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:...

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...

The so-called Dom’Up is an innovative treehouse, which is easy to install, and has virtually no impact on the trees used to support it. It was created by Holland-based arborculturist Bruno de Grunne and architect Nicolas d’Ursel from the organization Trees and People. The treehouse can be used as an alternative to the classic treehouse, for glamping, or even as a treetop office, resort or even a cool restaurant. The Dom’Up is a lightweight, UV-resistant canvas tent shelter that stretches over a 172 square foot (16 sq m) octagonal platform. The treehouse is suspended using Trees and People’s No Trace arboreal fixing system, which was designed with the idea of utilizing space between trees, rather than a single tree, since the former offers more space. Using more that one tree to support the structure also means the weight can be distributed more equally and therefore having very little negative impact on them. The Dom’Up also features protective roofing, which is made from du...

It appears Vince Vaughn has moved on from crashing weddings to buying newlyweds’ homes. Actress Kate Bosworth, who had a country wedding this spring, listed her Hollywood Hills home for $2.499 million in April. Property records confirm Vaughn just scooped up the property for $2.375 million. ( Click here or on a photo for a slideshow. ) With 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths in about 3,000 square feet, the house is smaller than Vaughn’s La Cañada Flintridge colonial , which Variety aptly called a “Beaver Cleaver-worthy five bedroom.” Vaughn and wife Kyla Weber purchased the home last year to make way for baby No. 2. Vince Vaughn, shown in November 2013, paid a little under $2.4 million. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage) Their new place, by contrast, has an unassuming exterior tucked behind a row of trees. Inside, the 1955 midcentury has been updated with exposed beams, a chef’s kitchen and rich, espresso-stained hardwoods. Other highlights include a spa-like master bath with a jett...

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,...

34 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/19/socals-historic-villa-rockledge-roars-back-for-30m.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/53798e77f92ea13865027394/timthumb.jpg" width="500" height="338"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/19/socals-historic-villa-rockledge-roars-back-for-30m.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Location: Laguna Beach, Calif. Price: $30,000,000 The Skinny: Finding a sprawling, Mediterranean Revival clifftop villa with a private beach, amazing views and a National Registry of Historic Places pedigree is no small order, but Laguna Beach's Villa Rockledge ticks all the boxes and then some to make for a trophy property of the highest order. Built by Riverside's Mission Inn developer Frank Mille...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

Home Price Climb Returning to Average | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Solar Panels Could Help Power Future Ford Plug-In Cars | EarthTechling

Housing market could face new bubble, home price expert warns | Bedford Hills NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Housing market: Home price increases to soften | Bedford Hills 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 real estate market has been one of the strongest areas of the economy this year. With the help of favorable interest rates and inventory levels, home prices rebounded sharply from their post-bubble lows. However, what housing trends will we see in 2014? As the year draws to a close, many analysts and economists are looking ahead to next year. The housing recovery is generally expected to continue, but at a slower pace. Let’s take a look at four housing predictions from Zillow Real Estate Research. 1. Home Values On average, home values rose about 5 percent in 2013, with some markets surging more than 20 percent. The rapid increase lifted millions of homeowners from underwater status, but the pace is not expected to last. According to Zillow, home values will increase by only 3 percent in 2014. “Many metros saw appreciation well above historic norms, sometimes 4 or 5 times their historic appreciation levels. This year, home value gains will slow down significantly because ...

Busy agents collect the names and contact information for hundreds of past and prospective customers over the years. When we ask these agents what percentage of the people on their “list” have been contacted in the past 24 months – we frequently get a slightly embarrassed answer that it’s less than half. In many cases it’s less than 20% After months and months go by, it gets even harder to just pick up the phone and say “Hi, remember me?” This is getting more attention now because one of our products for follow-up presents five people out of the agent’s database to call each day. It is visually bright and colorful, so it can’t be easily ignored; and it shows how long it has been since the last time the agent called them. To make the call go easier, we provide tools and dialogue. In this business, trends in the real estate market are always a good ice-breaker – and having some relevant information on home prices, mortgage trends and market data will make up for many months of rad...