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

Norwegian house prices rose more quickly than expected in October and growth will likely accelerate over the rest of the year, even as household debt levels remain among the highest in Europe, a real estate lobby group said on Wednesday. House prices rose by 5.3 percent year-on-year in October, up from 3.6 percent in September with seasonally adjusted prices up by 0.9 percent on the month, hitting all-time-highs in October, Real Estate Norway said. "We're somewhat surprised that we rise above the five percent level. We'll also see a further increase in November and maybe in December," Real Estate Norway Chief Executive Christian Dreyer said, adding it was "quite likely" growth would hit 6 percent. Norway's banking regulator, worried that strong house price growth will further boost household indebtedness and hurt the economy, has warned that banks may face new capital buffer requirements if the development continues. At the start of 2014, Real Es...

When we did our remodel, our contractor suggested a thousand things I had never really thought about. They weren't necessarily design considerations; they were more quality-of-life considerations — just little things you didn't know you were missing until you had them. Here are eight little touches I didn't know I couldn't live without until I lived with them. What are yours? ExpressDecor 1. A built-in dish soap dispenser . Because I don't care how nice the bottle is; it's just one more thing cluttering up your countertop. 2. Soft-close hinges. It is impossible to slam a drawer or cabinet in my kitchen. Each closes with a small whisper. It's calming somehow. Chang + Sylligardos Architects 3. Large kitchen drawers. Looking down into a well-lit space is much better than looking deep into a dark cabinet. In this kitchen large drawers have completely replaced cabinets. Just make sure they are all soft c...

With fall approaching, those imagining a change of scenery may be inspired to seek out a new home. It is no secret that housing markets vary across the United States. The types of homes offered at a specific price can vastly differ between neighborhoods, counties, states and regions. Curious how much house you can get for your money in other parts of the country? Here’s what $300,000 can buy in cities across the United States. read more... http://realestate.msn.com/what-you-can-buy-for-300-000-or-less

Here's a 15,000 square foot mansion that is sadly going a little Grey Gardens on the inside, which leaves the realtor writing the sales text in a tough spot. Positioning an over-priced dilapidated mess (the owner wants $800,000) is a real challenge. One might just freak out and decide to write a little fiction instead of deal with reality. Like this: Potentially THE best home in the city for entertaining. Oh dear God. Did they mean for entertaining mice? It looks like the dining room wasn't cleaned after the last party and the library has what looks like several inches of hastily pushed aside dust. The highest sales price in this neighborhood from the last several years was $485,000 for a 9,300 square foot mansion (bought by the President of Shinola). At 15,000 square feet this is a lot more house, but also a lot more mess. Whoever is it selling only paid $410,000 for the crazy estate in 2012, according to Zillow, which makes this one of the wildest attempted flips...

To be a successful real estate investor you have to keep your business growing. That means finding real estate to invest in and not just any real estate will do.We investors have to find real estate deals! We have to find properties where the numbers make sense, properties which will provide a decent return for our investment. Finding these deals however is not always easy. In fact, sometimes you really have to search for them. But that is just the way this business is. If this business was easy and deals were a dime a dozen, then everyone would be investing in real estate. What I am saying is that finding deals takes work and effort.It takes work and effort each and every day. As an investor, you need to be tuned into and looking at many various sources to find potential deals. Just one will never be enough! Here are some thoughts on where you might want to focus part of your daily efforts to find deals: 1. The Realtor’s Multiple Listing System (MLS) This is the databas...

San Francisco is a gorgeous town – a rich tapestry of interwoven and ever-changing cultures, generations, and avant garde political movements. Throw in three generations of bleeding heart hippies, an influx of smart young techies whose worst problem is money storage, and progressive politics ranging from smartly liberal to literally communist and you have the makings of a lovely little housing war. What’s odd is that while San Francisco is on the forefront of this issue, it’s hardly alone. Everywhere from Harlem in New York to Austin, Texas is dealing with gentrification that mirror image of the challenge of middle class flight. With all the money pouring into the housing market and all the well-monied employees and entrepreneurs from the tech nexus that is that part of California, it’s not surprising that there has been a 115% increase in evictions over the past year read more... http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/30293-a-lovely-little-housing-war-brewi...

Photo via Business Insider The 80-person team at Kickstarter —an online crowd-funding powerhouse that has helped some truly cool architecture projects find funding—recently migrated from Manhattan to Brooklyn to set up shop in a renovated, multi-story pencil factory that's heavy on industrial detailing and hipster-centric quirkiness. Largely updated with reclaimed wood and other sustainable materials, the space feels remarkably like an old fashioned library, thanks to rows of wooden bookshelves, long communal work tables—"where the late-night Dungeons and Dragons games go down," according to Business Insider—and little cubby-like nooks. More, right this way. >> The space also boasts a pillow-lined room devoted to napping, an NYC diner-themed cafeteria, and, as is Cool Office custom, a vintage arcade room. Out on the roof there's a 8,500 square-foot garden rigged with a rainwater irrigation system, as well as just a bit more lounging space. Take a cl...

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes tumbled to their lowest level in eight months in March, dealing a setback to the housing market recovery. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday sales dropped 14.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000 units, declining for a second consecutive month. February's sales were revised up to a 449,000-unit pace from the previously reported 440,000-unit rate. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales at a 450,000-unit pace last month. Compared to March last year, sales were down 13.3 percent, the largest decline since April 2011. read more... http://www.cnbc.com/id/101605827

Photo via Home Adore Glittering like a real estate mirage, this insanely chic apartment in Paris, France was designed in collaboration between Israel-based Ando Studio and what must be one very fashionable client. Done up in an almost entirely monochrome palette—yet somehow dodging that austere look color-free homes tend to take on—the so-called Saint Germain Apartment pairs its classic moldings and marble floors with an eclectic mix of framed photography, gold accent pieces—including some cool, hanging light fixtures—and modern, neutral-hued furniture. While every room is pretty darn spectacular, the ridiculously lovely, high-ceilinged bathroom, with its sculptural chandelier and vibrant tiled floors, might just be the chicest of them all. By all means, get an eyeful of the photos below, then head over to Home Adore for the full gallery. http://curbed.com/archives/2014/04/16/this-parisian-dream-apartment-looks-too-perfect-to-be-real.php

U.S. Housing Market Seeing Signs of a Spring Thaw | Pound Ridge Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Investors gobbled up 156,862 single family homes and flipped them in 2013, up 16% from 2012 and up 114% from 2011, according to RealtyTrac . Homes flipped in 2013 accounted for 4.6% of all U.S. single family home sales during the year, up from 4.2% in 2012 and up from 2.6% in 2011. In short, the market is hot for house flippers , but in some areas more than others. Flips accounted for 3.8% of all sales in the fourth quarter, down slightly from 3.9% of all sales in the third quarter and down from 7.1% of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 — the highest percentage of sales represented by flips in a single quarter since RealtyTrac began tracking flipping data in the first quarter of 2011. The average gross profit for a home flip was $58,081 for all U.S. homes flipped in 2013, up from an average gross profit of $45,759 in 2012. The average gross profit for homes flipped in the fourth quarter was $62,761, up from $52,746 in the fourth quarter of 2012. http://www.housingwire...

Although rising home prices have pushed many homeowners out of negative equity, escalating values are not a panacea for all distressed borrowers. A growing percentage of borrowers are now entering foreclosure with positive equity in their homes, a new report from Fitch Ratings claims. According to the study, the percentage of borrowers entering this process with equity has roughly doubled in the last two years. While equity continues to play a significant role in borrower payment behavior, income and the ability-to-pay also remain key factors. In September 2013, RealtyTrac discovered that 24% of all homeowners who are in some stage of foreclosure have at least some positive equity built up. By December 2013, that number continued to rise and 31% of people in the foreclosure process were struggling despite the presence of positive equity. "One of the things that stood out is that the percentage of homeowners in foreclosure who have positive equity is increasing,...

Perfectly Staged Florida Bayfront Mansion Asks $16.9M | Pound Ridge NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Gulf Coast real estate market gaining momentum | Pound Ridge Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Irish House Prices Rise for Eighth Month | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Very few philosophers have tackled the subject of architecture, and when it has happened, the emphasis has been on aesthetics. Certainly Roger Scruton’s The Aesthetics of Architecture comes to mind, in which the philosopher applies ideas of aesthetic theory to architecture to find its essence. Counter to this is Martin Heidegger’s ideas focused on experience and meaning, summed up in his lecture and essay “ Building Dwelling Thinking ,” from more than 60 years ago. For Heidegger something could not be called architecture because of the way it looks; rather this label was based on how a building was situated within the world and provided a place for a meaningful existence. Why do I bring up philosophy and Martin Heidegger here, in an ideabook about a house in Canada designed by Kariouk Associates ? Because the clients provided a quote at the beginning of the project that gave direction to the spirit of the design: “It is proper to every gathering that the gatherers assemble to coordina...

Average mortgage rates in the U.S. fell slightly in the past week, according to mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac, as markets looked ahead to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week for indications of whether the Federal Reserve will taper its bond-buying program. "Mortgage rates were little changed amid a light week of economic data releases," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement Thursday. Of the economic data released, the November unemployment rate was down at 7 percent, and outstanding single-family mortgage debt was up for the first time since 2008, he added. For the week that ended Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.42 percent, compared with 4.46 percent a week earlier and 3.32 percent a year earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.43 percent, compared with 3.47 percent the previous week and 2.66 percent a year earlier. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages o...

The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) approved a 2014 County Budget tonight that includes funding to re-open the low-income Title XX child care program and for support of other social “safety net” programs that protect seniors, at-risk youths and homeowners facing foreclosure. “This budget represents a commitment to the values and forward-thinking that makes Westchester a special place to live, work and raise a family,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “My colleagues on the Board and I understand that it is essential to keep the County taxes down through cost-cutting and smart spending. In fact, our future prosperity depends on it. But we must also remain dedicated to strengthening our communities by helping residents in need. This budget accomplishes all this, and I thank my Board colleagues for their efforts, and thank all those residents and advocates who spoke at the public budget hearings.” The Title XX child care program has been frozen by County Executi...

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27 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/10/frank-gehrys-bonkers-pop-out-bedroom-wants-52m.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/5256bce7f92ea1054c003d42/Screen Shot 2013-10-10 at 10.37.22 AM.png" width="500" height="330"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/10/frank-gehrys-bonkers-pop-out-bedroom-wants-52m.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Pritzker Prize-winning starchitect and bashed-in sardine can king Frank Gehry just couldn't leave this Santa Monica home, built in 1959, alone. The boxy, brick-front entrance looks pretty normal, the interiors aren't exactly head-turning, and then— bam, there it is!—a pop-out master bedroom juts whimsically out over the house beneath. This one's ...