West Islip Blogs of the Week: Feb. 24

What are your neighbors thinking about? Is a national-news story peeking the interest of the neighborhood or is someone simply sharing their insight on every day life? No worries if you missed the past week – we've collected the top blog posts across our local Patch sites in one convienent place.

Do you have ideas to share? You can always join our Local Voices right here.

Does Your Neighbor Have Your Back?

Blogger Kevin Raposo writes in about keeping your home safe by simply knowing your neighbors, citing that up to two-thirds of people feel safer in their homes by simply knowing who their neighbors are. He links to several stories throughout the nation where neighbors have come to others rescue when an emergency appeared.

"Watch groups are great for fostering community, raising awareness, and getting the word out about dangerous situations," he says on neighborhood watch groups. "However, it's important to make sure that your watch group doesn't create a dangerous situation."

Value VS Features in Real Estate

Real estate agent Kristin Schuster writes about the differences in adding value and extra features in your home, which can be worth many more dollars when selling your home.

"There are of course some exceptions where the rules will change slightly, it is not always as simple as adding and subtracting based on this "value", "feature" criteria because each homes value is based on the comparable homes in the area," she writes.

My Recent Baking Obsession Has Led Me to Hamantaschen

Blogger Nikki Alexandra writes in about her recent baking obsession, in which she says she has bought more baking supplies in the last few months than others buy over the course of several years. 

"Since I am a perfectionist, and like everything to be done right the first time, I always take much longer to prepare and complete a recipe than each one indicates," she wrote. "If a recipe claims the finished product will be ready in two hours and 15 minutes, as this one does, it will probably take a minimum of three."