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

Don’t believe the hype. Teens are not abandoning Facebook – nor are they likely to leave anytime soon. Like the once bittersweet, respectful and sometimes resentful interactions between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, so is the prickly, contentious and mutually beneficial relationship between teens and Facebook. It’s complicated, yes, but teens and Facebook – despite what you’ve heard – are practically joined at the hip. I Hate You! I Hate You! Can I Borrow the Car? Facebook would be wise not to ignore teen’s complaints regarding the service – complaints that span peer pressure, image, prying parents, privacy settings, advertising and access. Nonetheless, for teens, Facebook has become a pillar of daily life, like school and parents. A recent Pew Research report on  teens and social media  launched the blogosphere into a giddy, frenzied panic. Teens are “abandoning” Facebook, several sites claimed. This is false – likely the result of a limited reading of the report’s da...

Entrepreneurs, by nature, are do-it-yourself people. Not a bad thing. While that trait may serve you in many areas there’s one where it actually works against you: Marketing. Here’s five reasons why. 1)   You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know. While you might feel savvy after reading a couple marketing books or listening to a savvy marketing guru, it doesn’t compare to working with a qualified team or consultant with great experience and a great record. You simply don’t know what you don’t know, and if you do it yourself, what you don’t know will hurt you. Like having a tag-line that makes no sense, or sends a wrong message. Like pouring money into SEO or your website when the better focus is Content Marketing and improved organic search. Like not realizing you need video. Or having a self-produced video that’s so unprofessional it works against you. The list goes on. 2)   A Business Owner Can’t Be Objective. Passionate business owners tend to be absorbed by the...

The housing market turnaround in Southern California is pushing prices higher as the number of foreclosure sales has dropped, real estate analysts said. Foreclosure sales have dropped to 16.4 percent of sales in Southern California in September, the lowest level in nearly five years, DataQuick reported this week. The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday the median price for homes in the region is climbing as inventories of homes on the market have fallen. The median price -- halfway between the lowest and highest prices of homes on the market -- hit $315,000 in September, a climb of 1.9 percent from August and 12.5 percent from September 2011. "Right now, inventory is down 40 percent or 50 percent, depending on where you are in LA, so people are going crazy -- they can't find anything to buy," said Glenn Kelman chief executive officer at Redfin, a housing brokerage firm. "The latest stats suggest unbelievably low mortgage rates and modestly higher consumer co...

via cnbc.com

Septic Systems - Operations & Maintenance System Components A typical household sewage treatment system consists of a house sewer, septic tank, distribution box and absorption field or seepage pit. House Sewer - The pipeline connecting the house and drain and the septic tank. Septic Tank - Untreated liquid household wastes (sewage) will quickly clog your absorption field if not properly treated. The septic tank provides this needed treatment. When sewage enters the septic tank, the heavy solids settle to the bottom of the tank; the lighter solids, fats and greases partially decompose and rise to the surface and form a layer of scum. The solids that have settled to the bottom are attacked by bacteria and form sludge. Septic tanks do not remove bacteria and, therefore, what is discharged cannot be considered safe. Distribution Box - Serves to distribute the flow from the septic tank evenly to the absorption field or seepage pits. It is important that each trench or pit r...

Business groups typically spend the first half of the year in Albany fending off tax increases, state borrowing schemes and expanded regulation. This year they expect to be on offense, driving their bills toward the goal line without much fear of being scored upon. But the fate of business-backed bills to cap property taxes, reform workers' compensation and permanently extend a subsidized-power program hinges on the outcome of the business community's top priority: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget. Business' agenda begins with the budget because of its game-changing premise of lower spending and no borrowing or tax hikes. Passage would enhance the governor's clout and bode well for passage of pro-business bills he supports. By the same token, if the budget is substantially changed or delayed, the rest of the wish list would be jeopardized. “Cuomo knows if he loses this first test, he's diminished his future significantly,” said Jeffrey Stonecash, who teache...

  71    homes currently available $940,000    median price $15,000,0000    high price $379,000     low price $348   average price per foot 193    average days on market 3776   average size     Katonah NY Homes Katonah Luxury Homes

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 ...

  The National Association of REALTORS® surveys home buyers and sellers annually to gather detailed information about the home buying and selling process. These surveys provide information on buyer and seller demographics, housing characteristics and the experience of consumers in the housing market. Buyers and sellers also share information on the role that real estate professionals play in home sales transactions. NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports – based on results of those surveys – provide real estate professionals with insights into needs and expectations of their clients. The latest 2010 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers* was released in November. Last month's Market Intelligence column highlighted some of the profile data on home buyers. In this edition, we focus on home sellers and how they may have “traded up” in purchasing another home. (Note: sellers who responded to the survey were also home buyers; consequen...

Home shopping for first-time homebuyers it's an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking, experience. If you're like others in the market for their first home, you probably have in mind exactly how your soon-to-be home will look. But it's important not to fall into the bad decorating, dingy walls and dirt-bare back yard equals bad-home trap. If you don't see past the hideous wallpaper, funky light fixtures and avocado green carpeting, you may miss out on a home with great potential. And, if you're looking for a home in a seller's market where homes are being snatched up as soon as they go on the market, you'll come to realize you can't be choosy if you want to make a competitive offer. One of the first things to do is to get pre-approved for a loan and determine the maximum you can afford to offer for a house. Don't look at homes that are asking for more than 5 percent above your maximum, otherwise you'll be setting yourself up for disappointment i...

The plan to eliminate the mortgage tax deduction was widely criticized, but the industry overreacted to the proposal. Turns out it's not that great for most of us. President Obama's deficit commission came up short of votes to command quick action in Congress of a bipartisan plan that recommended eliminating or reducing long-standing credits, including the popular home mortgage interest deduction. This isn't much of a surprise. While lawmakers acknowledge that the nation faces an incredibly worrisome debt problem and that a dramatic slash in spending needs to happen, the plan was politically unpopular from the start. Real estate and mortgage industry experts argued the elimination of the mortgage deduction would put more pressure on an already fragile housing market. That might be the case, but if we look deeper, many of their arguments are exaggerated. If anything, once the housing market gains some strength three or so years from now, slimming the deduction down so...