Monthly Archives: September 2013

Citigroup to pay Freddie Mac $395 million to resolve mortgage claims | Cross River Real Estate

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According to Businessweek, Citigroup (C) agreed to pay Freddie Mac $395 million to resolve potential future repurchase claims tied to about 3.7 million loans sold to Freddie between 2000 and 2012.

The deal with Freddie Mac is “another important milestone in successfully resolving Citi’s remaining legacy mortgage issues,” Jane Fraser, chief executive officer of CitiMortgage, said.

The deal doesn’t release the bank from liability tied to servicing the loans. It excludes less than 1,000 loans from the period, and Citigroup said it believes it is adequately reserved for those.

                    Source: Businessweek

Pull inspiration from these creative garage makeovers | Katonah Real Estate

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ost of us could use a little extra space — for an office, for entertaining or just for relaxing — but few of us have the budget or room to add on to our existing homes. But there may be a blank slate nearby, just waiting to be reinvented: the garage. Garage Door Repairs within the Plano area are often frustrating. They always seem to happen at the worst possible time. Like when you’re late for work, trying to urge the youngsters to high school, or close to head out for vacation. Broken or damaged garage doors are often noisy, ugly, and just downright embarrassing. The professionals at Metro Garage Door Repair are your local experts in Garage Door Installations and Repairs. If you want best garage door repair service, you can go to this website.
These six Houzzer garage conversions have gone above and beyond the average remodel. No longer in need of a parking spot, or tired of looking at the mess that had piled up, these homeowners took advantage of their empty or dilapidated garages. The resulting dream rooms gave these families the extra space they were looking for.

traditional garage and shed by Suzanne Dingley Interiors

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Houzzer: Suzanne Dingley, Suzanne Dingley Interiors Location: Salt Lake City Garage size: 180 square feet, detached DIY or professional project? Both
A new work-from-home job meant that Suzanne Dingley’s husband needed a new office. Instead of cramming one into their house, the couple turned to their detached garage, which had become a dark and dirty dumping ground for junk. They gutted the space, exposed the rafters and pitched roof, and installed new flooring and built-in storage.
traditional garage and shed by Suzanne Dingley Interiors

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The red and white color palette evolved from this Ikea photo of a London bus — a tribute to the couple’s British roots.
traditional garage and shed by Suzanne Dingley Interiors

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The pair replaced the existing garage doors with two sets of French doors and two new windows to let in natural light. The newly insulated ceiling and floors control the internal temperature, but a window cooler and space heater help out, too. “My husband is very happy with his space, especially with his short commute across the yard,” says Dingley.
traditional garage and shed Garage Conversion

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Houzzer: Rick Giudicessi Location: Des Moines, Iowa Garage size: 240 square feet, attached DIY or professional project? Professional
This 1930s garage wasn’t just worn out and beat up; its odd layout and tiny garage door made it impossible for Rick Giudicessi to park his car inside. Instead of using it for storage, he turned it into a tiki bar with an attached patio where his family can entertain year-round. “When the weather ends the use of the patio and tiki bar area, we move inside to the heated area,”
he says.

Westchester legislative race: Five Republicans win write-in upsets for Independence line | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Five Republican candidates for Westchester Board of Legislators have won write-in primaries that will put their names on the Independence line on the general election ballot.

The Independence Party froze Republicans out of the line in contested races this year and nine were able to challenge the endorsed candidates, all Democrats, through the write-in process called opportunity to ballot. The line could help Republicans in close races.

“This is a very gratifying victory for my campaign but more important, it is a victory for the principles of fair and honest elections,” said Legislator Sheila Marcotte, who won her write-in challenge in District 10. “The true spirit of the Independence Party has been affirmed by the rank and file members.  The huge margin of victory in this race is a clear rebuke to the back room-dealing and patronage-begging that the Independence Party bosses have engaged in.”

Here are unofficial results from the Westchester Board of Elections:

District 1 (Peekskill, Buchanan, Yorktown)

Duane Jackson, D, 113

John Testa*, R, 127

District 2 (northeast Westchester)

Peter Harckham*, D, 164

Andrea Rendo, R, 115

District 5 (White Plains, Scarsdale, Harrison)

Benjamin Boykin, D, 33

Miriam Levitt Flisser, R, 16

District 6 (Harrison, Rye Brook, Port Chester)

Mark Jaffe, D, 64

David Gelfarb*, R, 19

John Verni, R (in District 7), 1

District 7 (Mamaroneck, Rye, Larchmont, Harrison, New Rochelle)

Catherine Parker, D, 34

Thomas Murphy, D, 4

John Verni, R, 61

(Verni also won a Green Party write-in primary with 5 votes to Parker’s 1 vote)

District 9 (Cortlandt, Croton, Ossining, Briarcliff, Peekskill)

Catherine Borgia*, D, 107

Peter Tripodi IV, R, 78

District 10 (Eastchester, Tuckahoe, New Rochelle)

Mary Jo Jacobs, D, 47

Sheila Marcotte*, R, 118

District 11 (Pelham town, New Rochelle)

Stavros Pantelis, D, 23

James Maisano*, R, 103

District 14 (Yonkers, Mount Vernon)

Rachelle ‘Rocky’ Richard, D, 33

Bernice  Spreckman*, R, 58

 

 

http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2013/09/27

 

Borrowers face difficulties qualifying for a mortgage | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Three out of 10 Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage, despite historically low interest rates and levels of affordability not seen in years, data from Zillow (Z) revealed.

Zillow looked at 13 million loan quotes and more than 225,000 purchase loan requests on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace in September, comparing them to a similar study conducted in September 2010.

What Zillow found was discouraging for borrowers looking to buy a home — especially those affected by the recent financial crisis.

Borrowers who have FICO credit scores under 620 who requested purchase loan quotes for 30-year fixed, conventional loans were unlikely to receive even one loan quote in September. This was unchanged from three years ago, even if they offered a relatively high downpayment of 15%-25%.

According to data provided by myFICO.com, nearly 28.4% of Americans have a credit score of 620 or lower.

At the same time, the bar has been set higher for those looking to get the lowest available mortgage rates. Typically, the best mortgage rates are reserved for borrowers with credit scores of 740 or higher, compared to 720 in 2010. Data revealed that 40.3% of Americans currently fall into this category.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27081-borrowers-face-difficulties-qualifying-for-a-mortgage

 

 

 

Millwood Fire Department to break ground on new firehouse | Chappaqua Real Estate

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After years of planning, the Millwood Fire District and the Millwood Fire Company #1 will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Sunday, Oct. 6 for the new firehouse in the hamlet in the town of New Castle. The event will kick off the Fire Company’s annual open house.

From the invitation:

Celebrations start at 11:15 at Station #1 located at 60 Millwood Road in downtown Millwood. We’ll gather for coffee and donuts at the old firehouse before making our way to the new site for the groundbreaking ceremony. We’ll then return to Station #1 for a BBQ, truck rides and crafts for the kids, a trolley ride through the District, as well as fire safety education for kids and adults. Open House starts at 1 PM.

 

 

http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2013/09/25/millwood-fire-department-to-break-ground-on-new-firehouse/

World’s Richest Woman Lists Wyoming Estate For $12.5M | Armonk Real Estate

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Christy Walton, the richest woman in the world, has put her 2.45-acre Wyoming estate on the market for $12.5M. Yesterday Forbes named her as No. 6 on its Forbes 400, a rank she held last year, and calibrated her fortune—which she inherited from her late husband, a son of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton—at $35.4B. To summarize: even if the estate commands its asking price, Walton probably won’t bat an eyelash. In fact, after her husband’s 2005 death, Walton went so far as to donate—yes, donate—the stately 1896 Victorian where she had raised her family, in National City, Calif.

About this Teton Village property: it’s “an architectural masterpiece,” according to the brokerabble, with 200-year-old reclaimed-oak floors, Albertini windows, cathedral ceilings, a two-bedroom, turn-of-the-century guest cabin, and direct access to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

All-cash deals make huge comeback | North Salem Real Estate

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Call it the summer of the cash sale. All-cash home purchases skyrocketed during the summer months of 2013, with their share of total sales growing by more than 40 percent from the beginning of June to the end of August, amid sustained appetite from investors, a recent spike in interest rates and tight inventory.

Cash purchases accounted for 45 percent of sales in August, up from the 2013 trough of 32 percent seen in April and May, according to RealtyTrac data provided exclusively to Inman News. RealtyTrac That indicates that the market share of cash sales has increased 41 percent in just the last three months.

The recent meteoric rise in cash sales’ market share hit its fastest clip yet in August, with cash purchases’ share of total sales jumping 6 percentage points month over month to 45 percent. That’s the highest level that RealtyTrac has recorded since March 2012, right around when home prices hit their post-meltdown low.

Looking back a year, cash sales’ market share was up a whopping 50 percent in August, RealtyTrac said.

 

read more…

 

http://www.inman.com/2013/09/26/cash-sales-share-of-total-purchases-skyrockets-by-nearly-a-third-in-2-months/#sthash.nABqVPhW.dpuf

Bridgehampton House by Architect Peter Cook Pictured in Beach Magazine | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Hamptons architect Peter Cook‘s houses gracefully reference classic Shingle Style, with modern updates. As a local, Cook knows that location is ultra-important in the Hamptons. He says, “Our clients buy these properties because of the views, so it’s very important to capture them as you move throughout the house. Orientation of the sun dictates a lot. Take a swimming pool, for example. You want to sit in the chair and face the sun without having your back to the pool. That decides how you place things on the property. The spaces you move through—the hallways, stairways, rooms—should have light and natural views that allow you to really experience the property.”

6 Ways to Use Embedded Tweets to Help Your Business | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Are you looking for creative ways to embed tweets on your website?

Do you want to show off your customer’s kind words about your business?

Since Twitter allows the ability to embed tweets on websites, people have discovered lots of creative ways to use them.

In this post, I’ll show you six ways to use embedded tweets to enhance your content, drive engagement and establish social proof.

How to Embed a Tweet

From sharing spontaneous customer testimonials to increasing traffic and promoting events, embedded tweets can capitalize on or support engagement with your brand in a number of ways.

Before we get started, let’s quickly review how to embed a tweet on your website.

When you find a tweet you want to embed on your website, hover over that tweet and click on the More link. Then you should see an Embed Tweet option.

embed tweet option

Finding the Embed Tweet option on Twitter.

 

When you click on Embed Tweet, you are prompted to copy the sharing code for the tweet.

Copying the embed code for a tweet.

Then you paste the embed code in your website. If your site is on WordPress, use the HTML/Text editor. When you save or publish, you have a live, interactive tweet on your website.

Yes, it’s that simple! Now, let’s look at some ways to use embedded tweets.

Here are some creative applications of embedded tweets.

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/embedded-twitter-posts/

 

Mortgage applications shoot up 11.2% | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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Mortgage applications shifted gears, increasing 11.2% from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said this week.

Meanwhile, the refinance index grew 18% from the prior week, while the purchase index rose 3%.

As a whole, the refinance share of mortgage activity inched back up to 61% of total applications, up from 57% a week earlier.

The average contract interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan limit dropped to 4.75% from 4.80%.

Furthermore, the 30-year, FRM jumbo edged down to 4.83% from 4.84%.

The average 30-year, FRM backed by the FHA fell to 4.50% from 4.56%, and the 15-year, FRM declined to 3.81% from 3.83%.

Meanwhile, the 5/1 ARM plummeted to 3.54% from 3.59% a week earlier.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26891-mortgage-applications-shoot-up-112