Active Rain

Active Rain

Are You Losing Your Soul or Your Sole?

A rather interesting homophone arose in the comment thread of one of my recent postings that I thought merited some commentary. A “homophone,” by the way, is a case of two words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. For instance, “bore” (to make weary by being dull) and “boar” (wild pig) make a […]
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Wordless Wednesday- For You Baseball Fans: Flushing, NY 2/17/2009
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A Brief Rant on Some REO Agents

I am not unfamiliar with foreclosures. I have bought and sold more than a few, and I do dozens of short sales a year. I don’t for a moment think that selling an REO is simple; yes, they are vacant, but as an investor myself I know that the property has to be managed and […]
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Short Sale Bargain! Rockaway 2 Family $499,000 Built in 2004

J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 224 Beach 92nd St, Rockaway Beach, NY Short Sale Bargain! 2004 Rockaway Beach 2-Family Home! 5BR/4BA Multi-Family, 2 units offered at $499,900 Year Built 2003 Sq Footage 2,500 Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 4 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking Unspecified Lot Size 2,549 sqft HOA/Maint […]

Active Rain Are You Losing Your Soul or Your Sole? A rather interesting homophone arose in the comment thread of one of my recent postings that I thought merited some commentary. A “homophone,” by the way, is a case of two words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. For instance, “bore” (to make weary by being dull) and “boar” (wild pig) make a […]

Active Rain Wordless Wednesday- For You Baseball Fans: Flushing, NY 2/17/2009

Active Rain A Brief Rant on Some REO Agents I am not unfamiliar with foreclosures. I have bought and sold more than a few, and I do dozens of short sales a year. I don’t for a moment think that selling an REO is simple; yes, they are vacant, but as an investor myself I know that the property has to be managed and […]

Active Rain Short Sale Bargain! Rockaway 2 Family $499,000 Built in 2004 J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 224 Beach 92nd St, Rockaway Beach, NY Short Sale Bargain! 2004 Rockaway Beach 2-Family Home! 5BR/4BA Multi-Family, 2 units offered at $499,900 Year Built 2003 Sq Footage 2,500 Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 4 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking Unspecified Lot Size 2,549 sqft HOA/Maint […]

Active Rain Brewster Cape, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, Putnam Lake Area, 269,900 J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 50 Homer Rd, Brewster, NY Great Cape on a Quiet Road with High Potential! 3BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $269,900 Year Built 1956 Sq Footage 1,880 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size 15,000 sqft […]

Active Rain Why Are the Taxes in New York So High? Part II I blogged recently on the incredible overlap of government and services in New York and how that redundancy adds to the tax burden of New Yorkers. In yesterday’s Journal News, there was a special report on pensioners, that is, retired government employees who are allowed to legally “double dip” and get another government job. One […]

Active Rain Have People Lost Their Minds? If I could work with first-time home buyers all day every day, I would. Given my other responsibilities, such as running a brokerage and servicing 45 or so listings, it is a rare pleasure. Today, I had that pleasure. I have a young couple who both work full time and are both in school part […]

Active Rain The Hero: Yonkers, Westchester County Short Sale I recall reading a letter from my father written in August of 1945 to his parents on the news that the Second World War was over. He said that the feeling among the men was not one of celebration or joy, but weary relief. My Dad was in the Signal Corps on Leyti Island in the Pacific […]

Active Rain Lender: FHA Minimum FICO now 620 A local lender has informed me that the the minimum FICO score for an FHA mortgage is now 620. I remember vividly getting people approved in the 90’s with scores barely above 500. It didn’t happen routinely, but 580 did. I find this ironic: rates are fantastic and prices are down, but if someone gets caught in […]

Active Rain Tempests in Teapots Inman News has been running stories this month about the supposed controversy and big changes coming to how real estate professionals are paid. Here are some of the headlines: The industry debate over compensation 6 percent is dead A fee-for-service future End of the independent contractor ‘Offer of compensation’ must go Did I not get […]

Active Rain Ossining Reservoir Park Many who grew up in Ossining, NY like I did will remember an old, overgrown algae-covered man-made pond near the Chilmark Shopping Center known simply as The Reservoir. It was the Village’s water supply for much of the pre-World War II era, was then was replaced by water towers, and in subsequent decades became a derelict mess. […]

Active Rain Fantastic Brick 2 Family in Verplanck, NY $449,900 J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 185 Broadway, Verplanck, NY Charming Brick 2-Family in Verplanck! 5BR/2BA Multi-Family, 2 units offered at $449,900 Year Built 1925 Sq Footage 1,800 Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 4+ Uncovered spaces Lot Size .23 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION […]

Active Rain Wordless Wednesday- Just a House? Didn’t See That When I Clicked

Active Rain 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath Stony Point Colonial 2 Car Garage w Loft 324,900 J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 116 Washburns Ln, Stony Point, NY Charming Stony Point Colonial with 2-Car Garage 3BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $324,900 Year Built 1940 Sq Footage 1,178 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors Unspecified Parking Unspecified Lot Size 16,988 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per […]

Active Rain Scams- Beware. Did you know we can all get rich because of the down market? Today I probably passed the thousand per week mark in email solicitations for websites I have never heard of, who will immediately Send me short sale leads Send me loan modification leads Get me REO business Send me fully qualified, “ready to buy now” buyers […]

Active Rain Exhibit A for a Written Buyer Agency Agreement Some buyers are reticent to work with one agent exclusively. They think it wise to use more than one agent, perhaps because they think it helps them shop around. Maybe they distrust agents. But that philosophy is tough to manage and it backfires. We got a call from one such buyer who turned out to be […]

Active Rain The Inman Debate on Agent Compensation There continues to be a series of article at Inman News about the compensation of real estate agents. The latest article, entitled “6 Percent is Dead,” the owner of a web-based company chimes in with his view. A version of my response is below: I have not read every article in this series, but the […]

Active Rain Congers Townhome 389,900 2 BR 2.1 Baths J. Philip Faranda | J. Philip Real Estate LLC | 914-762-2500 136 Foltim Way, Congers, NY Congers End Unit Townhome! 2BR/2.5BA Townhouse offered at $389,900 Year Built 1999 Sq Footage 1,600 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking None Lot Size Unspecified HOA/Maint $120 per month DESCRIPTION Move right in to this […]

Active Rain Didn’t List With Me Debbie Clifton wrote a thoughtful piece on how friends listed their house with someone else. I can relate. About two months ago I got an email from a dear family friend. She was my 82 year old mother’s college roommate, her life-long friend, and my oldest brother’s Godmother. She sat with us when we said our […]

Active Rain Health Insurance. Why Not? Why can’t the hundreds of thousands of NAR members who have to pay for our health insurance as individuals pool our buying power together and get group coverage? I pay $1200 per month for my family’s coverage. We are on our 5th or so insurance company since were were married in 2001 and this is […]