Category Archives: Bedford Corners NY

Spring Housing Market Shaping Up as Tale of Two Coasts | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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As the spring home shopping season heats up, buyers and sellers nationwide can expect very different experiences when it comes to negotiating power. Zillow took a look at recent data to determine markets where sellers have the power and those where buyers are in control. Our analysis shows many home sellers are thriving in the Bay Area, San Antonio and Los Angeles metro areas, where price cuts are sparse and homes often sell at or near their asking price.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Tampa metros are buyers’ markets, with homes taking longer to sell, less competition in the marketplace and more room for bargaining on prices.

In this analysis, a sellers’ market is not necessarily one where home values are rising, but rather one in which homes are on the market for a shorter time, price cuts occur less frequently and homes are sold at prices very close to (or greater than) their last listing price. In buyers’ markets, homes for sale stay on the market longer, price cuts occur more frequently and homes are sold for less relative to their listing price.

“The real estate data in markets on both coasts are telling markedly different stories. Relatively strong job markets in the West are helping spur robust demand, which is being met with limited supply, causing rapid home value appreciation and giving sellers an edge. In the East, housing markets are appreciating a bit more slowly, and homes are staying on the market longer, which helps give buyers the upper hand,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

He added, “In general, buyers in sellers’ markets this spring can expect tight inventory, increased competition and a greater sense of urgency. Sellers in buyers’ markets may need to be prepared to lower their asking price, or to wait longer for the perfect buyer to come along. As we put the housing recession further in the rear-view mirror, the broad-based dynamics that applied during those days, when all markets were reacting similarly to nationwide economic conditions, are fading. Real estate has always been local, and as the spring market gains momentum, this old adage will only become more pronounced.”

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/spring-housing-market-shaping-tale-two-coasts-041831660.html

 

Great agents and technology: One without the other only takes you so far | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Providing a comprehensive set of rental and for-sale listings that’s accessible via mobile, and employing a stable of “highly experienced agents” helps Urban Compass stand out from the competition in the fragmented New York City market, says co-founder and CEO Robert Reffkin. “We’re making every part of the process online, in mobile. Search, schedule, visit, apply, pay — all integrated from listings to CRM,” Refkin says.“There’s no reason why if I’m working with you, and we go look at an apartment, and you realize you want something slightly different, you want a different neighborhood or you want a terrace, that I should have to tell you, ‘OK, let’s go back to my office, and we’ll look for things together.’ “

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/03/19/great-agents-and-technology-one-without-the-other-only-takes-you-so-far/?utm_source=20140319&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.m9LLjiP2.dpuf

15 Small-space Decorating Tips | Bedford Corners Homes

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At the height of Seattle’s real estate market in 2003, when Leah and Chad Steen bought their first home, the property was far from picture perfect. “There was no landscaping; the previous owners even left us a note about the sad-looking Charlie Brown tree in the front yard,” says Leah, who owns Revival Home & Garden (revivalhomeandgarden.com), a shop in Capitol Hill. “But the house had tons of character, and there weren’t holes in the ceiling, like other places we’d seen.”

Inexpensive mingles with high-end Inexpensive mingles with high-end Mix high and low Inexpensive furniture mingles with high-end touches in the living room: Ikea curtains hang on plumbing pipe behind a $1,200 chandelier from Leah’s shop; custom pillows sit atop a bargain (at $579) settee from Urban Outfitters; a hand-painted chinoi­serie coffee table rests on an old Pakistani rug ($85 on eBay). How to decorate in a global style

High class with a couple of coats of paintHigh class with a couple of coats of paint Update secondhand furnishings

A $10 framed mirror from Goodwill reads “high class” with a couple of coats of high-gloss red paint. Decorating with second-hand finds

Just $2!Just $2! Find treasures at thrift stores

This large oil painting was just $2 from Second Use (seconduse.com).

 

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/15-small-space-decorating-tips-041200413.html

Why the mortgage business is now hyper-competitive | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Mortgage applications are relevant to a number of industries—from banks to non-banks, to mortgage REITs like Annaly (NLY) and American Capital (AGNC), to homebuilders like KB Home (KBH), Lennar (LEN), and Toll Brothers (TOL). This series will break down the different indices and help you learn what insight you can glean from them. If you’re a bank, you’re looking at these indices and trying to determine whether you’re competitive in all the segments you want to be competitive in. If you’re a non-bank, you might be looking to see if you’re gaining share or losing share. If you’re a mortgage REIT, you’re focusing on the refinance index and what it might mean for prepayments going forward. And if you’re a homebuilder, you’re watching the purchase index as a way to gauge future demand.

 

Mortgage rates fall slightly as bonds yields increase

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 6 basis points, from 4.31% to 4.37%, while the ten-year bond yield rose 15 basis points as Ukrainian fears began to fade into the background. The Fed decided to start tapering at the December FOMC meeting and reduced its pace of purchases by $5 billion a month. It made a similar move at the January FOMC meeting. Given how much issuance has fallen, the Fed’s footprint was getting bigger even though it wasn’t increasing purchases. It made sense for the Fed to reduce purchases. The fear, of course, is that the absence of Fed activity will make mortgage rates rise even if the ten-year stays the same.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-mortgage-business-now-hyper-194503535.html

One-Room Living: A Shape-Shifting Studio Apartment in London | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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When a young, single Londoner set out to buy an apartment in the center of the city, she discovered she had two options: she could afford to buy a characterless one bedroom, or she could downsize to a studio and have some money leftover to make it her own.

She opted for a studio with high ceilings and charming details, and partnered with Jennifer Beningfield of Openstudio Architects (members of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory) to transform it into an adaptable living, working, and cooking space tailored exactly for her. The pair co-opted half of the high ceiling as a sleeping loft, then created a masterful modular plan for the main room.

There, the kitchen and office space remain hidden when not in use. Says Beningfield, “The problem with open kitchens in small spaces is that the entire space looks like a kitchen, with all the mess (or constant cleaning up) that entails.” Beningfield painted the room a warm white and cleverly assigned bright colors to its customized features, so that the kitchen or office define the space when engaged, but fully retreat when not in use. “The idea was to create a room that moves and changes around the client,” says Beningfield.

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/one-room-living-shape-shifting-studio-apartment-london-170000757.html

Unusual Mixes of Old and New in Texas | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Any architect will tell you that the key to a successful building is a good client. Of course, what exactly a “good client” is can vary greatly. For architect Hugh Randolph’s renovation of a 1935 house in the Clarksville neighborhood of Austin, Texas, good clients were a creative couple who were passionate about the history of their house as they and their daughters became its newest residents.
Going so far as to document their research in a blog, Ryan and Kim Battle worked with Randolph to find inspiration in the house’s history. The result is a traditional house with modern touches that are sometimes subtle and sometimes overt, ultimately making something new and personal.
Houzz at a Glance Who lives here: Ryan and Kim Battle and their 2 daughters Location: Austin, Texas Team: Architect: Hugh Randolph; interior designer: Kim Battle; builder: Risinger Homes Size: 2,890 square feet (268 square meters) Photography by Whit Preston and Casey Dunn

The decision to buy and remodel the house started with Randolph’s taking a shortcut in his car one day along Palma Plaza and seeing the house for sale. He thought of Ryan and Kim Battle, who were living in one of his modern commissions at the time but wanted something smaller and more sustainable. Six months after the discovery, the Battles bought the property and hired Randolph to help them transform it.
Looking at the symmetrical, southwest-facing front, it’s hard to see any dramatic changes, outside of the three modern dormers that replaced an existing pair, and the standing-seam metal roof. The dining room is to the left of the entrance, and the master bedroom is to the right.

Surging Home Prices Are a Double-Edged Sword | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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The U.S. housing market faces a challenge at the start of the spring sales season: higher prices.

It is hard to overstate the benefits of rising prices to the economy broadly and to homeowners, banks and home builders specifically after years of declines. Price gains have pulled more Americans from the brink of foreclosure and given home buyers more confidence that they won’t get stuck with an asset whose value will decline.

But those gains have a painful edge, too, especially because prices have bounced back so strongly. The increases have rekindled concerns about affordability, particularly for first-time buyers, and could damp the gains of a housing rebound still in its early stages.

 

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304732804579425120291627990?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304732804579425120291627990.html

Can You Afford to Buy a House? | Bedford Corners Homes

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With the help of low interest rates and intervention from policymakers, the housing market has been one of the most improved areas of the economy. However, a combination of higher rates, rising home prices, and stagnant wages is building affordability issues.

The cost of homeownership is on the rise across the nation. The estimated monthly house payment for a median-priced, three bedroom home purchased in the fourth-quarter of 2013 surged 21 percent to $865, compared to $714 from a year earlier, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac. The firm analyzed 325 U.S. counties and included other factors such as insurance, taxes, maintenance, and tax deductions. Among the 15 most populated counties analyzed, the estimated monthly house payment jumped an average of 34 percent from a year ago.

“A potent combination of rapidly rising home prices and the often-overlooked but significant uptick in interest rates in the second half of 2013 caused the monthly cost of owning a home using traditional financing to jump substantially in many markets over the last year,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, in a press release. “The monthly cost of owning a home is still less than renting in the majority of markets, but the cost of financed homeownership is becoming dangerously disconnected with still-stagnant median incomes, driven not by shoddy underwriting practices this time around but by investors and other cash buyers who are not tethered to the typical affordability constraints.”

 

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/economy/can-you-afford-to-buy-a-house.html/?ref=YF