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

US pending home sales slow a tick from July boom - Yahoo News

Many homebuyers are drawn to the lure of the fixer-upper. And with good reason, at least on paper. But the “buy low, sell high” ethos of fixer-uppers isn’t exactly a guarantee. There are plenty of people who snagged the worst house in a great neighborhood and turned it into their dream home. You’re just as likely to find overworked and overspent homeowners ready to run from their money pits . Committing to a fixer-upper is a big decision, one that can impact your financial picture for years to come. Before you start swinging a hammer, you’ll first need to find a way to finance your purchase. You may need a specialized mortgage product to buy a fixer-upper. Some lenders and loan types want properties in “move-in ready” condition, which can obviously pose a problem. Here are a few options to consider. FHA 203k The Federal Housing Administration offers a government-backed rehab loan that allows buyers to finance renovations based on the property’s projected value. There...

Two-and-a-half years into the U.S. housing recovery, the real-estate industry is rolling out new ways for individuals to invest in the property market. Brokers, property managers and others are helping buyers purchase houses in distant cities and manage them as rentals for a fee. Publicly traded trusts that collect rental income are selling shares to investors. And crowdfunding startups are matching buyers with willing lenders. The latest pitches generally aim to eliminate the day-to-day headaches of being a landlord, and the potential payoff can make the concept worth considering. Investors can buy in for the price of a single-family home or a single share of stock. But the plunge in U.S. home prices in the financial crisis should be a fresh reminder that bets on housing can sour in a hurry. The latest deals often don’t depend on home values going up, which sets them apart from the house-flipping strategies that cost many home buyers dearly when the market collapsed. Yet inve...

1181 North Hillcrest A 23,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills with views of Malibu Beach and downtown Los Angeles has been listed for a staggering $85 million. The real estate listing warns: “be prepared for an overwhelming sensory experience unlike any you’ve felt before.” It’s not exaggerating. The two-level home, which was completed by the firm’s creative team this month, has eight bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, an underground garage, wine cellar, and even a movie theater. Located in the elite neighborhood of Trousdale Estates, the home looks like a showroom with two fully stocked bars, a gym, game room, and infinity edge pool. The property last sold in August of 2012 for $12.65 million, according to Zillow. The over-the-top house is listed by Ben Bacal Realty as well as Branden Williams and Rayni Romito Williams of Williams & Williams. - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/09/20/inside-a-los-angeles-mansion-that-just-hit-the-market-for-85m/#sthash.hFyzivWa.dpuf

27 images   <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/18/party-house-with-360-degree-rooftop-views-wants-3m-in-la.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/541a5f44f92ea12f51027068/14-785479_50_0.jpg" width="500" height="329"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/18/party-house-with-360-degree-rooftop-views-wants-3m-in-la.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Location: Los Angeles, Calif. Price: $2,895,000 The Skinny: The 576-square-foot rooftop patio is the prime amenity of this new construction in L.A. Why? Largely because it boasts 360-degree views of the Hollywood Hills and the Miracle Mile skyline. ...

KimYe via Getty Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who are America's sweethearts whether America likes it or not, have reportedly put an $11M price tag on the half-renovated L.A. home they bought in 2013 and have since abandoned. Now that they've moved out of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner's home in Calabasas, into a $20M home nearby with, among other notable amenities, three whole kitchen islands, there's not need to keep outfitting this odd Tuscan-inspired McMansion-y thing with gold-plated toilets and Swarovski-encrusted appliances.                         No, really, that's what the Daily Mail alleged they were filling the home with (along with six $200K special-edition Savoir Royal State Beds, which take "hundreds of hours to create from a unique combination of cashmere, carded Virgin lamb's wool and Mongolian horse hair laid over hand tied, star-lashed springs")...

A gauge of confidence among home builders rose in September to the highest level in almost nine years, as builders’ views on present and coming sales rose, according to data released Wednesday. The overall gauge of builder sentiment rose 4 points to 59 in September, according to a report from National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends, and September marks the third consecutive month of above-50 readings. A strengthening jobs market is perking up builders, though there are still major headwinds from strict credit standards , among other factors. Confidence among home builders is running higher than levels historically seen at current building rates for new homes. On Thursday, the government will report on new home construction, and economists polled by MarketWatch expect that the pace slowed down in August. Economists see faster sales and construction of new homes as the economy adds jobs...

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose slightly this week but remained near their lows for the year. Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday the nationwide average for a 30-year loan edged up to 4.12 percent from 4.10 percent last week, where it had stayed for three straight weeks. The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, rose to 3.26 percent from 3.24 percent. At 4.12 percent, the rate on a 30-year mortgage is down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year. Rates have fallen even though the Federal Reserve has been trimming its monthly bond purchases, which are intended to keep long-term borrowing rates low. The purchases are set to end next month. Mortgage rates often follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The 10-year note traded at 2.54 percent Wednesday, up from 2.41 percent a week earlier. It was trading at 2.53 percent Thursday morning. Bond yields rise when bond prices fall. To calculate average mortgage ...

Mortgage applications for new home purchases plunged 9% in August from the July level, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey. This comes a day after the MBA reported mortgage applications for the week ending Sept. 5 plummeted 7.2% . By product type, conventional loans composed 68.9% of loan applications, Federal Housing Administration loans composed 15.7%, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.0% and Veteran’s Administration loans composed 14.3%.  The average loan size of new homes increased from $297,253 in July to $300,443 in August. The data are not seasonally adjusted. The MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 424,000 units in August 2014, based on data from the BAS.  The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors. The seasonally adjusted estimate for August is a decrease ...

8 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2014/09/seattles-pricey-shorts-15m-1909-mansion.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/540e224ef92ea17373016ee2/1_689448_0_1409618413_636x435.jpg" width="500" height="334"></a><br /><a href="http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2014/09/seattles-pricey-shorts-15m-1909-mansion.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> A mansion built in 1909 is now up for a short sale 105 years later . Must be time for a rebirth in spirit only because it certainly doesn't look like it needs a remodel or renovation. $1,500,000 buys a brick classi...

These days the kitchen is the most important room in the house. We’re constantly calling it our main hub, where we cook fresh meals, entertain guests, do homework, post messages and, yes, every now and then watch TV. But with the increased focus on function comes a lot of stuff that needs fixing, replacing, tweaking, cleaning and organizing. For that you’ll need to arm yourself with some kitchen knowledge so you can stay on top of what’s most important. Here are 19 projects good for every home dweller to know about.   ExpressDecor Save Photo 1. Choose a new kitchen sink. Is there anything in your kitchen that gets used as much as your sink? Doubtful. That’s why it’s important to choose the right one — size, width, style — for your space.       read more....         http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/31516989?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u643&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery2  

The median price of a single-family home on Oahu fell last month, two months after hitting a new record price, as sales in August dropped by 12 percent when compared to last year, according to statistics released Sunday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors . The median price of a single-family home in August was $650,000, which was 2.3 percent below the median price of $665,000 in August 2013. The median price in June set at record at $700,000. Sales of single-family homes on Oahu fell 11.7 percent to 323 homes sold, from 366 homes sold in August 2013. Condominium sales in August declined by 3.5 percent to 444 units sold, from 460 units sold during the same month last year. The median price of a condo on Oahu was unchanged at $350,000. “August was an interesting month for the Oahu housing market, Julie Meier , president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said in a statement. “While on the surface it may look like this past August was not on par with last August for sales of single-f...

Metro Phoenix's housing market didn't heat up in July. Both sales and prices dipped. Home sales fell 4.5 percent and the median home sales price inched down to $210,000 compared with June, according to the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The housing market's moderate slowing is proof another housing bubble isn't about to pop anytime soon in the Phoenix area, said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at W.P. Carey. "Usually when demand is weak for an extended period, supply starts to grow, as it did in the second half of 2005 and throughout 2006 and 2007, heralding the collapse of the housing bubble," he said. "However, this summer, supply is slowly weakening. "It appears that the lack of enthusiasm among buyers has spread to sellers, instead of causing them to panic. Many sellers clearly have the patience to wait for better times and are unwilling to drop prices to dispose of their ho...

In the home price race, Chicago is pulling up the rear, but it's one step ahead of New York. An index of Chicago-area single-family home values rose 3.9 percent per year from June 2011 through June of this year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. That was the ninth-smallest increase among the 10 U.S. metro areas in Case-Shiller's 10-city composite index. San Francisco had the biggest three-year annualized gain, 13.1 percent, followed by Las Vegas, 12.2 percent, and Miami, 10.2 percent. While modest growth may irritate homeowners in the Chicago area, where the Case-Shiller index is still 23 percent below its September 2006 peak, it isn't such a bad thing if you're not a seller. “If you want to sell your house and move to the Sun Belt, you're probably frustrated,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. On the other hand, “you're not pricing people out of housing as fa...

Construction spending during July 2014 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $981.3 billion, 1.8% above the revised June estimate of $963.7 billion and the biggest jump in two years. The growth was driven mostly by non-residential and public construction spending, although residential spending was up. The July figure is 8.2% above the July 2013 estimate of $906.6 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $535.4 billion, 7.9% above the $496.3 billion for the same period in 2013. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $701.7 billion, 1.4% above the revised June estimate of $692.2 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $358.1 billion in July, 0.7% above the revised June estimate of $355.6 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $343.6 billion in July, 2.1% above the revised June estimate of $336.6...