Every so often, I have a nice comment or email from someone who read my blog. Sometimes they stick around and visit often, other times we are like two ships that passed in the rain. Sometimes, it is the other way around. When I first started on Active Rain, I would often “bookmark” a post I liked or found interesting, but sometimes I didn’t read that author again for a long while. If they appeared on the feature dashboard I’d get reminded, but early on the experience was random- not by choice, but because I didn’t have all the tools.

The “Blog” tab at the top right of the header is there so you can start your day with your faves whenever they update. Just block on the tab circled in the picture, and you’ll be taken to your “blog home.”

On the column to the right is your subscriptions. To Subscribe to a blog, simply check that blogger’s top right sidebar where you’ll see a “subscribe” button right underneath their contact information (hint: if the button says “unsubscribe,” you already subscribed to them!). Anytime they update their blog, their smiling face goes to the top of your subscription dashboard.

On the left of the blog home page is the stream of all blog posts, which can be filtered. You can filter the blog stream based on a number of criteria shown here. You can read posts by type, such as those geared toward consumers only, or professional focus only, or even read the blog most recently commented on. It is very customizable.

The best part of the whole design is that you have the perfect marriage of your regular subscriptions on the right and complete and utter random serendipity on the left. Just in writing this post I got sidetracked on three different postings which caught my eye.

As you might notice from my subscriptions, I love to read intellectual hotties, people I feel that, if brain power were a body, they’d resemble Jayne Mansfield. Or The Rock (Ok, I’m better with the chick metaphor). You might like people who gear their content more toward consumers, your local market area, humor, or war stories. There are thousands of flavors. Regardless of what your bag is, understanding the value of that little blog link will never let you lose a good one again and enrich your experience here. 

Perhaps because we speak with so many people in the course of a day, the odds of something memorable happening are far higher for brokers and agents than someone stuck in a cubicle all week. For example, a few months ago in Manhattan I walked out of a deli and saw a guy being arrested. 

On my car.

Arrested I see every so often. Frisked and cuffed on my car? That was a first. 

Today was another (happier) first. I was walking through a new listing that was tenant occupied. They actually weren’t staying in the house. It was filled to the gills with all kinds of filming equipment- cameras, screens, chairs, and props. One of the tenants was present, and he filled me in on the unique goings on. 

He asked if I was aware of what he was doing, and exoplained he was a filmmaker. Well, it turns out that the cottage is sort of command central for on location filming for an upcoming suspense thriller. I joked that I’d make a good man on park bench. He laughed, and said if I really was game, he needed an extra for a scene. I was invited back to the location where they were filming, and met the director and producer. It turns out that the director is on the faculty of the Lee Strasburg Institute and NYU- not too shabby. I met the other extras, they set up a little lounge for us with food and refreshments, and we wrapped after about 3 hours- good thing I had a light Friday planned. 

Maybe this is my big break! 

Hollywood doesn’t have enough nasal voiced leading men with glasses who are shorter than the leading lady. 

Three real estate brokers were chatting after an association meeting about how slow business was. The subject of walk in business came up, and the first two expressed how long it had been since they last had a deal result from someone “walking in” off the street into their office. 

The third broker however, said he just had a “walk in” and proceeded to tell how fast the transaction went. “The guy just walked in off the street, told me exactly what he wanted, and I was able to find it for him almost immediately, right at my desk. Fastest transaction of the year.” 

Curious as to how this could be, the other brokers were puzzled. “What did he want?”

“The rent.”

Inman had news yesterday of REALTOR association mergers, and posed the question of the value of such moves. Given my involvement in a large territory spanning half a dozen MLS systems and many more boards, I feel that I should weigh in on the matter. 

I am a big fan of large MLS systems, but not terribly jazzed about big boards. Ths state of Connecticut aparently agrees with me- aside from Fairfield County, they have a statewide MLS but have retained local boards, often on a town level. More on that later. Big MLSes are good, but so are smaller boards.

If you didn’t click on the link, I favor large MLS systems because it is silly to have to pay separate fees to cross county lines or, in some cases, town lines. I could drive 35 miles and pass through 4 MLS areas. That is madness. It is data, and even if you don’t have my business model why should you have to have 2 different sets of overhead because you straddle a boundary? 

Large Realtor Associations, however, have different problems. Associations exist, in large degree, to oversee the membership and enforce the Code of Ethics. Small boards have the resources to oversee their town or county. Big boards simply do not have the resources to enforce member conduct. LIBOR, or the Long Island Board of Realtors, has the government intervening on both ends of their territory: In Queens, the state has issued a cease and desist order in a large area because of agent misconduct. On the East End, the Department of Justice is examining anti-trust practices, where brokers flaunt their antipathy about the MLS. My own experience confirms the problems of oversight in Queens. I have blogged about my frustration with agent conduct in the boroughs in the past. In some parts, it is the wild west, and the board is not effective in reigning in misconduct. Where the board fails, the government intervenes. 

Connecticut, on the other hand, is a different universe from Long Island and the Boroughs. By and large, Connecticut agents and firms are as professional as I have found, and there is almost never an issue with cooperation, fair play, professional standards, or collegiality. It is no coincidence that they have small boards. My own board recently consolidated with another county’s association, but have retained a regional office in each area. I am on the board for the MLS, which is growing, but I hope the association does not absorb any other boards. 

The arguments for large boards include buying power and bulk discounts for membership, and I suppose that is nice. However, we have to choose our priorities, and in my view professional standards and oversight have to supersede getting a good deal on a rental car. 

By now the whole country is talking about the over 25% drop in sales this past July in the wake of the stimulus. Here in the state of New York the sales were down 34.9% overall. Locally, Rockland County was down about 27% and Putnam was down 30.6%. But Westchester County was up, a surprisingly strong 8.7%, with a median sales price of $799,000 (source: Journal News). It just goes to show that all real estate is local. 

But why would Westchester buck the trend? How can a county next to other counties with declining numbers have such healthy results? In my opinion, Westchester benefited at the expense of the neighboring counties. In the past, people were often priced out of Westchester and saw a move across the river or north to Putnam or Dutchess as their most affordable option- a Westchester lifestyle if only with a longer commute. With home prices down 20-25% since the peak of 2005, those home buyers are no longer forced to leave the county; why move 45 minutes north or across the bridge to Rockland if Westchester home prices are within reach?

Why indeed. Proximity to friends, family, work, and yes, that big Apple just below is economically feasible again. So, many stuck around and bought locally instead of moving out of county the way they might have over the past 5-10 years, and the money stayed in Westchester.  It remains to be seen if that trend continues, but I don’t see conditions changing from where I sit. The outlying counties will recover organically, but only when they adjust their prices even more than they already have. Call it shrinking pains. 

The New York suburbs are often funny about real estate signs. One town won’t allow a sign with a company name, allowing only “For Sale By Broker” or “For Sale By Owner” on the panels. Another municipality prohibits anything bigger than 12″ x 12″. Some places ban signs altogether, while others have rules rendering them useless, such as one that will only allow them in a front window. On a set back home that does nothing. One local city is OK with “For Sale” signs but outlaws “Sold” signs. 

In every one of these municipalities, I have seen chintzy yard signs that remain up for weeks and sometimes months by home improvement companies, painters, fence installers, garage door technicians, and many other trades. I have never understood why they are permitted and my sign is not. Actually, I do understand, and it is not cool.

It amazes me that a municipality-the government- can abridge what I put on a sign or can restrict me from having a sign at all. It is absolutely contrary to the first amendment, and makes these towns more like patriarchal fiefdoms than governments that are out for the highest and best for the citizenry. Now, there may be a few who find real estate signs to be distasteful or clutter the view. But the constitution doesn’t exist for them to have a good view or have environs that conform to their particular taste. It exists to protect my freedom of expression and ensure that commerce can be promulgated. 

Big companies with large market share in these areas have no desire from what I can see to change the law. It enables them to keep status quo. If I busted my hump and a few of my signs sprang up it might shift the balance of power. They can’t have that. Homeowners probably like the law too, because yard signs can distract, or because their absence makes it appear that nobody wants to move from their idyllic ‘burb. Gag me. That doesn’t make it right. 

The right to self expression and to post my message without the state’s interference is not something that can be voted on or zoned out. It is an inalienable right. The “tyranny of the mob” does not grant or deny rights. Rights are rights. And you can’t bestow a right on a garage door guy and deny it to a real estate broker. I know of no sign restriction that ever held up in court. They exist because we are too busy earning a living to have our day in court. For now. 

Yes, some of the local towns are funny about signs. But I’m not laughing. 

How I found a stud with help from Stanley. 

I’ve never in my 43 years needed to find a stud. 

However, life does throw curveballs, and you have to adapt. So, being an open minded fellow and willing to try new things, even things that are foreign to me, against my nature, and frankly not to my preference, I endeavored to locate a stud. Actually, more than one. I had to. Really. 

One of my agents, apparently, has found numerous studs in her time and offered to help after I explained things to her. The trick is you can’t just grab around, or grope, or even tip toe. You need good equipment. I don’t have any equipment. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, as an average suburban guy I hold my own in the tool department but I sure never had the hardware to find any stud. Especially with a thick rug involved like this morning. 

You see, locating a floor joist is seldom something a real estate broker needs to do. However, on a bank-owned listing of mine, a creak in a bedroom floor was turning people off. When I explained to my asset manager my predicament, he recommended that I get some 6-penny nails and reinforce the loose sub flooring to the joists at the edges of the carpet. Easier said than done, however, because the floor was covered in wall to wall carpet. Now, mind you, I’m no carpenter. Believe me. I studied English. I never took shop. When the other kids were building tree houses I was scoring baseball games and reading history books. 

Anyway, my agent recommended a “stud finder.”  I never heard of such a thing, but they are readily available at any hardware store. I went down to Ossining Hardware and they recognized me as that weird guy who just bought 20 six-penny nails for 60 cents and asked for a receipt. I asked for a “stud finder” and he told me to go somewhere else if I wanted that. But he did carry the Stud Sensor 250 from Stanley, which operates the same way. It located the joists in spite of that wall to wall carpet over the sub floor.

So I got to some serious nailing, which felt a little funny, because it had been a while for me. But you never really forget how to do this stuff, and I got right down to it. Now I may not be a pro, but I didn’t want to pay for it. It actually wasn’t so bad to do it myself. 

I have done many new things in this business which they don’t teach in real estate class, as we all have, but some rudimentary carpentry was never on the list until today. You just never know what the next challenge will be. Ann is very happy that I brought the Stud Sensor home, because she has wanted to hang a nice mirror above our fireplace and couldn’t find the right place on the wall to screw. 

Anyway, I’m pretty exhausted now, and I think I’ll just go sleep early. 

Next week: Why beefcake is the superior treat at broker opens to hors d’oeuvres.