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

U.S. home building surged in April to the highest level since before the recession officially began, a sign of thaw in the housing market during the crucial spring selling season. U.S. housing starts rose 20.2% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.135 million in April, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was the highest reading since November 2007, and the biggest percentage increase since February 1991. New applications for building permits, a bellwether for construction in coming months, increased 10.1%. Home-construction figures are volatile and often revised, and housing data have been mixed over the past several months. But economists have been cautiously optimistic despite the uneven readings and many said Tuesday's report offered reassurance the housing market is rebounding after a dismal first quarter. "It is hard to know where the underlying trends in the starts and permits data are because of the recent big changes in the...

Another year is upon us — I can tell because just yesterday I had half a dozen plant catalogs in my mailbox (and probably another half-dozen in my email). Dreaming up garden plans for the growing season is what I value most about winter. In no other season can I take the time to carefully strategize and rethink what works and what doesn’t for my landscape. Will I finally tear out the gangly plant that annoys me even though it’s healthy? What can I do for that problem area of dry shade in the corner? What are some fundamental ways in which I can garden in healthier ways for myself and wildlife? Well, here’s what I’ve been thinking and that I hope helps you this year. Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens Let it go to see what we can learn.  This doesn’t mean I’m advocating “messy” design; instead, see what the garden has to teach you. Gardens aren’t static, and neither are we. If you let a portion of the garden be itself for the entire year, what happens? If weeds move in an...

When cold weather approaches, it's time to give your home's exterior a once-over to make sure water won't find its way indoors. There are ways to spot the problem areas on your home's exterior before a drip from the ceiling or a flooded basement alerts you. You just need to learn to think like water. Habitations Residential Design Group Save Photo Gutters If you do nothing else in fall to get ready for winter, clean your gutters. A lot of products purport to save you the need to perform this possibly dangerous and at least tedious task. I have seen many of them fail when sediment builds up. They may buy you some time, but there are advantages to giving your house a periodic once-over, and the roof and gutters aren't spots you're likely to keep an eye on otherwise. So whether you hire someone or clean them yourself, I recommend using old-fashioned gutters and keeping them clean. Most homes have gutters attached to the edge of the roofline....

KimYe via Getty Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who are America's sweethearts whether America likes it or not, have reportedly put an $11M price tag on the half-renovated L.A. home they bought in 2013 and have since abandoned. Now that they've moved out of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner's home in Calabasas, into a $20M home nearby with, among other notable amenities, three whole kitchen islands, there's not need to keep outfitting this odd Tuscan-inspired McMansion-y thing with gold-plated toilets and Swarovski-encrusted appliances.                         No, really, that's what the Daily Mail alleged they were filling the home with (along with six $200K special-edition Savoir Royal State Beds, which take "hundreds of hours to create from a unique combination of cashmere, carded Virgin lamb's wool and Mongolian horse hair laid over hand tied, star-lashed springs")...

Construction spending during July 2014 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $981.3 billion, 1.8% above the revised June estimate of $963.7 billion and the biggest jump in two years. The growth was driven mostly by non-residential and public construction spending, although residential spending was up. The July figure is 8.2% above the July 2013 estimate of $906.6 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $535.4 billion, 7.9% above the $496.3 billion for the same period in 2013. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $701.7 billion, 1.4% above the revised June estimate of $692.2 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $358.1 billion in July, 0.7% above the revised June estimate of $355.6 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $343.6 billion in July, 2.1% above the revised June estimate of $336.6...

23 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/07/29/16thcentury-castle-comes-with-a-tiny-replica-of-itself.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/53d7a142f92ea169f80294f6/imagereader.jpg" width="500" height="334"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/07/29/16thcentury-castle-comes-with-a-tiny-replica-of-itself.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Plunked right down in the middle of two canals in Gestel, Belgium, the elaborately-moated Castle Gestelhof is newly on the market for a regal $27M. Called "a work of art you can live in" by the excitable brokerbabble, the 20,989-square-foot, 12-bedroom kingdom harks back to the 16th century, according to Architectural Digest, but underwent a series of renovations in 1796 and a few additi...

A guide to cultural and recreational events in the Hudson Valley. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to westweek@nytimes.com .   Comedy ROSENDALE Rosendale Theater The Gang Show, variety. July 12 at 9:30 p.m. $5. Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street. (845) 658-8989; rosendaletheatre.org . TARRYTOWN Tarrytown Music Hall Sinbad. July 12 at 8 p.m. $35 to $48. Tarrytown Music Hall, 13 Main Street. tarrytownmusichall.org ; (877) 840-0457. WEST NYACK Levity Live John Moses, Mark DeMayo, Meghan Hanley, Derek Gaines and Jon Fisch. July 3, 5 and 6. $20. Greg Stone. July 9 at 7:30 p.m. $15. Steve Trevino. July 10 through 13. $17 and $20. Levity Live, 4210 Palisades Center Drive. (845) 353-5400; levitylive.com . Film ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard College “Schubert and the Long 19th Century,” film series. Through Aug. 3. $8 and $10 per screening. The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Perf...

The Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Bank presidents released its updated economic projections for changes in real GDP, unemployment rate and PCE inflation. In addition, it updated policymakers’ assessments of the appropriate path for the Federal Open Market Committee’s target federal funds rate. These five charts give an inside look into what the FOMC forecasts for the U.S. economy. The source for all the charts is the Federal Reserve (click mage for larger view). The three charts show actual values and projections based on FOMC’s participants’ individual assessments of appropriate monetary policy. To understand the following three charts: -Lightly shaded areas represent the rages of the projections of policymakers. The bottom of the range for each variable is the lowest of all of the projections for that year or period. Likewise, the top of the range is the highest of all of the projections for that year or period. -Dark shaded areas represent the central ten...

2014 does not stand a chance against the record-breaking housing numbers -- such as housing starts and originations -- witnessed in 2013 but that does not mean it is all bad news for this year. Despite a freezing winter and a slow start to the spring homebuying season, there are still bright spots in the economy. This week provided some good tidbits for housing, with mortgage applications rising and record traffic for online real estate sites. So here are a few shining gems for the housing market in 2014. 1. Record breaking online real estate site traffic At least people are looking to buy homes. Trulia ( TRLA ) and Zillow ( Z ) are watching their unique visitor count rise month over month, continuously breaking the prior record. Trulia consumer traffic accelerated to a new high and experienced more than 51 million unique visitors using the site in May. “Trulia’s consumer audience is at an all-time high, which is a good indicator of a strong housing market heading ...

Do you have an edible garden or farm animals? Do you live in a farmhouse or decorate as if you do? Whether you’ve got more raised beds than bedrooms, count barn animals as part of your family or have rescued a dilapidated barn, we’d love to see pictures of your home. Check out some of the unique farmhouses from around the world that have been featured on Houzz. Yours could be next! Share your farmhouse: Upload photos to the Comments section below and tell us about your home. Your space may end up as a My Houzz feature, covered by one of our editorial photographers. Corynne Pless Save to Ideabook Email Photo Fox Heart Farm. Mark and Kelley Ash of Horton, Alabama, built their family’s colorful shotgun-style farmhouse on a 9-acre property. Pictured here is their kitchen, built with salvaged wood from Kelley’s grandmother’s home and a restored washboard sink found on Craigslist. Their farm is host to a number of animals, including three horses, one donkey, five ...

Single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes sold at an estimated annual pace of 5,253,464 in March, an increase of 0.4% from February and up 8% from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s March and Q1 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report. This report includes all sales, not just new home sales , which took a beating in March, dropping 14.5% for the month and 13.3% year-over-year. “The housing market showed signs of coming out of hibernation in March after a sluggish fall and winter,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Median home prices increased on a monthly basis following six consecutive months where they were flat or declining, and increased on an annual basis by the biggest percentage since hitting bottom in March 2012. The median sales price of U.S. residential properties — including both distressed and non-distressed sales — was $164,500 in March, up 1% from February and up 10% from March 2013. March was the 24th consecutive month wher...

US Homebuilder Confidence Edges Up In April | Wochit - Yahoo Screen

  You could literally be washing soap (and money) down the drain. Suspicious that you've been using too much soap in your laundry? Follow these guidelines to get it right every time.   1. Choose the detergent that works with your machine. Today, many detergents are formulated for both regular and high-efficiency machines, but some brands, like Tide and Gain, still offer separate product lines. Pick the wrong one, and you may end up with too many suds in your clothes. 2. Make sure you're measuring. The instructions on your detergent's packaging are accurate guidelines -- it's when you ignore them that errors occur. "Don't pour in your detergent without measuring," says Carolyn Forte, the director of the Home Appliances and Cleaning Products department in the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. "Eyeballing the correct amount is more difficult than you think. You'll get it wrong." If measuring into your detergent'...

Address: 645 West End Avenue #4C / 137 Riverside Drive #1A Price: $1,795,000 $1,799,000 Maintenance: $2,437 $2,343 Beds, Baths 2, 2 2, 2 Look at pictures and vote for the co-op you would buy >> 7 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/02/which_prewar_upper_west_side_coop_would_you_rather_own.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/533c3b53f92ea16f60027f1e/73367347.jpg" width="500" height="362"></a><br /><a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/02/which_prewar_upper_west_side_coop_would_you_rather_own.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> ↑ 645 West End Avenue , a full service building by 92nd Street, offer this Classic Six with a (probably small, but the floorplan isn't included) maid's suite and a wood-pan...

We asked for them , and you gave them to us. From a tractor tire to a toilet tank, you’ve shown us unusual places where, with the right soil, some water and maybe a drain, edibles will grow. Save to Ideabook Email Photo Lack of landscaping doesn’t seem to stand in the way of your edible gardening efforts. Check out these 14 alternative places where Houzzers are growing crops and see if you get inspired to finally make use of those old blue jeans. 1. In a toilet. Not to let any good vessel go to waste, Houzzer drewsigner shared photos of a friend’s old toilet that now has carrots growing in its water tank. Save to Ideabook Email Photo Save to Ideabook Email Photo 2. In a vintage ice chest. Though it’s winter now, user dordesign ’s herb garden takes full advantage of a vintage cooler in summer. If only all raised beds came with their own bottle opener. 3. In a concrete sink. Houzz user Shari showed us how she grows basil and other edible...

It’s easy to get caught up in credit scores when considering a home purchase. But as lenders continue to loosen requirements, the need to have money in the bank doesn’t get any less acute. Getting prescriptive about how much you need in savings to satisfy a mortgage lender is tough business. The answer can depend on a host of factors, from the type of mortgage and size of the loan to the property itself and more. You’ll most likely need a solid chunk of change upfront to cover a down payment and closing costs. Lenders might also want to see a stockpile of “reserves,” which often translates to a certain number of months’ worth of mortgage payments . The bottom line is that it’s tough to talk specifics about your bottom line. That’s why it’s important to get a solid understanding of your mortgage options and seek clear guidance from lenders. Credit scores are critical, but so are income and assets when you’re applying for a home loan. Here are some of the important savings ...

A record tide of foreign buyers flooded into the city last year snapping up Manhattan office buildings. All told, overseas investors bought $5.5 billion worth of office towers in Manhattan in 2013, according to a new report released by the real estate brokerage Colliers International. The deals included One Chase Manhattan Plaza in lower Manhattan, 1211 Sixth Ave. in midtown and a large stake in the city's most expensive office tower, the General Motors Building on East 59th Street. Not only did that spending set a new record for foreign investment in Manhattan commercial real estate, it also established a new high for such spending as a portion of the total. Last year foreigners accounted for 28% of the $20 billion worth of office property deals done in Manhattan. The total dollar figure was nearly twice as much as the previous record, the $3 billion that foreigners poured into the Manhattan market in 2007, according to James Murphy, a sales broker at Colliers International, w...

Stop losing buyers because of horrible listing photos | Katonah NY Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Can home prices record 23 months of increases? | Katonah NY Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Some 86% of Banks Have not Relaxed Mortgage Lending Standards | Katonah NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor