Clients are asking, "How green is my Realtor." More buyers are looking for ways to save energy and agents are looking to attract buyers and sellers.  Want to try a new way to market your services as a Realtor?  In today's downward spiraling real estate market thinking of new ways to promote yourself might  not be so difficult.  So, her comes the mother of invention, real estate agents are trying to attract buyers and sellers by making them aware of  "green," environmentally friendly homes.  The agents market these energy saving homes on their Web site.  And go as far as to take course to gain knowledge about geo-thermal heat pumps.  They also endeavor to help their sellers qualify for grants and tax credits for these improvements that save energy.  But is all the knowledge gleaned in abbreviated courses enough to answer as an expert?  That is questionable.  Read, "How Green Is My Realtor."

 

 

     The baby boomers had an additional pension for their retirement, it was their home.  They paid their mortgage, as they paid the bank their equity increased. It was as if they had an additional stock market account.  The piece of the American Dream increased as the housing boom took hold.  The stockmarket has cycles and now comes the housing downturn so, the value of their homes is diminishing too.  There are definite differences between the value of your stock market account and your home.  First, the market fluctuates daily whiles homes are affected by the same economic conditions, values do not change drastically overnight.  And, you can sell a stock over the Internet in a matter of minutes you can't do that with your home today.  The premise of the article in today's Wall Street Journal defines the differences for us read, Why Your Nest Is Not Your Next Egg. 

 

 

      Walking down the aisles of Trader Joe's chocked full of goodies.  The shelves are stocked with the basics but the store has a wide variety of organic produce, imported cheese any many other goodies.  I love it  because they pride themselves in selling the unusual, e.g. frozen chicken-lemon grass springs rolls to wild blueberry juice at great prices.  Now we have the news that Trader Joe's will remove some Chinese-grown foods from it's stores primarily because of customers expressing worries over the safety of products made in China.  Trader Joe's is responding to the worries that China's food will go the way of their toy industry, pet food.  For me, you will find me strolling down the aisles in their Westchester County, Hartsdale store, looking for interesting new and exotic foods of the world.     Article about Trader Joe's barring some imports.........

 

 

 

     The month of February brings a new year and reason to celebrate.  It is  Chinese New Year, the Year Of The Rat.  Celebrated all over the world by people of Chinese decent.  The Lunar New Year is steeped in tradition, although the legend of Nian is the most colorful explanation.  Nian was a fierce monster, who came to torment humans every year.  Powerless to stop his yearly attacks until a wise old man came to help by tricking Nian into eating other beasts instead of humans.  Red was the color of decorations used on windows and doors because Nian was afraid of the color red.  Today, red decorations adorn Chinese New Year parties.  The Year of The Earth Rat, is an earth sign of calm, it is always in motion.  There are twelve animal sign that stand for each month of the calendar.  The year of your birth does not just stand for your age.  Under Chinese Astrology system the year of your birth stands a phase of a sixty year cycle of life.  Hopefully, a lucky one.  The Chinese New Year was celebrated in Westchester County read about The year of the rat, A Lunar Year Celebrated In Hartsdale

Many homes in Westchester Countyare weekender's. Worrying about freezing pipes, or flooding from hot-water heaters that have burst is not much fun. Piece of mind comes from today's watchdog a remote access system . A little insurance for making sure your home away from home is safe and all systems are go. The systems works from a central control box that connects directly to the Internet. The box then connects directly with sensors from a wireless signal. There are all kinds of neat stuff you acess remotely. You can even purchase some of these products directly from www.icontrol.com. Even homewowners going on vacation may be another use for a homeowner to install one of these remote systems. Read all about, "The Brain In A Box," in The New York Times....Keeping Track From Afar

 

 

     Yesterday, I met a commercial client, Mike, his landlord and the landlord's broker at my client's restaurant.  Mike called me to set-up a meeting so that he could lease the additonal  contiguous space for his restaurant.  The landlord was quibbling about my client opening up a wall and placing a metal beam in the ceiling.  That should have been the landlord's responsibility, he then looked directly at his broker and myself and said to Mike, "You pay the commission too."  Maybe I have been lucky but that never happened to me.  Yet, the landlord went on to tell me about the other commercial spaces he has with the hope of me bringing other clients. 

 

    Picture this you are showing a new client a home.  You point out all the features as you walk through, no this is a living room stuff, you open a closet and what a surprise you get!  So, as you open the closet in the master bedroom there is a dead body hanging in the closet.  Can't  really make this stuff up.  The agent and clients in tow lock the door and call for help.  Read       Fox News airs A Realtors Surprise

 

 

    I have been a real estate broker for a long time and have observed many different real estate markets  It is obvious to me that pricing your home is so important in today's weak real estate market.  Prices are down and homes are staying on the market longer.  I believe that if you price your home correctly it will be on the market a shorter period of time.  Homes that are overprice stay on the market longer. Usually they sell for less than they should have in the first place because they become stale.  Here are Eight Tips For Selling Your Home In A Buyer's Market

 

 

     I had a great lunch today, at Bedford Post, Richard Gere's new restaurant.  The decor is rustic, the food was great. And if you judge a place by it's coffee you will not be disappointed.  It is Westchester County's  new place to celebrity watch and be seen.  Check out the article, titled, "The Chef At Richard Gere's Bedford Post Inn, from the Journal New.

 

 

     The downturn in the real estate market not only affects us simple folk but celebrities too.  The month of December saw 4,430 homes sold, which was a decrease of 48% in units.  The starter home in LA will cost you $1,400 ,000.  The range covering homes from $3,000,000. - $6,000,000., are having trouble selling.  The writer's strike didn't help homeowners as they were buying up and caught in a bad market.  Don't you feel sorry for Avril Lavigne, the rocker, who had to reduced the price of her Beverly Hills home from $6,900,000 to $5,800,000.  Guns N' Roses guitarist, Slash claims he overpaid for the Hollywood Hills home, that he purchased in January, 2006, for $6,200,000., and sold it in December, for $5,700,000.  He is now suing his real estate agent.  That's enough for me never to want a celebrity for client because I don't want to be a real estate agent  who is the greatest loser.

     Forbes Magazine article, Celebrity Real Estate Loser