Lindenhurst NY Short Sale Market Report - 2008-January 2012

The Lindenhurst NY short sale market in 2011 almost stayed the same compared to 2010. In 2010, 55 homes were listed as short sales and 30 sold. 50 homes in Lindenhurst NY were listed as short sales in 2011 and 33 sold.

2012 will be interesting. Short sales will continue to be around for a while. I have to assume right now that 2012 for short sales in Lindenhurst NY will be around the same as in 2010 and 2011.

If you have been considering to short sale your Lindenhurst NY home as an option but are not sure what it entails, call me today (631) 703-0201 to make a confidential, no-obligation appointment to see if a short sale is right for you and your family.

The Only Person I Sleep with is My Husband

It's funny how buyers get advice that is old-school. Family and friends mean well but inaccurate information can lead to misunderstandings.

In January of 2009, I met with a nice couple who were first time home buyers. During my consultation with them, I let them know that I can refer them to great mortgage brokers, home inspectors and real estate attorneys that will get the job done without breaking the bank.

Upon hearing that, the husband said the following, "we were told to not use anyone the Realtor® "sleeps" with". I knew exactly what they meant and I said, "the only person I sleep with is my husband". Good thing they both laughed at that one!

I explained that real estate was different 20+ years ago then it is now. My job as a buyer's agent is to make sure you have a great team behind you and that includes mortgage brokers, home inspectors and real estate attorneys. If you blindly pick anyone, that could cause problems, delays and cost you more money than necessary. If you already have someone in mind that you trust, then it's all good!

In the end, they bought the home of their dreams and are living happily ever after.

Lindenhurst NY Waterfront Homes - You Will Miss The Boat If You Wait To List Your Home

A few times a day I check my website visitor stats to see the activity. Potential buyers are already looking for waterfront homes for sale in Lindenhurst NY:

There are different types of waterfront homes in Lindenhurst NY: Bayfront and Canal location. Bayfront for the most part gives you spectacular views of the Great South Bay.

View Map of Great South Bay on Long Island in a larger map

Canal homes are just that. They are on the canal and your neighbors can be very close to each other. You do get bulkheading with canal homes so if you want a boat or jet ski, go for it! Just make sure the boat isn't larger than your dock space.

Lindenhurst NY Waterfront Homes currently For Sale

On the Market Waterfront Homes in Lindenhurst NY in 2011
January 2011 - 1
February 2011 - 0
March 2011 - 0
April 2011 - 1
May, 2011 - 5
June, 2011 - 0

Sold Lindenhurst NY Waterfront Homes in 2011
January 2011 - 3 sold for $392,000 (Contemporary style), $400,000 (Bayfront), $400,000 (Bayfront)
February  2011 - 1 sold for $275,100 (located in the Copiague School District)
March 2011 - 3 sold for $315,000, $346,500 and $625,000 (Bayfront)
April 2011 - 1 sold for $220,000 (2 bedroom)
May 2011 - 2 one homes sold for $190,000 (1 bedroom home) and the other for $435,000 (Bayfront)
June 2011 - 2 one home sold for $336,000 and the other for $450,000 (Bayfront)
July 2011 - 0
August 2011 - 0
September 2011 - 1 sold for $315,000
October 2011 - 0
November 2011 - 0
December 2011 - 1 sold for $350,000

In my opinion, the best time to list a Lindenhurst NY waterfront home would be in March. You may not get a lot of activity at first but sometimes all it takes is just one buyer that loves it and you get it sold.

The tricky part is, if the seller has school-aged children and the buyer does not, the seller doesn't want to move a few months before school ends and usually an agreement can be made between the buyer and seller as to when closing can take place. I find most buyers are accommodating with this situation.

Call me today to find out how much your Lindenhurst NY waterfront home is worth in today's real estate market!

What Does Real Estate and A Box Of Chocolates Have In Common?

I will never forget the first time I prospected expired listings in September 2009. The very first door I knocked on had recently expired in Lindenhurst NY and had listed with numerous real estate agents over the last four years. I knew it was going to be a challenge but didn’t expect what I was greeted with.......

It was just short of 11:15 a.m. and when I knocked the homeownerflew open the screen door and screamed at me, “do you know what F’ing time it is?!?!?” I replied, “yes, it’s 11:15”. “I’m sorry, is it too early for you?” I then put a smile on my face and told her to have a good day and thanked her for her time.

As I was walking back to my car, I heard footsteps behind me. I turn around and was almost nose to nose with the homeowner. I told her to back away or I call 911. I get in my car and just said “NEXT! since I had 11 more expireds to go to.

For the rest of the day I was greeted with a few luke-warmhomeowners and the rest couldn’t have been any nicer. I even had an elderly woman invite me in for tea and cookies and of course I did. How could I say no? She was the nicest one of all and I enjoyed her company and she appreciated me sitting down with her. To this day, I visit her once a month and we both look forward to it. At this point in time, she can’t sell yet and when she is, I will miss her so I’m in no rush to list her home and she knows this.


Being a real estate agent, I get to meet all kinds of interesting people. Most are nice. Some are frustrated with this market which is understandable.

Just goes to show you how real estate is just like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get!

Lindenhurst NY Short Sale Sold!

This Lindenhurst NY Short Sale sold and we closed on it today. It was my very first listing and my very first short sale.

I took the listing on February 10th, 2010. Almost two years. Lost a few buyers here and there and this one took eight months under contract to get to closing. The buyers almost walked a few times. Read my post to find out how I didn't lose these buyers: Thank You Sherry at Bank of America.

This Lindenhurst NY home is a Colonial and a Legal 2 by CO. Meaning, the entire home does not have to be owner occupied. The Town of Babylon and Village of Lindenhurst NY do not give homes Legal 2 by CO anymore due to they do not want the town to become a rental haven.

So here we are, a happy seller who avoided foreclosure and happy buyers who bought themselves a great investment property. They already started doing work on their new home.

All I know is I will be getting a good nights sleep tonight knowing my seller is happy and can now move on with their life. Life is good!

Thank You Sherry at Bank of America - One Less Homeowner in Foreclosure

This is one Lindenhurst NY short sale I will never forget.

After eight months under contract the buyer was going to walk. Frustrated, I wrote a blog post venting at how the short sale process at Bank of America was taking way too long. it wasn't normal.

Two weeks later I received a call on a Friday night from Sherry at Bank of America. Sherry stated that she could try and help move the process along. Since it was too late to call her back, I called her the following Monday morning.

First thing that Monday, I called Sherry. She looked at the file and I explained to her what was going on and not going on. She was able to see what I was talking about. Without promises, she told me she would see what she could do. Of course I was apprehensive but still had faith since I never give up without a fight about everything. And besides, my goal was to make sure my seller didn't go into foreclosure. I worked too hard for that to happen. I couldn't let my seller down.

A few days later, I had a short sale approval letter from Bank of America! I still couldn't believe it.

Today is Monday, February 6th, 2012 and we closed successfully without any glitches, hitches and witches. Thank you Sherry for doing what you did. I will never forget this day. Because of my blog post, you reached out to me. Because of your help, I have one homeowner who will not have a foreclosure on their credit.

What Is Wrong With Some of You?

My office to home is literally a five minute drive. What could possibly happen during that time? You would think not much but I beg to differ......

• Lovely Lexus Lady blew a stop sign that was clear as day and missed hitting me by a few seconds.
• Mercedes Woman almost rammed me from behind.
• Mercury Man also almost rammed me from behind. Side Note: If you are going to be that close to me, put a ring on my finger.

What do you think these three lovelies have in common?.................

You guess it. They were driving while on their cell phones.

This is a problem. A BIG problem. I can imagine it being very difficult for the Suffolk County Police to catch more drivers on their cell phones unless they are behind them watching.

I don't get it. What part of NO DRIVING WHILE ON YOUR CELL PHONE do you not understand? 

Is it defiance? "No one tells me what to do". And that is why your kids are the same way towards you.

Just wait. This problem is only going to get worse before it gets better.

FYI: The fine is up to $150 and 3 penalty points on your driver's license. But then again. Why do you care? You know you won't get caught right?

You Agents Work Hard

As real estate agents, we know how hard we work. Our friends and family know how hard we work because they see us working hard. And at times, they do not see us because we work so hard.

But, when a stranger acknowledges how hard we work, for some reason, we feel validated and appreciated. This is how someone made me feel today and it made my day!

I have a short sale listing in Lindenhurst NY that is due to close this coming Friday. It's been a long road: 2 years with this listing. (Details coming forth with a blog post to end all blog posts). I knocked on a neighbor's door to tell him the good news. He invited me in and boy, was he happy to hear the home next door is going to close!

The neighbor does taxes for a lot of industries and also for a few real estate agents. He sees first hand from his clients how hard they work for the money they make. And we do. It shows when our phone is always ringing. The barrage of text messages and emails that fly in and out of our cell phones. As I'm sitting there with him, my phone is going off left and right. "See, that is what I'm talking about" he says.

I tell him that the reason why our phones are busy is because us real estate agents make the phone ring. Whether it's by door knocking, postcard mailings, blogging and websites, we make the phone ring. There is no such thing as a "slow time" unless we choose it to be.

But, no matter what business we are in, most people work hard for the money they make and it's nice when it's recognized!

Trust Is Everything

I've always been a trusting person. Unless my instincts kick in telling me not to trust someone, I trust until I'm given a reason not to. I also trust and listen to that inner voice that is there to protect me.

But, when someone betrays my trust, it will be a very long time for me to trust them again if ever.

When someone hires me to help them sell and/or buy a home, they obviously trust me. It's a blessing to be trusted by a stranger. I mean, I'm handling their largest assets and here I am, a stranger to them, and they trust me from the get-go 100%. How amazing is that?!?! My job is to take great care of my clients and customers and I would never break that trust we have between each other.

I trust every agent that is in my office. I have never been given a reason not to. Are there any agents outside my office that I do not trust? Yes and only one. That is pretty good considering there are a lot of agents in my area so not trusting one says a lot about the other agents that I do trust. The majority of agents are good, kind, caring, very hardworking and can be trusted.

Six years ago, a friend of mine was identity thieved by a long time mutual friend. $25,000 was stolen by credit cards my friend never opened. I had to help her file police reports on four cards and in about a year, it was all cleared up and off of her credit report with all three credit bureaus. Her and I were both devastated that this other friend could do this! This other "friend" denied, denied, denied. So heartbreaking to say the least. We both felt "cheated" on. Cried every day for months. Never getting an answer to "why" was frustrating. Needless to say, this friend is gone from both of our lives. Even if this person wasn't out of the picture, I could never trust them again. Not being able to trust someone and feeling on guard is not a good feeling at all.

At the end of the day, as long as I am trusted and I can trust back, it's all good.

This post is a submission to the ActiveRain / Adobe EchoSign Trust Contest. I could possibly win a prize. You can find out about the contest by clicking here

Elephants Are People Too - Lola The Baby Elephant

Lola the baby elephant helped me learn something: Elephants grieve just like we do.

Lola passed away from a blood clot embolism in her heart. She was supposed to have surgery but obviously didn't make it that far. Lola was three months old.

When you look at the photo to the right, you can see the grief in the elephants' eyes. The mood is one of somber and loss. Elephants normally look like they are happy but in this photo you know the sadness is there.

When us humans lose someone we love and care deeply about, it shows in our eyes and faces. Grieving is a long process and I wonder if it's the same with elephants? Lola's Mom is 22 years old. Will she feel the effects of losing her baby for as long as she lives like we would? I guess time will tell.

Thank you Lola for teaching me that elephants are people too! Rest In Peace little girl.

***Photo Courtesy of The Huffington Post***