Category Archives: Bedford

Court rules ListHub must continue to provide listing data to Trulia | Bedford Real Estate

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Realtors, real estate agents and brokers who were worried that their listings were going to disappear from Trulia by the end of the week can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now.

That’s because the latest round in the contentious battle between Move and the Zillow Group (Z) over Move-ownedListHub’s decision to terminate its listing agreement with Trulia has gone Zillow’s way, with a California judge ruling that ListHub is required to continue to provide listing data to Trulia until at least March 12.

The Zillow Group threatened legal actionagainst Move, which is owned by News Corp (NWS) and operates Realtor.com for the National Association of Realtors, after it informed Trulia last week that it was immediately terminating its listing agreement with Trulia, effective Feb. 26.

But that’s not going to happen now, because Judge Ernest Goldsmith of the San Francisco Superior Court granted Zillow Group’s request for a temporary restraining order and set a court date of March 12, which will keep ListHub listings flowing to Trulia until at least that date.

Trulia was predictably pleased with the court’s decision.

“The court’s order is a win for brokers, agents and the home sellers they represent. Since News Corp announced its decision on Friday to prematurely cut off the listing feed to Trulia, we’ve received an influx of calls from MLSs and brokers who were concerned that they and their clients wouldn’t be able to effectively market their listings ahead of the home shopping season,” Trulia’s president, Paul Levine said in a statement.

“We’re very pleased with this preliminary decision, and hopeful the court will grant us the further time necessary to make this transition in an orderly way,” he continued.

The fight over the ListHub listings is more than a little interesting, considering what Zillow Group CEO Rascoff said last week. “When we announced we were parting ways with News Corp, we were constrained on being reliant on a competitor for listings,” Rascoff said Wednesday morning. He said ListHub sent inferior listings to emphasize that Move’s Realtor.com had “higher quality listings.”

Rascoff also called the separation from Move a “liberating moment.”

Zillow’s previously announced decision to cancel its own listing agreement with ListHub was a surprise to Move, which expected the listing agreement to continue. As it stands now, ListHub listings will disappear from Zillow on April 7.

 

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Court rules ListHub must continue to provide listing data to Trulia

Roof Cave-Ins Across Boston Area | Bedford Real Estate

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The latest menace dealt by New England’s historic snowbound winter — the creak, crack and boom of collapsing roofs — may get worse as the region heads into a weekend forecast of rain.

Rooftops, especially flat ones, have buckled under the weight of snow from Rhode Island northward to Maine, and companies like Ottawa eavestrough repair have been working hard to restore the damaged roofs. In Massachusetts, 106 roofs have caved in the last two weeks, all of them needing a new roof replacement. Two partial roof collapses in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, displaced as many as 700 residents in an apartment complex.

There have been no reports of death or serious injury in the structural failures. That could change with Boston’s next round of foul weather, which will start Saturday. Unlike every system since Jan. 27, it will switch to all rain through the overnight hours, said Alan Dunham, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Taunton, Massachusetts. Most legal proceedings can only be filed within a certain window of time. This is called the statute of limitations. If you do not file your case in time, you will not have your day in court even if your case is valid. The statute of limitations on negligence cases varies from state to state. This is another reason to make sure you have a quality medical malpractice attorney. They will know exactly how much time they have to complete the necessary paperwork to ensure your case is heard. Here read more information about the Queens Personal Injury Attorneys. In order to protect doctors and insurance providers, there has been a cap put on the amount of money that can be recovered from these cases. Similar to the statute of limitations, this amount varies from state to state. If you win your case, the amount will be more than sufficient in covering the bills you incurred as a result of the negligence. A medical malpractice attorney will ensure that you recover as much monetary compensation as you possibly can for your ordeal.

A medical malpractice attorney can help a client who has had a doctor who has committed professional negligence, by either act or omission, which then makes the treatment or procedure turn out to be worse than the accepted standard within the medical community. A medical malpractice attorney can also help a family who has had a family member die or be injured by a doctor who has committed professional negligence. Each country has its own regulations and standards that define professional negligence. Sometimes doctors and other medical professionals obtain professional liability insurance to help defray the risk and also the costs of a lawsuit based on their errors.

“The snow will basically just absorb all the rain,” Dunham said. “All that snow sitting on roofs will be even heavier and it will exacerbate an already large problem.”

Roof collapses in Massachusetts include a commercial plaza, daycare center and lumber retailer, according to the state’s emergency management agency, MEMA. They will all need roof repair as soon as possible.

Barn Roof

In Newington, New Hampshire, about 100 employees face a temporary layoff after a roof collapse on a warehouse at Georgia-Pacific.

A barn roof gave way in Berwick, Maine, as did part of a roof over a manufacturing facility in Rockland, the coastal Maine community known for its annual lobster festival.

In the Boston area, which has been smothered by more than eight feet of snow this season, companies that shovel off roofs and break up ice dams are so busy that many aren’t returning new calls for help. Fortunately, there is an Affordable Roofing Contractor knoxville TN who can help you with fixing your roof and removing the snow from your roof.

As of Thursday afternoon, Boston had received 98.7 inches (about 250 centimeters) at Logan International Airport, making the current winter the snowiest on record behind 1995-1996, when 107.6 inches fell.

Whether Saturday’s storm system brings snow, rain or a mix, it will add weight, said Chris Besse, a MEMA spokesman.

“That’s why we’re encouraging people to get out there and check their roofs,” he said in a telephone interview and added the service from https://bellroofcompany.com/roofing-loma-linda/ for any roofing system.

Red Flags

Signs of impending collapse can include sagging roofs, leaks inside the house and cracked or split wood in the structural makeup of the dwelling, MEMA said on its website. Sprinkler heads that drop down from ceiling tiles, doors that pop open and doors or windows that are difficult to open can also be red flags. Visit Website if you are looking for a reliable roofing services to ease the load of working on a strong roof.

To ease the roof’s load, the state recommends a snow rake – – if you can find one for sale. Start from the edge and work inward, shaving the piles down to two or three inches. Scraping the roof clean will risk damage to shingles and other roofing material, MEMA advises.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-20/

Sale on Kennedy Estate | Bedford Real Estate

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Auctioneers are selling off a bit of Kennedy history this week in the form of Jacqueline Kennedy’s correspondence and other memorabilia surrounding a Virginia estate where the family spent just three weekends before JFK was assassinated.

“You have done the most fantastic job and everyone agrees that house is really a dream. One could not wish for anything more perfect — if only we could live in it all year long! And Jack loves it,” the First Lady gushed in one hand-written letter to the couple that acted as her building agents.

Jaqueline Kennedy

Jackie saw the estate, which she named Wexford House, as an equestrian retreat to rival her husband and his family’s beloved Hyannis Port, MA compound.

Wexford House has been on the market for more than a year, with a price drop from $11 million in late 2013 to $7.95 million, according to listing agent Patricia Burns of Middleburg Real Estate.

“The house was finished in ’63, and they were there for three weekends, the last of which was the weekend before they went to Dallas,” Burns explains. “What’s very special to me about it is that it’s still almost in original condition.”

The stucco home measures 5,050 square feet and has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and an abundance of riding trails. Originally situated on 39 acres, the property today has 167 acres amid rolling hills backed by the Blue Ridge Mountains.

There are his and her dressing rooms, multiple fireplaces and built-in cabinets and bookcases. Outside are a pool, tennis court and horse stables with water and electricity, as well as two separate living areas. The detached garage has a bathroom and second-floor studio, and the property includes an underground bomb shelter.

Jacqueline Kennedy’s paper trail reveals the home was paid for by her father-in-law, Joe Kennedy Sr., and that it cost just over $127,000, which was quite a bit more than the $40,000 she’d agreed to. In the book “Last Hundred Days,” author Thurston Clarke says John Kennedy was strongly opposed to building the home but agreed to it because his wife wanted it so much.

The estate has other presidential connections, too. Wexford House was leased by Ronald and Nancy Reagan during the fall 1980 presidential campaign. Reagan rehearsed there for debates with President Jimmy Carter.

 

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http://www.zillow.com/blog/sale-on-kennedy-estate-virginia-169645/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29

How to Borrow Light | Bedford Real Estate

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In 1915 the 38-story Equitable Building in New York City was the largest office building in the world. Containing 1.2 million square feet of office space, it consumed nearly every available square foot of its diminutive lot and cast an equally large shadow on its neighborhood in lower Manhattan. Its construction inspired the enactment of the city’s 1916 Zoning Resolution, which was designed to preserve access to light and air at the street level. The resolution prescribed specific limitations for a building’s envelope — its outer walls — and would go on to shape the stepped forms that you see today on many of the iconic towers in the city.This underscores the importance that access to daylight had in shaping even the largest of cities, the individual buildings that make up those cities and, more broadly, sensible building design. With an increasing focus on sustainable design practices, the smart use of natural daylight in our homes is no longer a luxury — it has become a necessity. At the heart of any good daylighting strategy is a concept of “borrowed” light: the capture of light falling on the exterior of a home and transporting it to the spaces where it’s needed.

Industrial Hall by Renzo J Nakata Architects
Renzo J Nakata Architects
The sun delivers an incredible amount of light energy to us each day. To get an idea of just how much, it helps to understand the standard by which we use to measure light intensity: the foot-candle. The light from a full moon is roughly 1 foot-candle, while the sun’s illuminance on a cloudless day is roughly 10,000 foot-candles. Of course, clouds and the filtering effects of glass can reduce the actual amount of light that reaches the interiors of our homes by 50 to 90 percent. But 1,000 to 5,000 foot-candles is still an amazing amount of light, given that we need only around 35 foot-candles to comfortably read by.
Contemporary Bedroom by Fougeron Architecture FAIA
Fougeron Architecture FAIA
Harnessing this light energy isn’t as simple as placing a window on an exterior wall. Interior rooms without access to an exterior wall or spaces oriented in a way that restricts access to adequate daylight are common problems, each with a unique solution. Here’s a look at some solutions.Walls. Interior walls built to collect and disperse light rather than restrict it are one solution. The wall shown here gathers indirect light from an adjacent light-filled bathroom and capitalizes on the reflective nature of the bath’s wall surfaces to diffuse it into the bedroom. Clear glass will transmit the greatest amount of light into adjacent spaces. And because the glass here is positioned above eye level, the bath remains private and sound-isolated.

Contemporary Bathroom by Fougeron Architecture FAIA
Fougeron Architecture FAIA
The white walls of the same bathroom act as the indirect light source for the nearby bedroom. Bright, neutral colors work well for an indirect borrowed-lighting strategy.Good solar exposure is borrowed by the bedroom simply via the glazed upper wall.

Industrial Living Room by Jane Kim Design
Jane Kim Design
Because translucent materials reflect, absorb and scatter light, they make great walls for borrowing light. The degree of translucency will affect just how much light is scattered. The effect is similar to obscuring direct sight but preserving the passage of daylight. Diffused light is comfortable and limits eyestrain.
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http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/41868847?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u989&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery1

30-year fixed-rate mortgage edges up to 3.66% | #Bedford NY Real Estate

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Mortgage rates crept higher last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.66% in the week ending Jan. 29, up from 3.63%. A year ago, the 30-year averaged 4.32%. The 15-year fixed-rate averaged 2.98%, up from 2.93%; the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.86%, up from 2.83%; and the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.38%, up from 2.37%.

 

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage-edges-up-to-366-freddie-mac-2015-01-29

 

Gasoline Prices Down 21% for the Year | Bedford Real Estate

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The consumer price index fell for the second consecutive month due to a large decrease in the price of gasoline. On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis the consumer price index fell 0.4%. Over the past twelve months, prices on expenditures made by urban consumers increased just 0.8% before seasonal adjustments. The falling price of gasoline is positive for consumers in the short-term as this frees up income to spend on other goods and services.

Falling gasoline prices also pushed down the energy price index which fell for the sixth consecutive month. The gasoline index, a component of the energy price index, fell on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis 9.4% and over the past twelve months is down 21%. However, not all components of the energy index fell. The electricity index increased 0.8% for the month and the natural gas index increased 1.5% for the month.

The price of food increased for the month and has shown steady growth over the year. The food index increased 0.3% for the month and over the past twelve months increased 3.4% before seasonal adjustments. After declining in November, the index for dairy saw an increase of 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 0.3% for the month.

Core CPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices, was unchanged for the month. Over the past twelve months core CPI increased 1.6% before seasonal adjustments.

Chart_1

The shelter index rose 0.2% month-over-month in December after increasing 0.3% month-over-month in November. Over the past twelve months, the shelter index increased 2.9% before seasonal adjustments.

Because shelter costs represent a large share of the average consumer’s expenditures, a 0.2% month-over-month increase is worth exploring further. Although the increase in the shelter index partly reflects increases in rental prices, the BLS measure does not isolate the change in rental prices from the changes in the overall price index. NAHB constructs a real rent price index to isolate the change in rental prices. The NAHB constructed measure indicates whether inflation in rents is faster or slower than general inflation and provides some insight into the supply and demand conditions for rental housing, after controlling for overall inflation.

The NAHB constructed real rent index increased 0.2% in December month-over-month. Over the past year, growth in real rental prices outpaced growth in the CPI. Real rental prices rose by 1.7% from December 2013.

Chart_2

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/01/gasoline-prices-down-21-for-the-year/

Marketing to the Affluent | Bedford Real Estate

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I recently had a sit-down with one of the top real estate agents in Boston, Michael Carucci.

Last year he closed 16 sales in Boston, for a combined total of $71 million in transaction value. He caters to Boston’s elite, people who are in the market for multimillion-dollar properties.

The BlackStorm HVAC Website Design Services and niche are marketing to the affluent and, in a recent meeting, they share with me five simple steps to gaining business and trust from the elite. That is why it’s so important to get your AC repair done right, the first time. That’s where we come in. The air conditioner repair services team at Green Street HVAC is Middle Tennessee’s top provider for all of your air conditioning needs. Whether it’s your heating, air conditioning, or ventilation systems, you can trust that our staff is bringing their expertise to every single job, saving you time and money along the way.

1. Connect.

The most important skill in sales, Carucci says, is connecting with people — not through mailings, social media or advertising but rather through personal, one-on-one dialogue with everyone you meet.

To do this, bestwebsitehosting.ca explains on their site, you must always be listening and taking mental notes about what people care about and then step into their shoes to figure out what would make them feel special and cared for.

Recently, some buyers were driving from New York to Boston for a closing on a property and weren’t expected to get home until late at night due to traffic and weather delays. Carucci thought about what he could do to help them in their stressful situation.

Carucci came up with an idea: food shopping. He had a team member do a full food shop for the clients, even taking into account their child’s allergies.

Upon reaching their home, the clients were delighted to find their new kitchen stocked with enough food to feed an army. “When you listen to people, you can find out what they need and act upon it,” Carucci says. “That’s how you connect.”

2. Immerse yourself.

You must live the life that your potential clients live. You can’t decide to just market to the affluent unless you live, work and play among them. People do business with people who are like them.

One of Boston’s most elite addresses is The Four Seasons, a hotel and luxury condominium development. Carucci sells units there every year. Why? He lives there, among the people he works with. They are his friends, neighbors and business associates, all rolled into one.

3. Remember it’s quality vs. quantity.

Too many sales professionals pursue huge quantities of prospects, Carucci says. He concentrates on quality, he says. He doesn’t want to sell 100 properties: He wants to sell 10 or 20 to elite Boston clients.

When Carucci hosts an open house for a unit, he prefers to do it during a Patriots football game or a snowstorm. Why? The best prospects are the ones out shopping for a property when nobody else is.

4. Mention you’re never too busy to help.

One of the biggest misconceptions about highly successful salespeople is that they are too busy for more business, Carucci says.

Therefore, Carucci makes it a point to remind people he meets throughout the day that he is always available to them if they need any help with real estate or anything else. He says that he’s doesn’t go over the top asking for business all the time, but rather he regularly reminds potential clients that he’s never too busy if they need him.

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http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241640

Home prices continue to moderate | Bedford Real Estate

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Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 5.5% in November 2014 compared to November 2013, marking 33 months of straight year-over-year increases in home prices, the newest CoreLogic (CLGX) home price index found.

On a month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, edged slightly higher, increasing by 0.1% in November 2014 compared to October 2014.

“It is too soon to tell whether the slight moderation in the month-on-month rate of house price inflation in November is the first sign that price pressures are coming off the boil again. Regardless, the bigger picture is that the recent acceleration in house prices is unlikely to be sustained into 2015,” a Capital Economics report said on the home price index.

The increases in home prices trickled down to the state. Including distressed sales, all states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation in November

Twenty-nine states are at or within 10% of their peak, and seven states reached new highs in the home price index (since January 1976 when the index starts). These states were: Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationally increased 5.3% in November 2014 compared to November 2013 and 0.3% month over month compared to October 2014.

Even with excluding distressed sales, all states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation in November.

“After decelerating for most of the year, home price growth has been holding firm between a 5- percent and 6-percent growth rate for the last four months,” said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic.

“However, pockets of weakness are clear in Baltimore and Washington D.C., and three of the top four states with the highest price appreciation are energy intensive and had been benefitting from the energy boom which is currently receding as oil prices trend downward. These states—Texas, Colorado and North Dakota, may see some downward pressure on prices in 2015,” said Khater.

Looking ahead, CoreLogic HPI forecasts that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to decrease 0.1% month over month from November 2014 to December 2014 and increase, on a year-over-year basis, by 4.6% from November 2014 to November 2015.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices are also expected to decrease by 0.1% month over month from November 2014 to December 2014 and increase by 4.2% year over year from November 2014 to November 2015.

 

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CoreLogic: Home prices continue to moderate