually in pre-foreclosure status, which means the&amp;nbsp;final decision is up to the bank, long after the current home owner agrees to a price (and long after contracts have been signed).&amp;nbsp; These&amp;nbsp;purchases can take&amp;nbsp;twice or three times as long.&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="170" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/4/9/3/7/ar124097140573946.jpg" style="float:right;" width="92" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, now you think you have until the end of May&amp;nbsp;to find a house?&amp;nbsp; Right? Think again.&amp;nbsp; Don&amp;#39;t you want time to look at properties first and feel educated about the local market before you just rush into&amp;nbsp;making offers?&amp;nbsp; Personally, I don&amp;#39;t like to see people rush into making decisions they could regret. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The time is now.&amp;nbsp; Those who wait will be competing with all the other buyers who procrastinated, and with everybody&amp;nbsp;competing against one another, there will probably be bidding wars.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A bidding war leads to a price INCREASE.&amp;nbsp; So, if your plan is to wait. DON&amp;#39;T.&amp;nbsp; The time to act is now!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just last week, a buyer I have been working with lost his opportunity on a great property at a great price -&amp;nbsp;to another buyer.&amp;nbsp; The market is heating up.&amp;nbsp; Some buyers don&amp;#39;t belive it.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There may not be a better time to buy a house than NOW!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buyers....come out, come out - wherever you are!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=464071" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Dutchess County Relocation" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Relocation/default.aspx" /><category term="Dutchess County Real estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Dutchess+County+Real+estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Durchess County Homes" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Durchess+County+Homes/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>15 English Way in Cambridge Estates is Sold!</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/05/02/0dbc1443f3c44570b35b64af23184333.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/05/02/0dbc1443f3c44570b35b64af23184333.aspx</id><published>2009-05-02T06:00:00Z</published><updated>2009-05-02T06:00:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p align="center" style="float:right;margin-left:10px;"&gt;
		&lt;img id="Sold" src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com//Utility/images/sold.gif" alt="Sold" border="0" /&gt;
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p style="margin-top:0px;"&gt;
		&lt;span id="LeadIn" style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Cambridge Estates, Pleasant Valley&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;The 2 story at 15 English Way has been sold.&lt;/span&gt;
		
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;
		&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Pleasant_Valley/New_York/Homes/Cambridge_Estates/Agent/Listing_2214589.html"&gt;Property information&lt;/a&gt;				
	&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=464064" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Single Story For Sale in Poughkeepsie</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/04/18/115e57b295424152870b967a953f601e.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/04/18/115e57b295424152870b967a953f601e.aspx</id><published>2009-04-18T06:00:00Z</published><updated>2009-04-18T06:00:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p align="center" style="float:right;margin-left:10px;"&gt;
		&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Poughkeepsie/New_York/Homes/Poughkeepsie/Agent/Listing_2335266.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.point2.com/p2a/listing/090c/3ed5/5cfa/fcdaaac6016d6dc1e08a/w210h157.jpg" class="Photo ListingPhoto" alt="" border="0" style="border:black 1px solid;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
		&lt;span class="cutline"&gt;
			&lt;br /&gt;
			&lt;strong&gt;One Level Living&lt;/strong&gt;
		&lt;/span&gt;
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p style="margin-top:0px;" class="summary"&gt;
		&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;1,600 sq. ft., 2 bath, 4 bdrm single story "Ranch"&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;img id="Price_mi" src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Office/PortalOfficeShared/images/1x1.gif" border="0" style="height:20px;width:34px;position:absolute;" /&gt;
&lt;span id="Price_r" style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:bold;"&gt;MLS&amp;reg;&lt;/span&gt;


&lt;span id="Price_pl"&gt;$280,000&lt;/span&gt;



		&lt;span&gt; - Great Starter Home&lt;/span&gt;
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;
		&lt;span id="LeadIn" class="dateline" style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;
		Best of both worlds! This ranch home offers total privacy with the comfort of a neighborhood setting. Situated on a secluded &amp; tranquil .87 acre lot, surrounded by a lush landscape. Updated kitchen &amp; bath, hardwood floors, brick fireplace, beamed ceilings, ultra large picture window overlooks deck &amp; natural outdoor setting, central air, new furnace, *heated* driveway. RT 9 conveniences nearby. This gorgeous setting is a nature lover's dream.
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Poughkeepsie/New_York/Homes/Poughkeepsie/Agent/Listing_2335266.html"&gt;Property information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=464063" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>2 Story For Sale in Poughkeepsie</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/02/26/7d8219c82c8744b19aaad7c104b73b90.aspx" /><id>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/2009/02/26/7d8219c82c8744b19aaad7c104b73b90.aspx</id><published>2009-02-26T06:00:00Z</published><updated>2009-02-26T06:00:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p align="center" style="float:right;margin-left:10px;"&gt;
		&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Poughkeepsie/New_York/Homes/Poughkeepsie/Agent/Listing_2247572.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.point2.com/p2a/listing/2f5d/65d0/1025/7b9591dc2b58e905df0e/w475h356.jpg" class="Photo ListingPhoto" alt="" border="0" style="border:black 1px solid;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
		&lt;span class="cutline"&gt;
			&lt;br /&gt;
			&lt;strong&gt;Historic Home&lt;/strong&gt;
		&lt;/span&gt;
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p style="margin-top:0px;" class="summary"&gt;
		&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;3,206 sq. ft., 5 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story "Craftsman Colonial"&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;
		



&lt;span id="Price_pl"&gt;$479,000&lt;/span&gt;



		
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;
		&lt;span id="LeadIn" class="dateline" style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County&lt;/span&gt;
		&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;
		Circa 1903 Craftsman style Colonial designed by famed architect Andre Reid. Known as The Ethol House on National Historic Registry and has been described as the most significant &amp; sophisticated residences of it's period. Made of Hudson Valley stone. Boasts hardwood &amp; slate tile flooring, new kitchen, 2 car garage with circular drive. Enjoy country estate living on the convenient Southside. Attached guest quarters or possible in-law apartment.  
	&lt;/p&gt;
	&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/Poughkeepsie/New_York/Homes/Poughkeepsie/Agent/Listing_2247572.html"&gt;Property information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=464062" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>34836</name><uri>http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/members/34836.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.dutchesshomefinder.com/blogs/carol_culkin/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /></entry></feed>