I got a call from an agent today and the conversation turned to a deal one of my team members tried to make on her listing which never went together. It wasn’t that they didn’t like our price, she explained. It was the seller concession. While the net to seller was quite acceptable, their attorney […]

As Yogi Berra says, you can see an awful lot by watching. And as a broker who oversees 20+ agents, 50+ listings and who still works in the field with select buyers, I do see both sides of an issue that sellers often bring up in the discussion of listing and selling their house.  Many […]

The Multiple Listing Service statistics for July closings in Ossining and Croton indicate good news for market watchers. Comparing data from this past July to July 2010, Ossining is way up, and Croton is virtually identical. July is typically a high volume month in the market cycle due to the weather and school year schedule, […]

Law Memorial Park in Briarcliff Manor is, to my eyes, one of the most attractive downtown parks of any municipality in Westchester County. It is literally walking distance from downtown (perhaps 2 city blocks) and has the village library, a huge swimming pool, a small wading pool, a huge clubhouse pavilion, clay tennis courts, a […]

To the best of my knowledge, only two things exist under stairs: little creatures who eat pens and underwear and poop lint, and storage. I have never seen the little creatures. Most people innately know that there is storage, or, in some cases, a full-blown closet under stairs because they have their own junk they […]

Right now, you could buy a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Ossining for less than $160,000. No, it isn’t a bombed out foreclosure behind a gas station, it is a co-op. Co -ops are one of the most affordable options for housing in all of Westchester county, and Ossining has almost 50 available priced […]

Growth and the addition of a new team member is always a happy event for us, and I am pleased to introduce Linda Polay as the newest licensee on the J. Philip team. Linda has quite a stellar background, and I look forward to supporting her in serving her lucky clients.  Linda comes to us […]

While I cannot be in attendance at Inman Connect San Francisco, I am following the Twitter stream on the event. I wish I could go, but I have to make hay while the sun shines. One tweet that caught my attention referenced a speaker by the name of Laura Roeder advising attendees to NOT blog […]

Today I came home to the usual flurry email requests for feedback for a full afternoon of showings homes to a great buyer client. I’m not the biggest fan of feedback for reasons posted before, but this afternoon I was more forthcoming. The following are my responses to feedback requests that I really did send. […]

I could start a whole separate blog for the things I consciously decide not to write about, because it’s just too easy to express bemusement or incredulity at the stuff a small number of agents do with a straight face. For example, a few minutes ago an agent just asked me “what kind of person” […]

I see an interesting trend on the blog dashboard this morning from colleagues across the US- poor conduct by agents, and understandable incredulity by the authors about it. I agree. If an agent won’t present an offer, return a call, or just behave, it is a problem with an unattracive domino effect. I myself have […]

Item: The Senate passed a measure late yesterday evening to ensure that buyers of homes have their rights to “Housing with Dignity.” The act’s precepts include the right to an home in “compliance” and other minimal, basic housing rights, or to have a renumeration for the purchase of homes not in conformity to the proposed […]

If you are paying Cash for real estate, especially here in in a high cost area like Westchester, I have some advice as a broker who has worked with many cash buyers. First, congratulations on havng the recources to pay cash. You are blessed. Here are a few steps that will help you in your efforts. […]

  Growing up here in the 1970s and 80s, my memories of Ossining’s downtown are those of crumbling blight. When Arcadian Shopping Center opened in the 1960’s it only took a few years for almost all the commerce to migrate down route 9, leaving Main Street a veritable ghost town. The Urban Renewal of the […]

If you haven’t met Paco, you’ll be hearing about him on the news. Paco is the little rescued Chihuahua who chased armed robbers out of his master’s store. He didn’t care that they had a shotgun or dwarfed him, he still barked his head off and chased them out of the store like they were […]

I don’t often blog about listings because I focus more on commentary here, but I think the walking tours we now do for our listings are very appealing. I do them Bob Vila style, with a candid, conversational walk through as if we were chatting together touring the house. I don’t use a script, so […]