Dear Bank: I am in receipt of your extortion short sale approval contingent upon the reduction of my commission. I decline your offer. I do not play chicken with my business, and no, something is not better than nothing. I did great work to produce a buyer for this property in spite of rather shabby […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

I just got an email from The National Association of REO & Short Sale Professionals offering to make me a certified short sale expert. Frankly, I have no badge or initials after my name, but a filing cabinet filled with closed short sales and about 12 in the pipeline so I kinda thought I was […]

If you are an agent in or around the bedroom counties of New York City (suburbs, Hudson Valley, Long Island, Fairfield County, CT) I am hiring both full and part-time agents. I offer ongoing mentorship, help with prospecting, training, and, oh yes, LEADS. Email me for details. I belong to the following MLS systems: Westchester-Putnam […]

I was inspired by Bill Gassett’s recent posting on why listings expire unsold to share what I tell people when it comes to pricing their homes. Simply put, time costs money and money costs time. The faster you need to sell, the less you’ll get. The more money you want, the longer you’ll have to […]

I have a listing priced at 219,000, and we received an offer of $185,000. Not uncommon in this market. The pre-approval included was also for $185,000. Now, I know that the buyer probably qualifies for more, but they don’t want to tip their hand. Some of you may not agree with me, but this strategy […]

I recall that during the campaign my wife and I would hear Barack Obama speak and then look at each other and say “Sounds great. How will we pay for it?” Now, with an $825 billion dollar stimulus package on the table in the wake of a $700 billion bank bailout I am concerned. The […]

I should first disclose that I am not, nor have I been in the past, an REO Broker. I have purchased them myself and I have represented buyers in the transactions many times over the years. It is as different an area of real estate from typical transactions as Podiatry is from Opthamology in medicine.These […]

This listing expired unsold a few days ago. This is the actual photo on the MLS posted by the listing agent. There were no marketing remarks, agent to agent remarks, showing instructions, or driving directions posted. I spoke with the seller a few hours ago and was informed it was a short sale. This was […]

J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 51 Van Wyck, Croton On Hudson, NY Custom Built Luxury with Hudson Views 4BR/3.5BA Single Family House offered at $699,900 Year Built 1996 Sq Footage 3,636 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 3 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size .20 acres HOA/Maint […]

With the economy in decline and the housing market more so, real estate agents are leaving the industry. This is first and foremost a sad thing for anyone who loses a job or has a business fail; I never like to see anyone suffer or have financial problems. Overall, however, there is a silver lining […]

J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 15 Orchard, Putnam Valley, NY Mint Floradan Estates Ranch 2BR/1BA Single Family House offered at $225,000 Year Built 1950 Sq Footage 1,016 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1 full, 0 partial Floors 1 Parking Unspecified Lot Size .23 acres HOA/Maint $145 per month DESCRIPTION ——————————————————————————– Lovely […]

J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 1001 Brentwood, Tarrytown, NY Rare 4 Bedroom Watch Hill Townhome 4BR/2.5BA Single Family House offered at $575,000 Year Built 1995 Sq Footage 2,421 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking Unspecified Lot Size .06 acres HOA/Maint $175 per month see additional […]

J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 1124 Frost Lane, Peekskill, NY 4 Bedroom 2 bath Cape on a Double Lot 4BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $395,000 Year Built 1955 Sq Footage 1,500 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 1 Car garage Lot Size .31 acres […]

I don’t know what the full story is, and we’ll perhaps never know, but Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton as a New York Senator.  My money is on the idea that once Caroline Kennedy found out that she wasn’t Gov. Patterson’s choice for NY Senator, she took her ball and went […]

My last post mentioned the importance of having a Unique Selling Proposition, or a characteristic that sets you apart from the competition. Having a USP that you can explain in under a minute is more effective than a 30 minute listing presentation with all the bells and whistles. One of the comments stated that having […]