In 1962, my older brother Paul, then just 4 years old, got gravely ill and was rushed to the hospital. He would not come home until a year later. His life would be an odyssey of living with diabetes, kidney failure and dialysis, a urostomy most of his life, and all that comes with those […]

I’ve posted many times that people seeking to buy a home should use a buyer agent. The transaction is too expensive and complex to not have your own exclusive representation. Recent events have inspired me to address buyer agents themselves, as the role is a huge position of trust from the client. Buyers don’t need […]

Sellers have an extreme advantage in the current market due to the lack of competition. But even that has limits. One a recent walkthrough of a home, a buyer client and I noticed a few things that a smart seller should consider. The home appeared to have been off market just under 3 weeks after […]

The following is a list of good reasons for a buyer to waive their home inspection: Never Waive Inspection I’ll table the inspection of apartments for now, condo or co-op. They are a different category from a house on land. In short, even if a client signs a form holding their broker harmless and indemnifies […]

This past weekend some agents on my team held an open house for a listing in Mahopac. It was busy, with 25 separate parties and possibly 50 or 60 people walking through the home. The one wrinkle was that street parking was sparce. It had a driveway that could fit up to 10 cars, but […]

Formica. Popcorn Ceilings. Wood Paneling. If you envision your grandparent’s house, or the house you grew up in (if you’re old like I am), you’ll know those are the calling cards of a dated home. Why avocado green or harvest gold were upscale colors for appliances or why wood paneling was the rage in the […]

Years ago, I was the listing agent on a property where an offer came in significantly below asking price. The pre approval accompanying the offer was for the exact amount offered, tens of thousands of dollars below asking. My client asked why, if they were only approved for $450,000, that they’d even look at a […]

Recently, a client shared with me that a friend advised them to avoid homes on septic and to only buy a home with a public sewer connection. I’ll be blunt: That is terrible advice. With inventory so low, to disqualify such a high number of possible homes is a disservice to oneself. For regular people […]

This past Sunday I covered for one of our agents and met up with some first time homebuyers for their very first home tour. We had a big day scheduled: 5 confirmed appointments, all of the homes looked good, and the clients were excited to get their dream home. At the first appointment, I smirked […]

My last two posts have addressed the fact that despite the higher interest rates, it remains a seller’s market because of low inventory of listings. I wrote about why inventory is so low yesterday, and today I’m going to pretend I’m the HUD secretary and Housing Emperor (a position I made up but I’d love […]

Yesterday I wrote about the low inventory and the challenges buyers face with supply not measuring up to demand. I did not address the reason why buyers have so little to choose from, and that’s what I’ll attempt to tackle. There is no single factor for such a dramatic shortage. It is more of a […]

The cyclical nature of the market is a long discussed topic. It’s no secret that the traditional “busy season” is the spring, with the key word “traditionally.” In typical market cycles, the summer remains active, transactions tail off in the autumn, and things get quiet around the holidays and winter time. But we aren’t in […]

Prices are up these days, but $799,000 was all a buyer paid on our recent closing on 21 Beechwood in the Village of Irvington. The home was a fixer upper, and that is indicative of local values for the condition. “Bring your contractor! Classic mid century center hall colonial on a cul de sac with […]

Prices are up, but lower cost homes are still possible if you don’t need lots of bedrooms, like the home we just closed at 27 Jackson Road, just a few hundred yards from Kirk Lake. “Great opportunity to own a unique charmer with Lake Rights seasonal views of Kirk Lake in a secluded, wooded setting. […]

$449,000 will buy you a condominium with Hudson Views like the one I just closed on. The MLS description for the property are as follows: “Amazing Hudson River views, just yards from the metro north train station, and minutes from all that downtown Peekskill and the wonderful waterfront offer! Modern kitchen with roomy granite countertops. […]

Most weeks in our training we publish a “sexy stat” about the company. It might be an obscure, cool thing like how our sign appeared in the movie Wakefield with Bryan Cranston carrying it, or some milestone. This past April was a nice accomplishment.  On April 15th, we broke our record for properties put under […]

First, some background: In late 2019, Long Island Newsday published the shocking results of an investigation where reporters of different ethnicities and races went undercover as prospective homebuyers and the different ways they were treated by the real estate agents they engaged. Long Island Divided made national news and reverberated across the industry as professionals […]

I don’t think I’ve seen the following thought written anywhere lately, but I’ll say it: The average real estate agent has never worked harder than they have in this market.  That seems contrary to the public perception that rising prices and a “hot” market is when agents have it easy, but extreme conditions aren’t conducive […]

I got a question from a client about the effect that installing solar panels might have on their home’s value. It’s a good question, actually. Years ago when hurricanes knocked out power in our area for more than a week, I opined that backup generators would become the new status symbol. While I wasn’t wrong, […]