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

WASHINGTON—A potential last-minute deal on the fiscal cliff is likely to include an extension of an expiring wind-energy tax credit, according to congressional aides. The deal taking shape Monday would include tax breaks adopted by the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year, aides with knowledge of the talks said. Among them was a one-year extension of the tax credit, with slight modifications that would allow wind-farm developers to claim the credit for projects that begin construction by Jan. 1, 2014. As the law currently stands, only projects that are completed and connected to the electricity grid by the end of 2012 can claim the credit. Aides cautioned that the fiscal-cliff deal and its components weren't final. Any package agreed to by lead negotiators also would have to be passed by the Senate and House. President Barack Obama , speaking Monday afternoon about the emerging deal, referred to clean-energy tax credits without mentioning wind power specifically. He...

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President Barack Obama says it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is “in sight,” but says it's not yet complete and work continues. Obama says this has been a “pressing issue on people's minds,” and tells an audience of middle-class taxpayers the deal would, among other things, extend unemployment benefits for Americans “who are still out there looking for a job.” He voiced regret that the work of the administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill won't produce a “grand bargain” on tax-and-spend issues, but said that “with this Congress, it couldn't happen at that time.” Officials familiar with the negotiations say an agreement would raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 a year and increase the estate tax rate. Any overall deal was also likely to include a provision to prevent a spike in milk prices with the new year, extend unemployment benefits due to expire and protect doctors who treat Medicare patients from a 27 percent cut in fees....

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$88M Penthouse Tops NYC's 2012 Real Estate Deals  |  North Salem Real Estate Check out this website I found at bloomberg.com

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Bedford NY Real estate sales down 19% - Prices down 25% | RobReportBlog Bedford NY Real Estate Sales Report  -  last six months 2012 29     sales $986,000   median sales price $418,500   low price $4,450,000   high price 4056   Ave. size $321   Ave. price per foot 200    Ave. DOM 93.13%   Ave sold to ask $1,328,948   Average sold price via trulia.com

South Salem NY real estate sales up 39% - Prices up 6% | RobReportBlog South Salem NY Real Estate Report  - last six months 2012 39    sales $575,000   median sales price $245,000   low price $1,300,000  high price 2869   ave. size $230   ave. price per foot 208     ave. DOM $649,193   ave. sales price via trulia.com

Local Inventories   |  RobReportBlog  |  Armonk NY Real Estate Armonk 8.33 months Chappaqua 9.26 months Bedford 15.51 months Katonah 7.36 months South Salem 9.8 months North Salem 16.51 months Pound Ridge 10.6 months via trulia.com

Bedford NY area luxury market down 14%  |   RobReportBlog Homes selling for more than $2,000,000  -  last six months 2012 23  homes sold 2011 27  homes sold There are currently 135 homes for sale asking over $2,000,000.  At the current rate it will take 35.22 months to sell these homes.  There is a great inventory of un sold homes to choose from. via trulia.com

Bedford NY area real estate selling for under $500k up 39% |  RobReportBlog Bedford NY Real Estate Market Report  -  last six months 2012 120  homes sold 2011 86  homes sold The market for homes selling for under $500k is up 39.5% from last year.  Low rates and market realistic pricing has been good news for the market. Currently there are 133 homes for sale asking under $500k in the area and at the current pace they will sell in     6.65 months.  A very healthy market in this price range. via trulia.com

Editor's note : This story has been updated to clarify that under the Obama administration's proposed revisions to income tax rates, taxpayers in the highest tax bracket would not only pay a higher marginal tax rate on income above $398,350, but would also be affected by proposed adjustments to the lower brackets and other changes .  The Republicans in Congress and President Obama are in the process of fighting World War III over tax rates for upper-income taxpayers. The president wants to raise rates on taxpayers earning more than $250,000 per year. The Republicans introduced a plan, later withdrawn, to increase rates only on those earning more than $1 million per year. With all this going on, now is a good time to understand the term "marginal tax rate," because that is what all the fighting is about. It sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple: Your marginal tax rate is the tax you pay on your next dollar of income. For example, if y...

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The percentage of distressed home sales is falling, but still remains elevated in California’s heartland, according to new California Association of Realtors data. Statewide, 35 percent of existing home sales in California last month were distressed, down from 50 percent in November 2011. But the percentages were higher in much of state’s inland portion, which is where home prices fell the most. Madera County had the greatest percentage of distressed sales at 58 percent. That was down from a whopping 88 percent a year earlier. Tehama and Solano counties were at 55 percent, while Merced County was at 52 percent and San Joaquin and Riverside Counties were at 51 percent respectively. Fifty percent of the sales in Fresno and Stanislaus counties were distressed. Closer to home, the percentage of distressed sales in November in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties was 47, 35, 47 and 38 respectively. via bizjournals.com

Attorneys for Dimitri Jansen, a local schoolteacher whose former home in North Port is in foreclosure, said such the contempt order against Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, is “unprecedented.” Jansen says his mother’s name was mistakenly added to the mortgage he obtained in 2006, that the bank has ignored requests to remove her name from the foreclosure documents and thus wrecked her credit history, and that the bank held up a pending short sale. Another Sarasota judge, apparently frustrated with U.S. Bank, had ordered the bank’s president to be present in court on Friday. The bank instead sent a senior representative, who declined to comment. Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Charles Williams found the bank in indirect civil contempt. It is unclear what, if any, sanctions the bank will face at the next court hearing in February 2013. “Fundamentally, they refused to respect the court,” Jansen’s attorney, Matt Weidner, said of U.S. Bank. “What this shows is willful negligence.” Li...

While LeBas is skeptical any meaningful deal will be forged, there’s always the outside possibility there may be some watered-down agreement that extends tax cuts or delays spending cuts, he added. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” the strategist said. President Barack Obama is meeting with Reid, McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to talk about a last-ditch effort to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. In economic news, pending home sales rose 1.7% in November, marking a third month of gains .   As bond prices rose, equities pulled back on Wall Street for the fifth session in a row.  via articles.marketwatch.com

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Content is still king, but influential relationships are queen. And we all know that women rule the world, so maybe we should start paying more attention to these queens. Bloggers should publish less and promote more. If you enjoy staying awake until 4am writing each night, and frantically trying to publish according to your over-zealous schedule, then continue doing what you’re doing. My guess is that you’re not paying enough attention to the queens though, and we all know how important it is to cherish, respect, and support the women in our lives. That said, there are a lot of queens in the world, and everybody seems to be trying to get attention from the same ones. So you send emails to industry influencers and tweet at top bloggers. One day you get a response back and feel like you’ve made it to their inner circle. Then you hear crickets … followed by tumbleweed rolling by. (Which is odd because you don’t live in the Wild West or in a cowboy movie. But I digress.) The Dia...

We often talk about the importance of energy upgrades for your home. But if you're thinking about an upgrade this winter, such as adding more insulation to your attic, you may be wondering exactly how to calculate whether that's a wise financial investment. There are a variety of formulas available for making this calculation, such as the one from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It's not a terribly difficult formula to use, and I've modified it here to make it a little more understandable. You'll need to do a little research to track down some basic information to fill in the blanks, all of which you can get off the Internet or with a couple of phone calls. Then it's just a couple of minutes with a tablet and a calculator. Incidentally, this formula also works for upgrades to wall insulation. The formula and definitions The DOE's formula is as follows: (Ci x R1 x R2 x E) ÷ (Ce x [R2 - R1] x HDD x 24) OK now, don't le...

The late Malvina Reynolds best expressed the modern image of stucco when she sang about "little boxes made of ticky-tacky." In the years since World War II, the mention of stucco has usually prompted snickers, its image cheapened by dreary G.I. housing and monotonous design made infamous by tracts such as Levittown, N.Y., and Daly City, Calif. -- the real-life inspiration for Reynolds' lyrics. But stucco's history is long and dignified. The ancient Greeks applied it over rough stone to get a smooth surface that could be decorated, and the Romans mixed it with marble chips to obtain a brilliant interior finish. The magnificent frescoes of the Renaissance were painted onto a form of wet stucco. It's still the finish of choice in Mediterranean lands. Stucco is still unmatched for beauty and versatility. It's far more durable and fireproof than wood. It can be formed in limitless ways, and the final or "skim" coat can be color...

Book Review Title: "Pocket Your Dollars: 5 Attitude Changes That Will Help You Pay Down Debt, Avoid Financial Stress & Keep More of What You Make" Author: Carrie Rocha Publisher: Bethany House Publishers, 2013; 224 pages; $13.99 One of my favorite books of 2012 -- maybe of all time -- was Trevor Blake's "Three Simple Steps," but not because it offered a bizarrely revolutionary trick for living the good life (though it did have a number of insights to that end, including systems for implementing them). Rather, the power of "Three Simple Steps" lies in its simplicity: the plain spoken nature, the small number of steps, and the poignantly powerful life stories Blake tells as proof points combined to create a book I have already bought multiple times, and which has been effective at driving big-time life changes in everyone I've given it to. To be published on New Year's Day, Carrie Rocha's "Pocket You...

This time between Christmas and New Years is always a challenging one. No matter how much you plan to work (or not work), there are always a lot of distractions; family in town, kids home from school, others working (or not working), and more. Like many of you, I am working and taking advantage of this somewhat quiet time before the start of 2013 and catching up on what I may have missed last week in social media. There were three very significant announcements made in social media over the last week or so, that you want to make sure you know about! 1. Archive your tweets. For the first time ever, Twitter has announced on its blog that you can now archive all of your tweets. Previously, it was tough to see even a few days of tweets because they would simply “drop off” the Twitter radar and not be available to view. We know tweets have been catalogued by the Library of Congress for some time, but the ability to go in and download all of your previous tweets is a big step. As ...

In the “Money Mic” series, LearnVest hands over the podium to someone with a strong opinion on a financial topic.  Today, one woman shares what it’s like to be disproportionately taxed based on her income — and how it’s holding her back. If someone had told me as a kid in Louisiana that my husband and I would have a combined income of $250,000 a year in our late 20s, I would have been pie-eyed. It sounds like a crazy amount of money. But after taking into account taxes, debt and living expenses in New York City, we’re actually finding it difficult to meet our financial goals. Why our taxes are nearly unmanageable Last year, we paid $100,000 in taxes, which is almost exactly 40 percent of what we make. Even though we also paid $22,000 in student loan payments (we have about $145,000 in combined loans for my husband’s law school and my grad school), we don’t qualify for deductions — if you make more than $150,000 filing jointly, you can’t deduct student loan interes...

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages were unchanged this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.24 percent. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.2 and 3.25 percent for the majority of the week, rising to the current rate this morning. “This past week rates remained flat, still buoyed by optimism that lawmakers might be able to reach a compromise on the fiscal cliff before year-end,” said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. “However, as we enter the last week of the year rates may reverse course back downward unless lawmakers are able to quickly agree on a plan” Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 2.59 percent, and for 5/1 ARMs the rate was 2.52 percent. What are the rates right now? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for up-to-the-minute mortgage rates for your state. *The weekly rate chart illustrates the average 30-year fixed interest rate in six-hour interval...

The kitchen in a Phoenix home for sale. Not so long ago, a repairman could tell the age of an appliance by the color of its finish. If it was avocado or harvest gold, it had to be from the 1970s or early ’80s. Poppy red meant the appliance was made in the 1970s, and harvest wheat, coffee or almond meant your oven or fridge was new in the early 1980s. Stainless appliances first burst onto the scene in the late 1980s, and they’ve had a remarkable run. But there are those in the industry who sense “stainless fatigue” among homeowners. It should come as no surprise, then, that major manufacturers have their own ideas about the next hot appliance finishes: Slate could be great   In September, GE introduced a new finish called “Slate” across its line of appliances. The company’s news release about the launch details how its industrial designers spent countless hours conducting consumer research and reviewing design trends in the kitchen, home furnishings, home entertainment...

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You’ve been saving your pennies for a down payment and watching the housing market news. You see the low interest rates, are confident you’ll own a property for at least five years and know that you’ll be able to find a home that you’ll love within your budget. You’re finally ready to buy a home in 2013! Here are a few tips to help you get started. Get with a lender First up is going to a bank, direct lender, credit union or mortgage broker to get qualified for a loan. They will run the numbers to set your price range for financing. This will help you in working with a real estate sales professional to determine which areas and types of properties fit within your budget. The lender will also pull a credit report to see if you need to be aware of any credit issues. If necessary, this will give you time to start improving your credit picture to make you the most creditworthy you can be when it comes time to lock your loan rate and terms. Find a competent real estate agen...

If your home is worth considerably less than when you bought it, you may consider trying to dodge real estate commission fees and sell the home yourself so you can at least walk away with a little something. Trying to sell without an agent isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you have the time, skills and emotional wherewithal to go it alone, here are a few things to consider in the ultra-important pre-sale phase. Price it right Taking into account its condition, what comparable homes in your neighborhood are selling for (search on Zillow to find out!) and the state of the overall market in your area, it’s really important that you price your home appropriately. Remember: fair market value! After all, studies show that homes priced higher than 3 percent of their market value take longer to sell. And the longer it sits on the market, the less interest there is from potential buyers. Want your house to move quickly? Consider pricing it 2-3 percent below competing offers. Pre...

Pending home sales rose for the third month in November, a sign of the housing recovery’s resilience in the face of fiscal threats facing the U.S. The index of pending home sales climbed 1.7 percent to 106.4, the highest reading since April 2010, after a revised 5 percent gain in October, the National Association of Realtors reported today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 1 percent advance. 2:48 Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Shiller, a professor at Yale University and co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values, talks about the outlook for the U.S. housing market. He speaks with Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance." (Source: Bloomberg) 5:50 Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- James Lockhart, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co., talks about the outlook for the residential real estate mortgage market and the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and spending c...

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Below is a list of cliches every creator should know when developing a web show or web series. Development is the first chance a show has to "get it right" or "get it wrong" before entering into production and ultimately published online. These tips on programming, format, audience and overall strategy will help you save time, money and increase your chance for web show success: 6 Cliches You Need to Develop Killer Web Show Content 1) "Two's a failure, three's a success" Your content should satisfy your brand, your audience and you personally. These 3 areas are the sweet spot of successful web content. Your brand is the channel, business or identity that you've created that exists when you're not in the room. Your audience is someone specific (#3 below). And YOU are the one who needs to be inspired to create the content consistently. A perfect example of this is ReelSEO's very own Creator Tip series. 2) "For every $1 spe...