Tag Archives: Westchester Luxury Homes

10 best suburbs | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

Every year, hundreds of thousands of homebuyers are moving to the country’s most booming metropolitan areas. For those that don’t want to deal with the traffic and other hassles of big-city living, there are the suburbs. These smaller cities and towns offer proximity to everything their larger neighbors have to offer, while often being safer and less crowded.

To rank these cities, we relied on a set of criteria used to measure how safe, affordable and — ultimately — livable they are. We looked at the top 25 most populous cities in the country and then determined the three largest suburbs of each city for a total of 75 suburbs. Then, we ranked each suburb across several criteria, which included:

  • Amenities (shopping, dining, entertainment, etc.)
  • Cost of living (percent above or below national average)
  • Crime (percent above or below national average)
  • Education (student-to-teacher ratio compared to national average)
  • Employment (income and unemployment compared to national average)

Once we had that information — from sources including the Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics — we were able to see how each city did in the individual criteria — on a scale of 1 to 75, with 1 being best — and also on average to give them an overall score.

 

 

 

http://realestate.msn.com/10-best-suburbs-2013

 

 

 

 

Sept. home prices up 13.3% from year ago | North Salem Real Estate

Home prices continued rising in September, but many cities posted smaller monthly gains, according to a closely-watched barometer of the housing market.

The 20-city Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index increased 0.7% in September from August and was 13.3% ahead of a year ago, S&P said Tuesday.

While 13 of 20 cities showed higher year-over-year growth rates than in August, 19 cities had lower monthly increases in September than August.

On a month to month basis, Las Vegas and Tampa showed the most weakness — rates fell 1.6 percentage points in both markets from August. Charlotte was the only city in the index to show a decline in prices — 0.2% — its first since November 2012.

Detroit’s 1.5 percentage point monthly gain was the strongest in the 20-city group, but Detroit is also the only market where prices are still below their January 2000 level, according to S&P.

Year over year comparisons show Las Vegas’ prices were up 29.1% in September, the highest percentage. Other cities with gains over 20% were San Francisco, 25.7%; Los Angeles, 21.8%; San Diego, 20.9%.

“Housing continues to emerge from the financial crisis: the proportion of homes in foreclosure is declining and consumers’ balance sheets are strengthening. The longer run question is whether household formation continues to recover and if home ownership will return to the peak levels seen in 2004,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Two other reports on the housing market released Tuesday provided data on building permits and mortgage rate trends in October.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/26/case-shiller-september/3746563/

 

Coastal Walter Gropius Design With Ocean Views Asks $2.2M | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Location: Brooklin, Maine Price: $2,200,000 The Skinny: Three years after Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius formed his American firm The Architect’s Collaborative in 1945, he designed this handsome, low-slung residence on the far southern tip of Maine’s Naskeag Point. While it’s a far cry from the radical modernism of the architect’s more famous designs, it does hew closely to the Bauhaus ideals of simplicity and efficiency. The long, narrow floor plan and large windows allow light to fill the home, while the butterfly roof creates high indoor ceilings and allows for taller windows on the seaward side of the house. The parallel siting of the house with the shore maximizes the views of Naskeag Harbor and a pair of private islands across the narrow strait, and the living room opens out onto a partially covered deck that juts out towards the water. For getting out onto the water instead of just gazing at it, the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home also comes with access to a common dock. The house, which has been on and off the market since August 2012, is asking $2.2M.

 

 

 

Nation’s home recovery may be on shaky ground | Waccabuc Real Estate

Concerns are rising that the nation’s year-long revival in residential housing might be facing an uncertain future. The latest publication to tackle the issue was none other than the venerable Economist, which had this to say:

What effect will this slowdown will have on builders? Previous busts have taught them to control the inventory of new properties coming to the market. If they react abruptly to falling sales by building less, the housing market may be “on the verge of a significant correction”, argues Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics. Although residential construction is only 3% of GDP, in each of the past five quarters it has contributed around a quarter of America’s economic growth.

                    Source: The Economist

20 tips to harden your home security for next to nothing | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

Most burglars work the daytime shift, just like most of us do. “Daylight jobs require a burglar to be quick, typically spending around 45 minutes selecting a home to target and just three minutes actually doing the job,” Los Angeles security expert Chris McGoey tells MSN Real Estate.

Burglars decide whether to hit your home based on appearances: Is it easy to crack or not worth the trouble? The most effective improvements are the ones that convince a burglar to move on to the next guy’s home. How? see it here. Sonitrol verified electronic security, this company for commercial security systems in New England notes. Alarm New England’s home security systems in Boston provide multiple safety and home automation features, For more information you could check here. The locksmith walnut creek ca  provide locksmith services such as: lock & key cutting, lost car keys replacement, re key and unlock door assistance. Sonitrol provides security systems like Intrusion detection, fire protection, video surveillance and access control.

9 easy and free ideas
  1. Enlist local police. Local police departments typically will send a trained officer to your home to do a “walk through” with you, pointing out your vulnerabilities and suggesting simple fixes. Check your police department’s website for crime statistics and tips. Any resident who lives in Norwalk would do well to protect themselves, by resorting to security systems that will help prevent crimes or at least help pinpoint and catch perpetrators when they do occur, for more information contact Mammoth Security Inc. For example, here is the Los Angeles Police Department’s detailed list of home-security tips for residents. Remember to alert police when you’ll be out of town.
  2. Chat up the neighbors. Join the local Neighborhood Watch program or start one. Chatting with neighbors updates you on local crime problems and enlists allies who’ll watch your home while you’re away. Neighbors are terrific watchdogs. My retired neighbor up the hill who likes peering out his window through a giant telescope spotted and chased a pre-dawn intruder from my garden once.
  3. Use your locks. Even if your neighborhood feels safe, make locking up a habit. Burglars often test a home by knocking on a door and, if no one answers, opening it. Keep every exterior door and window locked, including the door between the garage and house. If you need help finding locksmith companies working in Philly willing to take your job.
  4. Fake it. Getting a dog is a great security move. But if you can’t, pretend to have one, McGoey advises. Buy a couple “Beware of Dog” signs at a hardware store and put them up. When a stranger is at the door, make a show of putting the “dog” in the other room before you open the door.
  5. Install Long Distance Wireless Security Cameras. That way you will not only get indoor but also outdoor protection, using wireless technology avoid the use of communication wires and it will make your security cameras almost invisible at night time. For more details about security camera, click here now to find out the solution for camera installation. 
  6. Paste a local security company’s sticker on your front window.
  7. Keep the place looking lived in. Rotate lights on timers when you’re gone. Sign up for USPS’ Hold Mail service, reschedule expected deliveries and get friends to drop by randomly to water plants or just walk around.
  8. Trim shrubs. Bushy trees and shrubs provide cover for bad deeds. Keep the foliage well-trimmed.
  9. Use your head. “Don’t open the door — and don’t let kids open the door — to uninvited strangers,” McGoey tells MSN Real Estate. Stay home when workers are in or around your home. Don’t put keys in obvious places like fake rocks and under pots and doormats. “Train children (especially teens) to keep key locations, alarm codes and other family security information private from their friends,” the article adds.Locksmith sacramento ca provide us a good security solution.
4 cheap fixes
  1. Light the night. Install bright, motion-triggered security lights outside the front and back of your home. Battery-powered lights start at around $10 each. Hard-wired products start at around $50.
  2. Replace the door … or don’t. The best entry doors are solid wood ($100 and up) or 16-gauge minimum steel ($120 and up), says the Los Angeles Police Department. Use non-removable hinge pins and avoid doors with glass windows unless the glass is burglar-resistant. Consumer Reports’ test of entry doors found, however, that a strong door frame may count more than the door: “All [doors] eventually failed because the doorjamb split near the lock’s strike plate, though we also found that beefed-up locks and strike plates can greatly increase a door’s kick-in resistance.”
  3. Install a high-quality deadbolt – or two. Whatever you do, don’t rely on a simple knob lock (built into the door handle) alone. Install a deadbolt above a knob lock. McGoey recommends:
  • Use a solid core or metal door for all entrance points.
  • Use a quality, heavy-duty deadbolt lock with a 1-inch throw bolt.

http://money.msn.com/home-loans/article.aspx