US mortgage refinancing surges to highest in a year | Armonk Real Estate

The march lower in US government bond yields is rippling out into the real economy.

A drop in 30-year Treasury yields to fresh lows for the year has dragged the rate on 30-year mortgages - those favoured by Americans - down with it, encouraging homeowners to refinance existing home loans on better terms.

Demand to refinance mortgages jumped 23 per cent to the highest level since November, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Wednesday.

Refinancing accounted for 65 per cent of mortgage volumes last week, according to the gauges published by the MBA, the highest share since December.

Mike Fratantoni, the chief economist at the MBA, said:

"Mortgage rates have fallen close to 30 basis points over the last four weeks. Refinance application volume reached the highest level since November 2013 as a result, and the average loan balance for refinance applications increased to $306,400, the highest level in the survey's history.

Meanwhile, an index of demand for mortgages to buy homes fell 5 per cent from a week ago, the MBA said.

read more....

http://www.ft.com/fastft/224602/post-224602

Last Week's Top Sales: The Liz Taylor of Mansions Recommits | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Listed for: $8.995M
Received: $8.9M
Size: 5-bed, 7.5-bath, 9,540-square-foot single-family home
Location: 3725 Washington St, Presidio Heights
The skinny: We're honestly going to miss this place. The public areas downstairs look more like a small sculpture museum than a residence, with their pale stone walls, geometric skylights, and beamed ceilings. And that botanical green wallpaper totally makes the sitting room feel like an indoor patio. It all just works, which is why we couldn't figure out why this home has had such a rocky year. The last owner hung on for all of five months—less time, we've grown fond of pointing out, than Liz Taylor spent married to Conrad Hilton.

read more....



http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/20/last_weeks_top_sales_the_liz_taylor_of_mansions_recommits.php

Bedford Hills prison nurse top OT earner in state | Bedford Hills Homes

A nurse at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women raked in more than $630,000 in overtime in less than five years, putting on her time cards she worked 192 days straight — or every day for more than six months — mostly in 16.5-hour overnight shifts, according to records obtained by The Journal News.

The registered nurse, 62-year-old Mercy Mathew of Pomona, was the state's highest overtime earner in 2012, netting $150,630 on top of her $58,468 salary at the state's only maximum security prison for women. She also snagged the title in 2009, when she made $171,814 in overtime.

According to her time cards, Mathew's designated work schedule was 3-11 p.m., but she routinely stayed until 7:30 a.m. the next morning without a break. On days off, she often collected 16.5 hours of overtime for a single shift. Mathew worked more than 90 percent of the available days between Dec. 18, 2008 and Sept. 4, 2013. Even though she resigned Oct. 11, 2013, she still managed to break into the top 20 overtime earners last year.

"She must have been the bionic nurse in her time to be able to work that many hours without any rest," said state Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who represents part of lower Westchester County and has been a critic of wasteful spending by the state Department of Corrections.

"The time of giving state agencies a blank check has to end."

The Journal News obtained Mathew's time cards for calendar years 2009-2013 from the Department of Corrections in August after winning an appeal of a denial of its Freedom of Information Law request filed in January. Mathew, who is listed with the town of Haverstraw's assessor's office as owning a $443,000 home on Dunnigan Drive, could not be reached for comment. A reporter twice knocked on her door, but there was no answer, and tried to reach Mathew and her relatives numerous times by telephone.

Mathew's six-figure overtime compensation continued after the DOC told the state Senate in 2010 that it would curb its overtime spending at the Bedford Hills prison.


read more....



http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2014/10/17/bedford-hills-prison-nurse-states-top-ot-earner/17458853/

John Legend Lists Mid Century Gem Featured in Arch Digest | #Waccabuc Real Estate

Photos by Roger Davies/Architectural Digest
A year and a half after musician John Legend gushed about his 1960s Hollywood Hills house in Architectural Digest, raving that it "has all the qualities I strive for in my own work," he's pushed all those exposed beams and large windows onto the market for $1.995M. Legend and his wife, model Chrissy Teigen, are, in his words, "ready to expand a little bit," hoping to swap out the three bedroom—fun fact: Legend turned one of those bedrooms into a studio, where he wrote and recorded much of his current album—for something "twice as big." Despite the fact that he's hoping to unload it all, Legend has made it clear how much the dude just loves this place. In comparing it to his music, he's says it's "subtle and beautiful, but it packs a modern punch." He told the WSJ it has "an Asian temple kind of vibe to it," with a Thai village scene etched into their entry gate, and a private garden with—contented sigh—a basalt bathtub and pond.

Read on. >>

Back when he was looking for his first L.A. house with his then new wife, the All of Me crooner gravitated toward low-slung spreads of the Rat Pack era: "we wanted to feel right not only for us but also for this city," he told AD. In the first few months of ownership, they handed the place over to designer Don Stewart who incorporated, per Arch Digest copy, "deft layering of materials both rugged and refined."
Legend told the WSJ "If we could have the twice-as-big version of this place, we would get it. We love the feel of this home."



read more....


http://curbed.com/archives/2014/10/17/john-legend-lists-midcentury-gem-featured-in-arch-digest.php
 

No real estate bubble: JPM, Starwood, Morgan Stanley pros | Cross River Real Estate

Big names in real estate investing don't believe there's a market bubble.
Despite high valuations, homes, office buildings and other types of real estate remain attractive today, especially in comparison to other asset classes and given low interest rates, according to some deep-pocketed pros.
"We don't think there's a broad-based bubble in the real estate market today nor do we think there's one coming in the next year or two," said Chris Graham, a senior managing director at Starwood Capital Group, a $37 billion real estate investment firm.
"There's still room for upside here," Graham added during remarks Wednesday at iGlobal's Global Real Estate Private Equity Summit in New York.

"While these assets are fully priced, in my view, we are not in a bubble as that would require an extensive expansion in debt," Paul Vosper, co-head of the Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners Real Estate Fund, said after the same event in reference to prime markets like New York City and London. "While the debt markets are expanding, there is still discipline in the credit underwriting of that debt."
Mike Kelly, director of U.S. real estate commingled Funds at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, agreed there was no bubble.
"It's certainly a competitive market," he said, but noted that real estate remains attractive compared to other asset classes.


read more....


http://www.cnbc.com/id/102091518

How to Design a Garden for Native Bees | South Salem Real Estate

Most people are aware of the honeybee crisis, but honeybees aren’t the only ones in trouble. Other pollinators are also in decline. Since becoming aware of the honeybee crisis, researchers have put more emphasis into studying all pollinators. They have learned that native bees not only pollinate crops alongside honeybees, but also improve the efficiency of honeybee pollination. And some native bee species are even more efficient at pollinating than honeybees.

Nurturing a garden habitat for native bees gives them a place in which to live, eat and raise their young. Creating a habitat for bees is creating a wildlife habitat for all, because it attracts other wildlife, such as butterflies, birds, hummingbirds and other insects. See how and why you should design your garden for native bees below.

Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Why should I care about pollinators? Pollinators provide important services to us and the ecosystem. Bees, birds and bats pollinate more than a third of our crops. From our morning coffee and evening wine to our lunchtime pear and sandwich mustard, the foods on our table owe their existence to pollinators. Most pollinators are insects. Butterflies, moths, beetles, European honeybees, native bees and even flies and wasps are all part of the parade of insects that pollinate our homegrown vegetables, our orchards of apples and other flowering plants around the globe.

What can I do for pollinators? Pesticides, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation have had the largest negative impact on pollinators. We can help by simply providing a pesticide-free habitat. Any home gardener, with even the smallest garden, can make a difference. Besides, it’s great fun.

Pete Veilleux, East Bay Wilds

Features of a Native Bee Habitat

1. Diversity with blocks of color. This large block of orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) with another large block of deep blue ceanothus will attract native bees better than a few of each plant placed here and there.

The Xerces Society promotes planting a diversity of flowering plants for pollinators in large blocks of color. Like a flashing neon light, diverse plants in blocks point all the pollinators to the party. The Xerces Society says to provide:

• Several different plant species flowering at the same time
• A combination of flowering annuals and perennials
• Flowers of different sizes, shapes and colors
• Blocks of color: patches of about 3½ feet by 3½ feet of a single plant species and flower color
• Year-round food: flowering plants in all growing seasons

Pete Veilleux, East Bay Wilds

Many of our home gardens can’t have that much diversity, but you’d be surprised how many pollinators you can support in a small space. Do what you can with the space you have. This new garden has been designed so these Clarkia and poppy (Eschscholzia californica) annuals will be replaced by flowering perennials as the year progresses. As the garden matures, some of the annuals and perennials will be replaced by flowering trees and shrubs.

Debbie Ballentine

2. Native plants for native bees. The UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab has been studying native bees and their food choices over the past decade. Through The Urban California Native Bee Survey, the researchers discovered that local native bees prefer local native plants over nonnative ones four to one. This isn’t surprising when you think about the millennia that insects and plants have been evolving together.

Native bees need both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) to feed themselves and their young. Some plants provide one or the other, while plants in the aster family, such as Pacific aster (Symphyotrichum chilense), provide both pollen and nectar.

In my opinion, the aster family is the single most important family of plants for insects, not only for the one-two punch of pollen and nectar but also because the central “disk” of each flower is actually many flowers. Here you can see the many flowers on the central disk of a seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus). This disk provides pollinators with a high concentration of food on a single landing pad.

 

 

 

 

 

read more....

 

 

 

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/32351570?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery4

Your October Home Checklist | Katonah Real Estate

With the air turning crisp, leaves falling and farmer’s markets overflowing with squash, gourds, apples and potatoes, October is a time to celebrate the harvest — and button up the home and garden for the winter ahead. From raking leaves to sharpening knives, see which of these 13 to-dos make your list this month.

Facelifts Home Improvement

1. Rake leaves. Clearing away leaves from lawns is hard work, so be sure to choose a rake that feels good to you. Plastic rakes don’t last as long, but they are lightweight — which helps if you get fatigued easily (or have a lot of leaves to contend with). Instead of bagging all of the leaves you collect, try chopping some with your mower and using them as mulch in flower beds, or add them to a compost pile.

5 Ways to Put Fall Leaves to Work in Your Garden

2. Clean gutters and downspouts. Schedule rain-gutter cleaning for after most of the leaves have fallen. Inspect gutters and downspouts for cracks and loose parts, and make repairs as needed.

3. Put up storm windows and doors. If you use storm windows or doors and haven’t put them up yet, now is the time.

Techo-Bloc

4. Decorate outdoor spaces. Fall flowers, pumpkins and gourds are versatile enough to work throughout the season. If you enjoy decorating for Halloween, get out that frightful decor.

5. Shut off exterior faucets and store hoses for winter. Disconnect, drain and roll hoses before storing them indoors for the winter. Shut off the water supply to exterior faucets to prevent frozen pipes.

DIY Halloween and fall decorating ideas

David Sharff Architect, P.C.

6. Sharpen knives. The holidays are around the corner — be sure your knives are ready to take on all of that cooking by having them professionally sharpened now.

7. Launder and iron holiday linens. Get ahead of the holiday crunch and prep your linens — roll up the freshly laundered and ironed linens on old wrapping paper tubes to prevent wrinkles.

Bardes Interiors

8. Decorate with layers of warmth. Get toasty indoors with cozy throws, thicker curtains and soft rugs. If you haven’t done so yet, swap out your bedding for thicker blankets and fluffy duvets.

Barker Freeman Design Office Architects pllc

9. Check safety devices. Test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house, and replace batteries as needed. Check the expiration date on the kitchen fire extinguisher and replace it if needed.

10. Swap seasonal clothes. Depending on where you live, September can be a fickle month — but now that October has arrived, it’s time to settle into more predictable fall weather. Gather up stray sandals and lightweight clothing that you don’t plan to wear again until spring, and pack it away. Also look over your fall and winter clothes, and note anything you will need to replace this year.

Shelley Gardea

11. Start an art wall for all of those school projects. Corral those stacks of paper coming home from school with a dedicated space for display. A large bulletin board or magnet board makes hanging art and papers easy. Or you could try art wire with bulldog clips, or simply tape art to the wall with colorful masking tape.