A brief rant on agent Feedback, which, as I have said before, is often an excercise in futility. If an agent is kind enough to email back feedback on on of my listings, “call me” is not an option. Our Feedback system is online and my clients get cc’d on all submissions. I don’t need my client getting jacked up thinking an offer is imminent when the agent only wanted to tell me that they couldn’t get the AC to turn on or the top bolt lock to click. 

We’ve recently had a number of agents leave the feedback such as “Please call me- I need to speak with you.” My sellers, quite understandably, break their necks to reach me and make sure I get the “important” message. I did, of course. When I do speak with the agent, the important issue is often simply a benign question or observation. Nothing to get excited about. Offers? Look, if an agent is about to make a sale they aren’t subtle about it, they’ll move mountains to get it in front of me-nobody is coy about making a sale. 

Check this one out:

I called the person. Nothing urgent, just a simple question they could have emailed instead of a cryptic message. Thanks, that really helps…NOT. I have no written feedback to convey to my client, and my time was just wasted. Worse, my client suffered angst over a meaningless conversation. If it were an isolated case that would be one thing. But it isn’t.  

Back in the 1970’s there were some books published by Robert Ringer and Michael Korda entitled Winning Through Intimidation and Power, respectively. They were typical Me Decade-era self help jobs which centered on putting yourself first, posturing, and office/boardroom manipulation to get ahead. One of Korda’s principles was that he who has to make the call loses- in other words, it is the subordinate who has to dial. The superior sends a memo or a message “call me.” It is like a message to go to the principal’s office or call your boss. 

I don’t think this is what is going on, but it is still silly. Why add the extra step? I certainly have no objection to dialing a colleague, but the use of feedback, which is by nature a non-urgent medium, to convey a message when a simple call would do, is misguided. You can call me, text me or email me. There is no need to use feedback to request a call.  It’s like sending me a letter when you are already standing next to me. And it isn’t feedback! 

I have read with some interest on the recent blogging debate on how much we should cross polinate business with our personal lives. On one side you have people who feel it inappropriate to be very forthcoming about family and personal matters in a professional relationship, and then there are folks who see being open as an asset in building rapport and trust. 

Is there a hard and fast rule? No. There are two rules:

I recall, as a consumer looking for a rental in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1995 being put off by a rental agent who was an impersonal robot. But I also hate waiters who try and get me to like them when all I want is for them to shoo and bring back my order. Which brings me to a few lessons I learned back when I was a bartender in 2000-2001.

We were trained to never discuss religion or politics. Beyond that and mixing drinks fast and well, the job was to listen. I believe that it is the same thing in real estate. The old adage goes that we have two ears and one mouth. Identify the clients needs, listen, and get them what they seek. They don’t care about you unless they know you care. When bartending, I witnessed, firsthand, waiters who worked hard to get their customers to like them in an effort to maximize their tip. It didn’t work. What worked was hustling to get their food to them as fast as possible. We can chat over dessert or coffee. Agents should never make it about themselves. 

However, people DO want to know who they are doing business with. Building rapport is pretty crucial. And real estate is a relationship business. But how one shares oneself, and when it is time to discuss anything of a personal nature are important judgments to make. My rule of thumb is that I mention my background or kids as it relates to filling a need or answering a question for the client. If a prospective client in Somers or Katonah is worried that I as a Briarcliff Manor -based agent don’t know their area well, I’ll let them know I went to JFK High School in Somers. If a dog or child is disruptive, I’ll reassure them that I have a 80 pound German Shepherd and 4 kids of my own. When the time is right, that helps. It makes me a real guy. 

And I have had many a client tell me that I was hired because they knew I was working for my dinner, not spending money. 

By the time I was married September 29, 2001 I was tending bar only part time. I had a fairly large crowd of regulars, and they knew me pretty well at that point. I got quite a few good wishes from my customers, and to this day if I run into one they’ll ask me about my family. But we only got to that point because I already knew about them. 

I advise my agents to go with their gut about what they share with clients, but to always put the clients as the focal point of the discourse. The proof that the plan works shows in the progress of the company and our growth. People vary, and the only way to know what to say is to listen first and foremost. And no matter where you stand in this debate, I think we can agree that listening is always the best foundation to serving a client well. 

How can a kid that cute make that much…

Given my work schedule, sometimes we kill two birds with one stone: we pile all 4 kids into the car with a sign and a lockbox, and drive out to a new listing so Dad can put up the sign and install the lockbox. Then we go to Carvel or McDonald’s to thank the kids for behaving. It is work time, but it is also family time. 

Two things made today different:

• Catherine gets car sick sometimes.
• I had to drive on a long windy road. 

The joke among many in my area is that many forms of networking are called “notworking.” I could attend a networking event almost every day, nurse a cocktail, wear a nametag, and converse with fellow agents about life, the universe, and everything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it generates business or helps me sell one of my listings. On the other side of the spectrum, there are networking groups that people would die to get into- a good BNI group, for example, could yield enormous referral opportunities because of the exclusivity of professions. 

I don’t belong to a BNI group. However, I am fortunate to belong to small, select professional networking group as the exclusive real estate broker known as PNW, or Professional Networkers of Westchester. This morning at 7:45, while most of the world was still home yawning, I was at a meeting of this group of accomplished Westchester-based professionals, discussing how we can get our respective businesses to the next level. It is brain food, a think tank, and an extraordinary source of business that my own clientele should feel good about. 

PNW has one of just about everything- a banker, architect, painter, CPA, chiropractor, property insurance broker, and over 20 other professionals, and we exchange referrals and ideas every other week and meet one on one often in between. It keeps me engaged, and, perhaps more importantly, gets me in front of tremendous sources for referrals so I can get buyers for my listings and listings for my buyers. So, every other Friday (and for a few hours a month in between) I am in front of a my fellow members by 8am, working to get the next breakthrough.

There are no weak links- just about every member is accomplished, full time, and at the top of their profession. And while it isn’t easy to get out early and meet before the start of business, it is worth the effort.   

Success is not a 9-5 thing. 

What can you get in Ossining for $741,000? 

If you acted fast, you could have gotten a gorgeous 2002-built colonial in Waterview Estates. Here’s what it had under the hood: a level half acre lot backing up to wilderness (General Electric-owned reservoir), exquisite landscaping, a lawn sprinkler system, a wrap around porch and a 2-car garage to start, and we havn’t even walked inside. 

Inside: 3600 square feet of living space, 4500 if you included the walkout finished basement. 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, with a master suite to die for; a granite and stainless steel gourmet kitchen with an island; a family room with a classic wood burning fireplace and sliding doors to the rear deck; lots of architectural detail and contractor-owner upgrades; plenty of massive walk in closets; cathedral ceilings with skylights; gleaming hardwood floors on the main level, including the formal living rom and den; high end carpeting in all bedrooms upstairs and in the finished basement rec room – get the picture? 

Now for a little bragging:

We listed this home on May 13, 2011, got an accepted offer in June, went under contract in July, and closed on September 9. 91 days total start to finish, less than half that before an accepted offer. It is the highest price for a home in this subdivision since 2009. Selling a home this fast for 99% of asking doesn’t happen by accident in this market. You have to know what you are doing, and you have to execute. 

If you’d like a home like this, get yourself a free Listingbook account and find another home right here or a nearby community with our easy home finding application that lets you search the MLS like an agent.  

Earlier this year, I wrote a piece on how the 2011 market was starting out far slower than the same period in 2010. I qualified the statement with the prediction that 2011 might surpass 2010 later in the year, as early 2010 results were skewed by the stimulus. 

Here’s how we are doing thus far: 

From January 1 2011 through August 31 2011, 2655 single family home has sold at a median price of $635,000. 

From January 1, 2010 through August 31 2010, 2832 single family homes have sold at a median price of $648,000. 

We are down 177 sales from the same period last year at a $13,000 lower median price. At the end of June, we were down 248 sales.

I believe we are catching up. Will 2011 surpass 2010 at this pace? It will be a close call. We have 4 months to make up roughly 45 sales per month. 

According to the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service, which is the source of all my data, 732 homes are currently under contract with a buyer as I write this, at a median list price of $535,000. Prices are certainly down from last year. If we can get a high precentage of the pending pipeline to close, I like our chances to best 2010 volume. The wild card is short sales, which are anything but short in timeframe. 

Stay tuned! 

Want to jump in? Get yourself a free Listingbook account and search for a Westchester home like an agent. 

Labor Day is past us and school has begun. So I’ll rub it in a little and show you a cool photo essay of Rye Playland, Westchester County’s revered amusement park and home of a million happy memories. 

As the sign says, Playland has been open since 1928. It is the only county-run amusement park in the USA, and it is in Rye, New York right on the Long Island Sound. Due to its age and layout, there is a distinctive old-time carnival theme to the place, with a central promenade lined by food and games, with rides and attractions fanning out throughout the park. In the center at the end of the promenade is a stage for performances, and on the other end is a beach and ice casino, where the New York Rangers have their practice facility. 

Playland Lake is a manmade lake where you can take boat rides or rent a paddle boat. You can’t swim in it, but the beach at the end of the park is there if you you want to get wet. 

The Dragon Coaster is a landmark, and one of the few wooden roller coasters in existence. It was conceived as a rival to the Coney Island Roller Coaster, the Cyclone. 

The Gondola Wheel is not for people with Vertigo. You are over the tree tops and at the apex you can see Long Island. I would eat *after* this, not before, but that’s just me. 

Another New York institution, Nathan’s Hotdogs. I love the “WC” on the building facade, which of course stands for Westchester County. Of course, local favorite Carvel Ice Cream is also close by. 

Plyaland has a tremendous amount of arcades, kiddie rides, water rides, and places to sit and relax. Of course, traditional rides like bumper cars are all there also. It is very clean, and the layout is easy to follow. We went there in August and paid about $25 each for all day passes. It was well worth it and the kids had a blast. 

Playland is a very special place, and it is one of the things that makes Westchester County one of the very best places in the world to live. I love that I am fortunate enough to work and raise my family here. 

You should be here too! Get a free Listingbook account and find a home driving distance from Playland and you’ll know what I mean. 

A few months ago, fellow blogger Susan Mangigian referred me to a high powered business woman who was looking to get into real estate. So, on a rainy April afternoon at Coffee Labs in Tarrytown, I had a nice discussion with Barbara Bartell about career in brokerage. It has been a circuitous route, but this afternoon Barbara officially joined our firm and we couldn’t be happier to have her. 

Barbara has run her own company in the Human Resource industry since the 90’s. I have great respect for that, as I run my own firm as well. She understands relationships. She understands what it takes to develop and listen to the client. She gets follow up and professionalism. Those things are all crucial to this business, and you can’t teach them-you have it or you don’t. Beyond that she has a voracious intellectual curiosity to absorb the best practices of this business and build her practice up. 

A resident of Hartsdale and familiar with White Plains, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck and the surrounding areas, Barbara will ber serving central and southern Westchester county. We’ll work closely together, but make no bones about it, she is no novice, having bought or sold a home NINE times. If that doesn’t give you empathy with the client, what will? We look forward to helping Barbara develop another empire with lots of happy clients. 

To contact Barbara, send an email to barbara@jphilip.com or call (914) 523-5087

Ann and I have just put the four children to bed that we brought into the world after Osama bin Laden tried to ruin it. Watching the news recaps, tributes, and the name ceremony a short drive south today was painful for us, not because because we lost anyone (our loved ones were, fortunately, all spared), but because of the abject terror of that day 10 years ago. We were in Manhattan that morning. 

Our wedding was scheduled for September 29, 2001. Ann’s parents were on a plane due that afternoon from Korea. And on our short drive from her apartment to her office on the upper east side, we could see the north tower billowing thick black smoke in the distance, like a big cigar sticking up. By the time we parked and went upstairs to her office, everyone was watching TV. We saw the 2nd plane hit the south tower, live on TV, a cab ride away. The shock of the event, the malfeasance and planning that had obviously gone into the operation, was chilling. News reports were alarming- other planes were hijacked- the Pentagon was hit- the port authority was closing the bridges and tunnels-and soon, we would not be able to leave Manhattan. Ann wanted to remain at her office in case her parents needed to reach her. I couldn’t see us separating. We English majors are too familiar with irony to let that happen. 

With the disaster so close, the news of war trickling in and the unknown hanging over our heads like the sword of Damacles, I appreciated, for the first time, what my father must have gone through when he served in the 2nd World War and Korea. What would they hit next? The subways? The water? I put Ann back in the car and we went downstairs. In the lobby, we saw the south tower fall on TV. 

We crossed the 3rd Avenue Bridge into the Bronx and started home to my mother’s house in Ossining. I specifically chose that bridge because it wasn’t a Port Authority crossing, and wouldn’t be closed. There were no cars on the road as I drove home. I felt like I was in an apocolyptic movie. But it was real, and it was absolutely terrifying because it was in our midst. And we didn’t know what would happen next. I felt certain that they would sabotage the trains. They seemed more vulnerable than planes. 

The stories we heard on the phone with friends were not TV network news. People were jumping from the towers with flaming clothes. They jumped in groups. My brother lost a client who was trapped above the impact whose last call to his wife was that the floor was getting very hot. He was never found. And after the towers fell, you could see the cloud for miles while sirens blared in the distance. Ann’s aunt in Chinatown, a few blocks from what was already being called “Ground Zero,” was unreachable because the phone infrastructure was severed. And there were a bunch of channels on my mother’s TV showing a test pattern.  I will never forget the fear we felt, the metallic, cold terror of what the next moment would bring, and the great effort to get my mind around such an unthinkable tragedy a brisk walk away.  

All loved ones were accounted for by the end of the week. My in laws stayed in a high school gym in Minnesota after they were grounded. Ann’s aunt was fine. We were all OK physically. It took all we had to resume our plans and not let evil deter us from our lives. I could go on for pages, but we got home safe, and we got married 18 days later. On July 16, 2002, Luke was born. He was the first of 4 candles we lit against that backdrop of darkness. Ann has said that if we met at 23 and not 33 that we’d have 4 more. 

Ann worked through her pregnancy at her job in Manhattan, and I drove her every day. She never rode a train again. Once we were parents, we sought to live and work in Westchester. The rest is history. 

From 1996 through 2000, I sold real estate in Rochester, New York. I learned the business in a way very similar to the way real estate deals are put together in most other parts of the country. Here’s the typical chronology:

1. The buyer makes an offer in writing on a boiler plate form jointly approved by the local Bar Association and the Association of REALTORS. When countersigned by the seller, that offer then becomes the purchase and sale contract. 
2. The contract is contingent on attorney approval, home inspection, and mortgage within specified time frames. 
3. Once the attorneys approve the contract and inspection issues are settled, the remaining contingency is the buyer’s mortgage. 

Bidding wars are relatively rare in Westchester County except in those cases where the house is very special. Multiple offers are not uncommon, but having more than one offer does not mean the price necessarily gets bid up. Sometimes, when  we ask buyers for their best and highest, it can backfire and the competing offer walks, not desiring to go higher in price when there are so many other options out there. Sometimes, a buyer will get caught in the heat of competition and make an offer far higher than they are truly comfortable with. They later get buyer’s remorse, and that’s when things get messy. 

Upon occasion, we recieve a “contingent” offer on a listing. Most offers have contingencies, such as mortgage and inspection. But in Westchester and New York, a “contingent offer” is one where the buyer still needs to sell their own house (in nearby Fairfield County, CT it is known as a “Hubbard Clause”). Most of the time, our client wants nothing to do with waiting for another home to sell in order for them to sell their own. But what really makes the arrangement untenable is when the rest of the terms of the offer give us no reason to even consider the deal, even if the buyer’s home is quite salable. 

When negotiating, win/win works best. If something about your offer is less attractive, you have to compensate somehow by adding something that is attractive. In other words, if you want the seller to take their home off the market (and wait for your home to sell risking that it won’t and they’ll lose 60-90 days on market), you can’t expect them to embrace a low number. What’s in it for them? Why wouldn’t they just keep their home on the market and wait for a higher offer? 

Price and terms. Price and terms. Those are the magic words. Not just price, not just terms. They go hand in hand. Cash buyers know this, and that is why they leverage their strong terms with a lower price so often. They have leverage. On the other hand, if you are making a contingent offer, you have no leverage. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Moreover, you are asking the seller for a huge favor, which is to share your own risk that your house might not sell. And yet we get some people who still make a low offer! Why would a seller do this? 

If a buyer truly believes that they can sell their own home and want to make a contingent offer to buy, they need to understand that their offer must be strong- very strong- to compensate for their contingency. It’s only logical. If you are going to make a contingent offer, and you want to be taken seriously, don’t lowball. A strong contingent offer just might be considered. And if you are making an offer on the home where you’ll want your loved ones to live, don’t you want your offer seriously considered?  

A recent post by Donna Harris got me to take this thought out of mothballs and share my view on a phenomenon I am witnessing out there in the market. We’ve heard of a “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes that aren’t yet on the market. They are there, but they aren’t potential business until they get listed. 

Well, I think there is another “shadow inventory,” and it is on the side of the buyers. I’ll explain. As a listing agent, I monitor the number of showings each of my listings get. Some have has 20, 30 or even 40 showings and haven’t sold yet. So what did the 30 people who walked through end up buying? 

In most cases, nothing. There weren’t 30 other sales in that locale or price category. 25 of those 30 parties who walked through never bought anything. If they did, the market would have taken off. It didn’t. I would opine that more than half of the people out there looking won’t buy now or in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons. 

• They still have to sell their current home.
• They haven’t been to the bank yet & won’t get approved.
• They are nervous about committing to a purchase in this environment.
• Their “plan,” such as an inheritance or parental gift won’t pan out. 
• They like to look at houses.

Many of the agents working with these people are so desperate for business that they feel that working with a warm body beats sitting at home. And they hope that the buyer will find something so spectacular and wonderful that they’ll finally commit, go to the bank, or get off their rear end and buy. But they seldom do. Like the shadow inventory of homes, these people are “there,” but they aren’t business. They are busy work. 

In the meantime, we’ll still have 10, 20, and 30 showings that don’t buy- this house, or any house, while the agents accompanying those people spin their wheels and hope for a miracle. It isn’t a good business plan, but it is a reality. 

Last week I wrote a blog post asking if the local media and politicians overdid the warnings about Tropical Storm Irene. My concern was that, in light of the area being relatively spared, future warnings might not be taken as seriously. It turns out that the answer to my question would be “no,” as in they didn’t overdo it. Much as I disliked the schoolgirl-like giddiness of some of the weather reporters (which is a trend that will probably never go away), the aftermath of the storm has revealed enormous damage right here in our own back yard. 

• President Obama was just in Paterson, New Jersey, less than an hour from me, because the flooding was so severe. 
• Power outages in Westchester were significant, and some were without electricity for days. 
• Westchester also had plenty of flooding, including a a home that is under contract with some clients of ours. The basement was so flooded that the laundry appliances were floating. 
• The flooding wasn’t just in basements. Last Sunday I published photos of standing water in Thornwood, NY which turned a main road into a lake, and a garage that was almost washed away by a brook that overflowed. 
• Tannersville, New York in the nearby Catskills had its downtown literally washed out. The main street was a river. 

Our Westchester Active Rain meetup is tonight at 7pm at the Brazen Fox in White Plains NY. All are welcome! 

The address is 175 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601. Parking is best behind the building in the municipal lot on the corner of Maple and Waller. Brazen Fox does have a rear entrance from the lot. They use a muni meter, in case you are keeping score. 

I have about 8 confirmations so it should be a fun time, and it will be nice to meet in person and break bread as we gear up toward autumn. 

Feel free to ask questions in the comments or email me at jphilip@jphilip.com. If you want, give me a call on my mobile, 914-450-8883. 

As I enter my 45th autumn, I sometimes ponder what life has taught me through this journey. I bite my tongue more than I did 20 years ago when tempted to make a wisecrack. I ask myself what my father would do more often. And, with fatherhood, I thank God for the safe return of my children from school and camp every day. 

I recall hating to be behind a school bus in the morning. It slowed me down, got in my way, and caused me to be late. It was a nuisance. But now that I put my 4 children on school bus, I am far more patient. And if I am late, it is my fault for not planning better. But years ago, while I’d never pass a bus or do anything stupid around one, I did impatiently pump the gas once the bus turned away. And thankfully, I never hurt myself or another in my immaturity. 

So now that I am a dad, I have a request for everyone out there with the start of school arriving in our area this week. School is open. Please please please drive carefully. Those are my babies on those buses, and I want them home safe tomorrow and every day afterward. If you have kids, you know what I mean. If you don’t, please trust me on this one. Children get on and off buses, cross the street, and assume they’ll live forever. They trust that cars see them. They are wrong. But don’t let them pay for that mistake with their life- be alert enough for both yourself and them. Please be careful. Please be patient. 

Again, please drive safely, very safely, because nobody I know has a child to spare. We need them all. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the Hudson River towns, and not just the ones in Westchester. Nyack in Rockland is near and dear to my heart, and so is Cold Spring, a hop skip and a jump away in Putnam County, NY directly across the Hudson from West Point. 

The area is very popular with weekenders from Manhattan, and aside from the village of Cold Spring, which has one of the most charming downtowns you’ll ever see, there is also the village of Nelsonville, and the larger areas  outside the villages in the town of Philipstown. All share the Cold Spring post office, and all are served by the Haldane school distict. There is something here for everyone here from historic, quaint village living, to bucolic acreage with privacy and majesty up the mountainside. 

The market here is more like Westchester than Putnam or nearby Dutchess county. In the 90 days spanning June through August, the area had 10 closed single family home sales at a median sale price of $407,500, which is almost $100,000 higher than the $315,000 median price in the rest of Putnam. In the same period last year when the stimulus was still skewing price and volume upward, 10 homes sold at a median price of $481,000. This is a significant drop in median price, but 2010 was affected by the $8,000 tax credit. There are two homes under contract at a median price of $457,500. 65 homes are on the market at a median list price of $499,900. 

The high inventory points to now being an exceptional time to be a buyer in the Cold Spring area. There is some real opportunity here. We currently have a beautiful listing in the town outside the village on 8 acres with a pond for $549,900. It is an all-brick, 2400 square foot 4 bedroom 2.5 bath ranch with a 2-car garage and 2 patios. That is an incredible value for a locale that is just over an hour from New York City on the Hudson Line. The area is one of the little jewels that deserves far more attention. 

If you’d like more information on the property, call or email me. If you’d like to search for Cold Spring area homes like an agent, get yourself a free Listingbook account. 

This is the market report for Ossining, NY for August 2011. It covers single family homes in the Ossining School District. All data is from the Empire Acess MLS. 

In August 2011, Ossining had 15 closings at a median sale price of $420,000.

In August 2010, Ossining had 15 closings at a median sale price of $436,000.

Both volume and price are holding steady, and this is a fairly siginificant departure from the downward trend of previous periods this year. August of 2010 was in the the stimulus period, so the results this August, which are unaffected by any outside forces or inducements, are organic and describe some strength. That is good news for sellers, finally. 

Currently, there are 33 homes under contract at a median asking price of $409,222. This shows that pending prices are are also strong, and we should expect volume to remain steady as the autumn approaches.  

There are 132 active listings at a median asking price of $424,611. We are actually down to under a year’s worth of inventory at this rate, and while buyers do have lots of choices, sellers have gained some ground. It remains a buyer’s market, but not as severe as it was earlier this year.

Since inventory is down & prices and volume are stronger it suggests that we may have turned the corner. 

Previous posts on Ossining are here. 

Search Ossining homes like an agent with a free Listingbook account.