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

  December 17, 2014                                                                    PROGRAMS: Advanced Registration is required for all programs. Unless noted, all programs meet in the Nature Center and are $7 per person or FREE for  members . Please register by calling  (914) 762-2912 ext. 110 .  Christmas Bird Count Saturday, December 20 8 am   Celebrate nature this holiday season by helping Teatown educators in this important census to count wintering birds. The information gathered is compiled and sent to National Audubon which uses the information to monitor trends in populations and other conservation issues that impact avian health. Free.  Dress for the weather, bring binoculars and wear hiking boots. V...

Location:  Urbana, Illinois Price:  $296,000 The Skinny:  Thanks to the glass walls surrounding the courtyard of this late-'60s dwelling, you can peer from the entryway all the way through the wall of glass in back, out onto the fairway of the Urbana Country Club's 18-hole golf course. Which isn't quite nature unspoiled, but the view is still a beautiful one. Champaign-area architect  John Replinger  designed the three-bedroom home, which was bought in 2009 for  $252K  and beautifully rehabbed by and artist and an architect. According to  the listing,  the landscaping of the yard was inspired by the work of modernist landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. There's also a vegetable garden to the side, and the makings of a good rock garden in the courtyard. Part of the restoration included refinishing the hardwood floors, and blessedly, did not include gutting the kitchen and bringing in a granite countertop, as they often seem to with ...

When the housing bubble popped, it trapped more than 16 million homeowners in homes worth less than the balance on their mortgage. Two years after the peak of that crisis, Zillow found that nearly half those people have escaped from negative equity. Nationally, the number of upside-down homeowners is down 40 percent since 2012, according to Zillow’s Q3 Negative Equity Report. To get out of negative equity, some homeowners went through foreclosure or a short sale. Others just hung on, making mortgage payments while property values improved. At any rate, millions of them are now free to sell their homes, offering energy to the recovering housing market. Across the country, the hardest-hit cities saw the greatest relief. Of homeowners with a mortgage in Atlanta, for example, 55 percent were upside down in early 2012. Now, only 23 percent are. Phoenix peaked with 58 percent of mortgaged homeowners in negative equity in 2011, but now, that number has dropped to less than 20 percent. ...

I was meeting with a client the other day for an interior paint color consultation, and at one point we found ourselves sitting on the stairs just outside of her powder room trying to figure out the exact shade of blue she wanted for an accent wall in the room. We couldn’t find the color in the paint fan deck I had with me, but then she suddenly pointed to my ponytail elastic and said, “That’s the blue I want!” I’d describe it as a bold electric blue that has the teensiest touch of green in it. That very afternoon I saw the announcement of Blue Paisley as PPG Pittsburgh Paints’ Color of the Year for 2015 and realized it was the exact hue my client wanted for her powder room wall. And now I am suddenly seeing this color popping up everywhere, from accent walls to winter clothing to decorative accessories. One in a series: See more featured colors of the year Jennifer Ott Design Blue Paisley was chosen for the 2015 Color of the Year by PPG Pittsburgh Paints because ...

Should you rent in a newer or older apartment building? New data shows  older rentals — especially those in buildings with fewer than 10 units — tend to have lower rents. But cost isn’t the only factor for today’s renters. Jessica’s newer, larger building Near Boston’s South End, One Back Bay embodies the luxury apartment experience with a 24-hour concierge and valet service. A studio apartment in the 2009-built building is available for $3,390 per month . Jessica Lau, 24, was initially concerned with location and safety. As a dental student at Boston University, proximity to school was at the top of her apartment wish list. Then she started talking to locals. “At first, I didn’t care about the age of the building where I lived,” she said. “But after I talked to them, I changed my mind and looked for something modern and new.” Turns out, Lau’s friends who live in older Boston apartment buildings and brownstones have battled a ...

After slowly winding down over the summer months, the third and fourth quarter data now being released shows that price appreciation is no longer slowing.  It is now within inches of a total screeching halt that could presage a shift in the recovery’s momentum as real estate markets don their pajamas for the winter hibernation. The September 2014 index data for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released yesterday showed that home prices continue to decelerate. The 10-City Composite gained 4.8% year-over-year, down from 5.5% in August. The 20-City Composite gained 4.9% year-over-year, compared to 5.6% in August. The National and Composite Indices were both slightly negative in September. Both the 10 and 20-City Composites reported a slight downturn while the National Index posted a -0.1% change for the month. Charlotte and Miami led all cities in September with increases of 0.6%. Atlanta and Washington D.C. offset those gains by reporting decreases of 0.3% and 0.4%. ...

China's housing prices fell on a monthly basis for the seventh straight month in November, a survey showed Sunday, with the market yet to feel the full impact of an interest rate cut. The average price of a new home in China's 100 major cities was 10,589 yuan ($1,736) per square metre in November, down 0.38 percent from October, the independent China Index Academy said in a statement. The fall was a slight improvement from the 0.40 percent month-on-month drop in October, previous figures showed. "We expect the interest rate cut to kick in next year," Bai Yanjun, research director for the China Index Academy, told AFP. "We still believe the market is under downward pressure for the rest of 2014 because the current home inventory levels in first-tier and major second-tier cities are still high," he said. China cut both lending and deposit rates just over a week ago, and analysts said home mortgage buyers would be among the biggest beneficiaries. ...