Active Rain

The NY Times is reporting on a new Obama initiative to create a financial incentive for banks and home sellers alike to do short sales. A few highlights from the article:   Program starts April 5, 2010 Lenders will be “compelled” to accept short sales. We’ll see about that. The administration wants to streamline the […]

Ossining is one of the few places in Northern Westchester County with many cooperative apartments. The Village of Ossining actually has hundreds of co ops, and given the prices of Westchester County homes, they are often viewed as the starter home for our area.  Active Listings: 46    Median List Price: $144,950 Pending Sale: 3 […]

While at an open house today, I got the following instant message from my wife: Ann: While you are there take some better exterior photos. Today is sunny, and the old ones were taken on a cloudy day.  Smart idea. The last time I was here, I didn’t get anything from the rear of the home […]

Unlike many parts of the country, home sellers in Westchester and the surrounding counties (all of Metropolitan New York, really) are actually a long way from signing contracts. When I sold in upstate Rochester, we’d go to contract the same day in some cases, with broker prepared templates written and approved by the local Bar […]

I had the privilege yesterday of attending a reunion of my former co-workers from the position I held prior to my career in real estate. It was the first time I had seen some people in 15 years. It was sales in a different industry and we were all managers. The work was difficult (what sales job […]

There is no typical day. Consider Friday:  2am: Finished blog post “J. Philip Real Estate is Growing.” 2:30-7am: Sleep 7am: School morning scramble-Luke, Catherine and Gregory on the school bus by 8am. 10am: Meet with client in Manhattan. Photos taken of new co op listing. 12 noon: Lunch in Queens, handle a call where an […]

I awoke this morning to the typical Saturday morning pandemonium. So I went right to my home office and fired up the computer. Ann came in to talk, so the horde followed and decided to climb Mt. Dad (not an ambitious project). There is something very wonderful about being physically covered with your children. I look […]

As we enter the last month of 2010’s first quarter, I am happy to observe the growth the company is experiencing. A few facts: The firm now has 15 licensed agents living in 6 counties spanning from Long Island to Dutchess County. We have as a company over 50 active listings.  As of today, with […]

Although people don’t realize it, Westchester County does have plenty of homes with wood stoves. Many are decorative, some are even antique cast iron parlor stoves, but most can and do augment the heating of the home. There is nothing like walking into a toasty, warm living room with the thermostat down to 60 degrees […]

One misconception regarding the desirability of cash buyers is that because there is no mortgage, no appraisal is needed. Anyone who has ever done a few cash transactions, however, knows that people who are writing a check often do as much or more due diligence than a lender. They have a right; it is their […]

I got an email earlier this evening asking for a release from a seller client because they aren’t happy with the job I’m doing. They want to fire me. The house isn’t sold, and I have not shown it myself. Since 2005, I have cancelled a handful of listings, giving unconditional releases to problem clients […]

I’ll be brief. I wrote a version of this for my company agents to inspire them to get busy here, and I’ll share it with my colleagues: Get found. By buyers, sellers, reporters, other agents with referrals. Get followed. Why you want your blog to be engaging (sticky)- Not everyone who finds you is ready to […]

When I was first licensed in 1996, an idea was making the rounds that prior to meeting with prospective clients, an agent should give them a pre-listing package. It was printed material on the agent, their marketing plan, testimonials, and other credibility builders. The rationale was that when you sat down with the people, they’d […]

Wow. Westchester County and the surrounding areas are buried with snow. There must be 2 feet of the stuff outside in my yard. What’s more, the trees are FULL of the stuff, as if it were glued to them. It is creating a scene like none I can recall. Briarcliff Manor DPW has been by plowing […]

Upon occasion, we get calls from people that see an ad or sign but they don’t know the address of the house. They can give a color or a landmark, but the ad ID number wasn’t written down. What then follows is an excercise in forensics and trianglulation which can take away from more pressing matters. In […]

MSN Money released an article today on the 2010 real estate market that has me in a fairly prominent position. The article is entitled Homesellers Finally Get Real, and addresses the process by which homeowners have accepted and adjusted to falling prices. The quote is split up, but here is what I said: Look at […]

Nobody bats 1.000, and I, like every other broker in the history of the world, have some listings that did not sell and listed with another broker. I seldom give them much thought; it isn’t productive. One ex-listing always sort of intrigued me and I see that they are now on their 4th broker. I […]

I’m not one to completely understand Einstein’s theory of relativity, but I do observe that, depending on context, some things seem like they occurred a far longer time ago than others. For example: It seems like only yesterday when my daughter was born 6 years ago in early 2004. It was a remarkable day in many […]

One of the things I have noticed in the ongoing debates on Dual Agency in Agent Genius, Active Rain and other industry forums is the near universal presumption that if an agent sells a home they have listed to their own buyer that it somehow automatically constitutes dual agency. While I can only speak of how […]