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

You can see it in your mind’s eye: that perfect house, a snug cabin nestled in the woods alongside a pond shimmering in the sun’s slanting rays. You’ve held that image in your head since you were a teenager, and now you’re finally ready to build it. You’d love to build it all by yourself, but you’re not sure you have the necessary skills. Or perhaps you know that you have the skills, but the time and effort of finding all of the materials seems daunting. Maybe a kit house is the answer. Kit houses can be grand or tiny, sophisticated or rustic, traditional or ultra-modern. Kit homes can offer efficiency in construction as well as in energy use after the house has been built, and many kit home companies offer state-of-the-art green and renewable energy options. In short, if you’d like to build an affordable custom home (or cabin), a kit house may be a solution. One of your first decisions will be how big to build. Census statistics show that the average home size in the United States

Despite a recent push from the Federal Housing Finance Agency  and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  to expand the credit box, a Bloomberg article explains that times are still tough for borrowers, especially those using a part-time job to help boost their income. As the economy produces an increasing number of part-time jobs, that trend is colliding with rules that limit their value for homebuyers. The restriction, enacted after the housing crash, makes it more difficult for lenders to consider secondary income, resulting in a growing pile of loan denials, said Susan Wachter, a finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The article explained that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Ability to Repay rule states that part-time wages can be included by banks in determining the ability to repay a mortgage if an employer verifies that the borrower has worked at the job for two years and will continue to do so. However, th

In Pipe Creek, TX, turkeys trot across a prime building site at Latigo Ranch. In Plainview, IL, they can be hunted in the yard of a tasteful 3-bedroom, 3-bath home. Forget the deer and the antelope. Thousands of listings on Zillow mention roaming turkeys as a countryside amenity. In this season of Thanksgiving tradition, Zillow researchers wanted to see what role turkeys were playing in the housing market. The answer surprised us. About 14,000 listings have made mention of turkeys since 2012, including homes on Turkey Street, Turkey Creek and other place-names. About 10,000 of those listings are apparently making reference to actual birds, which roam wild in every state except Alaska. In raw numbers, the top turkey towns are in the Midwest. In Springfield, MO, 137 listings mentioned turkeys; 122 Kansas City, MO listings mentioned turkeys. Many of the listings are lots for sale, where buyers can build a home from which to watch the turkeys gobble-gobble. Urban turkeys made ap

Rates on a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage will hit 5 percent by the end of next year, according to the latest forecast from Freddie Mac’s economists.   Expect to see interest rates climb throughout 2015, with yields on the 10-year Treasury averaging about 2.9 percentage points, up from about 2.6 percentage points in 2014, and rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage gradually climbing, averaging 4.6 percent and rising to 5.0 percent by the end of next year, said Freddie’s November Outlook. Meanwhile price increases will slow from 9.3 percent in 2013, to 4.5 percent in 2014 and 3.0 percent in 2015. Continued house price appreciation and rising mortgage rates will dampen homebuyer affordability. “Historically speaking, that’s moving from very high levels of affordability to high levels of affordability,” said the Outlook. Total housing starts in 2015 will increase by 20 percent and total home sales will increase by about 5 percent over that time period to the best sales pace in eight y

When cold weather approaches, it's time to give your home's exterior a once-over to make sure water won't find its way indoors. There are ways to spot the problem areas on your home's exterior before a drip from the ceiling or a flooded basement alerts you. You just need to learn to think like water. Habitations Residential Design Group Save Photo Gutters If you do nothing else in fall to get ready for winter, clean your gutters. A lot of products purport to save you the need to perform this possibly dangerous and at least tedious task. I have seen many of them fail when sediment builds up. They may buy you some time, but there are advantages to giving your house a periodic once-over, and the roof and gutters aren't spots you're likely to keep an eye on otherwise. So whether you hire someone or clean them yourself, I recommend using old-fashioned gutters and keeping them clean. Most homes have gutters attached to the edge of the roofline.

Everyone loves the holidays – the smells, the food, the presents, the time with friends and family. Most people have started making their wish lists, and some have gone so far as to start shopping. Here’s a present for you and your family: the gift of avoiding holiday-related insurance claims. When it comes to the holidays, insurance concerns are usually an afterthought. But many enjoyable aspects of the holidays can also pose dangers. Consider the following elements of the holidays — and their potential for trouble. Hunger pains Who doesn’t love holiday food? Turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas ham and New Year’s Day black-eyed peas and greens are a big part of the season’s fun. So what’s the problem? Cooking is the leading cause of residential fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association. And the average home fire claim costs $34,306, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). What’s the worst that could happen? Check out some comm

Photos via Luxury Villas and Homes via WSJ Located at the tip of the Yamu Peninsula in Phuket, Thailand, this massive beachfront villa is a collaboration between French design ace Philippe Starck and luxury hotel specialist Jean-Michel Gathy . Blending contemporary and traditional Thai touches, the four-level house contains eight bedrooms, all with unobstructed views of the sparkling Phang Nga Bay. The 43,056-square-foot property sits on three acres and is practically a resort in itself. In addition to an 80-foot infinity pool , the home comes equipped with a spa room, gym and yoga area, game room, boathouse, and a golf practice green. The home has been on the rental market for anywhere from $2,050 to $5,500 a night, though it's also listed for sale at $22.5M, though the WSJ reports the owner is entertaining any offers over $20M. read more.... http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/17/philippe-starck-phuket-thailand-villa-sawarin.php

I am the North Castle Supervisor, but I write to you as a resident who will live in this Town for many more years than I will serve on our Town Board.  In a small Town like ours (pop. 11,841), the ward system is a solution in search of a problem.  I am opposed to the Ward System and I urge you to vote “No”  on both Ward propositions, as it will invite divisiveness between neighborhoods, fiscal irresponsibility, horse trading, and larger government. Our Town Board has always worked collaboratively based on the needs of both the entire town and specific areas, despite differences of opinion or where they lived, Recent decisions - the Banksville Avenue zoning solution (Banksville), sewers in Quarry Heights (North White Plains), the DeCicco’s shopping center (Armonk) – were all possible because of Town Boards that were elected by, and responsible to, the entire town and not just to a specific neighborhood.  In a Ward system, solutions like these may not be possible because Council

A revised redevelopment proposal for Armonk’s Brynwood Golf & Country Club includes fewer housing units and some site changes. Mark Weingarten, an attorney for owner Brynwood Partners LLC, gave an overview of the changes at the North Castle Town Board’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 5. The housing changes include a cut in the units to 80, down from 88 in a previous iteration. The new unit mix includes 63 condos that would be market rate, 10 “Golf Cottages” that would be taxed like single-family homes and seven affordable housing units. Additionally, Weingarten discussed a potential alternative plan, which would involve keeping 80 on-site units but replace the affordable units with seven market-rate condos. In exchange, eight affordable units would be built off site. This scenario depends on whether offsite space could be found, Weingarten disclosed. The housing cut is the latest for Brynwood, which originally proposed 243 units. One notable measure calls for Brynwood to ente

20 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/06/soros_exwife_ditches_impressive_ues_townhouse_for_31m.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/5058ce3485216d21f9006e25/14469982.jpeg" width="500" height="375"></a><br /><a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/06/soros_exwife_ditches_impressive_ues_townhouse_for_31m.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Susan Weber Soros , the ex-wife of billionaire businessman George Soros , has sold her palatial copper-clad townhouse at 116 East 70th Street. The Post reports that Weber Soros traded the property for $31 million, $8.5 million more than she paid for it in la

Norwegian house prices rose more quickly than expected in October and growth will likely accelerate over the rest of the year, even as household debt levels remain among the highest in Europe, a real estate lobby group said on Wednesday. House prices rose by 5.3 percent year-on-year in October, up from 3.6 percent in September with seasonally adjusted prices up by 0.9 percent on the month, hitting all-time-highs in October, Real Estate Norway said. "We're somewhat surprised that we rise above the five percent level. We'll also see a further increase in November and maybe in December," Real Estate Norway Chief Executive Christian Dreyer said, adding it was "quite likely" growth would hit 6 percent. Norway's banking regulator, worried that strong house price growth will further boost household indebtedness and hurt the economy, has warned that banks may face new capital buffer requirements if the development continues. At the start of 2014, Real Es

350 Wickapogue Road Southampton 18 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/04/spare_simple_modern_mansion_in_southampton.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/5458e519f92ea179e600e3d3/11009254.jpg" width="500" height="282"></a><br /><a href="http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/04/spare_simple_modern_mansion_in_southampton.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> If you're looking for a unique house, something in between the traditional style and the glass box, this may be the place for you. Of course you'll need deep pockets, as the asking price is $21.995M . For that, you get 2.

Photo by Gail Albert Halaban via  Design Boom "I like to look into people's windows," declares New York artist  Gail Albert Halaban , whose latest  photo series  peeps into the apartments of Parisians. "I know it sounds kind of creepy. Many people may even think it's illegal," she continues in a  video  about her work, but "I am a friendly window-watcher." The photos, cinematic and intimate portraits recently published in her new book  Paris Views,  appear voyeuristic but are actually painstakingly stage-directed; Halaban has gained consent from all the parties she is seemingly spying on. The results are lovely, and, just like window-watching from a city apartment, hard to look away from. read more... http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/04/gail-halaban-photography-paris.php

For the second month in a row construction spending took a downturn, dropping 0.4% in September after August’s 0.8% drop . The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce said Monday that construction spending during September 2014 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $950.9 billion, below the revised August estimate of $955.2 billion. The September figure is 2.9% above the September 2013 estimate of $924.2 billion. The good portion of the drop was in private construction spending, which bodes ill for the housing market. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $680.0 billion, 0.1% below the downwardly revised August estimate of $680.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $349.1 billion in September, which was 0.4% above the downwardly revised August estimate of $347.7 billion. read more... http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31928-construction-spending-declines-for-second-