Has something like this ever happened to you when you are seeing houses? We finished up our last showing, shook hands and exchanged thoughts, then got in our cars to drive away. I turned a corner, maybe 15 yards away, and my client was stopped, perplexed, as she looked at a little girl from the neighborhood standing in the […]

Would any of you take a seat in the restaurant and then try and sell them tablecloths when the waiter came over?  Why would I ever want to do business with this person?  Name and contact info is redacted to protect the clueless.    An Inquiry from Realtor.com(R)   J Philip Real Estate  to Cxxxx show […]

Wikipedia defines the term Strategic Default as  “the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e. default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payments.” (my emphasis added) Given the huge amount of attention given to the practice, I thought that I would offer my own observations on what I am […]

Rockland County’s Ramapo and Clarkstown both made Money Magazine’s top 100 places to live. I blogged yesterday about Westchester’s 2 entries, New Rochelle and White Plains. Rockland County is right across the Hudson from Westchester and borders Bergen County, New Jersey. I have done business in both towns and they are both good choices.  Ramapo is the […]

Like White Plains, New Rochelle has been ranked in Money magazines top 100 small cities to live in America with a ranking of number 82. I am not surprised. New Rochelle (of Dick van Dyke show fame to those of you who have never been) is on the Long Island Sound, is home to Iona […]

Hat tip to Craig Rutman: Money Magazine has ranked America’s top 100 small cities to live and White Plains came in ranked #53 . I am closing on a home in White Plains tomorrow as a matter of fact, with another closing later this month, and I do believe that Money has it right with […]

On this, my forty-third birthday, I thought I’d pay a small tribute to my roots and share Ossining, New York with you. I was born in nearby Sleepy Hollow (known then as North Tarrytown) in 1967 and lived in Ossining until I graduated high school. I then left for college in Pennsylvania and had a 15-year odyssey of homes before […]

I was contacted yesterday by a colleague asking if I could help him find an agent in another state. His brother in law is looking for new a one- he’s not happy with his current representation. That’s an easy one, right? I’ll just log onto Active Rain and refer one of the slew of agents […]

Yorktown is a larger town in north Westchester County between Cortlandt and Somers. It is is very suburban in character- think post-war/baby boom subdivisions with ranches, splits and raised ranches and with larger colonials in the newer developments. It is served primarily by the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts, and it has abundant shopping and […]

Croton on Hudson is a village located directly north of Ossining in northwest Westchester County in the town of Cortlandt. The train station is considered a busy hub on the Hudson line of Metro North, and the village is also the home of my older brother. Do with that last bit what you will. This market report […]

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. All information is from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service.  Last month I said the following in the Hen Hud market report: Barring another crisis, […]

I will be hosting an open house this afternoon from 1-3 pm at 1001 Brentwood Drive in Tarrytown. It is a rare, 4 bedroom end unit townhome in the Watch Hill complex with a finished basement, deck, 2 car garage and fireplace. It is loaded- master suite, over 2400 square feet, and a cul de […]

This is the market activity for Peekskill in June of 2010. All information is sourced from the Westchester-Putnam MLS. I have blogged about Peekskill extensively before.  Unlike the May of 2009 and 2010 comparison, prices and transaction totals are up, from a median price in June of 2009 of $237,500 to a more robust $304,750 […]

You would think that all the stuff published by financial advice websites would have some consumers more educated about the role of real estate agents, especially in the case of a short sale. They don’t. I have to educate many who reach out to me and set them straight on certain ideas in their head that they […]

Often, good service can be distinguished by what it isn’t. I am in a service industry, and my bones are made based on my communication, responsiveness, ability to troubleshoot, and getting the job done. All of this melds together for the currency of any good business, which is good will. I’m sure you could add […]

Every so often, I have a listing celebrate an anniversary. I hate anniversaries. No broker wants to have a listing that doesn’t sell for a year. Every year-old listing has a story of old offers they regret not accepting and a journey of chasing the market. Recently, I had a year-old client dismiss my recommendation […]

I had the opportunity to attend a Yankee game the other day with a fellow broker owner (we don’t all hate each other) at the New Yankee Stadium. We took the brand new Metro North Hudson line down from Croton on Hudson and arrived in about 40 minutes. The stop was a long time coming […]

The old joke goes something like this: The Engineering major asks “how shall we build it?” The Business major asks “how much will it cost to build it?” The English major asks “Do you want fries with that?” Since graduating college with a BA in English, I get kidded about the fact that my degree […]

This is for single family home activity in the Ossining school district for June of 2010. All information is derived from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service.  The numbers are far better for June 2010 than they were in June 2009 for Ossining. In May 2009, there were 13 sales at a median price of $410,000. Therefore, the […]