Tag Archives: Pound Ridge Homes for Sale

Time for a Mortgage? How to Know You’re Ready for Home Ownership | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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As a Discover Home Loans mortgage professional, I’m regularly asked how to begin the process of buying a home.

As with most big decisions, you’ll need to weigh the benefits against the immediate and long-term time, energy and costs associated with owning a home. See how many of these statements apply to you and decide if buying a home is the right move for you.

1. Your rent is higher than a mortgage payment. The cost of renting, over time, can eclipse the cost of owning and maintaining a home. To help you decide if your finances would be better -suited to home ownership, check out the Rent vs. Buy Calculator from Discover Home Loans.

2. You’re staying put. Are you planning to stay in the same place for the next three to five years? If so, you might be better off buying a home. Keeping your house for several years helps to recoup the costs associated with a new home loan by building equity. The more equity you have in the house, the more you’ll benefit when you sell the home.

3. Your finances are set. Buying a home may seem intimidating, but with the right preparations it can be a seamless process and a smart financial choice. Determine how much you have saved for a down payment, as well as the amount you can afford to devote to a monthly mortgage payment. Lenders want to make sure buyers have the income to keep up with mortgage payments. Don’t forget a safety net to account for unexpected illness, change in employment or natural disaster—generally enough to cover three to six months of living expenses. There are many tools available online to help you determine how much house you can afford.

4. Your credit is under control. A good credit score helps you get the best deal on a home loan. Generally, the higher your credit score the lower your interest rate. Reviewing a copy of your credit report will give you insight into how your finances look to lenders.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/time-mortgage-know-ready-home-144528638.html

Tax overhaul plan has something for everyone to hate | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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One of the two principal figures in charge of rewriting the nation’s income tax laws is Republican Dave Camp of Michigan, chairman of the all-powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Last week he released an extremely comprehensive tax code overhaul plan that has been three years in the making. The plan is designed to simplify the tax law and lower overall tax rates while remaining revenue-neutral. To call the plan bold is an understatement. Among many other things it: reduces the number of tax brackets from the current seven to just three, with tax rates of 10 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. increases the standard deduction so that 95 percent of taxpayers would not have to itemize. taxes long-term capital gains and dividends as ordinary income — that is, at the 10 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent rates — but exempting 40 percent of such income from any tax. repeals the dreaded alternative minimum tax (AMT). reduces the top corporate income tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent, to be phased in over four years

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/03/03/tax-overhaul-plan-has-something-for-everyone-to-hate/?utm_source=20140303&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.0FUZHMXD.dpuf

Plaza Hotel owner surrenders to Indian police | Pound Ridge Homes

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From left: Subrata Roy and 1 Central Park South

From left: Subrata Roy and 1 Central Park South

Subrata Roy, owner of the Plaza Hotel, turned himself into police Friday following his no-show at a contempt hearing in Indian Supreme Court.

The subject of an investigation into whether Roy failed to repay investors $3.9 billion following an illegal bond scheme, Roy previously said that he wouldn’t be able to appear for his court date because he had to care for his ailing 92-year-old mother. Nevertheless, the court ordered him to show, and police were dispatched to track him down when he did not.

Owner of $11 billion company Sahara, which owns the Plaza, Roy was barred from selling any of the firm’s assets or leaving India in November as the nation’s highest court investigated the conglomerate’s alleged violation of securities laws. Earlier reports indicated that Sahara was looking to sell its Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels, as well as the Grosvenor House in London. The group received a $1.6 billion offer for the trio of hotels from an unidentified Middle Eastern investor, according to previous reports.

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/02/28/plaza-hotel-owner-surrenders-to-indian-police/

Down to Earth Farmers Market | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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1840’s Dinner Inspired by Oscar Nominated, 12 Years a Slave;                         Sale on Pasture-Raised Meats & More February 27-March 5th, 2014 Down to Earth Markets
MAM w greens
What’s New and On Special This Week
Beef Sirloin Tip Roasts                                     SALE: $2 OFF/lb Reg. $12.75/lb; Now $10.75/lb. Kiernan Farm Beef Knuckle Bones                                     SALE: $1.75 OFF/lb Reg. $3.75/lb; Now $2.00/lb. Kiernan Farm
Gluten Free Dinner Rolls                                     Meredith’s Bread 		Pork Nitrate Free Smoked Ham Shanks/Hocks                                     SALE: $2 OFF/lb Reg. $7/lb; Now $5/lb. Kiernan Farm
Click on a Market to see all vendor and event details…

    Westchester County
Mamaroneck Winter                                     Saturdays, 9:00 am-1:00 pm St. Thomas Episcopal Church                                     168 West Boston Post Road (at Mount Pleasant Ave) Ossining Winter
Saturdays, 9:00 am-1:00 pm At the corner of Spring & Main                                     in downtown Ossining		Headed to the city soon? Visit a Down to Earth                                     Farmers Market in NYC!
                                                 Stay tuned to all market happenings via our Down to Earth Markets Facebook page                           and follow us on Twitter @DowntoEarthMarkets
An American Food Story, Sourced from a Down to Earth Farmers Market
foodgriotdinner

 

 

Chefs prepare to serve dinner inspired by Anne Northup’s 1840s cooking One of the fascinating things about shopping at the farmers market is that we never know who we are going to meet. Our Park Slope market recently led us to Tonya Hopkins, a woman known as “The Food Griot”. Self-described as “an American food storyteller”, Hopkins uses the name the Food Griot to recall the West African legacy of traveling poets, musicians, and                        storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history.
Recently, Hopkins, together with Executive Chef Heather W. Jones and alumnae from the Institute of Culinary Education prepared a dinner after the style of Anne Northup, the wife of Northup portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie, 12 Years a Slave. The dinner was served at the historic Morris-Jumel Mansion in NYC, where Anne cooked as a free woman of color during the time her husband was in captivity. Her culinary talents were much sought after.

U.S. housing recovery uneven across markets, study finds | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The U.S. housing sector is likely to experience an uneven recovery over the next five years, with some local markets bouncing back faster than others, according to a study released on Wednesday.

By 2018, the median price of single-family homes will be close to the peak reached in 2006 before the national market cratered, according to the study from the Demand Institute, a nonprofit think tank operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen. But there will be winners and losers.

Among the 50 largest metropolitan areas where housing prices are expected to appreciate between 2012 and 2018, the top five will see rises on average of 32 percent, while the bottom five will average gains of only 11 percent.

The cities expected to report the largest increase in the median price of a previously owned single-family homes are Memphis, Tampa, Jacksonville, Milwaukee and St. Louis.

Those with the lowest projected price appreciation are Washington, D.C., Oklahoma City, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix.

“The strength of the local housing market is among the most telling metrics that helps us assess community health and well-being,” said Louise Keely, chief research officer at the Demand Institute and co-author of the report.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/u-housing-recovery-uneven-across-markets-study-finds-050129804–sector.html

Spring Thaw May Not Heat up This Housing Market | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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The severe winter weather has been a convenient scapegoat for the slowdown in the housing market. While many analysts and builders predict a significant pickup in activity in the spring, slack demand may continue to define an uneven recovery — even as green grass replaces ice in the coming months.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that groundbreaking on new homes last month tumbled 16 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000 units, the lowest level since September. The percentage drop was the largest since February 2011. Starts for December were revised up to a 1.05 million-unit pace from the previously reported 999,000-unit rate.

Warmer weather could certainly get more people out looking, but with monthly payments potentially much higher this year, new buyers will have to clear a high bar.

“There must be low demand — that’s what we’re seeing,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, an online real estate brokerage based in California. “We saw a huge spike in demand last year, which is why we were so confident the market had bottomed. … We’re not seeing the same thing this year, so even though there aren’t many homes for sale, there aren’t many buyers looking for them, either.”

 

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/#/business/real-estate/spring-thaw-may-not-heat-housing-market-n33531

Why is the Miami real estate market burning so hot? | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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Strong demand for real estate in the city styled the “Capital of Latin America” resulted in a third consecutive record sales year and two years of double-digit price appreciation.

That’s the word from the 31,000-member Miami Association of Realtors and the local MLS down in the land of Cuban press sandwiches, sunshine, salsa and sexy swimwear.

“Record demand for Miami properties from both domestic and international buyers resulted in another sales record in 2013,” said 2014 Chairman of the Board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS Liza Mendez. “We expect strong demand to continue in 2014 for Miami real estate but are encouraged that more homeowners are listing homes for sale, creating more balance between buyers and sellers.”

There were 30,041 homes and condos sold in Miami-Dade County in 2013, setting a new annual record that is 8% higher than the previous record set in 2012. Sales of single-family homes last year totaled 12,901, an increase of 12.5% compared to the previous year’s total of 11,463. Condominium sales increased 4.6%, from 16,383 in 2012 to 17,140 in 2013.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29031-why-is-the-miami-real-estate-market-burning-so-hot

6 best states to flip a home | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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In 2013, investors bought more than 156,000 homes, only to fix them up and quickly resell them for an average profit of $58,081. Home flipping became increasingly popular as the housing market began to recover. However, while the number of U.S. home flips increased in 2013 compared with 2012, home flips as a proportion of all home sales declined from 7.1% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 to just 3.8% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2013, partly because of declining inventory.

Where homes are available, however, substantial profits can still be made. In six states, home flippers made an average profit of considerably more than $80,000 in 2013. In the top state, the gross profit on a flipped home was more than $100,000. 24/7 Wall St. examined the six states where home flipping was most lucrative in 2013.

Buying homes to flip when market prices are relatively high may mean more overhead, but the fact remains that the states and metro areas with the largest average profits on home flips were the more expensive housing markets. All of the six most profitable states to flip a home in 2013 had among the highest average purchase prices that year. “High prices result in higher profits,” confirmed Daren Blomquist, vice president at home data site RealtyTrac. “These states are basically the highest-priced markets in the country.”

24/7 Wall St. examined the six states with an average gross home flip profit of at least $80,000 in 2013, based on data from RealtyTrac. RealtyTrac also provided average flip price, average gross profit, and the proportion of all home sales that were flips for 2011 and 2012, and Q4 2013 for States and U.S. Metro areas. We also reviewed RealtyTrac’s foreclosure rates for 2013.

http://homes.yahoo.com/photos/6-best-states-to-flip-a-house-1392234911-slideshow/