Active Rain

Paul Krugman is a columnist at the New York Times who is known for his academic laurels and his liberal politics. He’s also a lightning rod for controversy, because he extrapolates his economist credentials to other subjects, drawing the ire of conservative critics and creating a cottage industry of Internet rebuttals. I’m no fan of […]

This post is inspired by Carla Muss-Jacobs outstanding reply to what appeared to be smartypants buyers sending her an “interview email” a while back that made a senate confirmation hearing look like a walk in the park. You really should read the post. I’m all for interviewing agents prior to hiring them; more people should do […]

Briarcliff Manor, about 30 miles north of New York City on the Metro North Hudson line (Scarborough stop if you are keeping score) is a village of stately, bucolic neighborhoods. It boasts one of the most charming main streets you’ll see on Pleasantville Road, and if you wander a bit you’ll find Pace University on the old […]

What do George Pataki and Mel Gibson have in common? Peekskill, NY. Gibson was born here, and Pataki was once the mayor.  I have blogged about Peekskill’s market activity previously. We are talking about a historic river town with a lot of charm for those who dig pre war architecture. The place is teeming with […]

In June of 2008, prior to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac crisis, I wrote this blog posting asserting that the president who would most impact progress in the housing market was not the winner of the 2008 election, but the winner of the 1932 election. I began as follows: With the problems facing the real estate […]

Late last year I posted my 2 Goals and 5 Resolutions for 2009.  I am going to review how I did then state my 2010 goals and resolutions.  The goals were pretty simple: Make more money; Work less.   Quite frankly, I reached neither. I worked really hard in 2009, perhaps as hard as I ever worked, […]

Some of the comments in this story prompted me to write one of my own. The jist of the piece is that all real estate appreciation from the past 10 years is nullified by inflation. Now, I don’t know if I should go outside, stand in the street and scream  DUH at the top of […]

Ann has started her own blog, focusing on Gregory, who is on the spectrum for autism. G-man is, thank God, extremely communicative and affectionate, and as this video shows, he loves to be tickled. This is one of Ann’s favorite videos, and she figured out how to put it on her sidebar.  The “Dugga Dugga” […]

This article in the Real Deal caught my attention. According to the NY Times, foreclosure filings in New York State for 2009 are up 17 percent from the prior year, with just over 48,000 cases. Not all filings automatically become bank repossessions, but the number of those spiked enormously. Earlier this year I worked quite a bit […]

Russell Shaw of AgentGenius passes on a powerful email being sent to agents on how to deal with Bank of America’s difficulty with short sales- don’t send them any new mortgage business. My comment was as follows: Well, it isn’t surprising that this letter is being distributed. I haven’t gotten one but you reap what you […]

Are you, like me, just a little burned out on networking websites?  I Tweet, do Facebook, and LinkedIn ; there are dozens of others. I’ve been hyperactive on on Active Rain lately.  I have a YouTube channel. A Technocrati profile. Digg. Reddit. In real estate I’m on Zillow and Trulia, and that is just the tip of the iceburg. We don’t do this because it’s […]

If you’ve ever driven on any of the Westchester County Parkways, perhaps you’ve seen a quasi-official looking blue and white truck with the initials H.E.L.P. on the side. That stands for Highway Emergency Local Patrol, and they go around aiding people with car trouble. I have no idea what the cost is the the taxpayer; […]

One of the most common questions I get from buyers about an area they are considering is the following: How good are the schools?  It is a fair question. It factors in to their quality of life, the future welfare of their children, and resale value of the home they are considering. I also can’t […]

I have a deal going on one of my listings. December deals are special, and there are a lot of moving parts on my clients’ part, so I thought I’d reach out to the buyer agent to check status. She’s been good about contact, so I wondered why we hadn’t spoken in a few days. […]

Ossining Christmas Vigil: Lighting the Way for Santa One of the really cool local traditions in my old neighborhood on Osage Drive and Susquehanna Rd was to put rows of candles out along the street to light the way for St Nicholas. As I was driving to my office on an elf errand around 11:30pm, I drove […]

It can be confusing to understand the health of the economy from the media. As the screen shot from my news feed shows, there are seemingly completely contradictory stories on the U.S. real estate market. I’ve put red next to the “bad” news and a green mark next to the good news. One headline has […]

I remember finding a letter from 1945, written by my father from the South Pacific at the end of the 2nd World War. Japan had surrendered, and he was sharing with his parents that he and his fellow soldiers were not so much jubilant as they were exhausted. He wondered aloud about the future of […]

Thanks to Matt Goyer for starting this group. Here are links to my two Redfin Posts: Why Redfin Won’t be Redflop Redfin Redux There have been a number of posts on Redfin, and they even have a channel on Active rain now. I hope this group will foster civil discussion on the company and how it […]

I had two accepted offers today, one on a listing I am selling and another for a buyer I am representing. Here’s a coincidence: They are on the same street in New Rochelle, less than a mile apart. They are completely unrelated deals.  Another offer was presented on behalf of my buyer but we havn’t had […]