I relate to people that bought a house in the boom, spent thousands improving it, and then are told that it is worth the same or less than the price they paid, even with the improvements. Very discouraging stuff. What sellers need to realize, however, is that home buyers today are not buying roofs, windows, bathrooms or […]

I will be the first to say that staging is important. A home should be tidy, well-kept, and laid out in an sensible way. There are lots of simple things people can do to raise their appeal- scented candles, clearing off kitchen counters, removing unneeded furniture, and TURNING ON THE LIGHTS (pet peeve of mine. Hard […]

The stereotypical view of people who face foreclosure is that they are irresponsible or unintelligent. But sometimes, they are good, intelligent professionals who have had bad things happen. My own older brother, a Cornell alum, lost his house in the early 90’s due to illness. One couple I listed was in similarly bad circumstances. She […]

Some transactions stay with you your whole life. This occurred almost 2 years ago and seems like it was last week. The clients lived in Orange County, an exurb of NYC about 40 minutes north of White Plains. They were desperate, and their situation was compelling. First, they were restoring an older Georgian. Even in […]

If you’ve ever arrived at a closing and been informed that your commission was being disputed, withheld, or otherwise not being paid, you’ll appreciate New York State’s newly-minted Commission Escrow Act.  It requires the commission money to be deposited in escrow with the county clerk pending resolution. The great thing about this law is the certainty of getting […]

Picture this: a 3300 square foot brick center hall colonial with lots of upgrades, impeccable furnishings and appointments, beautiful decor and furniture, located in a swanky suburb. When I arrived to show it to my buyers, we see a crummy space heater in the dining room, 10 feet from an heirloom chandelier. What are these people […]

Here in New York, Today is the day that the Coney Island Polar Bear Club (or, as my late father referred to them “those idiots”) have their annual winter dunk at the beach. They actually do this crazy thing once a week, but they get all their publicity (and presumably, do most of their recruiting) […]

I have been meaning to post on this for a while. As unpalatable as it is to say, assaults and even murders of agents who unwittingly meet the wrong person in the wrong place do occur. A female agent alone at an open house I ran into recently seemed genuinely glad to see me because […]

This might be a sensitive subject to some. However, I feel that my thoughts need to be expressed and our industry should be a leader and not a passive observer. I view gay marriage as an equal housing issue, and therefore something that should be supported by licensees. The building bloc of society is people […]

Those of you who have listed and sold homes of divorcing couples will attest to the frequent difficulty of those files. The NY Times has an article on how the slow market is causing the liquidation of marital real estate to be far more difficult in some cases, causing the people to remain living together in […]

It is 2008. The government has nationalized the banking industry. We are in a recession, and the real estate market has yet to hit bottom. And there remain sellers out there that don’t realize that if they make seeing their home difficult, the home won’t get sold. In 2004, if it was difficult to get […]

Not long ago, the following was written: “you should be strongly advocating foreclosures – not mitigation or refinance – in your marketplace.” They stated that foreclosures would restore confidence in the market. I beg to differ. With rare exception, foreclosures hurt everyone and should be avoided at all costs. They harm the borrower, the lender, and even […]

My 2 goals are simple: Make more money; Work less. 2008 was a difficult year for me compared to 2007, and I got caught up in a pattern of putting out fires and working more reactively than executing a plan. I will not let history repeat itself. My 5 resolutions are designed to fulfill my […]

Those of us who live in the NY Metropolitan area (otherwise called the Tri-State area) know all about scandals involving our state governors. Since 2002, all three governors of NY, NJ and CT have resigned amidst scandal. And their offenses paled in comparison to Illinois Rod Blagojevich arrest for trying to sell a US Senate […]

My company is 30 minutes or less from the Bronx, Dutchess County, and Rockland County. I belong to the Westchester-Putnam MLS. I sell in other counties, though, and guess what? I belong to half a dozen other MLS systems to make that happen. Not only is this expensive, it is crazy. We all get the […]

There are those who will perjoratively state that ours is a retread occupation, where failures from other walks of life seek a way to earn a living after flopping elsewhere. I beg to differ, but it is true that for virtually all agents, real estate is not our first career. I know of no college […]

In light of this post by the Somers team on Dual Agency I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the practice. I can only speak about it from my own knowledge of the practice in New York, so agents in other states might get limited value from my thoughts. When I list a house, I am hired […]

With rare exception, buying decisions are made for emotional reasons. Overwhelming a prospective buyer with lots of data in a showing will typically talk them out of, rather than into, making an offer. Understandably, many sellers have put years of effort and money into keeping their home in good condition. They have upgraded, added on, […]

Buyers are waging a war of attrition with sellers in this market to be sure. I recall that when the sellers had the upper hand that buyers had to pretty much deal with their demands or lose the deal. The opposite is now true. At what point, though, does using their leverage cross over into […]

In light of this post by Cathy Tishhouse, I will offer my planned activities today as a small example of why we earn every penny. Yesterday I wrote about a listing I have that is under contract and there was a question as to whether or not it would be wiser to delay the closing […]