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Bedford Corners NY Real Estate

Get This Look: Stripes in the Home | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Gray stripes are a neutral backdrop for pops of bright neon. By Kerrie Kelly Design Lab.

Gray stripes are a neutral backdrop for pops of neon. By Kerrie Kelly Design Lab.

They aren’t just for adding some patriotic flare this Fourth of July. Stripes are both playful and classic and — with the right accessories — can up a room’s elegance or provide a casual feel year-round.

Take for example, stripes painted across the walls of a converted garage space by Kerrie Kelly ofKerrie Kelly Design Lab. Swathes of beige in a darker and lighter tone are neutral without being too formal for the neon accessories throughout the room.

Besides adding interest to a space, stripes are often used to alter the perception of a room, explains designer Dan Benedict of Benedict August.

“For example, if a room is too short, you can add vertical stripes to make it seem taller,” he said. “It’s not always for correcting problems, but enhancing a feature.”

Ready to get striped? Here are a few ways to incorporate the look into your home.

Wallpaper

“Striped wallcoverings are easy to come by and perfect for sprucing up even a small space like a powder bath,” said Kelly.

 

Get This Look: Stripes in the Home | Zillow Blog.

Real estate is booming in Vegas, but it may be too late | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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If you’ve been waiting to buy a home, you may have waited too long, at least as far as mortgage rates go. The 30-year-fixed rate rose to 4.61 percent this week, the highest since April 2011. Like the weather, the real estate market in Las Vegas has been red hot lately. But it’s not hot enough for homeowners who bought at the peak of the last boom.

We first caught up with Dave and Cheryl Burton last year, when their home’s value was in freefall. The house they bought in 2007 for $700,000 had crashed down to $325,000. In a dismal market, Dave was trying to keep his hopes up.

“When the market tanked,” he told us in 2012, “our mindset was put your nose to the grindstone, keep working hard, and it will turn around.”

The market actually has turned around in the city once known as the capital of foreclosures. Up and down the streets, “sold” signs in Las Vegas are replacing “bank owned.” Neighborhoods are buzzing again.

“Driving around with clients right now is fantastic,” said realtor Kina Foster Theivagt. “Kids are running around playing with each other. It makes it feel more like home and less like a ghost town.”

Like many in their neighborhood who had bought at the peak, the Burtons could have walked away. But they decided “it would wreck our credit,” said Dave. “It just goes against every fabric of how we were raised.”

Their new neighbors have been buying low and making money. But the Burtons still have huge house payments and they can’t find a bank to restructure their loan.

“We’ve never been late,” said Dave.

“We’ve never missed a payment,” said Cheryl.

 

Real estate is booming in Vegas, but it may be too late – CBS News.

10 Insights on Twitter’s Raw Marketing Power | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Twitter is the the most efficient marketing megaphone I have ever seen.10 Insights on Twitters Raw Marketing Power

It moves news, ideas and content in real time with only 140 characters. It is not only lightning fast, it is global. It amplifies your message and engagement with just one click.

Its attraction for me was it was free to use and simple.

I started using Twitter about 4 months before I launched my blog and I discovered that it was a great tool to not only engage with people but to distribute my content. I then proceeded to not only create content but build my Twitter followers as it provides an unfiltered stream that is not restricted by update choking and censoring that occurs with Facebook.

Twitter is well known for spreading and breaking news and is the darling of politicians and celebrities. What is not often understood is its raw naked power to make your content as an online publisher to flow across a global web.

It helps make your content  ”liquid”

So what is engagement on Twitter?

There are three types of Twitter engagement and total  engagement is the sum total of these three key components. 

1. @Replies

When a follower sends a Tweet directly by using your brand handle at the beginning of the Tweet. This will only show up in your feed, and the feeds of users who follow you both.

Example: “ @jeffbullas What Twitter tools do you use? ”

2. Retweets

A retweet is when a follower directly shares your brand message with their audience.

Example: “ whoa!! RT @jeffbullas: 10 Secrets of Professional Writers Every Blogger Should Know http://ow.ly/h08r4 #blogging #writing #blog” 

3. Mentions

When a user includes your brand hand, but not as a direct @Reply.

Example: “8 Great Twitter Tools That Will Get You Tweeting Like A Pro http://po.st/q232TU vía @jeffbullas ” 

Add these all together and you have “total engagement” as a pure metric.

Insights into Twitter’s raw marketing power

I have been trialling an analytics tool and platform called “Simply Measured” and plugged in my social media network accounts and have let it start collecting data and after a week it was  a revelation to take a closer look at the insights it revealed.

#1. Twitter engagement megaphone

The top graphic that is produced once your report is live is the “Twitter Engagement Megaphone”. It is a snapshot of your Twitter activity, engagement and potential reach and impressions in a graphical format.

What was surprising for me was the size of my Twitter “Potential Reach” at over 11 million and “Potential Impressions” which is calculated at 146 million.

Potential impressions have always been an important metric for advertisers. For traditional mass media like newspaper, radio and TV, it has been one of the only metrics available to gauge success, and its relevance is also prominent throughout the social media revolution.

Definition for “Potential Impressions”: “The total number of times a tweet from your account or mentioning your account could appear in users’ Twitter feeds”. 

Jeff Bullas Twitter engagement megaphone

What is the importance of potential impressions?

It is important for measuring brand impact as it measures the viral power beyond your inner circle of influence which is your follower count. If your content is having a viral impact then the potential impressions metric is the most important data point that identifies that trend.

For a more detailed breakdown of how it is calculated read this explanation.

#2. Twitter engagement breakdown

In looking at this metric what stood out was that retweets were by far the largest, which is a good thing as it is the engagement type with the most reach. The other revelation was the Tweet with the most engagement over the 7 day period was a Tweet with the headline “Facebook Finally Joins the Hashtag Party”

Twitter engagement breakdown

#3. Top time and day for Twitter engagement

This shows that mid week is the the top time with Wednesday the most active at between 7 and 8am. Surprising also was that it was over 26% of total mentions.

Top time and day for Twitter engagement

#4. Best tweets by content

I tweet with links almost every time. Normal tweets without links do not create as much engagement as a link or a video tweet.

Want to drive engagement then you need to include a link.


Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/06/21/10-insights-on-twitters-raw-marketing-power/#u0R1xOXT6MLfV8zx.99 

 

www.jeffbullas.com/2013/06/21/10-insights-on-twitters-raw-marketing-power/.

A new material coating could put chips inside our bodies | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Silicon is cheap — a feature that has made it a darling of the electronics industry. But it has a major problem: It doesn’t play well with people.

“People are the worst enemy of silicon,” said Paul Berger, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Ohio State University. “When we sweat, we sweat sodium and potassium out of our pores. That is the bane of a silicon device.” The electrolytes are common inside the body too, where they perform tasks like regulating fluid content and controlling muscles. Silicon sensors inserted under the skin quickly attract and absorb sodium and potassium, rendering them unreliable.

Berger and his colleagues decided to search for a way to protect silicon from electrolytes. They settled on aluminum oxide, which is used in everything from toothpaste to sandpaper. When a silicon sensor is coated with aluminum oxide, it can last up to 24 hours inside the human body.

The coating’s first application could be a quick 5-to-10 minute diagnostic test that can determine if a transplant recipient is in danger of rejecting an organ. Medical professionals would insert a needle covered in silicon sensors into a patient’s body to sense if proteins that indicate organ stress are present. Then they would do something Berger said is key: throw the needle away. Needles need to be disposable, and silicon can make that affordable.

 

Humans and silicon don’t mix, but a new material coating could put chips inside our bodies — Tech News and Analysis.

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Home builders and lumber dealers are facing a significant shortage of materials necessary for building a home, such as lumber and wall board, according to the National Association of Home Builders and theNational Lumber and Building Material Dealers Assocation. 

“Supply constraints are one of the barriers to a more robust recovery,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The shortages and price increases reported by both homebuilders and lumber dealers are particularly concerning given that the current rate of construction is still far below what would be considered normal or necessary to meet underlying demand.” 

The highest reported incidence of shortages was for oriented strand board, with 22% of builders reporting shortages. Following closely is wall board, with 20% of builders reporting a shortage, and framing lumber and plywood, with 18% of builders reporting shortages. 

The survey asked both builder and lumber dealers about the shortages of 24 specific building products and materials. For the majority of the products, the share of builders reporting a shortage was considerably higher in May 2013 than the previous two years. 

“The shares of reported shortages are not as high now as they were in 2004 or 2005, but the increases since 2012 are quite significant, especially when you take the early stage of the housing recovery into account,” said Crowe. 

He added, “In 2004 and 2005 the home building industry was producing over 1.8 million new homes a year, while the current rate of new housing starts is still below 1 million.”

 

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | HousingWire.

Jumbo rates come in lower than conforming rates | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Loans are usually categorized in three tiers: conforming loans to $417k, high-balance conforming loans from $417k to $625k and jumbo loans above $625k.

In addition, rates usually move up the three tiers by loan amounts.

According to a blog by Julian Hebron, jumbo rates are currently about .25% lower than high-balance conforming rates.

It could be a short term phenomenon that jumbo rates are the same or lower than conforming loans, but for now it’s good news for rate consumers with loans above $417,000.

 

Jumbo rates come in lower than conforming rates | HousingWire.

How To Use Pinterest’s Bold New Look | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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As we pass the halfway point of 2013, Pinterest’s rapid growth shows no signs of abating.How to Use Pinterests Bold New Look

According to Reuters, Pinterest has amassed 48.7 million users since its inception three years ago and a study by SimplyMeasured reveals that 69 of the world’s top 100 brands now have Pinterest accounts.

Hot on the heels of the Pinterest business-focused rollouts that we covered earlier, namely account verification, business pages, and the new web analytics tool,  there have been a flurry of updates in recent weeks that have left many business owners scratching their heads. So if you’re feeling a tad confused about Pinterest’s new look and its rich pins, you are not alone.

Here’s a whirlwind tour of the key features of both updates and some pointers on how to use them for your business.

#1. Navigating Pinterest’s New Look

Pinterest has been testing its new look since the beginning of the year but the fact that it isn’t permanent yet is telling.

When the new design first launched Pinterest received a flood of complaints from pinners for removing many of their favorite features, notably Mentions and the Pinned By feature that let you see who had pinned that item.

Many users were disgruntled that they could no longer see the pinning chain and felt that Pinterest was making it harder for them to connect with others.

Pinterest promptly did a U-turn and reintroduced some of the most popular features.

The new look is still being tweaked so certain functions don’t work quite as well as they should. You are not obliged to adopt the new look (yet), but each time you log in, Pinterest will nudge you with this reminder: 

Pinterest 10

Remember, once you hit Get It Now you won’t be able to revert back to the old look.

Why The New Look?

The aim of the new design is to encourage “discovery” through a bolder cleaner look and much bigger pins. Now that the frames between images have been removed, some people may find the close-ups too intense.  Depending on your screen size, it can certainly send your eyes funny!

Pinterest 11

 The important point with the new look is to be extra careful when selecting images for Pinterest’s new look. Make sure they are big, bold and engaging. 

1. Pin Options On Home Feed

If you hover over a pin, you now have only 2 options not 3. The bigger Pin It button has replaced the previous Repin but the Like icon remains. You can still click the Like button twice to Unlike an image if you change your mind.

At the bottom of the image you can see who pinned the image and the board on which it was pinned. More than ever, you should take care to select an on-brand username and name your boards using catchy, keyword-rich titles that capture the essence of that board and encourage click-throughs. 

Pinterest 12

The Comment feature has disappeared from the home feed entirely, but you can still access it when you click on the pin to enlarge it.

Remember that “pins” don’t just include static 2D images. Pinterest also lets you pin video from sites like Dailymotion, TED, YouTube and Vimeo using the Pin It button. 


Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/06/12/how-to-use-pinterests-bold-new-look/#08AEhw7ZqhabeHdV.99 

 

How To Use Pinterest’s Bold New Look | Jeffbullas’s Blog.

Using home equity to fund a business? Good luck | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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In recent years, it has become gradually more difficult for business owners to tap into home equity lines of credit to fund their companies.

Small Business Trends writes that 17% of businesses with less than $100,000 in sales use home equity lines of credit to keep their small firms going.

The problem is it’s getting harder to do this.

Small Business Trends added that:

These 4 million business owners have had a tough time with their financing strategy in recent years because of the declining home equity loan market. According to the Federal Reserve of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Credit, the number of home equity lines of credit fell from 23.9 to 18.7 million between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2012. Moreover, the amount of credit available on home equity lines of credit declined 39.3, and the balance on these loans 24.1 percent, percent in inflation adjusted terms, over the same period.

 

Using home equity to fund a business? Good luck | HousingWire.

4 ways to create your social media strategy and wipe out 80 percent of your competition | Bedford Corners Realtor

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OK, the title is a little dramatic. But there is truth to this. 

Late last week, the 2013 Social Media Industry Report was released by Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner. The insightful, and sometimes surprising, 43-page report is packed with trends and statistics based on a 3,000-marketer survey that focuses squarely on the social media platforms commonly used in real estate marketing.

It’s quite clear that social media is still one of the most popular areas of marketing that businesses consider, but what is even more obvious is that most marketers are still quite overwhelmed AND confused with the number of platforms. They still are very unsure about how to use them, even though the list of platforms keeps growing. So what do these numbers and insights tell us about how we in real estate approach social media?

Here are some highlights I found interesting:

  • 90 percent of marketers still want to know which tactics work best.
  • 88 percent of marketers would like to know how best to reach and engage their audience.
  • 83 percent of marketers are thinking of social media differently. They are thinking about how it fits (under the larger umbrella called “marketing”) into their business by creating a social strategy.
  • Only 26 percent of marketers are measuring their social media activities.
  • Only 37 percent of marketers think Facebook is effective in their marketing, yet it is overwhelmingly the No. 1 platform of choice.
  • Only 26 percent of marketers are optimized for mobile.
  • Blogging and Google Plus are moving up the ladder in future plans for marketers.

Most of these numbers translate to the constant changes and confusion in social media, the pull of the distraction and noise, and lack of real understanding of how much time and energy social media should be part of your marketing playbook. So, without going too deep, here are some main things to keep your focus on when defining your social strategy for real estate.

 

4 ways to create your social media strategy and wipe out 80 percent of your competition | Inman News.

10 DIY Planters to Dress Up Your Garden | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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How do you can about your garden apart from watering? Are you sure it’s getting enough sunlight? Have you Use a Backpack Sprayer for Roundup to spray chemicals that kill weeds, pests or any kind of disease? How about its pot? Why put your plants in a boring pot, when you can make your own unique planter with materials you may already have on hand?

Not just for spaghetti

Source: apartmenttherapy.com

Source: apartmenttherapy.com

How many colanders do you come across at weekend yard sales? Fit one with a linked chain to create an appealing hanging planter for colorful pansies.

Radio flyer

Source: cre8tivedesignsinc.com

Source: cre8tivedesignsinc.com

A rusted wagon is reborn as a planter displaying pretty annuals. The wheels on the wagon mean the planter can be easily moved around the yard or garden to gather sun or serve as a showpiece.

Getting the boot

Source: trash2treasure.wordpress.com

Source: trash2treasure.wordpress.com

Pairs of red rain-boot planters parade across this porch. Though “made for walking” (as the song goes), these repurposed boots are filled with a variety of herbs and geraniums in a matching hue. Contrasting flower colors would create an equally pleasing look. If you want to see the interesting history of flowers, click here and see all the information related to flowers.

Wheel winners

Source: eatingrules.com

Source: eatingrules.com

This cluster of tires, all dressed up in show-stopping colors, makes for a fun and funky wall of flowers. Best of all, these tires won’t end up in a landfill.

Got oil?

Source: greayer.com

Source: greayer.com

In this bright and playful courtyard, recycled and painted oil drums provide new homes for trees as well as plants. Some of the drums are fitted with platforms to serve as benches. Who wouldn’t want to sit and stay awhile?

Cinder(ella) blocks

Source: lifewithoutexpectations.com

Source: lifewithoutexpectations.com

Stacked cinder blocks, with their readymade potting compartments, create a geometric platform to show off a variety of plants. Unfinished or painted in bold colors, cinder blocks make quick and easy planters with structural heft.

Teapots, short & stout

Source: recyclart.org

Source: recyclart.org

Cracked teapot got you down? Look at this charming, cheerful series of teapots adorning the railing of a stone staircase. Any cracks would be perfect for drainage!

Dressy drawers

Source: meredith.com

Source: meredith.com

Three stacked dresser drawers create a planter with stepped-up height and flair. Shabby chic makes its way to the garden!

Bountiful bathtub

Source: billbatesphotography.com

Source: billbatesphotography.com

A waterfall of petunias cascades out of an old cast-iron bathtub. So many of these antique beauties are discarded to make way for new fixtures, yet here this classic household icon is whimsically reborn.

Vibrant wheelbarrow

Source: myyardrocks.com

Source: myyardrocks.com

A flourish of flowering plants breathes new life into an old wheelbarrow. What a festive way to dress up a utilitarian tool!

10 DIY Planters to Dress Up Your Garden | Zillow Blog.