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

Karen Knight knew this was the house for her as soon as she walked through the front door in 2010. For Knight, who considers herself more a fan of French country style, the 1968 A.D. Stenger ranch for sale in the Westlake Hills neighborhood of  Austin, Texas,  wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. But the home’s efficient layout and tree-filled quarter -acre lot in one of her favorite neighborhoods proved to be a powerful selling point. Despite original dark finishes and small, compartmentalized rooms in the middle of the house, Knight put an offer on it without seeing any other properties. “I knew the potential of what we could do,” she says. Knight hired Austin architect David Webber at the suggestion of Veronica Koltuniak, her friend and interior designer, who had seen his work throughout Austin. When she described the home to Webber, he realized he already knew it, and had even trick-or-treated there as a kid. “Having grown up in the neighborhood, I was very familiar with...

[Photo via Architectural Digest/William Waldron .] The triplex penthouse belonging to actress, singer, and activist Bette Midler is, unsurprisingly, as divine as Miss M herself. She let Architectural Digest tour her Upper East Side digs , which boast stellar views of Central Park and gorgeously lush, landscaped wraparound terraces overrun with flowers. That's no shocker, either, given that bonafide belter is also the founder of a (literally) green nonprofit, the 20-year-old New York Restoration Project , which builds and maintains parks and community gardens across the city. More on the outside bits in a moment, but as for the inside, it's a combo that was put together and renovated by Los Angeles-based Frederick Fisher . A vibrant mish-mash of styles , there's everything from ruffled lampshades to contemporary art courtesy of collector/investor husband Martin von Haselberg, from ebony-colored furnishings by Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann to an Art Deco carpet ...

A Siena College poll of New York State voters shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo still enjoys a better than two-to-one advantage over Westchester County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino, though the gap has narrowed slightly since the last poll. While Cuomo, a New Castle resident, still enjoys a 58-28 percent lead over Astorino, a Mount Pleasant resident, in a head-to-head race, his advantage has dwindled slightly since Siena's poll last month that had Cuomo out in front 61-26 percent. The real game changer in this election, according to Siena, would be the addition of a Working Families Party candidate. Should the WFP back a candidate that is viewed as more liberal or progressive than Cuomo, the split becomes 39 percent for Cuomo and 24 percent each for Astorino and the WFP candidate. “While Cuomo continues to hold a dominant position in a head-to-head matchup against Astorino, his lead is cut in half when a WFP candidate perceived to be more liberal or progressiv...

Chris Brown seeks $1.92 million for his home, (in)famous for its graffiti-style artwork | Bedford Hills NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Fixed Mortgage Rates Little Changed | Bedford Hills Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

The following is an excerpt from Cabins & Cottages (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2011). Ready to make the leap from sheds and chicken coops to larger-scale DIY projects? Or just looking to expand your repertoire of carpentry skills? Meet Cabins & Cottages , your comprehensive resource for building simple, affordable, permanent living spaces. From the woodworking and crafting pros at Fox Chapel Publishing, Cabins & Cottages leaves no know-how stone unturned, and it details how to design and build your structures to withstand some of the worst Mother Nature can dish out (heavy snow, flooding, high winds), making the book a worthy companion for any builder. This excerpt is from Chapter 3, “Four Simple Structures.” One of the sturdiest of all structures is the A-frame, whose skeleton consists simply of a row of triangles. The bases of the triangles are the joists that support the floor, and the sides are the rafters that hold the combined walls and roof. The simplicit...

A significantly smaller percentage of purchase mortgage applications have been approved since the height of the home buying season last July despite lending industry claims that lending standards have loosened. Time to close and median FICO scores are only marginally improved. In the third quarter survey of senior loan officers by the Federal Reserve, more than a quarter of the large banks in the report-who are anonymous– said they have somewhat eased the credit standards on residential mortgages over the past three months. “Lenders are putting more focus on purchase mortgages and are adjusting minimum requirements to attract borrowers,” says Doug Lebda, LendingTree founder and CEO in a news release. “With home values improving, the risk of borrowers defaulting on loans has decreased, giving lenders more confidence to lend with less cash down from qualified borrowers.” However Ellie Mae, whose transaction platform processes about 2 million mortgages a year, released hard data for...

Yet another study shows how Gen Y wants to live and work downtown,” proclaims treehugger.com’s headline on a story about the Urban Land Institute’s annual study, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate.” The study shows that not only do those born between 1979 and 1995 drive less — and walk, bike and take public transit more — than older folks, but that they are more likely to rank living near work and school as a top priority. Interestingly, the study predicts that many baby boomers will also sell homes in the suburbs and move to urban locales with many of the same attributes that Gen Y finds desirable. Source: treehugger.com - See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/psst-have-you-heard-gen-y-wants-to-live-near-work/#sthash.Jr6N1h6g.dpuf

Plenty of local realtors will describe South Florida’s housing market as recharged. The latest reading from the popular Case-Shiller Index showed sales of single-family homes up 13.5 percent from a year ago in August. There is continued demand for waterfront properties, fueled in large part by international cash buyers from countries like Canada and Brazil. In Miami-Dade County, for instance, the category of luxury properties selling at price points above $600,000 and below $1 million, saw growth in sales of almost 68 percent. However, the question remains. If you add the threat of rising sea levels to the real estate investment equation in South Florida, are rooms with an ocean view actually a terrible place to put your money? Opinions Are Mixed Experts disagree in their predictions. Some say we should be most concerned about South Florida’s future by the end of the century. Others say the gradual emergency of rising sea levels will be a problem as soon as a decade fro...

It’s a Friday night and you’re making your way to one of the premier parties of the year. You’re dressed to impress and ready to meet some new people. You’ve been invited to this party by some of your past college friends and you’re excited because you haven’t seen them in some time. Thinking about the good old days is weighing heavy on your mind, and you’re a little nervous about what to say to them after all these years. You want to make sure your first impression is the best. You walk in the door … “Hi everyone! Come check out my new listing located at 1234 Main St.! It has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms!” This is what it feels like on Facebook or any other social media when all you do is post your listings. Being on social media is like being at a party. I know it sounds a little weird when I put it that way, but that’s what being social is all about. I’ve always been known as a social butterfly, and several teachers in my past even characterized me as such. Being socia...

          A breath of fresh air In the late '80s, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America studied houseplants as a way to purify the air in space facilities. They found several plants that filter out common volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Lucky for us the plants can also help clean indoor air on Earth, which is typically far more polluted than outdoor air. Other studies have since been published in the Journal of American Society of Horticultural Science, further proving the science . Want to see the best plants? Read on. (Text: Julie Knapp)

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Peaking Prenups Prove Housing is Hot | Bedford Hills NY Homes

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Inside Four Impressive Tribeca Lofts You Can Actually Visit | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » A First Look Inside The Puck Building’s Elusive Penthouses | Bedford Hills Homes

Location:  Vinalhaven, Maine Price:  $3,600,000 The Skinny:  Built in 1904 as one in a long line of Maine “cottages,”  Stonecrop boasts 11 bedrooms and 4.4-acre property that spills downhill to a dock on the edge of the Fox Island Thoroughfare, the channel that separates Vinalhaven from neighboring North Haven. Joined on the property by a pair of historic boathouses, the main shingle-style cottage includes plenty of historic charm, with a stone fireplace, ceiling beams, and “one-of-a-kind beautiful Japanese-style wall panels.” Worryingly, the listing includes no photos of the kitchen or bathrooms, suggesting that after the buyers are done  forking over   $3.6M  for the property, they should be ready to spend thousands more to bring it up to date. Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Classic Harborfront ‘Cottage’ on Vinalhaven Listed for $3.6M | Bedford Hills Real Estate

For the past six years, mortgage delinquencies, often a result of homeowners losing their jobs, created employment among mortgage servicers who process delinquencies and defaults.  Now the shoe is on the other foot as declining numbers of delinquencies are costing lenders jobs. Declining delinquency drove mortgage servicers to reduce headcount in the second quarter. The biggest casualties were suffered by the nation’s largest servicers, while up-and-coming servicers added to their payrolls. Preliminary data for the current and upcoming quarters indicate the pain will deepen There were 2,981 more mortgage layoffs than hirings during the three months ended June 30, according to the Second Quarter 2013 Mortgage Employment Index from Mortgage Daily. The index reflects mortgage-related hirings and layoffs tracked by Mortgage Daily and is based on public company reports, state government employment data and quarterly surveys conducted by Mortgage Daily. The second quarter net jo...

Markets in northern Maryland, southeast Pennsylvania and downstate Illinois are lagging the furthest behind in the recovery while metro area markets in upstate New York, southwest Florida and the Bay Area of Northern California are leading the housing recovery, according to RealtyTrac’s Housing Market Recovery Index. The market recovery index in Baltimore was lowest among the 100 major metro areas ranked in the report thanks to underperforming numbers for all factors except for underwater percentage and cash purchase percentage. Although home prices have risen 9 percent from the bottom in Baltimore, that is short of the 19 percent increase nationally. Similarly, foreclosure activity was down 26 percent from its peak in Baltimore, but that decrease is well below the 65 percent decrease nationally. The Maryland metro of Hagerstown-Martinsburg also posted one of the five lowest recovery index scores. Two metros in southeastern Pennsylvania posted total index scores that were in the f...

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Connecticut increases protection for homeowners against foreclosure | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Home Sales Cool Down as Summer Heats Up | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Real estate ranks second as America’s favorite long term investment despite the three trillion dollars in equity homeowners lost during the housing depression, according to a new survey by Bankrate.com. More than one in four Americans (26 percent) favor cash, edging out real estate (23 percent). One in six (16 percent) favor gold or other precious metals, even though those investments have been pummeled in 2013, while only 14 percent say stocks would be their choice. Just eight percent of Americans chose bonds. For money not needed for more than 10 years, 26 percent of Americans favor cash, 23 percent real estate, 16 percent gold/other precious metals, 14 percent stocks and 8 percent bonds. “Americans not saving enough is well-documented, but hunkering down in cash investments and settling for low returns will only magnify the problem of not having a sufficient nest egg to meet longer-range financial goals such as retirement,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com’s senior financia...