Lashawn Norden asks another intriguing question: are home inspections worth our time? That they are needed is obvious. Any agent that dissuades a buyer from doing an inspection invites peril down the road. But as a listing agent, is it worth my time to be present when another agent and their client inspects my listing? [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Home Inspections
Posted in Selling, tagged Home inspections on June 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Shelling Out Dough
Posted in Me Myself and I, Tales from the Trenches, tagged lending on June 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This blogpost asks an intriguing question: Have you ever been asked by a SELLER to pay for repairs or improvements to THIER property prior to it being listed for sale? If so, have you paid for them? If so, have you always gotten paid back, even if the property did not sell? My mentor in this business loaned clients [...]
Soft Market Creeping into Manhattan and Affluent Suburbs
Posted in Selling, The Market, tagged manhattan real estate, westchester real estate on June 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Via the Westchester Real Estate Market blog: Manhattan is showing signs of slowing down, and the median prices in places like Chappaqua and Bedford are declining. This news contradicts the perception that wealthier communities are insulated from the problems in the economy. They are to a degree, but they are not in a vacuum.
WCI is Circling the Drain
Posted in New Construction, tagged wci on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
WCI Communities, known for their uber-subdivisions with custom built homes, community pools and clubhouses, is in dire financial shape. I sold one of their homes last year, and it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my career. These guys are the poster child of inept, top-heavy middle management. Nobody there seems to have [...]
Will Legalizing Gay Marriage Help Home Sales?
Posted in The Market, tagged gay marriage on June 25, 2008 | 1 Comment »
In California, agents are hoping it will. Here in New York, the prospects for gay marriage are far better with the retirement of state senate majority leader Joe Bruno. If that happens, New York licensees will be in the same boat as their California colleagues. But will same-sex marriage help the market? I say yes. How [...]
5000 Square Foot Homeowners Shouldn’t Cast Stones
Posted in Jerks, Media, tagged Paul Krugman on June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
While I have no political agenda in my commentary I aim to be straight. Paul Krugman has always bugged me. I cannot decide if the heart of the matter is either his love of the Syllogistic Fallacy, his appalling elitism or his galling intellectual dishonesty. Here is my outline of a typical Krugman column: I am Paul Krugman. I [...]
George Carlin: Tonight’s Forecast-Dark
Posted in Humor, tagged George Carlin on June 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
It may be hard for the MTV generation to believe this, but when I was a kid in the 70′s, the most risque things in my life included Mad Magazine, Don Imus in the morning on WNBC radio, and cassette tapes of George Carlin. I saw him live in Rochester in the 90′s and he [...]
Harvard Study: Worst Market in 50 Years
Posted in Selling, tagged Harvard report, state of the nation's housing 2008 on June 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Inman News points to a Harvard report which characterizes the current housing slump as the worst in 50 years. I don’t know what was so bad about the market in the late 50′s. My parents bought their first house in 1957 for $12,000 and the Ike years were known for their relative peace and prosperity, but that is hardly [...]
The Foreclosure Fight on Staten Island
Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, tagged Foreclosures, Mortgages on June 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The Times has a fairly balanced article on how people are adapting to the down market in NY City’s least-populated and most suburban borough. The upshot of the story is that not everyone can seek relief through a short sale. John and Dorothy Miele are an example. Two years ago, they wanted to refinance their home, [...]
Nuts
Posted in Tales from the Trenches, Uncategorized, tagged realtor killed on June 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
From our MLS announcements: (We) continue to receive reports about a certain property in Yonkers where the owner behaves indecently in clothing and manner when female Realtors visit the property. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROPERTY IS NOT LISTED IN MLS. The owner requests an agent to come out the property to do a listing presentation. [...]
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J. Philip Faranda Broker-Owner (914) 723-8900
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