Eileen Kennedy has written a great series on why agents change companies which I have read with interest. Much of what is said confirms why I run my own firm, including the oblique references to an unnamed Corporation in the Northeast with high fees and claustrophobic regulations. It reminded me of a number of great enterprises which were ruined once the creative founder sold out to larger corporate interests. You see it in all industries. 

From 1995 to about 2000, AOL communities were like a Cyber version of Cheers. When Steve Case sold out to Time Warner it took a few years for the brand to be ruined beyond repair. I haven’t frequented an AOL message board in almost 10 years. Anytime the creative force and founder no longer guides the direction of the enterprise, the suits, the committee of mediocrity and short term profit over long term value start running the show, water down the brand and slowly excise the parts of it that were the imprint of the creator. I recall bartending at a well known franchise bistro when the manager who hired me and kept the staff happy and motivated was replaced by a hack sent in by corporate. I quit 2 weeks later. I saw similar stuff at a national pizza brand. 

This is one of the many reasons why I relish my independence. I am regulated enough by my board and the government. I would never be happy with some suit telling me that Corporate doesn’t like an idea of mine and would prefer that I stop. Nor would I like slicing off my monthly tribute the the corporate godfather in exchange for their branding all over my stuff. Every morning I have a board meeting with the boss while I shave. Every evening on my drive home I debrief with the head of operations. I can’t remember the last time I lost a listing because the people felt more comfortable going with a name brand- hell, I always said that if it made me more money, I’d join them. But the corporation that makes me the most is the LLC that is based in my basement. I own stock in me. That is my biggest asset and my most trustworthy ally. Most of my agents are ex-pats from larger firms and like it hear. Many people feel more at home with where they are, and that includes big names. Fine by me. Different strokes for different folks. All I know is that by the time I was 38 I was ready to pull my own strings, and I have never looked back.

J Philip Real Estate is a suit-free zone.  

It took 13 months, but we finally closed on a short sale in Poughkeepsie that I originally listed in April of 2009. It took 4 months to get an offer, but there was a nightmare process getting assigned a negotiator and then a title issue was discovered that took another 3 months to clear.

At one point, the buyers, who were paying cash, asked for their money back. All deadlines wee past, so we had to comply. But we kept in touch, and when the title issue was resolved, we  told them. And they agreed to come back to the closing table. 

Throughout the process, my client was a mensch. A widower, he wasn’t the tidiest guy going. But he was always cooperative with showings, and if we needed a document or signature, he was on the case. He was a real pleasure to work with, and that is important to note because most sellers in a short sale are stressed to the max and often get frayed edges after a few months. Not so my client. 

On July 12, we closed. It took over a year. We never had an auction date set because we kept in close touch with the lender, we kept the buyer and buyer’s attorney in the loop, ( and that factored in to the buyer’s returning to the deal after they walked), and we had to be tenacious. It took some serious teamwork. 

I love it when hard work pays off. 

In read Brian Rugg’s posting today about starting from scratch in real estate in a new market, and it dovetailed with a post I have been working on in draft form since Rose Marinaccio’s piece a few days ago as well. I relate to Brian’s thoughts on starting in a new place because it calls on the best from you to build a practice in this industry at this time in history. The deck is stacked against average people. Extraordinary people, however, or at least those that put forth extraordinary effort and smarts, are not daunted by circumstance.

Some background: I was on my high school wrestling team. I stunk my first 2 years with 7 wins and 17 losses and I can tell you that losing sucks. However, I really had no other alternatives. I was too small for football, too slow for track, and too short for basketball. I weighed 105 pounds at age 16, so wrestling and its weight classes were my only real alternative. So, after a sophomore season where I won 1 crummy match all year, several people suggested that I give it up. My father was tired of picking me up from practice, my mother didn’t understand why I continued suffering (wrestling isn’t easy), and my teammates sort of already gave up on me. 

I did not quit. I could never live with myself if I gave up. I wanted to win- I wanted to know what it felt like to be a winner. So I worked hard all summer between sophomore and junior year, ignored my teammates shaking their head when I arrived at at the first practice, and busted my tail. I didn’t care what they thought- I just wanted to be a winner. I led the team in wins that season, reached the finals in 3 of the 4 tournaments I entered, and was elected a co-captain for my senior year. My final 2 seasons tallied 36 victories against 13 losses. That taught me what I was made of, and it made me understand the value of perseverance. 

There are many instances when I drew on that experience, and real estate is one of them. There are many things that make a good agent in our industry- smarts, planning, follow up, care, attention to detail, problem solving, and organization to name a few. But if you don’t have perseverance you won’t make it in this business. You have to show up every day. You have to grind it out when all you have is failure and discouragement. You have to press forward when the rain is in your face. You have to make it through another day when it isn’t easy. And when you win, you have to take your trophy humbly and rededicate yourself to the habits that got you into the winner’s circle when it is tempting to take it easy.

I was a fairly successful agent in Rochester from 1996-2000 working for my old mentors. When I met my wife  and moved back home to Westchester, I was initially intimidated by the idea of competing in this market. This was affluent, cosmopolitan suburban New York. I feared I might get eaten up and spit out. However, just like high school, I had no options. The Yankees weren’t calling, and our children needed to eat. So I ignored my butterflies and got to work, hanging my own shingle in 2005 after almost a 5 year hiatus in the mortgage industry. In 2007, I sold more single family homes than anyone else in my 7000 member MLS. I have remained in the top .05% each year since. I am one of the MLS Vice Presidents, and have close to 20 licensees under me. I continue to work at it every day.  

To me, the key to success in real estate, the one thing you cannot succeed without, is commitment. Never give up, never throw in the towel, take failure like a champion, and persevere. Great things will happen. 

The HUD-1 is the official closing statement required by law that documents all money exchanged in a real estate transaction involving a mortgage. In general terms, any money exchanged not mentioned on the HUD-1 is considered a side deal and in all likelihood, illegitimate. I’m not speaking of the separate sale of furniture or a lawn tractor; I’m talking about under the table money. 

The HUD-1 is required in all transactions where there is a bank mortgage. They aren’t involved in cash transactions or owner financing. But they are required if you have a mortgage involved. And they have to be issued at closing. In other words, if you walk out of a closing without a HUD-1 someone is in trouble, and in Westchester County that someone would include the lender, lawyers for buyer and seller, title company, or all of the above. It is signed by the buyer and seller. It is approved by the attorney for buyer and seller, bank attorney, and title company. It is serious business, and I have been at many a closing where everything was done except for the HUD-1 and everyone was working overtime to reconcile the numbers so the figures would be 100% correct. 

Often, as a courtesy, I am furnished with a copy of the HUD-1 as a broker. It makes sense- my fee is a line item on the form and it is a documentation for calculating referral fees if one is involved. 

It is unacceptable for a buyer to be told by their attorney at they’ll be mailed the HUD-1 later on or that it is OK to leave and get the HUD-1 later at a closing. It should be given to them before they leave. Why? Because there is no reason for it to not be completed, and that is the rule. It’s not an “I’ll catch you later” thing, it is an “at closing” thing. To not be furnished with the HUD-1 at closing invites problems later on. If there is a mistake that 3 lawyers and a title company all miss, it can be revised with the imprimatur of the lawyers and title at a later time. That is rare. 

Don’t leave the closing without your HUD-1. 

I love White Plains and White Plains loves me. 

Closed July 14: 16 Manor Ave, White Plains, NY. I have blogged about this one before. I was the selling agent. I sold my clients’ White Plains Co op apartment last year in Bryant Gardens and we lost 2 other bids before landing this beautiful ranch in the Rosedale section off Mamaroneck Avenue. It was a process that took from February 2009 until July 2010. What a trip! 

Closed July 20: 11 Woodbrook Rd, White Plains, NY. This was a For Sale by Owner I contacted and listed within a week. The sellers are terrific people who took every piece of advice I gave them, and kept the place in showable condition every waking moment. No showings were denied, no issues with walking through, and we got a buyer in April. There were challenges with getting the buyers to the closing table, but close it did. $630,000. 

Accepted Offer, July 21: 19 Old Mamaroneck Road 5k, White Plains. This co op apartment in Overlook Towers was a listing referral from another client whose house I sold in Port Chester not long ago. It was only 45 days on market and contracts have gone out. White Plains has lots of co op complexes but not all are pet friendly. 19 Old Mamaroneck is pet friendly, and that must have helped. 

I’ve done plenty of other business in White Plains but that was July’s activity so far. How does a broker up in Briarcliff Manor sell so many homes in White Plains? I don’t have an office in White Plains and I don’t live there. But my cyber presence in White Plains is pretty good, and the neighborhood where people window shop is online. That’s how I am in White Plains, and that’s why I’ll continue to sell there. 

My previous postings on White Plains can all be found here. 

Let’s review some facts:

• Prices are down. Way down. Asking prices are so low, as a matter of fact, that some homes are getting multiple bids again.
• Rates are low. Really low. I just had a buyer close on a 30-years fixed for their home at 4.875%, and the lender was perfectly happy with the profitablity of the loan.
• Sellers are willing to make a deal. They are digging up oil tanks and making lots of other repairs, throwing in snow blowers, mowers and furniture, paying closing costs, and bending over backwards to pacify buyer demands.
• Bargains are plentiful. Abundant. Prevelant. Common. Ubiquitous. Bank owned inventory? Lots. Short sales? Everywhere. Updated homes aggressively priced? Check.

So why are we seeing a slow market still? Sure, the pool of buyers has shrunk, but there are millions of able buyers out there sitting on their hands. Why? Is it groupthink? Mass hysteria? A herd mentality? Well, when the market was “hot” people bought because the talk on the street was that it was a good time to buy. It wasn’t. But that didn’t matter. They bought because they bought into the hype.

The hype now is that the market is bad. Don’t buy the hype. YES, the market is bad-for SELLERS! Smart people buy low. Well, real estate is low. Ignore the hype. Buy while it is low and the money is cheap. We’ll never see another era like this. Jump on it.

Don’t say I didn’t tell you so. Separate from the herd.  

Valhalla isn’t just where Vikings go when they die; it is where smart central Westchester residents live. Valhalla, NY is a hamlet in the town of Mount Pleasant which is served by the Valhalla School District and punctuated by a quaint downtown, a scenic train station and Kensico Dam. Kensico is one of the largest dams in New York State and is adjacent to downtown Valhalla. Valhalla does indeed have a connection with many great people who have departed, as Kensico Cemetery is the final resting place of such notables as Ayn Rand, Lou Gehrig, Tommy Dorsey, Danny Kaye, and Billie Burke, the Good Witch of the North. 

The downtown is very charming and has been for as long as I can remember. There is plenty of food and window shopping, and you can even eat al fresco. Up the Hill from downtown is the old Columbus school, which is no longer a public school school and owned by Easter Seals. My daughter attended there for early intervention for 2 years and we are grateful for the outstanding job they did. 

Kensico Dam is named for the village that is now under the water of the Kensico reservoir that the dam helped create! Every year they have fireworks on the great lawn of Kensico Plaza, and it is a popular recreation and picnic area. It is walking distance to the train station and Taconic Parkway. This makes Valhalla one of the most unique places in New York. How many towns have a huge dam in their downtown? 

The real estate market in Valhalla had a far better June in 2010 than it had in 2009, with sales more than doubling and the median price increasing almost 50%. With 12 homes currently under contract, this small hamlet is showing no signs of losing momentum. This isn’t luck; the quality of life in Valhalla is very, very good. 

All information is derived from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service and is for the Valhalla school district, which also encompasses parts of the towns of North Castle and Greenburgh. 

I will be hosting an open house at 4 Hickory Lane in Mahopac today from 1-3pm. The owner is a restaurateur, so you never know what might be on that dining room table!  The home is very unique and has a terrific location for work or play. MLS description is as follows: 

Fantastic value and pride of ownership! Affordable 4 bedroom colonial on a quiet street a stone’s throw from Lake Baldwin. Impressive Meditteranean wall envelops a beautifully landscaped quarter acre plus with 2 patios and a plush green lawn. Inside boasts a family room with sliders to front piaza patio, a living room with a beautiful fireplace, a modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances, and updated tile baths. The basement is finished with plenty of storage, rec room and summer kitchen.

In Westchester County, property taxes are high. Really high. My old house, a modest 2000 square foot home, has taxes of almost $14,000. My current home is pushing $17,000. With numbers that high, an inaccurate tax figure on the MLS can be a deal killer.

When I started my company in 2005, tax figures on our MLS were like the wild west- some were artificially low because of Veterans and STAR (New York’s version of a Homestead discount for primary residences) exemptions, and listing agents would write in the agent only remarks “buyer agent to verify.” This resulted in a slew of phone calls on every listing from buyer agents to discuss the tax figure. “Is that with or without STAR?” “Why are the taxes so high?” “Why are the taxes so low?” “is that for this year or last year?” And on it went. 

A few years ago, the Westchester Putnam MLS made a rule that all property taxes had to be reported in a standard way, with the “true” tax figure reported, without any exemptions or discounts. The “buyer agent to verify” fig leaf was disallowed. While this has been a game changer overall, not everyone is very good at complying. 

Unfortunately, we just had an instance where a buyer client was hot about a property until they saw the taxes revised higher by almost $3000 the following Monday. I called the municipality, and the listing agent was wrong-the taxes were in fact close to 3k lower. By the time I reached the buyer to clarify this, the emotion to act was gone. Maybe they would have backed out anyway, but maybe not. We’ll never know, and it is because someone didn’t have the right numbers. 

Cynthia Larsen wrote a post I almost missed (but caught, because I subscribe to her) about an agent that left a voice mail message with no name and number. I feel the same way and expressed it before in a different context. It really isn’t rocket science, but many agents still don’t get that when they call, I need to know three things:

1. Your Name

2. Your firm or address

3. Your number, if leaving a message

The biggest offender actually isn’t consumers, but agents. I don’t know if it because they read their own headlines, don’t consider that this is a business, or aren’t trained. I once had a call from a guy who was a a huge (top 20 out of 7000) producer who I thought was a rookie because he didn’t tell me where he worked, and for the first minute I didn’t know he was an agent. I asked him if he was new, and he seemed dismayed and told me he was the top producer in what I recognized to be a great office. I felt bad at first, but you know what? He should know better. 

We speak with people all day, every day. Even a doctor looks at a patients chart when he walks into their hospital room. I need a reference point. I do not have infallible software up here, and as a matter of fact if you reach me I am probably in the middle of an active day running a brokerage, being a father of four, and dealing with what is in front of me. So tell me your name, firm or address, and your number if leaving a message. 

It seems simple, but as I commented on Cynthia’s blog I think the US will convert to the Metric System before all agents (let alone the public) learn this. I wasn’t waiting all day for your call. Help me out so I can help you. My alternative is forensics. 

• Name,

• Firm or address

• Phone number

One more time:

It has been New York law since 2005 that home inspectors be licensed by the Department of State. The reasons are fairly numerous, but they include the following:

• Consumer protection. Licensure is a starting point for vetting people to hire for the job.  
• Oversight. The population of inspectors is no longer murky, either. 
• Peace of Mind. This can be misleading, as licensed inspectors can still stink. 
• Professional Standards. Making them statutory protects the consumer.

Buyers of residential property in the state of New York are by law supposed to be furnished with a form known as a Property Condition Disclosure from the seller. It is a form with several dozen questions on the physical characteristics of the property, such as the roof, plumbing, and electric systems. One question asks if there was ever a buried fuel tank on the property. The law is about 10 years old and states that the seller is required to issue a $500 credit in the absence of furnishing the form. It is very clear. You zig or you zag. And it is up to the seller. 

The choices:

1. Filled out Property Condition Disclosure
2. $500 Credit to the buyer

The St Augustine’s Parish annual Italian festival will be held at the Parish Grounds Tuesday July 27 through Sunday August 1. There will be children’s rides, game booths, lots of food, a white elephant sale, and a $10,000 grand raffle. Last year my kids went bananas on the rides, which were good fun, and Luke’s cub scout pack volunteered at the Goldfish booth. We won one of those huge rubber bouncing balls at one of the game booths, which Max bit, and the goldfish didn’t quite make it to collect social security. But we had fun, and I recall that the parish raised their goal. It is the largest fundraiser for the church and school they have. 

This is as good a time as any to post a few pictures of the church and school grounds, which are utterly beautiful, as the campus overlooks the Hudson River. There are a number of very pretty shrines, the church building is majestic, and there is even an outdoor Station of the Cross. The campus was Mary Immaculate High School, an all -girls institution which closed in 1976, and it re-opened shortly after when St Augustine’s old school was destroyed to widen Route 9. 

My family were parishioners at St Ann’s in Ossining for almost 50 years until I moved in 2007. My brother’s children attended St Augustine’s when Luke started school and we chose to send him there. It is a beautiful place, and these photos don’t really do it justice. I will post some more festival oriented photos soon. 

The things you see in this business. This past week I posted about a small child I found after a home showing who wandered out of her home and how I made sure she was back in the care of her (mortified, surprised) mother. I didn’t write it to get a pat on the back but to hope that we all watch each others’ back. 

We have work to do. 

I first heard the term “forgotten man” a few years ago when I saw My Man Godfrey with William Powell and Carole Lombard. We have all seen a forgotten man or woman. 

Yesterday, while showing a home to buyer clients in Stamford, CT, we saw 2 police cars parked at the side of the road. Next to the cars was a tarp covering something on the banks of a wooded neighborhood creek. The area was taped off, and it really did look like the scene of a fatality. After we looked at the house, my client walked over to the two officers and confirmed the sad truth that it was indeed a fatality. To paraphrase what he was told, a local old crazy guy who wandered the city was found to have perished in the creek. From the sounds of things, he was homeless and troubled. The Forgotten Man’s final hour was in that creek. He might have drowned, he might have had a heart attack and fallen in , or something more troubling. Regardless, someone’s baby’s rough life was over. We were random witnesses to the aftermath. 

When I got home, it was late. I missed putting the kids to bed again, but I got to see them sawing wood in their Thomas the Tank Engine bedsheets, snoozing a sweet opera to their father’s ears, resting from a day of summer joy. It was a contrast I could not ignore. They will wake up to another day of idyllic sun-drenched fun, with roller skating day at camp, a blow up kiddie pool, Carvel ice cream, and their mother’s doting. 

I’m not what you’d consider a religious guy but I hope this Forgotten Man will wake up in God’s arms, shed of his troubles, whole again, and as happy as my children. I hope his final hour was not as bad as it appeared, and that he even laughed or remembered an old joke before going to sleep. But beyond that I hope the Forgotten Man will never be forgotten, and the perfunctory police search for next of kin or anyone that knew or loved him will not be fruitless. I hope his memory is more dignified than his demise. If anyone knew the poor soul who breathed his last in east Stamford on Brookside Drive in the creek that feeds Holly Pond I want you to know that I won’t forget. 

Anyone who think we just unlock doors and comment on decorating and do not see what goes on around us is nuts. 

I’m not really a big fan of rebates. Are you a fan of making less money?

Now, before you dismiss me as a broker who only wants to maximize his commission, I am pretty qualified to write about buyer rebates in a real estate transaction, because I am a Redfin Partner Agent, and rebates are one of the linchpins of their business model. I have done dozens of transactions with Redfin buyers, and all have gotten a 15% rebate. So I know what I speak of. I do it. I get it. I have also rebated sellers under certain circumstances. I guess you could say that I am a “master rebater!”

Do I love it? No! Is it the cost of doing business I would not otherwise get? Yes!

Two events have prompted me to offer my thoughts on rebates to buyers in a real estate transaction. 

• Two weeks ago, we received an offer on one of my listings. Before we could make a deal, a 2nd broker submitted an offer for the exact same amount from the same buyer. The buyer switched firms for a $500 rebate. $500.   
• Diana Lisinksi just wrote a featured blog about a client who asked for 50% of her commission after working with her for over a year.  

Those of us in the business for any period of time know the stress of a last minute expense to our buyers– a home not delivered in the same condition as when it was first seen, an unexpected closing cost or tax shortfall, or anything else that hits the already stressed buyer in the pocketbook after a drawn out transaction. It sucks. We’d never intentionally cause a financial hit to a client or customer. And we decry those among us who add fees to their commission at closing which were not approved when first hired. 

Last September I wrote a blog post about the AMC TV Series Mad Men and its connections to my home town of Ossining, NY where the main characters’ home is set. The post was picked up by TIME.com and a number of other sites, including my local paper. With the 4th season of Mad Men starting next week, our local paper contacted me again and did a Sunday Spread on the show’s connection to Westchester County, and Ossining in particular. They met 4 of us, including the mayor at the Ossining Train station last week and we had fun on camera talking about the show.

One of the things I discuss is my view of where the Draper’s fictional house is most likely set, as Bullet Hole Road is nonexistent. A local historian, Norman McDonald, opined that their home is set in Chilmark; nothing would thrill me more, since that is where I live. However, there are several reasons why that wouldn’t work, not the least of which is that the Chilmark neighborhood is in Briarcliff Manor- not Ossining. Also, their daughter attends Brookside school, which is not where a child from Chilmark would attend in that day and age. The Drapers live in a pre war home – Chilmark was built from 1960-62. They would have lived on or near Justamere Drive in my view up by Maryknoll. Both neighborhoods have a street named “Orchard.” It is a fun debate.

There are many other connections,  such as the Ossining Reservoir, Cedar lane, the old A & P Market, and my beloved carvel Ice Cream. There will be new references and when the new season starts next Sunday I’ll be sure to blog about them.

Note to self: hit the gym. The camera may add pounds but mix in a salad!