When I got my real estate license I did it for selfish reasons.  I wanted to buy a house.  I had no idea how or what to do to buy a house, so I figured in my one track mind that I would go to school and get a license  - and boom - buy a house, just like that.   Of course it did not happen that way. 

I did get my license and I "interviewed" alot of real estate companies and decided on one that I felt would be the best fit for me.  Little did I know that I would stay there for more than five years.  Yes, I did buy my house but I also found a career that honestly, I loved. 

I Sold My Soul.

That is what I did when I became the office manager for the one and only company that I worked for.    After a few of my own deals and lot of learning and classes that I took through out a time period of a year and a half, I was offered the Manager position.  It was not something that I jumped into to light hearteningly.  I took my job very seriously and I treated the office like it was my own.  But before I took the job I had alot of things to consider like:

• I am an employee now, not an independent contractor.
• My friends who were agents would have to deal with me as their boss.
• It could/would change the magnitude of my relationship with my broker.
• I could hate it and then be out of a job and never work as an agent again.
• It could make or break my career.

I was right on all counts. 

Everything Did Change.

From the minute I stepped into my "new office"  I had changed the stride of the office.  Sometimes agents would feel funny to "bitch" to me because they felt that I would go "tell on them", (which for the record, I never did - I always stuck up for everyone).  I had alot to deal with from day one, but I felt like I could handle all the heat thrown my way.   Many Some of the agents who worked in my office were mad at me because they were there longer than I was and some agents really wished me well.  I sustained all the good and bad wishes.  But to make a long story short,  I did not take that "promotion" for the salary that was being offered.  I took that position because I knew I would be good at it and again for selfish reasons - I wanted to know everything about real estate and how to run an office from the inside and out. 

There was a bigger picture for me.

I am not talking about learning the ropes so I could go and open my own place, that is not what it was about.  It was more like I needed to know everything so I could pass on my knowledge to others.  I needed to know how to do everything because that was the only way I could do my job.  I felt that there was going to be  massive levels of growth with the company, but somewhere the road stopped for me.      

Like Raising kids.

I have always said that managing an office is like raising kids.  Just like a parent has to break up fights, so does a manager (I call it defusing).  Just like a parent who has to teach a child how to become a responsible adult, a manager has to show an agent what to do sometimes but also when to back away and let that agent sink or swim.  And just like a parent - you will always take pride with you when one of "yours" does a great job!

What now?

Many have asked where I have been and what I have been up to and like most of you already know, I left my previous broker to go onto bigger and better things.  Although, currently I still have my license still with my previous broker - I have only resigned as office manager.    It was  a decision that again, I did not take lightly.  Alot of thought and careful consideration went into my personal decision and to be honest, not because of how it would affect me but how it could or would affect my agents.   

So after a month and a half later...

I have no regrets.  I feel that I have always done the right thing for my broker and I have always had his best interest at heart and I will continue to do so.  I know that there are bad feelings from his end and that is OK, it is something that he will have to live with.  I am not mad, I was never mad - I was at a fork in the road and felt I had to take an opportunity that presented itself to me and I felt that I stopped growing with him.  I was becoming stagnate and tired.  I needed a change and I needed to do it quickly - So I took a position with a developer and I am learning a different aspect of real estate.      

I am still selling real estate - it is something that I love to do and I feel that it is in my blood.  I am still available to answer your calls and emails, so feel free to drop me a line whenever you have a question or a comment. 

Originally Posted on NYHouses4Sale.com

October 16, 2007 was a great day at the MLS Tech Fair, it was a SOLD out event that I feel gave Realtors alot of useful information.  Our Panel spoke about "How a Blog can Benefit You".  Sitting with me on the panel was Linda Davis, Dan Green and the so famous Rudy and Joe - the blog tour boys.  Our panel was suppose to run for an hour but the audience was so receptive, we ran into overtime and then some.  The audience really were into learning about blogging.   I actually over heard a few women in the hallway saying how overwhelmed and overloaded they felt with information and both women hoped that they remembered a quarter of what was said. 

(Dan Green, Joe Ferrara and Phil Thomas Di Giulio from WellcomeMat.com)

I have to say that this was my first time speaking in public to that large of a group.  My nerves were high prior to the panel sitting down but once we got started and I saw how receptive the audience was and I quickly relaxed and enjoyed the moment. 

If there are people from that event reading this blog, I invite you to comment your thoughts and feelings about the session:  What did you like?  What should we change?  Did you walk away with the urge to start your blog?  Have you started a blog of your own yet?   

I felt like our panel worked well together and gave alot of great information.  But, I would like to know what the audience took away from the session (and think of it this way, this is your first step to blogging). 

I want to thank MLSLI for inviting me and I look forward to reading your new blog (which I will add to my blog roll once you have it live).  I want to extend my thank you to Jenny Natale and Beth O'Connor as well as the rest of the crew who assisted us.  I was delighted to take part in such a great function that you planned.  Do you do Weddings? 

I would like to give a shout out to those who introduced themselves to me:

• Wilfred E. Joseph - Daniel Gale
• Mona Holzman - Century21, June Shapiro
• Robin Gordon - Coldwell Banker
• Ben Olivia - Keller Williams
• Scott Mitchell - Century21, Laffey
• Scott Forcino - ProRealEstateCity.com
• Swaranjit Singh - Goldwin Realty

And to those who I already knew, it was great to see you and talk to each of you:

• Paula Annaruma - PCA Realty
• Barbara Gunn - Prudential, Franklin Square
• Judy D. - Remax, Markowitz Group
• Lois Hanson - Coach

And last - To the panel, You guys ROCK!  It was such a pleasure to meet you Dan - Dan, I will think of you when I am cooking up my chili and the next time you are in NY, let me know!  I did not see you before I left and I did not get to thank you in person.  Sorry! 

Linda, I think you and I could have talked for hours.  Keep in touch, now that I know you work within the same area as FOXWOODS, you might have an overnight guest.  Frequently!  (Ok, I kid!)

I hope you both made it home safe!

To my best blogger buddies, what can I say?  It is always a pleasure, I learn something new every time we meet.  I wish you nothing but the best - always.  I appreciate your coat tails and wings that you have provided me.  Thank you is not enough!

I am not sure if my story will be that inspiring to be honest with you.  I have been a member for just about a year now and I am only getting to the 50k mark.  That means that I am either very slow or I am not soaking myself with posts and comments every day (which I am sorry about).  I have seen some abuse to the pointing system and well - to be honest, one of my first posts about the points system lead into a "cat fight" between Kristal Kraft and myself, in one of The Lovely Wifes post (Whom by the way took me off her side bar! :<>).  Ironic!

Needless to say we all survived with very minimal scratches. 

As most know, I have a regular blog as well as this Active Rain blog.  I tend to do most of my posting on my regular blogbecause it is more local based.  I have been getting alot of leads and contacts through my blog and I have made money by blogging. 

Are there days I just can not think of a thing to say?  Well, yes.  There are a ton of days like that.  Let me put it more like this - not that I don't have anything to say - I do - I almost always have something to say, but I was taught if "you don't have anything nice to say - than don't say anything".  So those are the days that I am quiet.  :>

Seriously though, I have learned alot from blogging either here and outside blogs and I have met some very cool people (Meeting Caleb and Jonathon are within my top 10) <-- Brownie points .. and plan to meet more. 

Its so cool to be 50! Woohoo!

  

 

Let me clarify that the term "multi-family" consists of two or more units.   

True or False: More one family homes foreclose than a multi-family homes? 

Could be true. Micheal Sexton from  Trumpblog posted an article today that stated more one family homes foreclose than multi-unit homes.   An investor friend said to Micheal "Virtually all the foreclosed properties out there are single-family homes or condos," he said. "If you can find me more than a handful of foreclosed multi-unit properties, I'll eat my shirt. It's because people almost always make money in multi-units, so they don't go into foreclosure."

Interesting - No?

Well, I checked on PropertySharks.com and what I found was that there are some foreclosures of multi-units but they are 10:1 to single family homes and the ones that I did find were in less desirable areas which shows me that rent collected is less, therefore less rent roll means less revenue.

I can totally see it the way Micheal interprets it.  But another way could be that most investors have alot more to lose.  Look at it this way - to invest you need to have some cash at hand and if it is a commercial building than the minimum required down payment would be 30% - allowing finance of 70%.  But also, if an investor is buying property to only create cash flow - they have made the numbers make sense.

Ryan Slack from PropertySharks.com talks about the foreclosures in all five Boro's.  He explains that while all areas of NY have seen an increase - he is mostly worried with Queens and the rate that homes are coming up on the foreclosure list.  I will admit it - I have seen a large incline in the number of homes that are pending or are in foreclosure, but keep in mind - when the analysts speak of Queens, it is not the Bayside, Whitestone, Flushing, Malba or Beechhurst area.  They are talking more of Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Woodhaven, Jamaica, Rockaway, Elmhurst and surrounding areas.

Tina Mattow the Marketing Communications Coordinator from PropertyShark.com sent me the final 2nd Quarter Foreclosure Report plus a couple quick screen shots of the data that they have collected. 

      

Just by looking at the chart (I am only talking about the Queens 2nd quarter 2006 and the 2nd quarter 2007).  You can clearly see that the foreclosures noted have just about doubled! 

I think that the third quarter will be the most important to this graph.  If you look at the fourth quarter of 2006 it was one of the lowest in two years, so with that being said I think the third quarter for '07 will set the marker and will really give us a sense of where this market is going.  Hopefully we see some correcting itself here.

This morning I got an email from a landlord who is curious about what or how he can refuse a prospective tenant. 

======Start of Email======

"Hi I read your blog and you have good info on there.   Keep it up.  I have become a new landlord, some apartments are already rented with leases and two are not.  I have posted my own ads and I got alot of replies but some of them I am not to comfortable with renting to.  Can I deny a tenant a[n] apartment?"

Well in short, yes.

You can deny a tenant an apartment but you must be careful on your reasons.

Valid reasons to deny:

• Credit history.
• Smoking.
• Drug use.
• Number of people. (Be careful on this one.  You can not discriminate against a family or non-family)  But if you have a one bedroom apartment and 7 people are looking to rent your apartment - yes, you can deny for the NUMBER of people not family status!
• Pets.
• Length of lease desired.  (You are requesting a year lease and the tenant wants more or less).
• Income to rent ratio.
• Convictions - (including Sex predators)

Reasons that could be discriminating:

• Family status (Married, divorcee, single, same sex marriage, etc.)  Let me clarify, a landlord cannot say to a prospective tenant "Oh, I only want single people in here" or "Or I don't want a married couple because that only means they MIGHT have kids".
• Race - (Do I need to explain?    Thought NOT!).
• Political Stance.
• Religion.
• Sexual orientation.
• Disability. 
• Age. (Very gray area).

also read:

Explain your fees, Please.

Landlord, Tenants and Co-signers.

Questions ?

Have a great weekend, I will see you Monday!

My brother and his wife have entered into a situation that nobody would want to be in, they have a neighbor who has fallen very ill and they are the only ones who are there to "take care of him".  This is not something that they have to do but more like something that they feel compelled to do, the elderly neighbor is old and is totally alone.  At this point, he is unable to fully take care of himself and Medicare has made it clear that they will absorb and drain any money that he has in his name. 

Its a sad fact to watch a man who served our country more than once, not get the proper care because he has "too much".  Yes, he has "too much" but not enough to get him around the clock care.

Questions were raised and could only be answered by an Elder Care Attorney.  This attorney advised the elderly man to take a reverse mortgage to help pay for his care.  There is not enough cash in the bank to last more than two short months and there will be funds that need to be spent to ensure proper care. 

So after I looked up some information about Reverse Mortgage, I can totally see how an elderly couple could fall into the pitfalls of the product.  But, what other options do most elderly have.  They have worked all their lives and they have become house rich but cash poor. 

What is a Reverse Mortgage?

In short, a reverse mortgage is taking the value of your home and turning it into cash.  The cash you get from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you in several ways:

• one lump sum
• as a regular monthly cash advance;
• as a "credit line" account that lets you decide when and how much of your available cash is paid to you; or
• as a combination of these payment methods.

Now the creative part of this whole product is the repayments.  No matter which way you chose to have this loan paid to you, you don't have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home or actually just move out of the home, permanently.  Keep in mind - the only way you would be  eligible for most reverse mortgages is you must own your home and be 62 years of age or older.

Any Thoughts? 

 

The past two years there has been an on going debate about a bill that would require co-op boards to fully disclose any board denials that they enforce for whatever reason.  This is always focused on the Manhattan co-ops, but truth be told, I have seen alot of co-op boards denying applicants in the Whitestone, Beechhurst, Flushing and Bayside area. 

An article today in the NYSun.com entitled Stalled Co-op Rights' Bill Gains Backers - June 22, 2007 says:

"If it were to pass, the bill would shine a brighter light onto the inner workings of New York City's powerful co-op boards, which were first required to begin disclosing sale prices in 2006.

The boards have long served as a point of intimidation for potential buyers, and real estate brokers say they coach their clients for interviews before the boards, picking out clothes, and narrowing down items to talk about."

Any thoughts?  Have you been denied by a co-op board or is there anyone that you know that has been denied.  I am interested in hearing some stories.

Related articles:

• Can you buy a co-op and NOT go before the board?
• Co-ops: Within the guidelines..
• Co-op 101

 

This is a great one family starter home in Mineola!  Who can beat this price?

The adorable cape features 2 bedrooms, one full bath, a new kitchen, new windows, a two car private driveway, attic for storage and a partial finished basement. 

• Lot size: 2500Sq. Ft
• Taxes: $4752.00
• School District: 10 - Mineola

ASKING PRICE - $399,000

 

 

For more information call Christine from Carollo Real Estate at (917)939-1086.    For real estate related articles Visit Nyhouses4Sale.typepad.com