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Mortgage rates remain virtually unchanged | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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 A person closing on a mortgage in the month of October received on average a 3.62% interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of $417,000 or less. That is down 14 basis points from the previous period’s 3.76% rate

The results generally reflect loans closed in the Oct. 25-31 time frame, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

The national average contract mortgage rate for the purchase of previously occupied homes by combined lenders hit 3.44% for loans closed in October, down 0.12% from the previous month.

The contract rate on the composite of all fixed-and adjustable rate mortgages hit 3.44% in October, down 11-basis points from 3.55% in September.

FHFA found that 21% of purchase-money mortgages originated in September were no-point loans, down 1% from September, and the average loan-to-price ratio in October was 75.8%, up 0.2% from 75.6% in September.

Freddie Mac also released its primary mortgage market survey, which showed mortgage rates for the most part unchanged in October and near record lows as concerns of the fiscal cliff stalled market confidence.

The 30-year, FRM average 3.32%, up slightly from 3.31% a week earlier. A year earlier the same rate held at 4%.

In addition, the 15-year, FRM averaged 2.64%, up from the previous week when it averaged 2.63%. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.30%.

The 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM hovered at 2.72%, down from 2.74% while the 5-year ARM averaged 2.90%.

The 1-year, Treasury-indexed ARM hit 2.56%, down from 2.78% a year earlier.

“Mortgage rates were virtually unchanged this week amid growing concerns around the fiscal cliff,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac. “Although low mortgage rates failed to boost new home sales in October, year-to-date sales are up 20 percent compared with 2011 volumes, and there are growing signs of a turnaround in house prices.”

via housingwire.com

Video Advertising Sees Massive Growth in UK, Agencies Need Guidance | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Brightroll did some research over in the UK to see how video advertising is getting on there and it seems that stiff upper lip mentality is working for them as things are really picking up. The second annual survey and report, the 2012 UK Video Advertising Report, gathers insight from more than 100 top decision makers and media buyers at leading UK advertising agencies and shares their unique perspective of the UK video advertising landscape.

As with all Brightroll surveys, things should be weighed carefully before making any decisions. After all, it’s a survey and included a small fraction of the industry as a whole. With that said, let’s get onto the numbers.

Video Advertising Reach Rises in the UK

Around 63% of the UK population watches a video online each month. That’s a pretty good reach. Meanwhile, about 65% of that audience sees video ads monthly which is around 28.6 million people who are seeing a billion ads a month (comScore).

Part of why those numbers are all on the rise is because more advertisers and agencies believe in its efficacy. 87% surveyed believe it more effective than display and 52% believe it better than TV. Brightroll attributes some lower numbers to a confusion as to what digital video is. Maybe more ReelSEO reading is necessary?

Some of these beliefs could be attributed to the often made assumption that VOD (video on demand) and digital video are one in the same. However, digital video encompasses more than just VOD and includes in-app, user-generated content, gaming, or anywhere video can run.

UK effectiveness trend e1352397015777 Digital Video Advertising Sees Massive Growth in UK, But Ad Agencies Need More Guidance [Study]

When it comes to digital video advertising, many UK advertisers may spend their budgets specifically on VOD, working directly with broadcasters. In fact, when asked who they are most inclined to buy video inventory from, 41 percent of respondents indicate they are most likely to buy video inventory from a broadcaster with 22 percent who are most likely to buy from an ad network.

Where Are UK Video Advertisers Placing Inventory?

A lot of those UK companies are advertising outside of the country. A good amount of ad networks are placing ads in the US and Canada, while publishers are looking to Germany and the US for their main purchasing areas. Broadcasters are the ones doing the most buying in the UK itself followed by ad networks.

UK ad placement 606x173 Digital Video Advertising Sees Massive Growth in UK, But Ad Agencies Need More Guidance [Study]

Click for larger image.

Considering that a lot in the UK think of digital video in terms of VOD it’s not all that surprising that the broadcasters are leading the ad buys there right now. It must be them trying to lure the online video viewers away from the short-form online content they’re watching because the average time spent with a video is 5 minutes and only 5% of videos online are from the UK broadcasters. Clearly they might feel threatened.

What Matters to UK Video Advertisers?

When looking at the how and why of ad placement, targeting tops the requirements with over 50% saying that’s most valuable. Reach was just around 37% and then everything else was minimal, including price versus TV.

Meanwhile, ad spend is usually based on cost-per-view (CPV) with CPM (cost-per-impression) second and engagement third.

UK ad spending Digital Video Advertising Sees Massive Growth in UK, But Ad Agencies Need More Guidance [Study]

It seems that if you’re offering video ad placement and hoping to reach UK advertisers you’ve now got a pretty clear picture of what to offer them and pique their interest. CPV with excellent targeting would be the ideal one-two punch of features for them.

In fact, demographic targeting is the most often desired form of targeting at 35% while behavior is used by 25% and contextual is around 20%. Data and geographic were lower at 15% and 5% roughly.

Measuring the Success of Video Advertising

Determining the success of an online video advertising campaign is usually campaign or company specific. In the survey they found that for the most part it’s views (30%) that are the measurement. Hovering near the 15% point are conversion, brand uplift and CTR with Sales impact at about 10%.

GRP isn’t all that popular there which is telling since most of the ads seem to be placed by TV broadcasters. I suppose that goes hand-in-hand with that targeting over reach from the previous graph.

UK Taking Shots in the Dark? Need Guidance

The odd thing is that it seems like the UK online video ad industry is groping blindly to figure out what works best. 90% of respondents said research is vital to success, but 70% stated they had done no research. To me it almost seems like throwing money down a hole and are simply following the trend without bothering to figure out how to do it right.

The crazy thing is that when talking about barriers to online video advertising, the cost of video is the largest one for them. Just over a third cited that as the most limiting factor. Clearly, they didn’t do any research because they would have found great video ad creation platforms like ViddyAd (in beta) and places like PopTent for crowdsourced video creation, just to name a few alternative options to production company made video content.

There are far more insights in the full 2012 UK Video Advertising Report which you can pull from the Brightroll Industry Report page.

via reelseo.com

Robert Paul’s Blog | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Storm recovery continues. NYSEG has 58 crews dedicated to the Town for restoration. NYSEG estimates full restoration to Bedford by 11pm on Wednesday, 11/7. If the NYSEG website shows your power as restored and it is not, please call them (800-572-1131) or go to their website and report it. If service is pulled away from your house or you see (don’t touch) wires down between your meter and the street/service pole, contact NYSEG and let them know. If you have a generator and are using it quite a bit, you will need to change the oil. Generators have an oil change schedule usually of every 100 hours of use to prevent engine damage or failure.

Dry ice and bottled water is available in front of the Town House.

Day warming shelter and charging stations continue to be available at all three libraries and fire houses in the Town of Bedford.

Readers Digest (1 Readers Digest Rd • Pleasantville) is open as an overnight Emergency Shelter with hot meals.

The STOP lights are out on Route 35 and Rt. 22 intersection and the on and off ramps to 684 – SLOW down and use extreme caution.

The Town Board will hold there first monthly meeting as scheduled on Wednesday November 7, 2012 at 8PM.

Contact the Town House at 666-4534 if we can help you in any way.

via trulia.com

Latest Housing Affordability Index Data | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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The recent Existing Home Sales release published showed a  sixth consecutive month of single-family home prices higher than a year ago. What does this mean for affordability? The answer may surprise you.

The August Existing Home Sales release published in late September showed a strong rise in home prices from a year ago – 10.2 percent for the median priced existing single-family home sold. This news is reassuring for owners who can expect that wealth they have accumulated in their property will maintain or increase, but at first glance this seems to be troubling news for potential buyers who have not purchased a home yet. Have they missed the best time to buy?

The Housing Affordability Index offers some reassurance for these would-be buyers. As it turns out, the Housing Affordability Index suggests that the national median priced home was actually more affordable for the median-income family in August 2012 than it was in August 2011 even though home prices are up.

How is this possible? While prices are up compared to one year ago, mortgage rates are nearly a percentage point lower and incomes are up. In fact, the release of American Community Survey data on family incomes led to a slight upward revision of 2011 income and a subsequent slight increase in NAR’s projections for 2012. If you’re surprised to hear that, it may be because you heard about a decline in REAL family income as measured by the Census bureau. Nominal family income, the data used in this series that measures dollars actually earned in 2011, actually rose by 1.4 percent from 2010 to 2011.

Since the Housing Affordability Index factors in the effect of house prices AND income and mortgage rates, it is the case that nationally, the median priced home is more affordable to the median income family than it was a year ago. At 185.0, the Housing Affordability Index shows that the median income family earns 85 percent more than the income needed to qualify to purchase the typical home that was sold in August. Regionally, affordability is improved over one year ago in every area except the West, where the more than 15 percent year-over-year price gain offset more moderate income gains and the benefit of lower mortgage rates. Still, even in the West, the median income family earns at least 40 percent more than is needed to qualify to purchase the median priced existing home. Check out the data release here.

The Housing Affordability Index calculation assumes a 20 percent down payment and a 25 percent qualifying ratio (principle and interest payment to income). See further details on the methodology and assumptions behind the calculation here.

via economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org

Must-knows before secretly recording your tenants | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Q: One of my tenants wants to meet with me to go over some issues we’re having with him. He has complained that we are discriminating against him, and has threatened to file a complaint. I think he’s just trying to get some money out of us, and I want to record the conversation so that I have evidence of his thinly veiled threats in case I need it. Is there anything illegal about recording our meeting? –Dustin J.

A: There’s no legal problem at all in recording your conversation with your tenant as long as you tell the tenant, at the outset, that your recording device will be switched on. If your tenant doesn’t want to be recorded, he can simply leave the meeting. If he agrees, the recording can be shown to your lawyer and any lawyer or fair housing agency contacted by the tenant, and could conceivably be introduced as evidence in court.

But are you asking whether you can secretly record the meeting? The answer to this one is quite different. Many states, including California, Connecticut, Illinois and Georgia, do not allow a party to a conversation to intentionally record it without all participants’ permission.

In California, for example, the violation is a criminal offense (a misdemeanor), and it exposes the perpetrator to civil damages as well. (Calif. Penal Code sections 632 and 637.2.) But importantly, in order for the recording to be illegal, the conversation must have taken place in a place and manner that gave rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy on the part of the person being recorded.

For example, a loud argument at the community pool, which is recorded by someone’s cell phone (not necessarily by one of the speakers), probably would not be a violation of the law, because no one could reasonably expect that the conversation would be confidential. Not so if the meeting takes place behind closed doors, with only the two speakers present.

You’ll need to find out whether your state prohibits secret recordings. If it does, do not proceed. Doing so is a crime, although it’s not too likely that a prosecuting attorney will be interested in prosecuting a single offense.

Many times, however, people record conversations and then later tell their lawyers about the recording. A lawyer might be able to use the recording in court in a very limited circumstance: If the other side testifies under oath in a way that’s inconsistent with statements made on the recording, a judge might allow the recording into evidence to discredit, or impeach, the witness’s testimony. Some states have decided that it’s more important to expose a liar than to uphold their state’s rule against secret recording.

Q: A family applied for a two-bedroom apartment. Because the family included a teenage boy and girl, I thought that the place was too small for them, because the kids would each need a bedroom. The family told us that the kids don’t mind sharing a room, but it seems wrong to me. Can I reject them without risking a fair housing complaint? –Larry L.

A: You may mean well, but your conclusions about what is proper or not will not legally support your position. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants and tenants on the basis of their “familial status.” Among other things, this means that the landlord cannot make decisions about how families should allocate bedrooms (not only are family sleeping arrangements none of their business, but all too often, landlords make this issue a pretext for turning families away). As long as the space meets minimum size requirements for a sleeping room, as established by your state building codes, it’s none of the landlord’s business who bunks with whom.

A family that thinks you are making decisions based on the age and sex of their children may consider calling the local HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) office. They can file a complaint online. HUD will investigate the matter (or have an equivalent state agency do it for them), and if there’s a basis for their complaint, they’ll attempt to settle the case. If that goes nowhere, it will go before a judge, who has the ability to compensate the tenants, order you to offer the rental, order you to attend fair housing education classes, and more.

via inman.com