Active Rain

Active Rain

If it Doesn’t Feel Like Home, They Aren’t Buying

I just received a “rebuttal” to feedback I left on a home I showed earlier this week. The issue was that this 3 bedroom home wasn’t really a 3 bedroom home unless you like walking through one bedroom to get to another. The only solution would be to cannibalize the middle room with a wall to create […]
Active Rain

Speechless Sundays: Happy Easter
Active Rain

Is There an Advantage to Buying After the April 30 Deadline?

I have blogged before that the stimulus package, set to expire April 30, has fulfilled it’s purpose. Sales in Westchester for the first quarter of 2010 have dwarfed those of the 2009 first quarter. This may seem hard to believe, but that $8000 tax credit is now over a year old. The Westchester County housing […]
Active Rain

J. Philip Real Estate is Hiring Agents

I started out as a sole operator in 2005. I hired my first licensee in 2006 and as of April 1 we have 20 members on our team with more coming aboard soon after. Some are former clients; some are agents we did deals with before and liked me (no accounting for taste). Whatever the […]

Active Rain If it Doesn’t Feel Like Home, They Aren’t Buying I just received a “rebuttal” to feedback I left on a home I showed earlier this week. The issue was that this 3 bedroom home wasn’t really a 3 bedroom home unless you like walking through one bedroom to get to another. The only solution would be to cannibalize the middle room with a wall to create […]

Active Rain Speechless Sundays: Happy Easter

Active Rain Is There an Advantage to Buying After the April 30 Deadline? I have blogged before that the stimulus package, set to expire April 30, has fulfilled it’s purpose. Sales in Westchester for the first quarter of 2010 have dwarfed those of the 2009 first quarter. This may seem hard to believe, but that $8000 tax credit is now over a year old. The Westchester County housing […]

Active Rain J. Philip Real Estate is Hiring Agents I started out as a sole operator in 2005. I hired my first licensee in 2006 and as of April 1 we have 20 members on our team with more coming aboard soon after. Some are former clients; some are agents we did deals with before and liked me (no accounting for taste). Whatever the […]

Active Rain Briarcliff Manor, NY- The Tree Streets The Tree Streets is an unofficial nickname of a small neighborhood in the village of Briarcliff Manor that has a number -but not all- of streets named after trees. What sets it apart from much of the rest of the village is the moderate prices and predominant amount of pre war homes. The Tree Steets […]

Active Rain Upper Manhattan, NYC: Castle Village Co-op Castle Village is the sort of apartment community that dispels the myth of New York City as the Concrete Jungle. Located in the Hudson Heights section of Upper Manhattan, it occupies a site where a castle once indeed stood, with a spectacular view of the Hudson River, George Washington Bridge, and the Palisades in New […]

Active Rain Why I Love to Work on My Yard This post is inspired by Richard Weisser’s excellent piece on his upcoming Spring yard work. I really don’t have the time or energy right now to stop and become my own part-time landscaper, but the time that I do take working in my yard are times I relish. I’ll be planting a lilac from an oversized pot […]

Active Rain Is it All About the Commission Split? I Think Not. Let me first say that no good agent will work for less than they feel they deserve. However, I know agents who could leave where they currently are for a higher split yet choose not to change brokerages. Entropy? Fear of change? What makes an agent stay for a lower split, not leave for a […]

Active Rain Home Inspectors “Bedside Manner” is Essential I have great respect for home inspectors. They perform a crucial job in the real estate process, and most I have worked with do their work with merit. Just about every good inspector I have ever dealt with has understood two very fundamental truths: Be thorough and accurate. Do not scare the crap out of […]

Active Rain Is the First Offer the Best Offer? There has long been an argument on how best to handle the first 30 days of a listing, and that is whether or not to speculate a bit at a slightly higher price, or to enter the market at a more aggressive number in the hope of a knockout punch. Some sellers, when they get […]

Active Rain Tenants’ Rights One of the most misunderstood aspects of real estate is the tension on the part of agents, landlords and tenants when it comes to the sale of the rental property. It is really a 3-headed monster. Landlords selling their property often want to “keep it a secret” that the building is for sale; they fear […]

Active Rain Hopewell Junction, NY: Sagamor, the Tree-Friendly Subdivision Last week I wrote a blog post entitled Developers Should Spare the Trees. In it, I decried the clear cutting, scorched-Earth methodology of removing every single tree in the building of a new subdivision. Lo and behold, this past week, while driving not far from the inspiration of that post, I came upon the Sagamor subdivision in […]

Active Rain Briarcliff Manor: Kemey’s Cove Condominium Located in the Scarborough area of Briarcliff Manor, Kemey’s Cove is a quiet condo community nestled off of Revolutionary road overlooking the Kemey’s Cove lagoon off the Hudson River. Historic places nearby include Sparta Cemetery as well as the Jug Tavern. The setting gives it a stunning view of the Hudson and the Metro North train line […]

Active Rain Nyack, NY: For Sale by Owner vs Broker Revisited This past December I blogged about 2 neighboring homes for sale in Nyack, NY that were featured in a New York Times article discussing the merits of using a broker to sell a home and the reasons people sell by owner. The homes were side by side; I was familiar with both, and even showed […]

Active Rain 200,000 This past November I blogged my thoughts on eclipsing 100,000 points on ActiveRain and, more importantly, the good things that occurred on the way. Today, 4 months and a day later, I hit 200,000 points. More happy things have happened out of my blogging efforts. A few highlights: I might write about this after it closes, but one buyer who found […]

Active Rain Hopewell Junction, NY: Swiss Hamlet Drive through Swiss Hamlet just once and you’ll appreciate the name; beautiful homes in classic styles with stunning views of the valley. Residents have a full homeowners association which includes tennis courts, a clubhouse, and beautiful swimming pool. The amenities are run by the Swiss Hamlet Homeowners Association, located in the clubhouse right in the […]

Active Rain Why Your $430,000 Offer on My $575,000 Listing Hurts You More Than it Hurts Us Dear Buyer and Buyer Agent: My clients and I are in receipt of your lowb-, um, offer. We are grateful that you are interested in the home- it has served my clients well for years. I can only hope that if you live there too that it will be the source of much joy and many […]

Active Rain Briarcliff Manor, NY- Chilmark When I was a kid I had a Murray 5-speed bike with a banana seat and high handlebars, and I would ride between my neighborhood, Ossining’s Indian Village, and Chilmark, across Pleasantville Road on the other side of Ossining Resevoir. Homes in Chilmark were bigger and nicer than my own. While I rode through those streets […]

Active Rain Port Chester Real Estate Market We have just closed on 155 North Regent Street in Port Chester, and to celebrate that closing I’ll post a rundown of the real estate market in that distinguished village. Port Chester has a warm place in my heart. It was where “the office” was where my father worked when I was a child. Whenever […]

Active Rain Are Credit Unions the Answer? George Mantor’s article “Is It Time to Go on The Offensive?” has me thinking. Mantor echoes the dissatisfaction most of us have with both the government and large banks, and he announces that he is switching to a credit union for his banking. He is using his economic vote. Should we all? In 2005, when I started […]