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

A New Broker Disclosure Law in New York  _  Pound Ridge Real Estate   AS if the process of shopping for an apartment weren’t fraught enough, potential buyers and renters will have to deal with another wrinkle this year, when a new real estate broker-disclosure law goes into effect in New York. The law requires a real estate agent to have clients sign a form stating that they understand whom the agent represents and to whom the agent will give “undivided loyalty,” as soon as they enter into a relationship. Brokers are interpreting that to mean that the form does not have to be produced for everyone who walks into an open house, but rather as soon as someone starts asking substantive questions about a property, and certainly when someone asks for an appointment to see it a second time. Given that many apartment hunters are reluctant even to put their names on a sign-in sheet at an open house, agents do not want to have to present them wit...

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Lewisboro Real Estate Bounces Back in 2010 RobReportBlog Lewisboro NY Real Estate Lewisboro NY Homes Lewisboro Luxury Homes

You can save a few hundred a month by buying discount items on Ebay or Amazon and by searching for the hottest deals. Saving a few hundred bucks a month is a ton over a year and its effects are even greater over 10 years. But what if that’s not enough? What if you need to somehow impossibly cut back your expenses like $1000-$1500 because you lost your job or your savings have depleted? The mortgage payment is America’s single highest expense. Honoring your word is sacred. You signed on the dotted line and said you would pay your debts. Abraham Lincoln spent 17 years paying off debt he borrowed to start a business in 1833. The virtues of repaying debt and honoring your commitments are self-evident. However, at some point you have to acknowledge when the snowball gets irreversibly big and you have to make a decision between food and the mortgage. Most people choose the former. I do not advocate walking away from your mortgage for the sake of it, but if you can only ...

Taking a look at the Katonah-Lewisboro school district real estate prices over the last ten years we found median prices were rising until their peak in 2007.  In 2008 and 2009 prices dropped.  In 2010 the median price for a Katonah-Lewisboro school district home rose again.   2000          $502,000 2001          $595,000 2002          $647,500 2003          $675,000 2004          $750,000 2005          $749,500 2006          $790,000 2007          $815,000 2008          $730,000 2009          $617,500 2...

US Population Grows 10% - South and West Grow Most Pound Ridge Real Estate Bedford New York Real Estate

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BEDFORD NY-- Bedford, Pound Ridge, and Westchester County police were on the move today on the ground and overhead. They were racing from one house alarm to another on Tuesday. Burglars in broad daylight robbed seven Bedford homes all in the same general area.  The thieves ransacked the homes, bypassed Christmas presents, and got away with jewelry, electronics and video game systems. Particularly disturbing for authorities is the number of people who called police today saying they saw something suspicious on Tuesday. "They were observed in several different areas. The same vehicle description, the same persons description. It would have been helpful to get that information right away," Lt. Jeff Dickan said.   Full ABC Story Bedford NY Homes Bedford Luxury Homes  

  Bedford NY Snow Storm today!! <!--deafdc1ac9144945bb7709cc9e29f405-->

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday released the first results from the 2010 census. It showed there are 308.74 million Americans, an increase of 27 million or 9.7 percent since 2000. About 13 million of the increase is new immigrants, while 17 million came from births by existing residents. Nearly 80 percent of the population growth was among minority families, with Hispanics registering the biggest gains. Most of the population growth is in the South and West. The 10 fastest-growing states had average population gains of 21 percent. The states were: 1. Nevada 2. Arizona 3. Utah 4. Idaho 5. Texas 6. North Carolina 7. Georgia 8. Florida 9. Colorado 10. South Carolina States with slower growth included Ohio, New York, and Illinois. Michigan was the only state that actually lost population.   NAR Article Pound Ridge NY Homes Pound Ridge Luxury Homes  

When a person wishes you "Merry Christmas " they are implying several things. First, the "Merry" part is a wish that you will find the season, more specifically the occasion, as cheerful, hopeful and joyous. Agreeable or pleasant are applicable too, with joyful probably being the single closest definition. The occasion to be joyful about is Christmas. The word Christmas is derived from "Christ's Mass" which has its roots in the Middle English "Christemasse" and the Old English "Cristes mæsse." Christ, of course, refers to Jesus Christ. The "mass" in this case comes from the English meaning and tradition of a religious feast in honor of a specific person. Christmas Day is the feast day of Christ. Christmas also means the larger season around Christmas Day or the 12 days of Christmastide. Christmas day, December 25 th , is the celebration of Jesus' birth. The announcement of the Angel to the Shepherds in the Gospel...

"Happy Festivus" is the traditional greeting of Festivus a holiday featured in "The Strike" episode of Seinfeld. The episode first aired on December 18, 1997. Since then many people have been inspired by the goodness of the Seinfeld holiday and they now celebrate Festivus as any other holiday. According to the Seinfeld model, Festivus is celebrated each year on December 23rd. However many people celebrate it other times in December and even at other times throughout the year. The original slogan of Festivus is "A Festivus for the rest of us!" Instead of a tree an unadorned aluminum pole is used, in contrast to normal holiday materialism. Those attending Festivus may also participate in the "Airing of Grievances" which is an opportunity to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year, followed by a Festivus dinner, and then completed by the "Feats of Strength" where the head of the household must be pinned. All of thes...

New single-family home sales rose in November but to a lower- than- expected rate , a government report showed on Thursday, highlighting the weakness in the housing market even as the broader economic recovery gains momentum.   The Commerce Department said sales increased 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted 290,000 unit annual rate after a downwardly revised 275,000 unit pace in October.   Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales rising to a 300,000 unit pace in November from a previously reported 283,000 unit rate. Compared to November last year, sales were down 21.2 percent.   Housing remains mired in weakness against the backdrop of a 9.8 percent unemployment rate and high foreclosures. Data on Wednesday showed sales of previously owned homes rose last month but remained at depressed levels.   At November's home sales pace, the supply of new homes on the market fell to 8.2 months' worth from 8.8 months' worth in October. There were...

  Jude Law and Sienna Miller have plunked down $12,298,650 for a London townhouse , and perhaps a modicum of relationship stability following a relatively tumultous period. British actors Law and Miller met during the filming of Alfie in 2003, but split up in 2005 after Law began an affair with the nanny of his three children with former wife Sadie Frost. They each had their flings (Law had a fourth child with New Zealand model Samantha Burke), but eventually rekindled their romance. Though not married, the couple's new 5,092-square-foot home certainly represents something of a commitment. With four floors and a finished basement, the Georgian-style home has 7 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. A small walled and gated courtyard leads into a grand reception hall that befits the home's history, which dates back to 1820. Click to the jump for house photos.   Full Story Bedford Luxury Homes Armonk Luxury Homes

  The recovery of housing prices will take at least four more years, according to a monthly survey of 110 leading economists and real estate experts, significantly longer than previously estimated. Housing prices will rise only 7.2 percent by 2014 and the aggregate value of U.S. single-family homes four years from now will be roughly $1 trillion less than the economists projected in May, said Terry Loeb of MacroMarkets, the firm conducting the survey, which is based upon the projected path of the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index over the coming five years.  ”For the first time, in this month’s survey, our panelists provided their expectations through 2015. Less than 3% of the panel expects negative change in 2015, and at +3.7 percent, the average of the forecasts for that year is slightly higher than the average annual rate of national home price appreciation that prevailed in the decade prior to the historic bubble.  Yet, at +7.2%,...

Picking house paint colors isn't just difficult. It's terrifying! Pick colors that are blah, and your house will seem flat and featureless. But if the colors you pick are too bold, they might overwhelm the architecture... and upset the neighbors. The best colors will highlight the most beautiful features of your home. Skillful use of color can even disguise design flaws, boosting the curb appeal and market value of your home. How do you find that magic color combination? Follow these tips. 1. Honor History If you're planning to paint an older home, you'll probably want to use a historically accurate color scheme. You can hire a pro to analyze old paint chips and recreate the original color. Or, you can refer to historic color charts and select shades that might have been used at the time your home was built.   2. Jazz Up the Past In some neighborhoods, homeowners fly in the face of history. Instead of choosing historically accurate colors, they paint their hous...

  Whether buying or selling a home, you  need a real estate agent to help with the transaction. A real estate agent has access to information not available publicly that can help in pricing the home or determining if the asking price is fair. Additionally, an agent will help in dealing with potential buyers, marketing the home and handling the details of the sale or purchase.  Proprietary Knowledge   In most communities, homes for sale appear in a locally-produced publication called the Multiple Listing Service . While much of the information on homes in the MLS can be found on the Internet, not all of it can. You need a real estate agent to help with the purchase or sale of your home because an agent will have access to all of the MLS information. This proprietary information includes the actual sales price of each home sold, not just the listing price. Additionally, the MLS information will include the number of days a home was on the market prior to c...

Ringo Starr and his wife, Barbara, are asking $4.5 million for their three-bedroom vacation home near Aspen, Colorado. The 70-year-old Beatles drummer, who continues to tour with his All Starr Band, bought the home in 1990. The wood cabin sits on about 16 flat acres in Woody Creek and has frontage on Roaring Fork River. The roughly 3,200-square-foot cabin was built in 1987 and is surrounded by unused horse paddocks. Full Article Luxury Homes Bedford Luxury Homes

Field Guide to Buying vs. Renting Is it better to Buy or Rent? Whether renting is better than buying depends on many factors.  The information listed here will assist you in helping answer this question. Included are statistics and studies on homeowners and renters as well as financing options and tips. (M. Glick, Senior Information Specialist) Rent-to-Own Deals: Smart Questions to Ask... For Sellers: · Who will tend to the property and pay for routine maintenance? · Who pays for major repairs? · What are the costs of setting up and managing an escrow account for the portion of rent allotted to the down payment? · Will you manage the property yourself, or hire an agent? · What if the renters change their minds? Who keeps the money in the escrow account? · If the buyers change their minds, what will be required to put the property back on the market? For Buyers: · How much of the rent is going to the down payment? · How locked in are you if you change your mind? · What wi...

When you find a great foreclosure property and want to buy it, you find out you need all cash.  The government has come out with a new mortgage loan called a section 203K loan.  Most foreclosure sales require all cash because the property is in bad shape and conventional loans do not allow below average property conditions.  FHA has a new loan to allow buyers to buy handyman specials and fix them up.  The buyer/borrower gets one mortgage to acquire and rehabilitate the home. The 203K loan is determined by the projected value of the property after purchase and repairs.  This loan is available for owner occupied 1-4 families and condo units.  During the loan application the bank’s appraiser will determine the “as-is” values and “value after rehabilitation.”  The buyer has to get (A) “plot plan of the site,”  (B) “proposed interior plan.”  And (C) “work write-up and cost estimates.”  The work must start in 30 days and be completed within ...

There are several aspects to successfully controlling those bothersome little ants that always seem to invite themselves into your home for a drink and a snack every warm season. Your quirky Uncle Mo may like sitting in the kitchen discussing the weather with a few hundred of his closest ant buddies, but the rest of us prefer not to have ants as houseguests. Pesticide companies would have you believe that all of their products provide the right solution to your ant problem. The huge number of cans of ant spray on the shelves at the store has us thinking that many of you buy into that theory, literally. But most uses of ant spray are doomed to failure because these products only kill the scouts and feeders. Meanwhile, back at the nest, which is almost always inaccessible to your spraying activities, the queen is pumping out hundreds and thousands more little ants, just for you. It’s essential to get the poison back to the nest so you kill the queen. Worst of all, when you use the...

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You plan to build your dream home. You've pored through home plan books, picked out the perfect design, found a beautiful lot in a great neighborhood and worked out a deal with a well-regarded builder. After years of rental apartments and settling for less, you've earned this home. You've promised yourself some of the amenities you've always wanted and, not surprisingly, a few well-placed fireplaces top that list. Your new home will include a fireplace in the family room so that, after a day of sledding, the kids can warm chilled fingers and toes and hang soggy mittens and mufflers up to dry. A second fireplace in the living room adds an elegant touch to formal gatherings, and in the master suite, yet another fireplace serves as a romantic backdrop. Perhaps even more important than adding some old-time charm and comfort to your new home, a fireplace also answers that nagging question, "Where will we hang the Christmas stockings?" Before you settle d...

  Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino vetoed the 2011 budget sent to his desk by the Board of Legislators, citing reservations dealing with its revenues and spending. A total of 247 lines were struck out. "The combination of phony revenues, wasteful spending, unfunded liabilities, illegal actions and rejection of generally accepted accounting principles jeopardizes our AAA credit ratings," Astorino said of the $1.79 billion budget in a press announcement about his decision. Legislators passed their budget on Friday. It calls for a two-percent tax decrease but with fewer reductions in social services than called for by Astorino, who proposed a series of cuts in November, as part of a budget version that calls for a one-percent tax decrease. Despite the legislators' 16-1 vote in favor of the budget, Astorino, a Republican, accused the board's Democrats of not giving enough time for his administration or legislators in his party to scrutinize the prop...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicted the housing market would improve by the end of 2010. In September 2010, Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said that he expected the housing recovery to be "slow and gradual because of lingering economic uncertainty." The 2010 housing market has been characterized by lower sales volume than a year ago. However, the median price increased 0.08 percent in August from a year ago. The number of homes sold nationally in August increased 7.6 percent from July, 19 percent below the August 2009 level. August closings reflect sales made in April when the homebuyer tax credit was still available. We could see lower sales volume and median sale prices moving forward. This will vary from one area to the next. Real estate is a localized business. In California, home sales for 2010 are predicted to rise 2 percent from the 2009 level. The median sale price is expected to increase 11.5 percent from a year ago to $306,500 and...

  The National Association of REALTORS® surveys home buyers and sellers annually to gather detailed information about the home buying and selling process. These surveys provide information on buyer and seller demographics, housing characteristics and the experience of consumers in the housing market. Buyers and sellers also share information on the role that real estate professionals play in home sales transactions. NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports – based on results of those surveys – provide real estate professionals with insights into needs and expectations of their clients. The latest 2010 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers* was released in November. Last month's Market Intelligence column highlighted some of the profile data on home buyers. In this edition, we focus on home sellers and how they may have “traded up” in purchasing another home. (Note: sellers who responded to the survey were also home buyers; consequen...

Sellers: Price to Your Market In this tough market, price reductions are more acceptable than they used to be, real estate broker and author Dian Hymer says. Certainly, they are more common because sellers have more difficulty setting reasonable prices, especially when prices change frequently. With buyers ignoring properties they believe are overpriced, it is especially important for sellers to quickly correct noncompetitive pricing, according to Hymer. Sellers should be prepared to lower their price more than once if they are out of sync with the market. The best measure is the sale prices of comparably priced properties that closed after the house was put on the market. NAR Article Pound Ridge NY Homes Pound Ridge Luxury Homes

Cole Perkins pretty much gets it that he's not exactly your average 13-year-old. For one thing, he's totally uninterested in video games. And he attends "cyber school" -- a home-schooling arrangement that tethers him to a classroom teacher via computer. Then there's that blogging thing. Where other kids might be blogging away about sports or television or popular music, that's just too mainstream. Cole Perkins blogs, instead, about luxury real estate. He recently became something of a real estate keyword after Curbed.com posted an item about Lavish-Property.com , his fledgling site that each day features a new-to-the-market estate in North America or Europe, with extensive photography and his commentary. The site, which he began a couple of months ago, surged from about 15 page views a day to more than 2,000 in the period immediately after the Curbed post. Things have settled down a bit since then, he said, to 400 to 500 a day. The blog, he said, is...

When you think “Casino Royale,” you think James Bond, right? After a visit to Pinocchio in Pound Ridge that just might change. The Casino Royale is Pinocchio’s pizza version of Clams Casino — a crispy pie topped with baby clams, slab bacon, tomatoes, white wine, garlic and roasted red peppers. It’s just like the clams appetizer at your favorite checkered-clothed Italian restaurant — only better. A lot better. So good, in fact, that the Casino Royale won the top award for best seafood pizza in the 2008 North Atlantic Pizza Show. And that’s not the only award Pinocchio has to its name. Bruno DiFabio, who owns Pinocchio, Amore Pizza in Scarsdale and two branches of Pinocchio Pizza in Connecticut, is the 2009 U.S. champion, a six-time World Pizza champion, and he won the Best Traditional Pizza medal at the 2010 World Games at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo. (Yes, there is such a thing.)? He has 16 medals in all, and has appeared on “R...

Armonk NY Real Estate by Robert Paul Realtor via rpaulrealtor.blogspot.com

Armonk NY Real Estate Market 87 homes available. Average Size          4826 feet Low                        $469,000 High                        $14,995,000 DOM                        239 Median Price           $1,275,000 Ave Price/ft             $407 Armonk NY Homes Armonk Luxury Homes

Predictions for the 2011 Pound Ridge NY real estate market. Freddie Mac analysts point to five features that they believe will likely characterize the 2011 housing and mortgage markets: 1. Low mortgage rates . With Fed observers expecting the central bank to keep the federal funds rate at its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent for most (or all) of 2011, relatively low mortgage rates will be a feature of the 2011 mortgage market. Thirty-year fixed-rate loans are likely to remain below 5 percent throughout the year, and initial rates of 5/1 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages will likely remain below 4 percent in 2011. . 2. Prices have hit bottom . House prices are likely to begin a gradual, but sustained recovery in the second half of 2011. 3. Housing will remain affordable . With affordability high, many first-time buyers will be attracted to the housing market in the New Year, likely translating into more home sales in 2011 than in 2010. 4. Refinances will dwindle ....

Barring unlikely last-minute changes, Bedford property taxes will climb 2½ percent next year despite across-the-board cuts in the town's discretionary spending. At a public hearing Tuesday, the town board formally unveiled its tentative 2011 budget, which calls for $25.1 million in spending, largely financed by a property-tax rate of $29.38 and higher fees for town services. The budget presented Tuesday night would automatically take effect Jan. 1 if the town board does not act on it by Dec. 20. It cuts all departments' spending, as it has for the past three years. In 2011, however, the departmental funding reductions, averaging about 10 percent, will extend to the town's three libraries, which had been spared in the earlier economies. Saying he spoke for all the libraries, Ed Baum, president of the Katonah Village Library board of trustees, told the board, "We are living in an atmosphere of great uncertainty." Besides Baum, only Fiona Mitchell of Bedford ...

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Chappaqua NY Buy of the Week Chappaqua NY Real Estate Bedford New York Real Estate

  Prudential Holmes and Kennedy buy of the week in Chappaqua NY. Asking $659.  Will sell in the $500s because it needs updates. Over 1 acre of land.  Neighbors are Million dollar homes.  I have heard buying the cheapest home in the neighborood is a good thing.   This is it.   Chappaqua NY Homes Chappaqua Luxury Homes

Home-mortgage rates climbed this week, with the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at its highest since the end of June, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgages, released on Thursday. Rates on the 30-year mortgage averaged 4.61% for the week ended Dec. 9, up from 4.46% last week. It is the fourth week in a row that the mortgage rate rose; it averaged 4.81% a year ago. "Interest rates for 30-year fixed mortgages are now almost a half percentage point higher than the record low set in mid-October, which for a $200,000 conventional loan amounts to $50 more in monthly payments," said Frank Nothaft , chief economist, Freddie Mac, in a news release. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages also rose this week, averaging 3.96%, up from last week's 3.81%, according to the survey. The mortgage averaged 4.32% a year ago. Meanwhile, adjustable-rate mortgages also moved higher, with the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortg...

White Plains Mayor Is Convicted and Vows to Appeal - NYTimes.com

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PROFILE magazine Fall 2010

New York Real Estate - Prudential Douglas Elliman

Overhaul of U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) REO sales program features a superstore website, new management composition, increased bidding advantages for owner occupant purchasers, new real estate commission structure, and new policies and procedures that leave non-Realtor licensees scrambling for access to HUD properties. HUDHomeStore.com is a one-stop shop for all information and resources pertaining to HUD Homes.  The new website replaces a clunky, confusing myriad of government and regional contractor websites that made the search for HUD Homes a laborious, time consuming chore. Yardi, Santa Barbara based property and asset management software developer, built the supersite. The new website gives real estate agents and consumers access to extensive information about properties, and all contracts, disclosures, and property condition reports can be downloaded at property detail pages. Agents and brokers register at HUDHomeStore.com prior to placing bids o...

Home shopping for first-time homebuyers it's an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking, experience. If you're like others in the market for their first home, you probably have in mind exactly how your soon-to-be home will look. But it's important not to fall into the bad decorating, dingy walls and dirt-bare back yard equals bad-home trap. If you don't see past the hideous wallpaper, funky light fixtures and avocado green carpeting, you may miss out on a home with great potential. And, if you're looking for a home in a seller's market where homes are being snatched up as soon as they go on the market, you'll come to realize you can't be choosy if you want to make a competitive offer. One of the first things to do is to get pre-approved for a loan and determine the maximum you can afford to offer for a house. Don't look at homes that are asking for more than 5 percent above your maximum, otherwise you'll be setting yourself up for disappointment i...