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Bridgehampton House by Architect Peter Cook Pictured in Beach Magazine | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Hamptons architect Peter Cook‘s houses gracefully reference classic Shingle Style, with modern updates. As a local, Cook knows that location is ultra-important in the Hamptons. He says, “Our clients buy these properties because of the views, so it’s very important to capture them as you move throughout the house. Orientation of the sun dictates a lot. Take a swimming pool, for example. You want to sit in the chair and face the sun without having your back to the pool. That decides how you place things on the property. The spaces you move through—the hallways, stairways, rooms—should have light and natural views that allow you to really experience the property.”

Space-Saving Wood-Paneled Apartment in Manhattan | Bedford NY Real Estate

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When your anthropologist client’s notion of home is shaped both by a single-room hut in a West African village and the tiny New York City apartment she has inhabited since 1980, you’d better get very comfortable with working in cramped quarters.

Such was the case when Brooklyn architect Tim Seggerman was tapped to renovate a moldering brownstone studio on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for a college professor.

The apartment, a 240-square-foot shoebox with a sleeping loft over the kitchen, was in dismal shape, without a true line or flush surface. “You couldn’t imagine a place that was more messed up,” says Seggerman, a man of serene bearing who might easily be confused with the actor Tom Skerritt. His solution was to insert what he calls a “crafted jewel box” into the undersize space, creating an enveloping cabin of blond woods.

Seggerman’s architectural inspiration was not so much African village as mid-century modernism, specifically the work of legendary furniture designer George Nakashima. Both the architect and his client spent adolescent years in Bucks County, Pennsylvania—where Nakashima had his home—and share an affinity for the master’s precision joinery. Seggerman works in the same tradition, crafting the components of his architectural projects by hand in his home studio.

Visiting the apartment is like sitting inside one of Nakashima’s cabinets, a metaphor realized most fully in an ingenious “library”—really just a glorified cubby with a banded maple ceiling, conjured from a free space adjacent to the loft bed.

The entire apartment is a master class in finish carpentry: There are cabinets of cypress and bamboo; a gently chamfered ash-and-beech staircase; flooring of quartered white oak; a desk of red birch slats that slips out into the living space. The lighting in the loft, much of it recessed behind panels of papyrus, lends the space a subtlety that doubles the sense of warmth. “It’s basically a piece of woodwork,” says Seggerman. “I’m very proud of that.”

 

 

http://www.dwell.com/house-tours/article/space-saving-wood-paneled-apartment-manhattan

 

 

 

Fed shocks market, decides not to taper | Bedford NY Real Estate

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The Federal Open Market Committee decided Wednesday to keep purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at its current pace to foster the ongoing housing recovery and fight unemployment.

In other words, the market was tricked — no tapering just yet — despite numerous predictions of a $10 billion reduction in monthly asset purchases by the Fed.

The FOMC made that conclusion after members met this week and announced that although the housing sector is strengthening, “mortgage rates continues to rise further and fiscal policy is restraining economic growth.”

As a result, the central bank will continue purchasing agency MBS at a pace of $40 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion a month. Yields on 10-year Treasurys dipped from a daily high of 2.9% to below 2.8% on the news. Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds also dropped, according to Bloomberg, with spreads between MBS and the 10-year swap winding 6 basis points closer.

“The committee sees the improvement in economic activity and labor market conditions since it began its asset purchase program a year ago as consistent with growing underlying strength in the broader economy,” FOMC members said.

They added, “However, the committee decided to await more evidence that progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases.”

The vote for the statement was 11 to 1 with Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City dissenting because she was concerned that the continued high level of bond-buying program increased future economic risks.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26914-fed-halts-qe-wind-down

 

 

Survey: Affluent homebuyers will give up space for amenities | Bedford NY Real Estate

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The vast majority of luxury homebuyers used an agent, are willing to give up square footage for an amenity they want and wouldn’t live in a home that isn’t tech-friendly, according to a survey commissioned by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

The online survey of 500 affluent homebuyers, conducted by Wakefield Research between May 20 and June 4, also showed that most luxury homebuyers believe homeownership is a more sound investment than the stock market, would rather live in a “smart” home than a “green” home, and would rather have an upgraded home than more square footage.

“The luxury consumer is considered a trendsetter in most industries, and to see the strong connection this consumer has with ‘home’ is very significant as we look at the real estate market as a whole,” said Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, in a statement.

Luxury homebuyer survey statementPercentage of respondents agree
Used an agent for real estate services96%
Willing to give up 1,000 square feet of living space in their next home for a lifestyle amenity they want94%
Believe their house is the best on the block93%
Wouldn’t live in a home that isn’t tech-friendly87%
Homeownership is a more sound investment than the stock market75%
Consider a “smart” home more important than a “green” home66%
Rather have upgraded home than more square footage60%
Own multiple homes58%
Homeownership is a bigger indicator of success than their job or title*57%
Prefer owning multiple “lifestyle” homes to support recreational activities like skiing and theater-going53%

Source: Online survey of 500 luxury homebuyers between May 20 and June 4, 2013, conducted by Wakefield Research *Of those luxury homeowner survey respondents who have jobs

A majority of the affluent homebuyers surveyed said they used an agent for neighborhood lifestyle insight (65 percent) as a source of advance info for new listings (64 percent), as a go-to source for housing trends (55 percent) and for support through the homebuying process (53 percent).

More survey results:

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/09/10/survey-affluent-homebuyers-will-give-up-space-for-amenities/#sthash.tSIc4fid.dpuf

A Rustic Zero Energy Home | Bedford NY Real Estate

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On the edge of Eagle Mountain Lake, just northwest of Fort Worth, Texas, sits  green builder Don Ferrier’s latest masterpiece — a zero energy home.  Sandwiched between trees and shrubs, the house is a rustic, two bedroom home  with a deep front porch. The exterior siding and interior beams are made of  reclaimed barn wood, giving the home a classic, aged look. This house, which  Ferrier calls the “zero energy casita,” looks like it has been here for years.  In fact, it’s a brand new, eco-friendly home thanks to the insulation, wind  turbine and many other influential features that leaves him with no energy  bills.

Ferrier is no stranger to green home building. His first green building was  an earth-sheltered home that he built in 1982. By 1985, he was designing green  homes and using structural insulated panels (SIPs), which are energy-efficient  building panels that are made by sandwiching pieces of polystyrene between two  pieces of oriented strand board (OSB).  He still uses these today to make  all of his buildings energy efficient.

“I stumbled into it and I can’t take credit for being a visionary,” he  says.

“Once into building green we were totally on board and passionate. I love it  that we have made such a positive difference in so many folks’ lives.”

In 2004, he founded Ferrier Custom Homes with his daughters and long-time  construction supervisor, Tom Grywatch. Ferrier went on to build the first LEED  platinum home in Texas, won the 2007 Green Building Advocate of the Year award  from the National Association of Home Builders and was named one of the “Godfathers of Green” by the Dallas Builder Association. Ferrier Custom Homes  only builds custom homes and the company is involved in the entire process. “Proper planning and design are essential to high performance building,” Ferrier  says.

When designing the zero energy casita, Ferrier’s No. 1 challenge was the hot  Texas climate. Ferrier designed the casita to be air tight and well-insulated by  using SIPS and low emissivity (low-e) windows. Ferrier also chose a galvanized  metal roof (because its silver color will reflect up to 73 percent of heat from  the sun), and installed a radiant barrier, Tyvek Home Wrap, to keep heat and  water out.

Because the house is tightly sealed and well-insulated, it holds in heat  extremely well. That’s an advantage in the winter, but during the summer it’s a  potential problem. However, the large front porch is designed to delay the sun  from hitting the windows until late in the day. A 50-foot oak tree and 40-foot  shrubs around the house also help block the sun in summer and keep the house  cool. Because of the hot climate, Ferrier also decided to install a high  performance air conditioner. He chose an air conditioner with a 16 seasonal  energy efficiency ratio (SEER), which measures the equipment energy efficiency  during the cooling season. This is higher than both the national requirement of  13, and Energy Star standard 14.

According to Energy Star, the average, non-Energy Star home in North Texas  experiences 13 air changes an hour, and the average Energy Star home has six air  changes an hour. Every time the air conditioner turns on in an hour indicates an  air change. In contrast, the tightly insulated zero energy casita, experiences  only one air change an hour. That improves the efficiency of heating and  cooling, but to be sure the home gets enough fresh air, it also has a fresh air  intake.

Ferrier knows the importance of good air quality, so a HEPA air filtration  system and central dehumidification system were also installed. He was careful  to use products without volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde, so  the interior was painted with low- or no-VOC paint.

But to be a zero energy home, it must contain a source of power. Wind energy  was a natural choice for Texas, which has the most wind power potential of any  state, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To utilize this  energy, a Skysteam wind generator was installed in the backyard of the  casita.

In addition to using recycled construction materials, 80 percent of the  construction waste from the casita was recycled. Tree trimmings were reused as  mulch for flower beds and newly planted trees.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/print.aspx?id={C04A19FF-F4F3-45CE-A035-58565FDEFA6A}#ixzz2f9n98hf3

Early Bedford Town Primary Election Results | Bedford NY Homes

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The results are in for several primary elections in Bedford races for supervisor, town clerk, town justice and councilman.

Unofficial results suggest that incumbent Erik Jacobsen topped Judy Aydelott for the Independence Party nomination for town justice with 68-percent of the vote and the Conservative Party nomination with 70-percent of the vote.

All other races in Bedford featured candidates running unopposed.

Mary Beth Kass and incumbent Francis Corcoran are the Conservative Party nominees for councilman. Don Scott is the Conservative Party nominee for supervisor. Lisabeth Boo Fumagalli is the Conservative Party nominee for town clerk.

Chris Burdick is the Independence Party nominee for supervisor. Simone Shaprio is the Independence Party nominee for town clerk.

As of Wednesday morning, 88-percent of the vote had been tallied.

The Daily Voice will update results as write-in votes are tallied.

Negative equity to crimp inventory for years to come | Bedford Real Estate

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As home prices continued to increase rapidly, the number of underwater homeowners — borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth — fell at a fast clip in the second quarter, Zillow reported.

But even if steady price appreciation continues, millions of borrowers remain years away from regaining positive equity, and with it, a better ability to sell their homes, Zillow said.

According to Zillow, about 12.2 million homeowners, or 23.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, were underwater at the end of the second quarter, down from 13 million in the first quarter and 15.3 million in the second quarter of 2012.

While that marked a 20 percent year-over-year decrease in underwater homeowners, millions of borrowers are still years away from shedding negative equity, even as the market recovers, Zillow said.

“The frustratingly slow pace of negative equity declines in the face of such robust home value appreciation is a direct result of the fact that many people in the hardest-hit markets are underwater by an enormous amount,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries in a statement.

“Because of this, negative equity will be a factor in these markets for years to come, constraining the supply of homes for sale and keeping people out of the market who might otherwise get involved.”

read more….

 

 

http://www.inman.com/wire/negative-equity-to-crimp-inventory-for-years-to-come/#sthash.Vjzqgagk.dpuf

Bedford Voters Head To The Polls Tuesday For Primary Elections | Bedford Real Estate

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Polls for Bedford’s Conservative and Independence primary elections open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Tuesday, with contested races for seats on the Town Board and for the role of Town Justice.

With two seats available on the Bedford Town Board, candidates Mary Beth Kass and incumbent Francis Corcoran will appear on the Conservative ballot. Conservative voters also have a write-in option.

The town supervisor position also is up for election this year – with Don Scott running on the Conservative ticket and Chris Burdick, a current member of the Town Board, on the Independence ballot. There also is a write-in option for both ballots.

The role of town clerk is being sought on the Conservative ticket by incumbent Lisabeth Boo Fumagalli and on the Independence ballot by Simone Shapiro. Both ballots have the option for writing in a candidate.

Judy Aydelott and incumbent Erik Jacobsen are running against each other on the Conservative and Independence ballots for Bedford Town Justice.

County Legislator and Majority Leader Peter Harckham, of North Salem, is running on the Independence ticket to keep his District 2 seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. Voters also have the option of writing in a candidate for the District 2 seat, which represents Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge and Somers.

Check the Westchester Board of Elections’ website for information about polling locations.

 

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/politics/bedford-voters-head-polls-tuesday-primary-elections

 

House Cleaning Service Costs | Bedford NY Real Estate

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t’s a magical feeling to open your door and find your home all clean and smelling fresh. Like Samantha from “Bewitched” just wiggled her nose and, voila, everything shines. A reliable cleaning service can do wonders not only for your home but your state of mind. But keep in mind that the value cleaning services offer may go beyond polished floors and spotless toilets. Sparkling windows, pollutant-free ducts and clear gutters and downspouts are critical to home maintenance as well. How much you’ll pay for a cleaning service often depends on the extent of the cleaning job and the specialized services needed.
Maid Service

The most significant factors affecting the cost of any interior house cleaning or maid service are the number and size of your rooms, whether you own pets, and how often you schedule your cleanings. Many maid services will charge you less per cleaning if you have them come once a week rather than once a month. Some companies will charge more for specialty services, such as window washing, fireplace cleaning, dusting shelves where a large number of books need to be removed and replaced, and cleaning high shelving or ceilings that require a ladder. Some services also will add a trip charge if you live far away from their place of business.  Continue Reading

  • Clean Gutters & Downspouts Costs
    Most homeowners spent between:
    $159 – $203
    Average cost:
    $181
    Minimum
    cost:
    $90
    Maximum
    cost:
    $314

Select your Cleaning Service project

                Exterior Cleaning

                There’s a reason people talk about spring cleaning. During the winter, your property might be covered in snow, and doing exterior cleaning is nearly impossible. But once the snow is melted, you may find your home’s exterior and much of your property looking messy. Depending on the company (or independent contractor) external home cleaning and lawn and garden clean-up may be charged by the scale of the project or by the hour. An experienced cleaning service should be able to give an accurate price quote before beginning the job.

                 

                 

                House Cleaning Service Costs | Cleaning Service Prices.

                Foreclosure starts plummet to six-year lows | Bedford NY Real Estate

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                Foreclosure starts recorded during the 12-month period ending in July fell to an activity level not seen since 2007,Lender Processing Services said in its latest Mortgage Monitor report.

                The report overall showed loan delinquencies and foreclosures on a downward trajectory despite the new influence of rising interest rates and fears that the economy may be slowing coming out of the month of August.

                The delinquency rate month-over-month fell 3.96% with 6.41% of all U.S. mortgages delinquent, LPS data shows. Vintage loans originated after 2010 continue to outperform earlier vintages, which continually record higher delinquency rates.

                Meanwhile, the total U.S. foreclosure presale inventory rate hit 2.82%, down 3.46% from the previous month.

                Originations are beginning to feel the impact of higher interest rates, but July prepayment rates are equal to year ago levels, suggesting mortgage refis continue at a consistent pace.

                In fact, LPS notes that prepayments are equal to levels reached during the refi booms experienced in 2010 and 2009—time periods when interest rates were either higher or equal to current levels.

                Yet, Herb Blecher, senior vice president of LPS, suggests prepayments could decline as interest rates edge higher.

                Refinancing activity through the government’s HARP program in July showed a unique trend with prepayments on loans with 100% LTVs actually increasing during the month.

                And troubled assets are no longer a major headache, at least not at the same level they were in 2011. The real estate market continues to see fewer sales of troubled properties with distressed sales down 30% for the 12-month period ending in June. Short sales on their own fell 60% from last year, making up only 10% of sales for the 12-month period ending in June.

                The states with the highest percentages of distressed sales included Nevada, Florida, California and Arizona – all of which are recovering sand states.

                 

                Foreclosure starts plummet to six-year lows | 2013-09-03 | HousingWire.