Monthly Archives: June 2014

Inside a Vintage Store Owner’s Treasure-Strewn NYC Home | Katonah NY Real Estate

Photo by Dreily S./Racked NY

Considering the fact that Ariana Boussard-Reifel owns the lovely Mode Marteau—a vintage store known for its high-end luxury brands and eclectic artisan goods—it should come as no surprise that her Victorian-era brownstone in NYC is a veritable treasure trove of artistic collages, turn-of-the-century furnishings, and jewelry used as home decor. Boussard-Reifel renovated the entire pad herself, outfitting the space in antiques, flea market finds, and even barstools found on the street. An ornate spiral staircase leads to the two-bedroom’s second floor, which offers “secret chambers in the walls” and an airy outdoor area further decorated in colorful, exotic pieces. “I like to keep all my internationally collected objects around me to keep my mind wandering,” says the artist, entrepreneur, and avid collector to Racked NY. “Sometimes I feel like my apartment looks more like The Explorer’s Club than a home.”

Enjoy a Rustic Vacation in This Cave-Like Renovated Stable | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Leave a reply

Photo via Dezeen

At first glance, this modest, abandoned stable certainly doesn’t look like much of a holiday getaway spot, despite its location on the beautiful—and vacation home-packed— island of Tinos, Greece. Inside, though, Athens-based architect Ioannis Exarchou meticulously renovated the so-called Retreat to provide everything a couple on holiday might need, without any frivolous extras. “My main objective was to retain and preserve the cavernous unique feeling of the space,” says the architect. True enough, the building team focused on maintenance over changing the actual look of the stone dwelling, plastering only the interior walls, putting in new flooring, and patching up the dark (unwittingly trendy) exterior stonework.

Take a look inside. >>

The white plaster walls and concrete floor inside are hardly luxurious, but look undeniably cool and minimalistic. The lower level of the home is reserved for a sitting area and a small bedroom—with wooden cupboards, a sunken bed, and not much else in the way of furniture—while the upstairs offers a kitchen dotted with arched windows. Dezeen has the full gallery, this way.

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/09/enjoy-a-rustic-vacation-in-this-cavelike-renovated-stable.php

$35M Kessler Canyon Ranch Wants $1M a Square Mile | North Salem Real Estate

Leave a reply

24 images

Location: Garfield County, Colo.
Price: $35,000,000
The Skinny: According to the listing, Cowgirl magazine once said of this ranch that “Arriving at Kessler Canyon is like entering a new state of mind”, which tells us that there is such a thing as Cowgirl magazine, and that the scenic beauty and luxury of the place is impressive even to hard-bitten, outdoorsy travel journalists. Sitting on 35 square miles of rugged western Colorado land (a spread only slightly smaller than the city of Boston), Kessler Canyon offers plenty of wilderness activities for its next owners and dozens of their paying guests. Originally built as a private ranch by the Kessler family, it’s currently being used as a resort featuring a five-star, eight-bedroom hunting lodge, a six-suite guest house, and five guest cabins, as well as a luxurious owner’s suite. Outdoors there’s a skeet shooting range, boating, and plenty of fish and game to hunt. Inside there’s a wine tasting cellar, something called the “Poseidon Spa,” and the “Safari Lounge,” not to mention a rod and gun room. It’s asking $35M, and can continue to be run as a resort, or can be converted back to a private retreat.

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/09/35m-kessler-canyon-ranch-wants-1m-per-square-mile.php

Mount Kisco Seeks $400,000 Grant For County Police Merger Plans | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

Mount Kisco’s government is seeking $400,000 in state grant funding to pay for transitional costs in connection with a potential local police consolidation with Westchester County law enforcement.

At its June 2 meeting, the Village Board of Trustees voted unanimously to give authorization to apply for the grant under the state’s Local Government Efficiency Program. Westchester County is intended to be a co-applicant.

Under the proposed consolidation, Mount Kisco would enter into a contract with the county government so that the Westchester County Department of Public Safety would provide a specific number of police officers dedicated to the village.

Local police would resign and become county officers, according to Mayor Michael Cindrich. The village’s police station would also be converted into county police office space and would be used for report writing and the Detective Division. Cindrich also does not feel that response time would be slower.

The contract would result in an estimated savings of around $2.4 million over a five-year period, although Cindrich said the agreement would be “cost neutral.”

The mayor, who calls the estimated savings “significant,” noted that more police would be on patrol.

If county police assume law enforcement duties, Mount Kisco would join Cortlandt and the Town of Ossining as among those who receive such support. The Village of Ossining has its own police force.

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/mount-kisco-seeks-400000-grant-county-police-merger-plans

Referendum Sought On Chappaqua Train Station Lease | Chappaqua Real Estate

Leave a reply

Applicants who sought to lease space at the Chappaqua train station and were turned down in favor of Leslie Lampert’s Love at 10514 want the lease to be the subject of a permissive referendum.

The applicants — Via Vanti! founder Carla Gambescia and Peter and Erin Chase — have teamed up to back the effort, which requires petition signatures from New Castle residents equal to five percent of the total local turnout in the last election for governor. The deadline for collecting valid signatures is Wednesday, June 18.

The three individuals, collectively, were two applicants because the Chases filed together.

The three, in an announcement of the initiative that was posted to a Facebook group called Our Station, Our Town, gave a statement.

“We are fully confident we will be able to gather the required number of local registered voters’ signatures, resulting in the issuance of a Permissive Referendum on the lease. We, like so many of our fellow residents, are not pleased that we are compelled to seek this course of action; however, we want what is best for our town and only wish for an end result that the residents of New Castle can all feel proud of.”

http://chappaqua.dailyvoice.com/news/referendum-sought-chappaqua-train-station-lease

Home price gains over 20% vanish with cooling market | Bedford NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Home price gains have been slowing and now Bloomberg confirms what we’ve been seeing.

None of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas had increases of more than 20% in residential asking prices last month — the first time in almost two years that’s happened, San Francisco-based Trulia Inc. (TRLA) said in a report. That compares with seven metro areas, including Las Vegas, Phoenix and California’s Silicon Valley, that had such year-over-year gains in May 2013.
“Big price increases mean there are fewer bargains to be found, and the closer prices get to where they should be, the less prices will rise,” Jed Kolko, chief economist at the property-data provider, said in a telephone interview. “I’d be surprised if we see markets getting back to 20%-plus gains. More inventory should be coming onto the market, investor activity is declining and affordability is worsening.”

read more…

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30263-home-price-gains-over-20-vanish-with-cooling-market

Foreclosures skyrocket in Northeast, West Coast | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Leave a reply

Foreclosures of all types were filed on 109,824 residential properties in May, a 5% decrease from the previous month and a 26% decrease from May 2013, which brought it to the lowest monthly level since the early days of the housing bubble and crash in December 2006.

The quick read – Northeastern and West Coast markets are having the most trouble with rising foreclosure activity, along with Chicago. The healthiest markets are in the flyover states, the sand states and the Sunbelt. Florida is still healing but still hurting.

The monthly RealtyTrac report also shows one in every 1,199 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.

Foreclosure activity recorded includes all default notices, scheduled auction and bank repossessions.

Despite the decrease in overall foreclosure activity nationwide, 21 states posted monthly increases in overall foreclosure activity, and 11 states posted annual increases in foreclosure activity.

The four major metros with the biggest increases are all northeastern and seaboard cities – Boston, New York City, Washington D.C, and Philadelphia. Boston increased 44%, New York 23%, and Washington D.C. and Philadelphia both 15% year-over-year.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30258-foreclosures-skyrockets-in-northeast-west-coast

Glass House Floating on a Lake in Texas Wants $5.3M | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Leave a reply

27 images

Location: Round Top, Texas
Price: $5,300,000
The Skinny: If you’re in the market for a glass box that floats atop a four-acre manmade lake stocked with fish, you’re in luck: this three-story cube in Round Top, Texas (Pop: 77) has just hit the market. The 3,000-square-foot sportsman’s paradise’s first and second floors are entertainment areas perfect for drinking beer with your bros before tooling out on the lake in the jon boat to fish or piling on the four-wheeler, shotguns in hand, for a hunting safari across the estate’s 23 acres of whitetail deer-infested scrubland; there’s even a skeet-shooting stand for target practice in preparation for quail season. Drive in from Austin, park your sports car in the garage (which features lifts and a pretty impregnable-looking safe) and put the horrors of I-10 traffic out of your mind by soaking in the pool at the top of the lakeside water feature. Later, your belly full of venison you killed and cooked yourself in the fire pit, climb in bed in the top floor master suite and watch some Cabela’s DVDs on the big screen while the setting sun burns a hole in the East Texas landscape. The one-bedroom retreat is asking $5.3M, which includes the “furnishings, appliances, decor, skeet shooting equipment, utility vehicle & 220-class whitetail deer.”

How borrowers can still get a mortgage below 3 percent | Chappaqua Real Estate

Leave a reply

With the average mortgage interest rates well north of 4 percent and predicted to move toward 5 percent by the end of the year, it may surprise you to know that there are still ways to get a rate below 3 percent.

Yes, we said below 3 percent. And yes, on a house.

“It’s definitely possible to get a rate below 3 percent. It’s just going to be a unique product, and not for everyone,” says Nate Kuchera, a senior loan officer with Bank of Manhattan of Newport Beach, California.

But if it is for you, it will save you a lot of money, he says. Here are ways people are still locking in sub-3 percent rates.

Get a 10-Year Mortgage

If you’re looking for the lowest rate you can get on a fixed-rate mortgage, a 10-year term is your best bet, says Kuchera. He says it’s a rare product, but some people do choose it. And right now, he says you can likely find 10-year, fixed-rate mortgages at below 3 percent.

“This is good for people who are on the brink of retiring,” he says. “They’re on the tail end of their careers and want to pay off their mortgage quickly but don’t want to do it in one big lump sum. So they refinance to a 10-year.”

In addition to paying off their home for retirement, he says they also have the opportunity to save a lot of money in interest. That, of course, depends on their original mortgage, he says.

Still, to illustrate how much paying off a mortgage in a shorter time could save you, consider that the lifetime interest on a 30-year, fixed-rate,$300,000 mortgage with a rate of 4.41 percent is $241,460. The lifetime interest on a 10-year, fixed-rate $300,000 mortgage with a rate of 3 percent is $47,619. That’s a $193,841 difference.

There is one thing to keep in mind, however, says Kuchera. With a shorter term mortgage, your monthly payments will be higher.

“Yes, your rate may be better but you know how life is, things come up,” says Kuchera. “So make sure you’re comfortable with the higher payment. If you are, you’ll save a lot of money.”