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Active Rain

January 20, 2009: On American Exceptionalism

Full disclosure: I did not vote for Barack Obama. However, he won the election, he is my president, and I wish him well; the better he does, the better it is for us all. Even though Mr. Obama did not get my vote last November, he has my respect. I am 41. I never thought […]
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Brokerage is Alive and Well

The reports of our demise seem premature. Even in this horrendous economy, there is no groundswell, grass roots change from traditional brokerage to virtual office, online, discount/FSBO brokerage despite the chatter to the contrary. Contrast that with the almost overnight decimation of stock brokerage and travel. The Internet hammered those professions, yet, as Active Rain and […]
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Should You Buy a Short Sale?

Buying any foreclosure is tricky, and a short sale is probably the longest process. Is purchasing a short sale right for you? Perhaps you rent in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam or Dutchess and are considering a short sale purchase in one of those areas. Here are some things you ought to know: You can’t be in a […]
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Appoint Chesley B. Sullenberger III as US Economic Czar

Chesley Sullenberger is the pilot who saved all aboard yesterday’s Flight 1549, which you have no doubt seen and read about by now. The local news calls it the “Miracle on the Hudson” and I agree. The man faced a freak occurrence, made a life or death decision, warned the people, exercised heroic skill, and […]

Active Rain January 20, 2009: On American Exceptionalism Full disclosure: I did not vote for Barack Obama. However, he won the election, he is my president, and I wish him well; the better he does, the better it is for us all. Even though Mr. Obama did not get my vote last November, he has my respect. I am 41. I never thought […]

Active Rain Brokerage is Alive and Well The reports of our demise seem premature. Even in this horrendous economy, there is no groundswell, grass roots change from traditional brokerage to virtual office, online, discount/FSBO brokerage despite the chatter to the contrary. Contrast that with the almost overnight decimation of stock brokerage and travel. The Internet hammered those professions, yet, as Active Rain and […]

Active Rain Should You Buy a Short Sale? Buying any foreclosure is tricky, and a short sale is probably the longest process. Is purchasing a short sale right for you? Perhaps you rent in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam or Dutchess and are considering a short sale purchase in one of those areas. Here are some things you ought to know: You can’t be in a […]

Active Rain Appoint Chesley B. Sullenberger III as US Economic Czar Chesley Sullenberger is the pilot who saved all aboard yesterday’s Flight 1549, which you have no doubt seen and read about by now. The local news calls it the “Miracle on the Hudson” and I agree. The man faced a freak occurrence, made a life or death decision, warned the people, exercised heroic skill, and […]

Active Rain New York Area’s Premier Short Sale REALTOR CLICK TO VIEW LISTING WEBSITE Description and Features If you can’t make your mortgage payments and owe more than what you owe, we have a proven solution. J. Philip Real Estate specializes in helping our clients avoid foreclosure and deficiency judgements by brokering a SHORT SALE. We can negotiate a lower payoff with your lender […]

Active Rain Solving the Short Sale Catch-22 for New York Agents: Refer it Out I overheard an agent recently lamenting the difficulty of a short sale they had listed. They couldn’t reach anyone at the lender, they were unsure of how to handle a somewhat tricky issue with the file, and they wished it were easier. Nobody in their office was helping them, and they doubted a competitor would either. Think about that […]

Active Rain Solutions for No Equity and Falling Behind on the Mortgage In some markets, people who only borrowed 80% of their home’s value are waking up to the fact that they actually have no equity. It is happening in all communities- Yonkers, Yorktown, Scarsdale, Somers, White Plains, Wappinger Falls, you name it. No demographic, neighborhood or school district is immune from the ripple effect of the […]

Active Rain Buyers Want Cheap Dirt, Not Just Dirt Cheap I relate to people that bought a house in the boom, spent thousands improving it, and then are told that it is worth the same or less than the price they paid, even with the improvements. Very discouraging stuff. What sellers need to realize, however, is that home buyers today are not buying roofs, windows, bathrooms or […]

Active Rain Taking the Family Pictures Down is Lousy Staging I will be the first to say that staging is important. A home should be tidy, well-kept, and laid out in an sensible way. There are lots of simple things people can do to raise their appeal- scented candles, clearing off kitchen counters, removing unneeded furniture, and TURNING ON THE LIGHTS (pet peeve of mine. Hard […]

Active Rain The Widower- Another Short Sale File The stereotypical view of people who face foreclosure is that they are irresponsible or unintelligent. But sometimes, they are good, intelligent professionals who have had bad things happen. My own older brother, a Cornell alum, lost his house in the early 90’s due to illness. One couple I listed was in similarly bad circumstances. She […]

Active Rain We Want a Baby Some transactions stay with you your whole life. This occurred almost 2 years ago and seems like it was last week. The clients lived in Orange County, an exurb of NYC about 40 minutes north of White Plains. They were desperate, and their situation was compelling. First, they were restoring an older Georgian. Even in […]

Active Rain Commission Escrow Act: NY Agents MUST Use Updated Listing Contracts. If you’ve ever arrived at a closing and been informed that your commission was being disputed, withheld, or otherwise not being paid, you’ll appreciate New York State’s newly-minted Commission Escrow Act. It requires the commission money to be deposited in escrow with the county clerk pending resolution. The great thing about this law is the certainty of getting […]

Active Rain Space Heaters Kill Sales Picture this: a 3300 square foot brick center hall colonial with lots of upgrades, impeccable furnishings and appointments, beautiful decor and furniture, located in a swanky suburb. When I arrived to show it to my buyers, we see a crummy space heater in the dining room, 10 feet from an heirloom chandelier. What are these people […]

Active Rain Happy National Idiot Day Here in New York, Today is the day that the Coney Island Polar Bear Club (or, as my late father referred to them “those idiots”) have their annual winter dunk at the beach. They actually do this crazy thing once a week, but they get all their publicity (and presumably, do most of their recruiting) […]

Active Rain Having a Safe and Secure 2009 I have been meaning to post on this for a while. As unpalatable as it is to say, assaults and even murders of agents who unwittingly meet the wrong person in the wrong place do occur. A female agent alone at an open house I ran into recently seemed genuinely glad to see me because […]

Active Rain Why Gay Marriage is Good for Real Estate This might be a sensitive subject to some. However, I feel that my thoughts need to be expressed and our industry should be a leader and not a passive observer. I view gay marriage as an equal housing issue, and therefore something that should be supported by licensees. The building bloc of society is people […]

Active Rain Will the Slow Market Save Some Marriages? Those of you who have listed and sold homes of divorcing couples will attest to the frequent difficulty of those files. The NY Times has an article on how the slow market is causing the liquidation of marital real estate to be far more difficult in some cases, causing the people to remain living together in […]

Active Rain Unseen = Unsold It is 2008. The government has nationalized the banking industry. We are in a recession, and the real estate market has yet to hit bottom. And there remain sellers out there that don’t realize that if they make seeing their home difficult, the home won’t get sold. In 2004, if it was difficult to get […]

Active Rain Why We Need More Short Sales Not long ago, the following was written: “you should be strongly advocating foreclosures – not mitigation or refinance – in your marketplace.” They stated that foreclosures would restore confidence in the market. I beg to differ. With rare exception, foreclosures hurt everyone and should be avoided at all costs. They harm the borrower, the lender, and even […]

Active Rain 2 Goals and 5 Resolutions for 2009 My 2 goals are simple: Make more money; Work less. 2008 was a difficult year for me compared to 2007, and I got caught up in a pattern of putting out fires and working more reactively than executing a plan. I will not let history repeat itself. My 5 resolutions are designed to fulfill my […]