One of the things we as licensees often take for granted is that people are like us when it comes to emails, voicemails, texts and cell phones. They aren’t. Most people, at the end of the day, don’t take work home. We are on call 24/7/365. Clients aren’t agents and don’t live in our world. However, if you are buying or selling a home, it would be wise to nudge over a smidge and take a few pages from our book for your own benefit. 

A house available right now may be gone tomorrow. A counter offer may be withdrawn if they don’t hear from you by 5pm. Anything can happen anytime, which is why agents live with a blue tooth in their ear and are always checking email on their phone. If we miss a call, counter offer or email, it could sink a deal. The same goes for clients, whom we are beholden to. If the client is on the same page with the agent, more can get done better.  

Here are a few things clients can do that agents should do when buying or selling a house to maximise opportunities in this industry where anything can happen anytime:

• Check your email 3 times per day or more. I’ve gotten calls from clients asking where a lease or addendum is they needed 2 days prior when it was in their inbox for 2 days. They just never checked their email. You have hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. You need to be on top of the information. 
• Identify yourself on your voice mail greeting. I get between 30-50 phone calls a day. If I call you to update you on negotiations and get one of those impersonal “You have reached 914-555-1212” you force me to do forensics.  I may have to take time from other clients to make sure I don’t leave sensitive details on the wrong voice mail.
• Unblock your phone number. Blocked numbers are the phone version of darkly tinted windows in driving. It helps no one, and gives the caller/driver anonymity. Caller ID can tell me if I need to put someone on hold and take a call, or ignore a telemarketer. 
• Clear your voice mail often. It is all about communication and being on top of updates. What f I never got your message because I didn’t clear my voice mail? 
• If you don’t own or have access to a fax machine, find a Kinko’s near you. When I started in real estate in 1996, faxes worked with long rolls of paper and were considered high tech. Now we scan and email documents. It shouldn’t be difficult to get a signature back from you for an addendum, price change or other time sensitive matter imperative to your file. 
• Check your text messages. Same principle as email and voicemail. 

It is culture shock when you are in the real estate market when compared to regular life. I have often had clients ask me “how I do it,” because they are exhausted with their own deal, let alone 40-plus listings. You get used to it. The fact is that agents are held to a high standard of follow up, responsiveness and being on top of updates, but we need our clients’ right there with us to leverage such a frantic pace. It is all worth it in the end. Be like your agent in the communication department (translation: adhere to the same standards you have for me) and you’ll be in a better position to make a deal work. 

This photo was taken at dusk on June 18, 2010 from a boat in New York Harbor. The soft light from the torch, crown and base set against the sunset in person was powerful. 

Did you know that sometimes, despite our best efforts, lenders in a short sale will want the borrower to pay some money back? For example, if you have a $300,000 house with $315,000 on the first mortgage and $75,000 on the second, that the second mortgage might only release in the lien in exchange for a promissory note, unsecured terms, or cash settlement? We’ve had this happen to clients before, and while it is unfortunate, sometimes we can’t get the lender to change their mind. They might feel there isn’t adequate hardship. They might play “hardball.” It doesn’t matter. Some lenders want more money. 

If you have an approved short sale on the table with terms that require cash or a payment plan of money after the closing, and you have an auction date set for 3 weeks away, and the numbers resemble the above example, you have to choose your poison. You can close and have payments of $180 per month for another 15 years, or you can play hardball yourself and get foreclosed on, with your rear end out the window for $315,000, all back payments and interest, and legal fees. 

Let’s see: A choice between a $30,000 unsecured loan (which you might be able to renegotiate) or a foreclosure for an estimated $350,000. What makes more sense? Hmmm. Which would you choose…

Westchester County is sought after because it is the suburbs of New York City. You have the best of both worlds- proximity to Manhattan and the Boroughs, and a suburban (and sometimes downright rural) lifestyle. It is for this reason that Manhattan Folk choose Westchester as their home. Goodbye apartment, goodbye storage rental space, goodbye subway. Hello yard, hello basement and attic, and hello driveway and garage. It is little wonder, then why city dwellers are so hung up on kitchens. After dealing with a tiny apartment kitchen with no pantry or counter space, they want a good kitchen. Kitchens matter in Westchester as much or more more than anyplace else in the USA. 

Does this mean that every Westchester home seller has to undertake a $30,000 renovation and install a Viking stove and subzero refrigerator with a Swedish storage system in the pantry? No, it doesn’t. But buyers do want to see the potential for better things when they do their own work. Remember that apartment dwellers might see your kitchen as appealing because it is bigger than theirs; so you must maximize its appeal even if it isn’t super modern. 

Ironically, while Westchester is a popular place to live, a gigantic percentage of homes are pre war homes and don’t have big kitchens. It is therefore imperative for home sellers to make do with what they have. One piece of self sabotage I often see in Westchester kitchens is  the preponderance of chotzkies, coffee makers, dish racks, and other  of what we New Yorkers call crap on an otherwise serviceable counter.You would not believe the difference it makes when a counter is cleaned off and freed of gnomes, knife racks, spices, gadgets, gizmos and other counter crap. 

This is especially the case in kitchens that are not super updated. The one thing they might have going for them is counter space, which buyers see as potential. This is to say nothing of the fact that your dishrags, choice of cuisine, dirty dishes, dish soap, and other paraphernalia aren’t exactly fulfilling the function of Vanna White as a sales aid. It might be inconvenient to have to open a cabinet to make coffee or get pepper, but if I offered you full price for your house would it be worth it? I’d stand on my head and yodel the Yankees theme song in downtown Boston dressed as Snow White if it sold a listing. So deal. 

It takes 5 minutes to clear a counter, and it will save you time and money. Clean off that counter and you’ll avoid putting anyone off and you might just make a sale. 

PS- It goes the same for bathrooms too, unless you think that your toothbrush is a selling point. 

In 2007, we moved our family about a mile, one neighborhood over. Even though it was a short move, it took us across the line from the Village of Ossining to the Village of Briarcliff Manor. When you’re me, you don’t really expect to have many experiences with the police, aside from civic or social events. You don’t expect them to be on the job on your property, but once not long after we moved here, they did. 

My home office has a window on the side and rear of my home. If someone jumps my fence, I can see it. A few months after we moved here, I saw a pair of legs walk by the side window. Strange. The fence was locked. Then, another pair. I only saw legs, which had my mind racing. Who was swarming my yard with my kids playing back there? I was outside in a heartbeat, and to my relief, it was not an interloper or kidnapper, it was a pair of police officers. They both had their hands on their hips, looking perplexed, as my 2 oldest children excitedly talked to them (real police officers right in our yard! exclaimed Luke, then 6). 

I was perplexed also. It got put together quickly Evidently, the department had received a call from someone out of state who had called my number by accident. Our 3 year old was screaming at the top of his lungs when the call came in, and somehow the party at the other end heard the screaming and called the police for fear that they had witnessed some sort of abuse over the phone. Since ringing the bell would have only given a criminal or kidnapper warning, they jumped the fence anticipating the worst. The screamer, Gregory, then ambled up to me and put his arms up to be picked up. 

Assured that it was all an innocent thing, they thanked me and left. 

I was struck by their professionalism. I appreciated their approach, because, even in this idyllic suburb, if there was foul play, they wanted to be ready. Three years later, that day sticks with me. They were ready for criminals, and they ended up patting my kids on the head. Briarcliff Manor has great police. 

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.