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

The owners of this Minnesota home bought it for its great location and large lot, not for the aesthetics of the 1940s-era ranch house itself. But, together with architect Meriwether Felt, they worked on it for nearly a decade to bring the house in line with its more desirable features. The most recent remodel involved a new kitchen, dining room, sleeping porch and mudroom. That’s not a full-house remodel by any means, but the additions and shifts to the floor plan made a big impact. Photos by  Corey Gaffer Houzz at a Glance Who lives here:  A couple, their 2 daughters and 2 dogs Location:  Golden Valley, Minnesota Size:  Before the remodel, 2,200 square feet (204.3 square meters); after the remodel, 2,800 square feet (260 square meters);  4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms Architect:   Meriwether Felt BEFORE:  The original house was likely built in the 1940s and was a typical rancher on an atypically large lot. Meriwether Inc AFTER:...

Rates on a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage will hit 5 percent by the end of next year, according to the latest forecast from Freddie Mac’s economists.   Expect to see interest rates climb throughout 2015, with yields on the 10-year Treasury averaging about 2.9 percentage points, up from about 2.6 percentage points in 2014, and rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage gradually climbing, averaging 4.6 percent and rising to 5.0 percent by the end of next year, said Freddie’s November Outlook. Meanwhile price increases will slow from 9.3 percent in 2013, to 4.5 percent in 2014 and 3.0 percent in 2015. Continued house price appreciation and rising mortgage rates will dampen homebuyer affordability. “Historically speaking, that’s moving from very high levels of affordability to high levels of affordability,” said the Outlook. Total housing starts in 2015 will increase by 20 percent and total home sales will increase by about 5 percent over that time period to the best sales pace in eig...

Photos via Luxury Villas and Homes via WSJ Located at the tip of the Yamu Peninsula in Phuket, Thailand, this massive beachfront villa is a collaboration between French design ace Philippe Starck and luxury hotel specialist Jean-Michel Gathy . Blending contemporary and traditional Thai touches, the four-level house contains eight bedrooms, all with unobstructed views of the sparkling Phang Nga Bay. The 43,056-square-foot property sits on three acres and is practically a resort in itself. In addition to an 80-foot infinity pool , the home comes equipped with a spa room, gym and yoga area, game room, boathouse, and a golf practice green. The home has been on the rental market for anywhere from $2,050 to $5,500 a night, though it's also listed for sale at $22.5M, though the WSJ reports the owner is entertaining any offers over $20M. read more.... http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/17/philippe-starck-phuket-thailand-villa-sawarin.php

Sales of previously-owned homes in July rose for the fourth straight month, hitting their highest pace in 2014, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Sales of existing-homes–which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops–climbed 2.4% to an annual (seasonally adjusted) pace of 5.15 million in July. That tops June’s downwardly revised annual (seasonally adjusted) pace of 5.03 million and is the highest rate in nine months. read more... http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/08/21/july-existing-home-sales-hit-highest-pace-of-2014/

Prospective buyers aren’t even going through the motions of applying for financing as applications for purchase mortgages weakened in May. Most housing markets remain stalled largely markets moved into their stable range of housing activity according to Freddie Mac’s Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi). The national MiMi value stands at -2.64 points indicating a weak housing market overall with only a slight decline (-0.05 points) from April to May and a 3-month trend change of (+0.06 points), which is considered flat. However, on a year-over-year basis, the U.S. housing market has improved by 0.86 points. The nation’s all-time MiMi low of -4.42 was in November 2010 when the housing market was at its weakest. Thirteen of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia are in their stable range with North Dakota, the District of Columbia, Wyoming, Alaska and Montana ranking in the top five. Eight of the 50 metro areas are in their stable range with San Antonio, Austin, Salt Lake City,...

14 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/30/novogratz-house-for-sale-new-york.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/5388d464f92ea16413007136/Screen shot 2014-05-30 at 2.40.45 PM.png" width="500" height="335"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/30/novogratz-house-for-sale-new-york.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Prolific—read: house paint, paper architecture, HGTV shows, and, you know, seven children —husband-and-wife design duo Bob and Cortney Novogratz are once again trying to sell their home base in New York's West Village, a townhouse that, according to the brokerbabble, has " raised the bar on the standard of unpretentious luxury." Even after a thorough broker-sanctioned stripping of the interiors, ha...

[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 ...

As once-industrial portions of cities are being transformed into neighborhoods for living and working, the future of buildings that served as factories, warehouses and more is coming into question. Should they be torn down? Or renovated for uses compatible with an area’s evolution? The latter is what happened with a listed (landmark) Victorian-era water tower in the Kennington district of central London, which couple Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce transformed into a seven-story residence. Houzz at a Glance Built for: Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce Location: Kennington, London Design-build architects : ACR Architects Size: 4,482 square feet (416 square meters); 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms LeichtUSA Save to Ideabook Email Photo The project was documented on the 100th episode of the TV show Grand Design s. The show spends far too much time focusing on Osborne, a real estate developer spending beyond his means, as he tries to raise the nearly £2 million ($3.4 million) to c...

In a lawsuit that seeks to prevent former realtor.com President Errol Samuelson from working for rival Zillow, Move Inc. and the National Association of Realtors say Samuelson was privy to two secret, yet-to-be-launched realtor.com projects — one that would provide “new consumer functionality” and the other which is “the modification of a major product.” Filings in the case reveal that Samuelson’s would-be successor at Move, Curt Beardsley, was worried about the speed at which he would be expected to execute a plan to “save ListHub,” Move’s listing syndication subsidiary. Beardsley ended up following Samuelson to Zillow. Move and NAR filed a lawsuit against Zillow and Samuelson for alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets on March 17, less than two weeks after Samuelson unexpectedly jumped ship to become Zillow’s new chief industry development officer. In a motion for a preliminary injunction filed on March 27, an attorney for M...

Last year, many metro areas saw double-digit home-price increases. However, this past quarter, there has been a significant slowdown in those increases, according to Trulia's Price and Rent monitor . Now that the winter ground is beginning to thaw, and spring is approaching, ushering in the busiest time of the year for home sales, what about those homeowners who have been thinking about selling but remain on the sidelines, waiting for their homes to increase in value? It's natural for any owner to try and maximize profits when it comes to putting their home on the market. And one tactic many prospective sellers consider when trying to cash in is cutting the realtor commission by selling the house themselves! Well, here's a reality check. Selling your home yourself is not the money-saving solution you may have thought it would be. The dollars you think you'll save on commissions is often a wash when you consider the higher sales price an experienced agent – with pr...

U.S. mortgage rates for 30-year loans rose to a two-month high, increasing borrowing costs for homebuyers as the market’s recovery showed signs of weakening. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.4 percent this week, up from 4.32 percent, Freddie Mac said today in a statement. The average 15-year rate climbed to 3.42 percent from 3.32 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company. Housing demand has cooled as higher prices and mortgage rates cut into affordability and harsh weather in many parts of the U.S. kept would-be buyers away. New-home (NHSLTOT) purchases dropped in February to the lowest level in five months, Commerce Department data showed this week. Sales of existing houses fell last month to a 4.6 million annual rate, the fewest since July 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. “The housing numbers have been really disappointing,” Patrick Newport , an economist with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massach...

Design Lessons From Tiny Homes | Bedford Hills Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Charles Avenue historic marker [All photos by Headly Westerfield] Now that Miami-Dade has untangled the Gordian knot that is the Coconut Grove Playhouse—in time for it to reopen in 2018 at the very earliest—it's time to look at the historic preservation of the neighboring Charles Avenue . In a little noticed move in 2012, Miami's Historical and Environmental Preservation Board voted unanimously to christen Charles Avenue a Historic Designated Roadway, which runs from the Playhouse at Main Highway to the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery at Douglas. The practical effect of the honorific? Nothing. The designation recognizes Charles Avenue as the oldest residential street in all of Miami . Coconut Grove itself predates The Magic City, which swallowed it during annexation in 1925. The first house on what was originally known as Evangelist Street , due to all the churches, belonged to Washerwoman Mary. Mariah Brown, her real name, worked in the late 1880s at the nearby Peaco...

Mortgage Loan Rates Slid Last Week, Mortgage Applications Rise | Bedford Hills Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Are people endorsing you for the wrong skills on LinkedIn? Do you want to know how to fix that? It’s frustrating to be endorsed for skills that aren’t relevant to you or your networking goals. But hope is not lost! In this article I’ll show you three ways you can guide people into endorsing you for relevant skills . Why Manage LinkedIn Endorsements? LinkedIn endorsements are meant to provide credibility and networking opportunities . Has LinkedIn ever notified you that someone has endorsed you for skills and expertise that have absolutely nothing to do with your actual skills? Or worse, you don’t know the endorser at all, so how can he or she endorse any skills you have? Sometimes people are endorsing you so you’ll see the notification and they’ll be on your radar. Other times, people are endorsing you because they’re friends or colleagues and they think they’re helping you. Either way, if people are endorsing you for the wrong skills, then your real skills are being overloo...

Pending home sales mirror pre-crash levels | Bedford Hills Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

The “Vanishing” First-Time Home Buyer; What It Means for the Housing Market | Bedford Hills Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Chinese Homebuyers Thronging Sydney Make Mini-Bubble Frenzy | Bedford Hills Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Fixed Mortgage Rates Move Lower on Economic Data | Bedford Hills Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Home prices increasing in Bonita Springs-Estero real estate market | Bedford Hills Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor