I recall about 10 years ago that Warren Buffet was asked why he did not own more than a token amount of stock in Microsoft. His answer: I don’t know that business well enough to invest in it. Buffet knew insurance, soda, candy, razors, and other blue chips, but didn’t pretend to know software. My […]

Recently, a listing brokerage instructed one of my agents to include a HUD-1 as part of our client’s offer on that brokerage’s short sale listing. To say that it was a peculiar request is an understatement; The HUD-1, which is a mandatory form in any transaction involving a mortgage financing, itemizes and documents all expenses […]

For happy reasons, the company has joined the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service. Thankfully, my brokerage is growing, and with that we see an expansion in our service area. I had to go there today to inspect and take photographs of several properties, and while in the area I thought it best to kill two […]

Not long ago, a client requested that I run a print ad on a listing that had not yet sold. I was resistant at first because of the disappointing results my print advertising had garnered since 2005 or so, but the seller really believed it would work. My client believed that there was a demographic out there that […]

What can you buy in Rhinebeck for $373,000? We just listed and sold this classic 1837 colonial in the heart of the village. It is just under 1600 square feet on a third of an acre with a garage, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a rocking chair porch. It was restored in such a way […]

What Can You Buy in Cortlandt Manor for $255,000? Well, how about a 2700 square foot contemporary with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on almost an acre and a half in the Croton Colony Community? This home closed last Wednesday, October 13. It has a fireplace, large eat in kitchen, sliding doors to the deck, […]

I am going to bang a drum I have been banging since the sub prime crisis in 2007 began to erode the equity of so many people, and it is simple: if the housing market is going to recover, we have to have to do better than a 20th century solution to our 21st century […]

I have just listed three great homes for sale in the city of White Plains.  35 Manor Ave, White Plains NY 10605. Over 3000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, Full finished basement, 2 car garage, huge updated kitchen. $599,900.   8 Harwood Avenue, White Plains NY 10603. Gorgeous pre war Tudor styled ranch with a […]

Located in northwest Westchester County, the Hendrick Hudson School district is in the town of Cortlandt and encompasses parts of Croton, Cortlandt Manor, Peekskill, and all of Montrose, Verplanck and Buchanan, which is where Hendrick Hudson High school is located. All information is from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service.  Transaction totals are the same […]

Since I have Croton on the mind, I’ll share a recent “date night” Ann and I had recently. Hey. Get your mind out of the gutter. That’s my job. We went to Memphis Mae’s, a terrific Barbecue Restaurant right in the heart of the village with fantastic ribs, wings, pulled pork, Cajun food, and plenty more.  The decor is […]

Westchester residents have long known the strategic role our county plays in the New York City water supply. Our network or reservoirs, dams and aqueducts provide the lion’s share of water to the largest city in the country, but they also give us some fantastic parks and pieces of scenery. Today I had the opportunity to drive […]

I thought I’d do something different and compare the 3rd quarter of 2010 with the previous years going back to 2005 to see if there was anything helpful that could be concluded. This is for single family homes sold in Westchester, and all data is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service.  Two things jump […]

I wrote this as a comment on a post on defaulted mortgages, and I deemed my thoughts worth posting on their own.  There is a difference between strategic defaults and true distress. Buy and bail strategic defaults, in other words, people who move from their $300,000 home to an identical one for $180k, say they […]

When will we wake up and realize that cutting the banks slack is cutting our own throats?  Inman News published a column today entitled “Robo Scandal” Lacks Substance, Victims. Craig Swan at Bloodhound Blog opines Foreclosuregate? A scandal? If you want to sue for damages, it behooves you to have suffered a real, actual, material injury. And […]

I cannot imagine being self employed and never reading Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. I first read it when I was about 22 and it is one of about half a dozen books (most of which have been in print longer than I have been alive) that I consider to be Rosetta Stones of […]

  (Si prega di perdonare il mio italiano) Dopo il 1900, mio nonno Salvatore Faranda è venuto negli Stati Uniti d’America alla ricerca di una vita migliore. Egli è venuto a Ellis Island, come molti italiani e si stabilì a New York. Aveva solo circa 16, e non avrebbe mai vedere i suoi genitori. Ma […]

This is for single family home activity in the Pleasantville school district for September of 2010. All information is derived from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. Pleasantville is right next to Briarcliff Manor and has one of the best downtowns in North Westchester bar none. It is also the home of Pace University.    Compared to September 2009, […]

Yorktown is a large town in northern Westchester County served by both the Yorktown and Lakeland School districts. It is one town over from our office and in the heart of our company coverage area. I have heard it characterized as idyllic suburbia, and I agree. We have just helped a buyer put a house under […]

  Croton on Hudson is the village directly north of Ossining. It is a very charming locale on the Hudson with parks, great neighborhoods, and a large train station hub on the Metro North Hudson Line. My older brother and his family also live there. I used to camp at Croton Point Park as a Boy Scout, and I […]

There is one rather immutable truth to real estate: if you write a commission check, you are at a closing table selling your property.  Which, I believe, is the point. Closing.  Often, when listing a For Sale By Owner (most end up listing), I am asked what happens if someone who expressed interest while the home was […]