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...

Just when the stumbling U.S. housing market could use a boost, it’s entering the slowest period of the year. Online home searches, an indicator of demand, peak from March through August, according to Trulia, a real estate information firm that studied three years of its search activity. By September, as summer ends and children start school, searches fall below the annual average and decline further until December. The seasonal slowdown means a turnaround in the housing market is unlikely for the rest of this year. After a robust 2013, new and existing home sales are down from a year ago even with inventories up and mortgage rates holding close to record lows. The pace of new-home purchases fell to the slowest in four months in July as rising prices and tight credit kept buyers at bay and forced economists to lower forecasts. “The first half of the year has definitely been disappointing,” said Joel Kan, director of economic forecasting at the Mortgage Bankers Association . “The...

The Bedford Police Department is reminding residents that April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Police sent out a community message Tuesday, April 15, reminding residents that "one text or call could wreck it all." The department is spreading the word on the national Distracted Driving Awareness campaign that aims to stop drivers from using a cell phone or texting while driving. Residents looking to learn more about the initiative are asked to visit the national Distracted Driving Awareness website. http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/bedford-police-raise-awareness-distracted-driving

While national trends for troubled properties are improving, there are 19 states where newly started foreclosures are heading higher, according to data released Thursday. In March, there were foreclosure filings on about 117,000 properties throughout the country, up 4% from February, but down 23% from a year earlier, online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac said. Such filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. In addition, trends show national improvement: For the first quarter, there were about 342,000 properties with foreclosure filings, also down 23% from a year earlier. Looking nationally, the pipeline of foreclosures has narrowed since the housing bubble burst. The past year in particular has seen a rebound for the U.S. housing market, with rapidly rising price s enabling many troubled borrowers to gain equity. But at the state level, the foreclosure news is somewhat darker, with 19 states posting annual growth in foreclosure starts for the firs...

When Is the Best Time to Buy a Home? | Bedford Hills NY 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

WordPress themes for real estate agents on a budget: 11 tips to get started | Bedford Hills Realtor | 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

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

October, despite the government shutdown, was still a strong month for the New Jersey real estate market, according to data released by the New Jersey Association of Realtors, in conjunction with 10K Research and Marketing. So strong, in fact, that closed sales were up more than 32 percent over the same time last year. “We’re continuing to see a lower number of properties for sale – just under 15 percent lower than last year – so it’s not surprising to see more closed sales since inventory is limited around the Garden State,” said Christina “Tina” Banasiak, 2013 President of NJAR. “It’s a competitive market right now for buyers, which means that sellers are certainly happier to see prices increasing.” While the trends do vary around the state since each market is different, the overall outlook is very good. Statewide, for single-family homes, though the total number of homes for sale is down 12.1 percent, there were 15.8 percent more new listings, indicating that sellers are feelin...

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...

Home prices will rise in 2014 but at a slower, more steady pace compared with historical trends. The housing recovery has pushed up home prices nearly everywhere. In the past year, home prices rose in 225 of the 276 cities tracked by Clear Capital, a provider of real estate data and analysis. (See how home prices are shifting in 276 metro areas .) Prices nationwide increased by 10.9 percent, pushing the median price for existing homes up by $30,000, to $215,000. For people who have waited to sell their home or refinance their mortgage, that's good news. Rising home prices in Seattle enabled Mike and Kristin Litke to refinance their first mortgage last summer and pay off a second mortgage that had an 8.2 percent interest rate. The Litkes, who bought their three-bedroom, 1.5-bath home for $512,500 in 2007 at the peak of Seattle's housing market, had used the second mortgage to avoid paying private mortgage insurance. In 2010, just as home prices in the area hit a trou...

Why do platforms like Google Search, YouTube, and Google+ continue to grow their active user base? To me, the answer is simple: they all provide a good user experience. Google provides users and digital marketers with a plethora of useful Google tools and resources to help us get the most out of each platform. As digital marketers we can utilize these tools and resources to help us maximize the success of our online marketing campaigns. 1. Google Trends . Solutions, products and services all evolve, and so do the searches people use to find them. Google Trends is a fantastic free tool that provides insight into the search trends for keywords and search phrases. This robust tool also creates a list of related hot searches, rising terms, and the regional interest for your keywords. Digital marketers can utilize this tool to assist them with keyword research . 2. Structured Data Testing Tool This handy tool is a quick way to get a preview for the structured data Goo...

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Will Housing Save the Economy? | Bedford Hills NY Homes

Location: San Francisco, Calif. Price: $5,250,000 The Skinny: Renovated from 2006 to 2008 into a breathtaking modern home, Historic Firehouse 44 in San Francisco's Noe Valley is an undeniably impressive residence, but the 5,814-square-foot house has still had quite a bit of trouble landing buyers in the past. It was listed for $6.375M in May 2008, and, after numerous price reductions , finally sold in 2011 for $4.05M. Now, the new owner has already returned it to market , with a brand new asking price— $5.25M . The house, which was, pre-renovation, home to artists Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen, now features a four-story atrium with glass-and-wood stairs, an elevator, "numerous bars," and original firehouse details, including a pole and rear metal staircase. The whole place is also wired with sound, lighting, and media systems. You can see a lot more of the house, and listen to some dramatic piano music, in this video tour. Check out that stair atrium, this way. ...

The release of the latest  S&P/Case-Shiller  Home Prices Indices turned out to be anticlimatic as rising mortgage rates spooked the market a bit, causing home price appreciation to subside a bit in key markets. On the other hand, markets once considered ‘struggling’ saw their prices soar. The June S&P Case-Shiller report, while still impressive, fell slightly showing a 12.1% gain in home prices year-over-year. That is still comparable to the 12.2% annual home price gain recorded in May — the largest gain recorded since March 2006. “Case-Shiller put up some big numbers in June, but more current data shows the pace of monthly home value appreciation slowed in both June and July, likely as a result of mortgage rate increases,” said  Zillow  ( Z ) Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “We expect even the Case-Shiller index will begin to show this trend when its July data finally comes out in September, but it will be more muted since the index is looking at ...

Bedford   Hills NY Weekly Real Estate Report 9/5/2013 Homes for sale 34 Median Ask Price $1,357,500.00 Low Price $289,000.00 High Price $30,000,000.00 Average Size 4501 Average Price/foot $569.00 Average DOM 154 Average Ask Price $3,201,112.00 Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Bedford Hills NY Weekly Real Estate Report | RobReportBlob

Just recently Barry Smith received a rather jarring voice mail. “It is disgusting. It is almost like you are portraying the devil,” the caller said in a quavering voice, according to Smith, owner of Washington, D.C.-based Domus Realty. By Smith’s account, the caller later added: “You’re like the dark side, and the dark side does not see well.” The message represents just one of many reactions to a colorful job ad that Smith, once a philosophy professor at Georgetown University, recently penned and fired off to what he said were about 10,000 email addresses. Calling for an “agent-priest,” the job ad has struck a chord with some real estate professionals who say it has given voice to their disillusionment with broker culture. At the same time, some readers of the post, like the woman who seemed to view Smith as something of a Sith lord, have found its cynical tone deeply unnerving. The second reaction may be understandable: Certain passages in the ad, titled “Domus Realty — From...

A new Metro-North train schedule goes into effect for all Harlem and Hudson Line customers on Monday, Aug. 19 so that track repairs can expand and continue on the Bronx Right-of-Way Improvement Project, the railroad announced. The new schedule includes changes on all three New Haven, Harlem and Hudson Line trains. On the Harlem Line, the 8:03 a.m. local train from Mount Vernon West to Grand Central will be restored.  The New Haven Line’s 7:35 a.m. train from Port Chester to Grand Central will also be restored, as well as the 8:30 a.m. train from New Rochelle to Grand Central. This schedule will remain in effect through the fall until the Bronx-Right-of-Way Improvement Project is completed. The schedules for trains on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines will be adjusted between two and ten minutes to more accurately reflect travel times, the release said. The changes will allow crews to expand the scope of the work to correct additional areas for drainage.  “Further inspe...