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

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% in February, and was unchanged over the past 12 months. According to the latest release from the  Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the seasonally adjusted increase in February was broad-based, including energy. The energy index increased 1.0% after seven consecutive monthly declines. The gasoline index, a component of the energy price index, increased 2.4% in February, but has decreased 32.8% over the past year.  The natural gas index, which was the only energy component to decrease in February, fell 2.0% and 3.4% over the first two months of this year, and has decreased 6.5% over the past year. The food index also increased 0.2% in February, and the index for nonalcoholic beverages had its largest increase since September 2012 at 0.6%. The index for beef and veal increased for the thirteenth consecutive month, while the index for dairy products has decreased in the first two months of 2015. Core...

The downsizing craze has spread to real estate, creating huge interest in petite homes all across the country. This week’s episode of “Portlandia” lampoons the fad. The “ Microhouse ” clip features Kangablue, one of the units in a tiny-homes hotel called Caravan. (Owners Deb Delman and Kol Peterson live in a 690-square-foot home next door that’s “teeny but not tiny,”  Delman says .) If the show’s parody doesn’t put you off small living altogether, here are homes to feed the frenzy. They measure 500 square feet or smaller, from old-fashioned cabins with beautiful natural surroundings to a pint-sized 2-bedroom, single-family home in New York City. Saltese, MT 7759 Forest Service Road, Saltese, MT For sale: $295,000 Size: 380 square feet This property includes more than 200 acres and is surrounded on all sides by U.S. Forest Service land. It’s for a true outdoorsperson, with a loft bedroom and a log-cabin outhouse. Shop for more  pro...

Property sales in New York City are likely to hit $63 billion by the end of 2014, topping the record $62 billion during the 2007 peak. Photo: Buck Ennis   Property sales in New York City in the first three quarters of the year totaled $39 billion—more than the total in 2013. Sales will likely hit $63 billion by year's end, topping the record $62 billion in properties that changed hands in the peak, precrash year of 2007, according to a report released Wednesday from Massey Knakal Realty Services. 2014 figure is a forecast That feverish buying drove prices higher all across the city. On a per-square-foot basis, the biggest increases were in Manhattan this year. There, the average price per square foot jumped to $1,629 in the most recent quarter, up a whopping 90% from the trough in 2009, and 24% from year-earlier levels. That increase puts it slightly above the 23% gain in upper Manhattan, the second-hottest market, where average pric...

Metro Phoenix's housing market didn't heat up in July. Both sales and prices dipped. Home sales fell 4.5 percent and the median home sales price inched down to $210,000 compared with June, according to the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The housing market's moderate slowing is proof another housing bubble isn't about to pop anytime soon in the Phoenix area, said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at W.P. Carey. "Usually when demand is weak for an extended period, supply starts to grow, as it did in the second half of 2005 and throughout 2006 and 2007, heralding the collapse of the housing bubble," he said. "However, this summer, supply is slowly weakening. "It appears that the lack of enthusiasm among buyers has spread to sellers, instead of causing them to panic. Many sellers clearly have the patience to wait for better times and are unwilling to drop prices to dispose of their ho...

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The most recent results from the Case-Shiller Index published last week suggests that through March of 2014, home prices were starting to visibly slow from the torrid, double digit rates of home price appreciation (HPA) seen over the past two years and more. Whereas in the last year HPA was more than 12% or 1% per month, in the first quarter of 2014, the National Index gained just 0.2%. Nineteen of the 20 cities in the index showed positive returns in March, but New York declined. Not surprisingly, fast growing regions like Dallas and Denver reached new index peaks. The Case-Shiller press release stated: “In March, the National and Composite Indices saw their annual rates of gain slow significantly. Chicago showed its highest year-over-year return of 11.5% since December 1988. Las Vegas and San Francisco, the cities with the highest returns, saw their rates of gain slow to approximately 21%; their post-crisis peak returns were 29.2% and 25.7%, respectively. At the lower end was...

Santa Ynez, Calif. Stats : 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 half baths Size : 7,000 square feet Price : $7.5 million Pedigree: In 2006, architect Frederick Fisher conceived this modernist house on a former cattle ranch north of Santa Barbara. Corrugated Cor-Ten steel clads the single-story structure, whose floor plan is based on a grid of 25-foot squares punctuated by a central courtyard. Interior designer Brad Dunning collaborated on the dwelling. read more... http://realestate.msn.com/incredible-homes-for-sale-this-month

From new countertops to energy-efficient appliances, these projects will add the most value to your home. Spring is coming and you’re dreaming about tackling some home improvement projects that have been weighing down your wish list. But, while that swimming pool you’ve always wanted is something your family will enjoy, it might not be the right project to add value to your home. Any home upgrades should fit your lifestyle, add comfort — and give you a good return on your investment. Below are three home improvement project ideas that will help you learn how to increase the value of your home: 1. Kitchen and Bath Facelifts Replacing cabinet door fronts, hardware, countertops and appliances will give you the best bang for your buck. The national average ROI for that kind of minor remodeling project is 82.7%, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2014 Cost vs. Value Report . For the bathroom, “keep the tub and tile, but change faucet fixtures, medicine cabinets, ...

As the host of DIY Network's "I Hate My Bath," licensed contractor Jeff Devlin has seen his share of renovation missteps both big and small. "I see mistakes all the time," he confirms, "and most of them are so easy to prevent!" Read on to find out the five most common problems Devlin encounters—and how you can avoid them in your own home. 1. Ignoring the Bathroom Fan "Overlooking your bathroom fan is a huge mistake," Devlin observes. "Sometimes people don't install one or they don't clean the one they have." Without proper ventilation, he explains, humidity builds up on surfaces, and over time this moisture will cause paint and grout to deteriorate and mildew to form. Vacuuming the vent on a regular basis will help keep the fan clean. To determine if your fan is overdue for a cleaning, turn it on and hold a square of toilet tissue up to the vent. If the tissue stays up on its own when you let go, air is still flowing. [...

Some landlords in SF offering tenants big bucks to move out. Here's why | The Sideshow - Yahoo News

Is your goal to try to change the terminology, or is your goal to create a scalable business based on happy clients? Yes, this is another one of my “off my normal topic” posts …I’m so not into the altruistic idea that if we change the terminology we use — standardized terminology, by the way — that it will inherently change our industry. That it will change our mindset. It won’t. We will always have unethical agents, always have idiot agents, always have greedy agents, always have hobby agents. …There’s this “passion” that’s been around since the beginning of time — OK, maybe not the beginning of time — but definitely the entire course of my real estate career (spanning over two decades so far) that when we say the word “lead” we are some how demeaning, degrading and/or debasing an individual person. Oy vey. Seriously? Someone is a lead, until I get to know them a little bit and they get to know me a little bit. It’s that simple. You have to bring in a lot of “leads” and funnel the...

5 Great Tax Breaks for Homeowners | Cross River Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Considering The Cloud: A Strategic Guide For Business | Cross River Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Upgrade Your House With New Interior Doors | Cross River NY Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

A recent survey on employee engagement presents very encouraging results: Employee disengagement is at its lowest level in six years, according to the findings from Modern Survey. And certain key drivers—such as whether employees feel a sense of pride in their work or plan to remain with their current employer—are positive. It's safe to say that the currently improving economy is driving some optimism, but organizations are also having an impact on engagement, as a rising number of workers feel inspired by their company. These employees are also more willing to tell others about their employer's job openings. In addition, the survey sheds surprising light on the engagement levels of Gen Y workers, who have been saddled with a reputation for being perpetually difficult to please. In reality, the younger workers in this survey are slightly more engaged than their Boomer counterparts. However, Gen Y employees are more likely to be looking for another job than more mature worke...

San Francisco real estate boom | Cross River NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

House prices will end 2014 between 4% and 8% higher than they start the year, but it is "too early to talk of a housing bubble", the UK's largest lender has said. Further economic recovery and continued low interest rates should support the market, according to Halifax, but several factors – including continuing pressure on household finances – should limit the increase. The lender has reported a 7% increase in prices in the first 11 months of 2013, which puts the average UK house price at £174,910 at the end of November. An 8% increase would push this up by more than £1,000 a month to £188,903, which is still some way from the £199,612 peak recorded in August 2007. Halifax's chief economist, Martin Ellis, said: "Despite the recent gains, house prices remain 12% below their August 2007 peak, and transactions in 2013 are still around a third below the average for 2006 and 2007. "House prices are also lower in relation to earnings, with the average ...

Rising home prices continue to pull underwater homeowners into positive equity positions, with 791,000 additional properties returning to a situation in which the borrower no longer owes more than the home is worth in the third quarter, CoreLogic ( CLGX ) said Tuesday. The Irvine, Calif.-based research firm reported that as of 3Q, the total number of mortgaged properties with equity remains at 42.6 million, and of those, only 6.4 million – or 13% of all properties – remained in negative equity by the end of the third quarter. This is down from 7.2 million upside homes in the second quarter of this year. Negative equity is usually the result of declining property values or an increase in mortgage debt, CoreLogic points out. The overall national value of negative equity continues to fall as home prices rise, giving more homeowners a chance to benefit from refinancing or selling opportunities. Aggregate negative equity in the U.S. hit $397 billion in 3Q, down from $430 billion at t...

11 Reasons to Paint Your Ceiling Black | Cross River Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

12 East 69th Street NYC | Cross River Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor