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

Westchester housing prices continued to show stability in the final quarter of 2012 as they have for most of the year.  Luxury market prices continued to outperform the overall market.  As mortgage rates fell to record lows, there was a jump in the number of sales and a large decline in listing inventory from the same period a year ago.  We continue to be encouraged by the stability of the market and look to see more improvement over the year to come. elliman.com via trulia.com

  Governor Cuomo promises to CAP real estate taxes because he believes they are too high.   Governor Cuomo's NYS Real Estate Tax Facts:   (  http://tinyurl.com/2ed83fo   ) 1.     Property tax levies in New York grew by 73% from 1998-2008, more than twice the rate of inflation during that period.   2.     New York has 2nd highest combined state and local taxes in the nation and the highest local taxes in America as a percentage of personal income, 79% above the national avarage.   3.     The median property taxes paid by New Yorkers are 96% above the national median.   4.     When measured in absolute dollars paid Westchester (1st), Nassau (2nd), and Rockland (5th) counties are among the 5 highest taxed in the nation.   5.     When property taxes are measuredd as a percentage of home values over a 3 year period, t...

A New Broker Disclosure Law in New York  _  Pound Ridge Real Estate   AS if the process of shopping for an apartment weren’t fraught enough, potential buyers and renters will have to deal with another wrinkle this year, when a new real estate broker-disclosure law goes into effect in New York. The law requires a real estate agent to have clients sign a form stating that they understand whom the agent represents and to whom the agent will give “undivided loyalty,” as soon as they enter into a relationship. Brokers are interpreting that to mean that the form does not have to be produced for everyone who walks into an open house, but rather as soon as someone starts asking substantive questions about a property, and certainly when someone asks for an appointment to see it a second time. Given that many apartment hunters are reluctant even to put their names on a sign-in sheet at an open house, agents do not want to have to present them wit...

You can save a few hundred a month by buying discount items on Ebay or Amazon and by searching for the hottest deals. Saving a few hundred bucks a month is a ton over a year and its effects are even greater over 10 years. But what if that’s not enough? What if you need to somehow impossibly cut back your expenses like $1000-$1500 because you lost your job or your savings have depleted? The mortgage payment is America’s single highest expense. Honoring your word is sacred. You signed on the dotted line and said you would pay your debts. Abraham Lincoln spent 17 years paying off debt he borrowed to start a business in 1833. The virtues of repaying debt and honoring your commitments are self-evident. However, at some point you have to acknowledge when the snowball gets irreversibly big and you have to make a decision between food and the mortgage. Most people choose the former. I do not advocate walking away from your mortgage for the sake of it, but if you can only ...