Active Rain

At 8pm, Korean Airlines landed at JFK, bringing with them a passenger by the name of Ann Faranda, who happens to be my wife, business partner, and mother of our 4 children. We had to endure a week in her absence while she was in Seoul to bury her father and support her mother.  It was not […]

As I type this, the chief financial officer and administrator of the company is on a plane to Korea. This leaves me without a better half as well, and the kids with an ill-equipped Mr. Mom. Every company worth its salt really has 2 things: marketing (my department, sometimes referred to as the hot air) and administration. […]

This post on agent safety should be required reading for us all, but especially female agents. We work with the public, and have exposure to opportunistic people with bad intentions.  And to think that some people still get huffy when we ask them if they have been pre approved!  Via Leesa L. Finley, REALTOR®/RE Strategist […]

I met my father in law when he first arrived in New York from Korea, 2 days after Ann and I were engaged in December, 2000. The 3 of us had dinner in Manhattan, and I was tending bar as a sabbatical from the rat race. I still recall sitting down and Ann’s father pulling […]

I am quoted in AOL’s Money and Finance: People@Work story on people who relocate due to job opportunities. The story examines the details behind last month’s creaion of 290,000 new jobs, and I was posed a question about people who choose to sell their homes to relocate to their new job.  I have one client […]

J. Philip Real Estate has vast experience in the purchase of distress properties and is an asset for any buyer seeking a short sale, REO or bank owned foreclosure. We can help you in the following types of transactions: Short sale (listing and selling representing the owner) of any home in Westchester or greater metropolitan New York […]

A happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there.  This will be my own mom’s 59th Mother’s Day, as she qualified in late July, 1951 while my father was deployed in Korea. She renewed her membership in 1954, 1958 and um, 1967 when I stepped off the caboose of the fertility train. Mom was […]

Staging is not rocket science. I have often stated that I am no expert in presenting a home, but I don’t think that it takes a Nobel laureate to figure out that people looking at homes priced a stone’s throw from (insert optional Dr Evil voice here) $1 Million have certain minimum expectations, among them […]

Last night I broke bread at the Tuscan Grille with clients to celebrate signing contracts on their next home after 14 months of work on the project. It has been a journey. I listed their Bryant Gardens co op apartment last Winter, and we soon found a house in White Plains they loved. Unfortunately, the […]

We have 3 Cherry Blossom trees in our rear yard that have to be at least 40 years old. In April, when they bloom, it creates an explosion of pink beauty that dominates the view from our rear window. There is something comforting about seeing my children play in their shade. I often think of […]

I am your agent. I am a professional. I have a college degree. I value your business; as a matter of fact, if I don’t produce a result for you and my other clients, my kids don’t eat. It is in that context that I am offering this post, in good spirits, good humor, and […]

The crazies are out there. You might be working with one right now and not know it. But they are out there, and they aren’t going to be nice if things don’t go their way. The crazies are the last minute home buyers who want to qualify for the tax credit by April 30. If […]

What qualifies as hardship in a short sale? I get this question fairly often, and it should be addressed. First, I’ll tell you what does not qualify as hardship, and that is simply being underwater. If you owe more than you are worth, being upside down alone is not adequate hardship to get a short […]

I will be holding 109 Elk in New Rochelle open today from 1-3 pm. It is a 3500 square foot English Tudor with 6 bedrooms, 3.2 baths, and a carriage house garage. List price is $975,000 and annual taxes are $22,429. The lot is very large for the area-.39 acres.  Here is the write up […]

The latter half of April has been maniacally busy for me because of the stimulus deadline of April 30. I have been working nonstop for the past week, save for collapsing at home at days end. It takes every waking minute just to handle what is coming across my desk. Offers, inspections, contracts, and showings […]

I did the training back in 1989 so forgive me if my nomenclature isn’t 2010. I recall being in a seminar in the 90’s and being told that being in the present could best be illustrated by a dog falling from the top of the skyscraper…the thought was that rather than being fearful, the pooch […]

I came up with this as I was speaking to a referred listing prospect. It might be hot air, but I think it makes sense. Reputation. This is where it starts. Reputation is the cornerstone for an agent or company. The good will of the public and our peers is a prerequisite to succeeding in […]

I am not a big staging guy. I simply don’t have the eye for it, and it is best left to professional stagers. I know a few tricks- tidy up, clear off the table and counter tops, put the toilet lid down, that sort of thing. I don’t care if people have their kids pictures on the […]