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

Where the job market goes, the housing industry follows. And with the economy continuing to hum, both sectors are surging further upward in the new year, according to economists from two companies who would know:  realtor.com®  and job search site indeed.com. “The news is good. Employers are looking at 2016 as being quite strong,” said  Tara Sinclair , the chief economist for indeed.com, during a joint press briefing in Washington, DC, with realtor.com® chief economist  Jonathan Smoke . Both laid out predictions for another year of steady home sales and job growth, particularly in the country’s largest urban centers.  New York City ,  Atlanta ,  Chicago , and Los Angeles , as well as the high-tech hubs of the  San Francisco  Bay Area,  Denver , Seattle , and  Austin , all had strong employment gains—and, not at all coincidentally, some of the country’s busiest real estate markets. read more... realtor.com

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With a cup of tea in hand and her pinky finger alert, Morticia Addams would doubtless approve of these Gothic and  Gothic Revival homes that — like her — are romantic, but with a spooky edge. Charleston, SC 13 Johnson Rd, Charleston, SC For Sale: $5.9 million It’s easy to picture Tish snipping roses on the grounds of this lakefront estate. Built in 2007, its Gothic features meld with modern luxuries such as an outdoor kitchen by the pool, an airy home gym and a spa-like master bath with heated floors and towel-warming drawers. Check out more listings in Charleston . Great Neck, NY Pond Rd, Great Neck, NY For Sale: $100 million What better place to knit like an Addams while contemplating all things creepy and crawly than a gated, eight-acre estate with views of Manhattan? The compound includes 60,000 square feet of Gothic Revival living space, including 35 bathrooms. See more homes for sale in Great Neck . New York, NY 45 Tudor City Pl APT 1818, New York, NY For Sale:

With 78 million baby boomers entering or on the verge of retirement, a concerted national effort is required to adapt homes and communities for the 73 percent of seniors who prefer to age in place, according to a new report released yesterday by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). The preference to grow older in one’s own home and community stems from a desire among many seniors to remain close to family and friends and maintain the social connections that have enriched their lives. They appreciate the familiarity of their own homes as well as that of the local shopping center, the community library, and their place of worship. They want to remain close to doctors, nurses, social workers, and the other professional service providers upon whom they have come to rely, according to research by AARP That’s bad news for the nation’s real estate and housing finance industries, who have been anticipating a flood of transactions from Boomers selling their long-time residences.  But its go

The total number of originated mortgages of all types and purposes declined by about 2.7 million, or 31 percent, but in 2014 but home purchase lending increased by about 4 percent. Refinance originations declined by 55 percent, according to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. The 2014 data include information on 9.9 million home loan applications—of which, nearly 6.0 million resulted in loan originations—that’s an approval rate of 62.5 percent for both refinance and purchase originations.  Approval rates for conventional purchase applications as well as government backed loans –FHA, VA and Rural Housing Service— were about 69 percent. In a report on the HMDA data issued yesterday, the Center for Responsible Lending said that despite a number of industry predictions, new data from the HMDA report revealed that Dodd-Frank’s mortgage protections and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s related n

Sold prices rose 28 percent in Detroit over the past year, topping the list of Pro Teck Valuation Services’ Home Value Forecast. Others included in the list were Palm Bay, FL; Port St. Lucie, FL; Merced, CA; and, San Francisco, CA. “While Detroit has seen healthy gains this year, the Home Value Forecast rating system shows that Detroit is still a soft market,” said Tom O’Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services. “Although examining one indicator is helpful, it’s important to analyze several home price indicators to best understand the health of a real estate market.” This month’s HVF update also looked at the Collateral Analytics forecast for those top markets and found that San Francisco home prices are at an all-time high while Detroit is still trying to return to pre-crash levels. In Home Value Forecast’s rating system Detroit’s market is considered “soft” while San Francisco is “strong.” They also noted that that while recent gains have been encouraging in Port St. Lucie, h

Sometimes you just have to go for it. About a year and a half ago, Dabney Tompkins and Alan Colley moved from a condo in Portland to 388 square feet in rural Oregon. Their house, a  40-foot-high fire lookout , doesn’t have a street address or a bathroom. And the nearest neighbor is three miles away. “We still have that sense of ‘are we really doing this?'” Colley admits. When the couple decided to go off grid, they didn’t know a thing about solar power. But through trial and error — and lots of Googling — they figured out how to pump running water into their kitchen, power LED lights and have Internet using only 80 watts of electricity.  As for the bathroom, they “visit the bear” (aka an outhouse in the woods) or use one of three  alternative options designed for emergencies — or a few laughs . Through it all, Tompkins and Colley have tried to keep things in perspective. “Every time I think could I really do that — could I really live in a place where all you had was

Changes in down payments have much greater impact on homebuyers’ willingness to buy for a home than changes in mortgage rates and lower down payment increase renters; willingness to buy six times more than existing owners, according to a new study published recently by economists at the New York Federal Reserve. The survey of buyers and renters found dramatic evidence that the impact of interest rates is highly overrated compared to the impact of even small changes in down payment requirements. The study found that decreasing the required down payment from 20% to 5% increases the willingness to purchase on the average about 15% among all buyers and 40% among renters.  Decreasing interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, though it would save the buyer much more than the lower down payment, raised the willingness to purchase a home by only 5% on average. The study also found that it is primarily the less wealthy respondents (particularly renters) that strongly increase their W

On the campaign trail, Jeb Bush has repeatedly emphasized his record overseeing Florida’s boom economy as the state’s governor. He says it’s an example of an economy that created a huge number of jobs and benefited the middle class — an example of what he could do as president. “I know how to do this,” he said in Maitland, Fla., on Monday. But according to interviews with economists and a review of data, Florida owed a substantial portion of its growth under Bush not to any state policies but to a massive and unsustainable housing bubble — one that ultimately benefited rich investors at the expense of middle-class families. The bubble, one of the biggest in the nation, drove up home prices and had many short-term benefits for the state, spurring construction, spending and jobs. But the collapse of the housing bubble as Bush left office in 2007, after eight years of service, sent Florida into a recession deeper than that in the rest of the country, and hundreds of thousands lost th

Home prices increases may be leveling out, according to one closely-followed real estate report. In 20 major American cities, home prices this May were about 4.9% higher than May of last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released Tuesday. That’s the same pace of growth as April, and surprised economists when it fell short of expected growth. Economists predicted a 5.6% year-over-year increase, according to an Econoday survey. Price increases of single-family homes have settled at a steady pace of 4-5% this year, said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. He said he expects price increases to slow over the next two years, as wages rise to catch up with housing costs. “First time homebuyers are the weak spot in the market,” said Blitzer, citing research that high down-payments may be putting off first-time home purchases. “Without a boost in first timers, there is less housing market activit

The Obama administration’s heavy-handed attempts at social engineering just moved to a disturbing new level — right in Westchester. The Justice Department wants the county held in contempt of court, fined $60,000 a month and forced to set up an escrow account of $1.65 million — in a move growing out of its longstanding claim that the county’s housing policies are racist. It’s a preposterous claim, of course. And Friday, County Executive Rob Astorino holds a press conference to decry it. Good for him. Because the move is based on a technicality, and it actually says more about Team Obama’s overreach than about anything the county has or hasn’t done. Obama calls Westchester County housing racist | Armonk Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

A seedy dirt lot is probably the last thing you think of when you’re hungry. But photographers Adam Voorhes and Robin Finlay envisioned a lush backyard full of edibles for their barren backyard.  They turned to landscape designer B. Jane for help. She got to work creating shade and an entertainment space and adding plenty of food-producing plants. The homeowners are now flush with tomatoes, okra and other vegetables, as well as pecans, citrus, wild olives, prickly pear cactus (which they grill or add to margaritas), eggs from three roaming chickens and honey — lots and lots of honey. Voorhes harvests about 3 gallons of honey a year from his nearly 30,000 backyard bees. Hungry yet? B. Jane Gardens B. Jane Gardens When Voorhes and Finlay bought the property, they replaced a chain-link fence with cedar planking. They also added an arbor and a water-catching system.  Jane did the pavers, metal edging, design and plantings.  “We wanted to mesh midcentury modern

Life was different when this traditional foursquare home near Boston was built in the early 1900s. Back then, rooms were separate and had clear assignments: The kitchen was for cooking, the dining room was for eating and so on. In those days, windows let in cold air during the winter, so they tended to be smaller and less embracing of a view.  This home had been remodeled over the years, and each refresh had added details that were not age- or architecturally appropriate and took the home away from the plain-spoken look of an American  foursquare . The new owners wanted to bring back some of the original details (or what could have been original) and add modern touches, so they hired Robert S. MacNeille, design principal and president of Carpenter & MacNeille. Carpenter & MacNeille Photos by  Michael J. Lee Houzz at a Glance Who lives here:  A couple Location:  A coastal community north of Boston Size:  2,900 square feet (269.4 square meters) before, 5,000 squ