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Active Rain

The Surreal Closing

Tomorrow is a closing on the purchase of a home for clients I first met in April of 2009. 16 months, dozens of homes, 2 offers, 2 homes inspections, 1 heartbreaking lost deal and about a hundred conversations later they will close on that perfect home, which I first blogged about this past Spring. It is almost […]
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Speechless Sundays: Downtown Ossining
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Zillow “Best Real Estate Blog” Contest

I should be asleep, but I just read on Facebook that Zillow is holding a “Best Real Estate Blog” vote in a number of metropolitan areas. I originally read it on Jay Thompson’s (AKA The Phoenix Real Estate Guy’s) page, and I got intrigued to see if they were including any New York blogs; they are not. There […]
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Who Says They Don’t Have a Sense of Humor in Riverdale?

Active Rain The Surreal Closing Tomorrow is a closing on the purchase of a home for clients I first met in April of 2009. 16 months, dozens of homes, 2 offers, 2 homes inspections, 1 heartbreaking lost deal and about a hundred conversations later they will close on that perfect home, which I first blogged about this past Spring. It is almost […]

Active Rain Speechless Sundays: Downtown Ossining

Active Rain Zillow “Best Real Estate Blog” Contest I should be asleep, but I just read on Facebook that Zillow is holding a “Best Real Estate Blog” vote in a number of metropolitan areas. I originally read it on Jay Thompson’s (AKA The Phoenix Real Estate Guy’s) page, and I got intrigued to see if they were including any New York blogs; they are not. There […]

Active Rain Who Says They Don’t Have a Sense of Humor in Riverdale?

Active Rain Buying or Selling A Home? Develop Good Agent-like Habits One of the things we as licensees often take for granted is that people are like us when it comes to emails, voicemails, texts and cell phones. They aren’t. Most people, at the end of the day, don’t take work home. We are on call 24/7/365. Clients aren’t agents and don’t live in our world. However, if […]

Active Rain Friday’s Fotos: Lady Liberty This photo was taken at dusk on June 18, 2010 from a boat in New York Harbor. The soft light from the torch, crown and base set against the sunset in person was powerful.

Active Rain Do You Want a $30,000 Problem or a $350,000 Problem? Did you know that sometimes, despite our best efforts, lenders in a short sale will want the borrower to pay some money back? For example, if you have a $300,000 house with $315,000 on the first mortgage and $75,000 on the second, that the second mortgage might only release in the lien in exchange for a promissory note, unsecured terms, or […]

Active Rain Help Me Help You Sell Your Westchester Home: Clean the Counters. Westchester County is sought after because it is the suburbs of New York City. You have the best of both worlds- proximity to Manhattan and the Boroughs, and a suburban (and sometimes downright rural) lifestyle. It is for this reason that Manhattan Folk choose Westchester as their home. Goodbye apartment, goodbye storage rental space, goodbye […]

Active Rain Briarcliff’s Finest- an Appreciation In 2007, we moved our family about a mile, one neighborhood over. Even though it was a short move, it took us across the line from the Village of Ossining to the Village of Briarcliff Manor. When you’re me, you don’t really expect to have many experiences with the police, aside from civic or social […]

Active Rain Sooner or Later, the Suits Come In and Ruin Everything Eileen Kennedy has written a great series on why agents change companies which I have read with interest. Much of what is said confirms why I run my own firm, including the oblique references to an unnamed Corporation in the Northeast with high fees and claustrophobic regulations. It reminded me of a number of great […]

Active Rain Wordless Wednesday- Maryknoll

Active Rain Another Successful Short Sale Closed by J Philip Real Estate It took 13 months, but we finally closed on a short sale in Poughkeepsie that I originally listed in April of 2009. It took 4 months to get an offer, but there was a nightmare process getting assigned a negotiator and then a title issue was discovered that took another 3 months to clear. At one […]

Active Rain What Makes a Successful Agent? In read Brian Rugg’s posting today about starting from scratch in real estate in a new market, and it dovetailed with a post I have been working on in draft form since Rose Marinaccio’s piece a few days ago as well. I relate to Brian’s thoughts on starting in a new place because it calls […]

Active Rain NEVER Walk Out of Closing Without the HUD-1 The HUD-1 is the official closing statement required by law that documents all money exchanged in a real estate transaction involving a mortgage. In general terms, any money exchanged not mentioned on the HUD-1 is considered a side deal and in all likelihood, illegitimate. I’m not speaking of the separate sale of furniture or a lawn tractor; I’m […]

Active Rain I Love White Plains I love White Plains and White Plains loves me. Closed July 14: 16 Manor Ave, White Plains, NY. I have blogged about this one before. I was the selling agent. I sold my clients’ White Plains Co op apartment last year in Bryant Gardens and we lost 2 other bids before landing this beautiful ranch […]

Active Rain The Herd Mentality Let’s review some facts: Prices are down. Way down. Asking prices are so low, as a matter of fact, that some homes are getting multiple bids again. Rates are low. Really low. I just had a buyer close on a 30-years fixed for their home at 4.875%, and the lender was perfectly happy with the […]

Active Rain Valhalla NY Real Estate Market, June 2010 Valhalla isn’t just where Vikings go when they die; it is where smart central Westchester residents live. Valhalla, NY is a hamlet in the town of Mount Pleasant which is served by the Valhalla School District and punctuated by a quaint downtown, a scenic train station and Kensico Dam. Kensico is one of the largest dams in […]

Active Rain Open House: 4 Hickory, Mahopac, NY 1-3pm I will be hosting an open house at 4 Hickory Lane in Mahopac today from 1-3pm. The owner is a restaurateur, so you never know what might be on that dining room table! The home is very unique and has a terrific location for work or play. MLS description is as follows: Fantastic value and pride […]

Active Rain Speechless Sundays: Watchful Eye

Active Rain Property Taxes Must be Listed Accurately In Westchester County, property taxes are high. Really high. My old house, a modest 2000 square foot home, has taxes of almost $14,000. My current home is pushing $17,000. With numbers that high, an inaccurate tax figure on the MLS can be a deal killer. When I started my company in 2005, tax figures on our MLS […]