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

There are few things scarier than looking for a place to live in the city, which seems to explain the thematic importance of real estate to so many New York-based horror films . Whether it's satanists skulking around The Dakota or a virologist living on Washington Square Park in a post-apocalyptic world , New York apartments and homes—and the invasion of these spaces by the otherworldly—tend to figure prominently in Hollywood's version of creepy. With that in mind, we're listing some of the weirdest, most iconic apartments to have been featured in movies set in New York that are perfect to watch on Halloween. Not all of these are strictly horror films, with thriller, fantasy, and adventure bleeding through the porous boundaries of genre. They range in quality from "genuine classic" to "utter crap," but all of them are worth watching in their own ways, if only to see how New York finds its way onto the silver screen. Check out the list this way >...

Real estate has long been an Australian obsession and sharp spikes in house prices across Australia's major cities in recent years have fuelled the passion for property. But it is not easy working out who or what is to blame. Fluctuating prices, and what triggers them, are studiously followed in a country where two-thirds of the population own their own home. The most spectacular growth has been in the notoriously fevered Sydney market, which has grown 15% over the 2013-14 financial year, compared with a combined 10% across all the state capital cities, according to figures from property information firm RP Data. The median house price in Sydney has now reached a jaw-dropping A$800,000 ($697,000, £440,000), many times the average wage. Hardly surprising, therefore, that Australian house prices are among the least affordable in the economic bloc of more than 30 OECD countries, leaving a generation of renters with dwindling prospects of achieving the dream of ho...

New data out this morning showed new home sales rose 0.2% to 467,000 in September. That may seem like a small number, but it’s the highest rate since July 2008. The government also revised down August’s blockbuster number from 504,000 to 466,0000. Joe Brusuelas, Chief Economist at McGladrey is not impressed by the number. “It’s the same old, same old,” he said. “What we have is... a problem in the housing market that has to do with tight credit conditions. Even though the provision of private financial credit is up, it’s not translating to effective increase in loanable funds to people who are interested in a home.” Still, that doesn’t mean he agrees with the  administration’s new push  to help people buy homes. Recently, CEO of Fannie Mae Timothy Mayopoulos said the housing giant would go back to its previous policy of buying home loans where buyers put as little as 3% down. “I really think that they oughta re-think this 3% down idea,” said Brusuelas. He worries that t...

Location:  Smyrna, Delaware Price:  $1,175,000 The Skinny:  Like Dylan's goofy picaresque ballads, this estate in Smyrna, Delaware, mixes eras all over the place. You've got a lot of updated but historically rooted spaces—check the herringbone floors in the  formal dining room,  the columns and french doors in the  less-than-formal  (but still pretty fancy) one, or the accented ceilings and crown moldings in both—and then there's rooms like the theater or the  studio space  in the guest barn, which went a bit off the rails in search of modernity. The original section of this handsome chimera was built in 1740, and there was a large addition in 1800, which features like the timber beams in the  stone-heavy den  date back to. There have been smaller updates and additions since then, but features like the fireplace in the  sitting room  have been maintained. As of a recent renovation, the space leads into an expanded ma...

TMZ reports that Lady Gaga has bought a 10,270-square-foot house in the Zuma Beach neighborhood of Malibu, California. The mansion was listed in June for $24.95M by Dan Romanelli, founder of the Warner Brothers Worldwide Consumer Products Division, around which time there was much talk of his home having a "Batcave," seeing as he developed a lot of the toys and apparel linked to the Batman movies. Curbed is sad to report that, while it does have an underground bowling alley reached via secret passage, there is nary a stalagmite or costume display case to be found in Lady Gaga's new basement rec room. (The latter will likely be remedied soon.) "Inspired by traditional homes in the South of France." >> The "Batcave," which looks like a McMansion-y basement save for the "1960s-era two-lane bowling alley," also has a wetbar-equipped theater and an 800-bottle wine cellar. The 2005 house was designed by ...

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana Price: $3,995,000 The Skinny: Now an upscale bed and breakfast and event venue, the Benachi House of New Orleans was originally the home of Nicolas Marino Benachi, a wealthy cotton merchant and the Greek government's Consul in New Orleans, who helped build the first Greek Orthodox Church in the Western Hemisphere. Built from 1858 to 1859, the house has a classically-lined double-gallery front facade with pocket doors on each floor, and an idiosyncratic rear projecting wing. The current owner and his then-wife spent seven years rehabbing the home after acquiring it in the '80s. Aside from restorative efforts, the project saw the addition of two new bathrooms, a new kitchen, central AC and heating systems, and new wiring and plumbing. The couple also transformed the unfinished third floor into a second rental apartment. The chandeliers in the public rooms are original, as well as the black marble and granite mantles. More info and photos, t...

Freddie Mac ( OTCQB : FMCC ) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS ® ), showing average fixed mortgage rates hitting new lows for the year as 10-year bond yields briefly dipped below 2 percent. At 3.97 percent the average 30-year fixed rate is at its lowest level since the week of June 20, 2013 when it averaged 3.93 percent. This was also the last time the 30-year fixed averaged below 4 percent in the PMMS until this week. News Facts 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.97 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 16, 2014 , down from last week when it averaged 4.12 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.28 percent. 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.18 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.30 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.33 percent. 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.92 percent this week ...

When we did our remodel, our contractor suggested a thousand things I had never really thought about. They weren't necessarily design considerations; they were more quality-of-life considerations — just little things you didn't know you were missing until you had them. Here are eight little touches I didn't know I couldn't live without until I lived with them. What are yours? ExpressDecor 1. A built-in dish soap dispenser . Because I don't care how nice the bottle is; it's just one more thing cluttering up your countertop. 2. Soft-close hinges. It is impossible to slam a drawer or cabinet in my kitchen. Each closes with a small whisper. It's calming somehow. Chang + Sylligardos Architects 3. Large kitchen drawers. Looking down into a well-lit space is much better than looking deep into a dark cabinet. In this kitchen large drawers have completely replaced cabinets. Just make sure they are all soft c...

Photo by Koichi Torimura via Design Boom While many of us fret over the erosion of privacy, some of Japan's most radical architects continue to design homes that do away with it almost entirely. The country's latest very transparent urban dwelling is an all-white honeycomb-like stack of platforms called the S House. The bathroom is its only walled-off interior space. Step inside. >> Design Boom theorizes that the project "represents the simultaneous diversity and order that is ever present in our cyber lives." Yuusuke Karasawa Architects designed it so that the alternating rectangular platforms are connected by diagonal sections that line up with the crisscrossing lines in the facade. Aside from the bathroom, the only "room" that breaks out from the purposeful uniformity of the others is the kitchen. Take in more views of the project over at Design Boom. . read more..... http://curbed.com/archives/2014/10/13/s-...

Nationally, asking prices for condos rose 7.3% year-over-year in September, according to Trulia ’s ( TRLA ) latest rent and price monitor . That’s more than the 6% increase for single-family homes. Asking prices for condos rose more than 15% year-over-year in Miami, Denver, and West Palm Beach. Condo prices rose faster than single-family home prices in 18 of the nation’s 20 largest condo markets, Trulia reports. “Although condo prices are outpacing single-family home prices, they are following similar patterns,” writes Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko. “Condo prices and single-family home prices are both rising faster in metros with stronger job growth and those that had a more severe housing bust in the past decade (a bounceback due to the “rebound effect”). In fact, metros with bigger condo price increases also tend to have bigger single-family home price increases.” read more... http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31664-cost-to-rent-rising-faster-than-home-prices

  October 6, 2014 M att Trainor - M.S., C.P.R.P. Superintendent of Recreation & Parks North Castle Recreation's Spook-Tacular at the North Castle Community Center!! Dear Robert, Halloween is almost here!  Please join us for a night of Spooky Fun at the North Castle Community Center!   WHEN:  Friday, October 24 from 7 - 9pm WHERE:  the North Castle Community Center 10 Clove Road North White Plains, NY 1060. FOR:  Ghosts and Goblins from Kindergarten through 5th Grade! Come dressed in Costume!  This is a FREE event; music, prizes, dancing, snacks and more! Click HERE for an event flier! Our Goal here at the North Castle Recreation and Parks Department is to serve you better. Better programming, better customer service, and going the "extra mile" is what we aim to do. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas - please don't hesitate to stop in and let us know.  We a...

Property sales in New York City are likely to hit $63 billion by the end of 2014, topping the record $62 billion during the 2007 peak. Photo: Buck Ennis   Property sales in New York City in the first three quarters of the year totaled $39 billion—more than the total in 2013. Sales will likely hit $63 billion by year's end, topping the record $62 billion in properties that changed hands in the peak, precrash year of 2007, according to a report released Wednesday from Massey Knakal Realty Services. 2014 figure is a forecast That feverish buying drove prices higher all across the city. On a per-square-foot basis, the biggest increases were in Manhattan this year. There, the average price per square foot jumped to $1,629 in the most recent quarter, up a whopping 90% from the trough in 2009, and 24% from year-earlier levels. That increase puts it slightly above the 23% gain in upper Manhattan, the second-hottest market, where average pric...