Daily Archives: May 14, 2014

Dracula’s castle is now for sale in Romania | Pound Ridge Real Estate

A view of Bran Castle, Romania. (Daniel Williams/The Washington Post)

The Transylvanian castle erroneously reputed to be the abode of that terrifying abomination Dracula is now technically “for sale.” Bran Castle, an atmospheric pile perched atop a crag, is set to be sold off by its Habsburg owners. The Romanian government has reportedly lodged an $80 million bid.

The fortress dates to the 13th century and has been occupied by various bands of warriors and knights over the years. Images of Bran Castle supposedly reached Bram Stoker, the 19th-century Irish author of “Dracula,” who drew inspiration for his famous work from travelogues and sketches by British diplomats and adventurers in what was then Wallachia (modern-day Romania). He envisioned the scene surrounding the vampire’s lair like so:

The castle is on the very edge of a terrific precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.

Bran Castle fits the bill and has since become a popular tourist destination for those seeking their Dracula thrills. The structure was in the possession of the Romanian Habsburg royal line, but it was appropriated by the state with the advent of Communism. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Habsburgs’ descendants were ceded back the fortress and set about restoring it — making it the desired attraction it now is.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/14/draculas-castle-is-now-for-sale-in-romania/?tid=up_next

Top Shanghai real estate agents downsize as sales slowdown takes a toll | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Shanghai’s top real estate agent has been forced to downsize, hurt in part by a delay in commission payments from property developers in a market facing increasing liquidity pressure and a slowdown in sales.

Hong Kong-based Centaline Property, which has around 470 branches in Shanghai, told Reuters it has imposed a hiring feeze in the commercial capital and has been reviewing leases at some of its branches since the fourth quarter of last year.

“For agents and shops that can’t meet quotas, we would let staff go through natual attrition and stop renting,” said Clement Luk, Centaline’s chief executive of east China.

“April’s transactions in Shanghai were around 20 percent lower than March; looking at the momentum now, April may not be the bottom yet, May and June could still be on a downtrend.”

Another leading agent in Shanghai, Dooioo Real Estate, said it was also cutting staff, although it still planned to increase its number of branches in the city to 250 by the end of the year from 206 now.

Chinese media reported on Monday that the two real estate agents were cutting staff by 5 to 10 percent, citing internal sources. Dooioo said its staff cuts would be less than that figure, while Centaline said only it was letting staff go.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/china-economy-property-layoffs-idUSL3N0NY3VD20140513

Metro Atlanta home prices jumped 18% at end of ‘13 | Armonk Real Estate

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Metro Atlanta’s housing market continued to rebound at the end of 2013, posting double-digit growth, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes.

The area’s house prices jumped 17.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. CoreLogic also predicts metro Atlanta’s home prices will increase 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

National home prices rose 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. Home prices nationwide were 20 percent above the trough reached in the fourth quarter of 2011, but remained 21 percent below the peak reached in the first quarter of 2006.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/05/13/metro-atlanta-home-prices-jumped-18-at-end-of-13.html

Drop in rates spurs rise in mortgage refinancing | Chappaqua Homes

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Mortgage applications edged slightly higher last week, as rates fell to their lowest level since November.

Applications rose 3.6 percent on week. However, the move was entirely due to a 7 percent gain in refinances, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Meanwhile, applications to purchase a home fell less than one percent on week but dropped 12 percent on year.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.39 percent from 4.43 percent. Concerns over whether or not the European Central Bank (ECB) might undertake easing measures at its June policy meeting spooked equity markets last week. Lackluster retail sales this week didn’t help matters. As investors flee to the relative security of the bond market, yields fall, and interest rates loosely follow those moves.

“We always get some response to any move to periodic highs/lows in rates. Some magic percentage of mortgage holders are always needing or wanting to refinance, and some percentage of that percentage is flexible as to their lock time frame,” said Matthew Graham COO of Mortgage News Daily. “Those are the folks that make the applications numbers move the most. In general, they’re locking more as rates are hitting periodic lows.”

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/drop-rates-spurs-rise-mortgage-110000227.html

What you need to apply for a mortgage | North Salem Real Estate

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When it comes time to apply for a mortgage in 2014, you might be surprised at how much documentation you’ll need.

J.D. Crowe, president of Southeast Mortgage in Lawrenceville, Ga., says most of the documentation should be familiar to you if you have applied for a mortgage loan in the last five years. If you’re new to the mortgage market this year, he says, this is all new.

The new qualified-mortgage rules that took effect on Jan. 10 make this paperwork even more important. To meet the rules, lenders will be even more diligent in collecting the paperwork that proves that you can afford your monthly mortgage payments. David Reiss, professor of law at Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, N.Y., says that while the documentation requirements under the rules might come as a shock to those who haven’t applied for a mortgage since 2008, they are common-sense requirements, for the most part.

“These are really common-sense rules,” Reiss says. “The new rules say that mortgage lenders are no longer allowed to throw out the common-sense standards of lending money during boom times, when they might be tempted to overlook long-term financial goals for quick profits. If the rules help that happen, they’ll be a good thing.”

http://realestate.msn.com/what-you-need-to-apply-for-a-mortgage

From Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes | Waccabuc Real Estate

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I recently wrote an article for Houzz in which I acknowledged the dumbest decorating decisions I’d ever made. More than 300 of you responded with your own tales of woe. Most of them fell into four categories:

1. Painting anything yellow.
2. Furniture that wouldn’t fit through doorways.
3. Leaving town while someone worked on your home.
4. Painting anything yellow.

Because it can take a while to read 300 comments, I collected some of the most memorable tales from fellow Houzzers to share with you. Schadenfreude alert: Some of the following stories may cause involuntary laughter. Don’t resist.

Note: Photos are for illustration purposes only and do not portray the actual disasters described.

From Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes

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Houzz user names are noted in green.

Color Trouble
ojmcneff
Once my color-blind husband picked the color to paint our traditional home. He said it was tan. I came home to a lavender house.

joslyn2315
I love the color purple, so I wanted one room in purple. Well, it looks like Barney puked all over the walls.

baiwenli
When building our first house I painted the whole house what seemed to be gray with a purple undertone. My first mistake was in not understanding how tough it is to get gray right. My second mistake was not getting a test pot and trying it out in the space. My third mistake was being out of town when the painters did the job. “Slight purple undertone” was Barney purple. My entire home. Needless to say, my husband was less than pleased having to repaint it. All I can say is test pots, test pots, test pots.

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/26845925?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u506&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery4

Laid-Back Comfort in the New York Woods | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Thomas Riker, the codesigner of this house and a principal at design firm jamesthomas, calls the area of upstate New York state where it sits the “anti-Hamptons.” The Hamptons, a collection of villages on Long Island bordering the Atlantic, is known as a summer retreat for business titans and celebrity moguls, and the area contains some of the most expensive real estate in the United States. In contrast, “There’s a very Adirondack feeling to this part of upstate New York,” Riker says. “It’s almost like a throwback to a 1950s camp. It’s an area where the homes are quirky and unpretentious.”

This is where a friend whom Riker grew up with in Detroit decided to stake his claim for a weekend family retreat. They purchased a little cabin that had a lot of charm, but they wanted more room for the family — which includes two adults and three teenagers — and large gatherings with friends. It also was in a major state of disrepair. Together he, business partner James Dolenc and architect Leonard Woods made the house much more comfortable for the family while retaining its rustic sensibility.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and 3 teens
Location: Upstate New York
Size: 3,700 square feet (344 square meters); 5 bedrooms, 3½ baths
Year built: 1920s

Although the exterior looks much the same, the interior rooms were refreshed and two additions were added. On the front of the house, a single-story addition contains a gracious entry, pictured here, a powder room and a mudroom. A new two-story structure was added on the back. “This structure made way for a screened-in porch on the upper level and a master bedroom suite on the lower level,” says Riker. “The porch is an informal living room in the summer.”

jamesthomas, LLC

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A big goal was to make the house feel rustic, but also fresh and modern. “We didn’t want to do the expected wool plaid,” says Riker.

Although the room had a peaked roofline, it didn’t have the Douglas fir beams. The addition of the wood on the high ceiling brings it down to human scale and adds an element of casual rusticity.

jamesthomas, LLC

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Two bobbin armchairs wear the only plaid upholstery in the home. “But we chose a plaid in a bright color,” says Riker. This is horse country, he adds, so a coffee table with equestrian leather straps feels like a natural choice.

The windows are original, but the window seat and sconces were added. “This is where the kids like to go and read,” says Riker. It’s also where they like to play games, so there’s a game table to the left of the window.

“My client found several trays that are made to look like vintage game boards,” says Riker. “She wasn’t sure what to do with them, but she thought they were cool. They look great hanging on the walls in this room.”

Armchairs: Spindle Chairs, Wisteria; coffee table: Equis, Casamidy

jamesthomas, LLC

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The adults have staked their claim to this modern take on a wing chair. This is their comfortable spot for relaxing and reading by the fire. The original stone fireplace was crumbling; a new stone surround mimics the original.

Buying Bedford Real Estate

Robert Paul Realtor buying Bedford real estate

Daily Archives: May 14, 2014

Dracula’s castle is now for sale in Romania | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Top Shanghai real estate agents downsize as sales slowdown takes a toll | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Metro Atlanta home prices jumped 18% at end of ‘13 | Armonk Real Estate

Drop in rates spurs rise in mortgage refinancing | Chappaqua Homes

What you need to apply for a mortgage | North Salem Real Estate

From Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes | Waccabuc Real Estate

Laid-Back Comfort in the New York Woods | Mt Kisco Real Estate