Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY

That earthquake, in April 2009, killed hundreds and left tens of thousands of L’Aquilans homeless, shuttering the city’s graceful and extensive historic center, which was its cultural and economic heart. “Temporary” housing was constructed: “new towns,” as Italy’s prime minister then, Silvio Berlusconi, boasted about the sad, isolated, cramped and costly apartments he ordered for displaced L’Aquilans along nowhere stretches of the city’s outskirts, cut off from mass transit and civic life. There was no infrastructure created or public consensus reached about combating sprawl, or what to save or sacrifice and how. Since then Italian officials have kept promising to restore the city to its former self, but fewer than a dozen buildings have so far been repaired among the hundreds damaged in the center, which is a virtual ghost town. Never a tourist mecca, despite its pretty churches and squares, L’Aquila was a working town of some 75,000, home to a university and to many famili

Pending home sales – a predictor of signed housing contracts – rose 5.2 percent in October, according to the latest real estate market trends reported today by the National Association of Realtors. The association’s Pending Home Sales Index has realized 18 consecutive months of annual gains, reaching a reading of 104.8 in October, the highest level since March 2007, excluding a few spikes stimulated by the first-time home buyers’ tax credit, said the Chicago-based trade association. “We’ve had very good housing affordability conditions for quite some time, but we’re seeing more impact now from steady job creation, and rising consumer confidence about home buying now that home prices have clearly turned positive,” Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement. Home prices rose more than 11 percent in October 2012, compared to October 2011, according to the association. The gains have raised total home equity by $760 billion since the beginning of the year, a

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photo credit: http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/ I don’t think conversation gets the respect it deserves.  Consider these facts: I love my wife.   After a little more than half our lives together I can confidently say that she is the most important and influential person I have ever known.  She is half my life, literally, as the direct result of conversation .  It’s how we fell in love and how we stay that way. I love my children.   They’ve taught me, tested me and have been the fuel propelling me towards my better self.  I stagger daily, but will never stop striving to be worthy of guiding them and preparing them for happy lives.  Conversation is where the work of parenting gets done.  It’s the countless explanations to my three year old and the countless excuses from my teenagers. I am profoundly grateful for my business partners.   Together we are so much stronger, better, faster and fun than we could ever be apart.  Conversation is the glue, the playground and key to t

Pending home sales jumped 5.2% to 104.8 in October, its highest level since March 2007, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Annually, pending sales increased 13.2% from October 2011, reflecting 18 consecutive months of rising sales. The Pending Home Sales Index released by NAR releases data based on contracts, not closings. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun believes buyers are reacting to favorable market conditions. “We’ve had very good housing affordability conditions for quite some time, but we’re seeing more impact now from steady job creation, and rising consumer confidence about home buying now that home prices have clearly turned positive,” said Yun. Despite a 0.3% rise in pending home sales in September , analysts were skeptical based on Wednesday's new home sales numbers. However, the increase in today's report "should renew expectations for a positive contribution from the housing sector," Econoday said. The index report shows ver

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Katonah real estate sales up 100% - Prices down 15% |  RobReportBlog Katonah NY Real Estate Report  - last six months 2012  Sales 40             homes sold $640,000   median sales price $382,500   low price $1,726,000  high price 2663         ave. size $294         ave price per foot 164           ave dom 96.27%     ave. sold to ask $759,650   ave. sold price

Katonah Realtor |  Looking to sell your home follow these 6 steps The NAR has it right when they talk about the five steps in selling your home. 1.  Consider comparables 2.  Consider competition 3.  Consider contingencies 4.  Get an appraisal 5.  Be accurate. 6.  Know what you will accept. via trulia.com

After a  spike in September , new single-family home sales fell 0.3% to 368,000 last month, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales dropped from September’s 389,000, but were 17.2% higher than a year ago when only 314,000 units were sold. In October, the median sales price of a new home was $237,000, while the average sales price was $278,900. “The Commerce Department doesn't note any specific reasons for the downward revision to September but it does note that Hurricane Sandy had only a minimal effect on October, hitting at month end and in an isolated area of the country,” said research firm  Econoday . “Sales in the Northeast, which in any case is by far the least active region in the report, fell 32 percent in the month.” At the end of October, the number of new homes for sale reached 147,000, representing a 4.8-month supply of homes at today's sales pace. “Attention turns tomorrow to the pending home sales index which will offer an advanced indication on existin

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Thinking about investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) software?   If you are, now is the time to get on board. Here’s why: the U.S. real estate market is finally making a comeback after years in decline. In fact, there are reports that U.S. housing rebounded to a four year high last month. There are less vacant homes on the market and applications for building permits are increasing If you’re still a REALTOR®, you’ve lived through some tough times. Now is the time to prepare yourself for more business and make sure that you’re able to take it on while staying 100% organized and in-control. In addition to helping you remain in touch with clients, nurture your leads, and build relationships with your sphere, a real estate CRM is absolutely instrumental to getting more organized. Below are four ways you can use your CRM to stay both proactive, organized, and in-control:  1.     Listing and Closing Activity Plans A good real estate CRM will come with pre-designed

Interested in doing a Q&A with me? What tech/apps/social media are you into? Email me ( meg@inman.com ) or Facebook / Tweet  me your ideas! I recently did a mini review of Evernote 5  so I thought who better than Dean Ouellette to do my next productivity Q&A with? I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on an Evernote class of Dean’s here in Phoenix. If you ever get the chance, I promise you won’t be disappointed! 1. Tell us about yourself Dean. Hi, my name is Dean and I am an Evernote-a-holic. I have long been a tech geek and since I have got into real estate I have looked for ways to become more productive. Evernote has allowed me to do so, while also saving money. I am a former political consultant who moved to real estate five years ago in an effort to find more balance and a way to spend more time with my 5 kids. My real passion in life is coaching youth athletics. When I am not coaching kids I sell real estate in the Chandler/Phoenix market and teach real estate

We love tools! We love technology! The best business strategies are inspired by both of these. But, implementing and applying new goals can sometimes be lost in the fast-moving pace of bright and shiny, and we can lose focus. As the old Robert Burns quote says “The best laid plans of mice and men go awry.” So, for Week 3, of 10 Weeks and 10 Strategies , we will be using a classic business tool that provides 4 steps to quickly assessing where you should be setting your NEW goals of 2013. This will involve some critical thinking skills, so if you aren’t up for the challenge, you might want to move on. Tips:  Print the downloadable PDF to work on, or use this as a whiteboard brainstorming session:) This is meant to be a quick tool, don’t over analyze!  The S.W.O.T. Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in your real estate business The basics: In business we all have strengths and weaknesses , these are internal to your business. We also have threats a

Each month, the National Association of REALTORS® obtains up-to-date and on-the-ground incisive comments from REALTORS® who participate in the REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) survey. The RCI survey tracks expectations about overall market conditions, buyer/seller traffic, price, buyer profiles, and issues affecting real estate, and can be found here. The selected comments reflect the general sentiment expressed by REALTORS® who participated in the October 2012 survey, conducted from October 22 through November 5, 2012. All real estate is local and conditions in specific markets may vary from the national trend. REALTORS® reported that the weak job market remains a major concern for buyers, especially given the dependence of credit scores on employment conditions. Policies that are seen to adversely affect the real estate market next year are the fiscal cliff and associated taxes and policies, and potentially regulations from the implementation of Dodd-Frank. “Job loss is st

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Two of the nation’s most authoritative national housing price indices today reported significant third quarter price increases over last year at this time, and the chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed that a housing recover is underway. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a 3.6 percent gain in the third quarter of 2012 over the third quarter of 2011, marking the sixth consecutive month of increasing prices. In September 2012, the 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual increases of 2.1percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index reported today that deasonally adjusted house prices rose 4.0 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up 0.2 percent from August.prices and rose 1.1 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2012. With signi

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Pound Ridge NY sales up 12% - Prices down 17%  |  RobReportBlog Pound Ridge Real Estate Report  -  past six months 2012 36             homes sold $675,000   median sold price $355,000    low price $2,875,500  high price 3230          ave. size $269          ave price per foot 184            ave. DOM 92.82         ave sold to ask $885,537  average sold price via trulia.com

It is time to end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For over four years, Congress has failed to start the process of phasing out the two failed mortgage finance giants and replace them with a private-sector mortgage finance system. Most of the time, opponents used the excuse that housing markets were just too weak to do anything that might delay the housing recovery, leaving both entities to languish under the control of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Instead, some in Congress and the Obama Administration have focused on a series of generally unsuccessful efforts to enable borrowers whose homes are now worth less than they owe to refinance the loans. [1] Undeterred by the underperformance of these programs, several Senators have decided to try again. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is expected to schedule Senate consideration in the lame-duck session of another refinancing bill by Senators Robert Menendez (D–NJ) and Barbara Boxer (D–CA). As with past efforts, their

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Since I first joined Facebook over four years ago the social media landscape has continued to evolve at a rapid pace. It also has become more fun with the addition of Instagram and Pinterest. What I like to see is that the big boys are not having it all their own way. Google thought Facebook was just a fad that would go away.  For a while there Twitter looked like it would be a super nova that exploded with growth and then fade into oblivion. But neither of these events have occurred and social media has moved from fad to mainstream. The women are the major participants on Pinterest.  This is validated when you look at the  Pinterest demographics and also notice that the top five pinners with millions of followers are female. When I participate on Pinterest it seems as if I am male voyeur listening in on visual  conversations dominated by women. It is a bit like dropping into a women’s fashion store or lingerie shop. You know that it is OK to be there but it doesn’t feel quite

Year end seems like an odd time to sell your home. However, it has been a long time since we've seen a home sale market that approximated normal. So, I wouldn't necessarily abide by the guidelines that applied to another time. 2011 was a lackluster year for the housing market. The spring and summer markets, usually a busy time for home sales, were sluggish. The market picked up in November 2011. Many sellers who chose to sell then had a successful result. Several factors contributed to this. Interest rates were low. The bad global news -- the catastrophic earthquake in Japan, Greece on the edge of bankruptcy, problems in the eurozone, and a stuck-in-the-mud unemployment rate -- had been absorbed and digested by consumers. Buyers began to believe that home prices were bottoming; there were years' worth of pent-up demand. Sellers in some areas who sold at the end of last year presented their homes well and priced them right for the market. Some rece

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Two of the nation’s most authoritative national housing price indices today reported significant third quarter price increases over last year at this time, and the chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed that a housing recover is underway. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a 3.6 percent gain in the third quarter of 2012 over the third quarter of 2011, marking the sixth consecutive month of increasing prices. In September 2012, the 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual increases of 2.1percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index reported today that deasonally adjusted house prices rose 4.0 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up 0.2 percent from August.prices and rose 1.1 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2012. With signi