What do you mean you can't recommend a good plumber? - 10/24/08 05:00 PM
I am confronted with this question once in a while. My clients are curious why I won't recommend any contractors to them. I understand some inspectors here on Long Island regularly hand out business cards for their friends in the various trades. More than one agent on one more than one occasion has told me for some inspectors, this is business as usual.
I cannot recommend contractors because if the job doesn't go well, it is a reflection upon my business. I will not put my reputation on the line. In this business, reputation is everything. It is more than everything.
… (4 comments)

Prepare your buyers before the home inspection. - 10/14/08 06:23 AM
Long Island has too many homes for sale. So does everyplace else. I find that the less experienced agents will only tell the buyer the positive aspects of a house. I find that first time buyers can get scared when the negatives are brought up. If they are never informed of the limits of old houses, such as inadequate electrical service, this can throw a monkey wrench into the works.
I do not attempt to tell agents how to do their business, but I have found that, sometimes, the buyers will become suspicious of an agent when I find problems with … (8 comments)

Don't tell me I cannot make a living! - 10/13/08 08:44 AM
When I was struggling to get business in the early days, I went to many, many real estate offices to attempt to get business. This was more of a task than I had imagined. So much established competition out there. And these competitors have goodies to hand out. Pens, memo pads, mouse pads, coffee mugs, etc. I had no clue I needed to be a superior salesman. I grew up to hate salesmen.
As it turns out, I have refined my approach with the real estate world and I get a lot of business, and now with banner ads on the premier Long Island website … (10 comments)

Cancellations at the last minute are a real pain in the _ _ s! - 10/04/08 09:58 PM
This happens once in a while, but I tend to get riled up when I drive 50 minutes to get there, and I get a call when I am 5 minutes away saying they buyer can't make it. How inconsiderate. The price of gas has greatly affected my business, and I am astonished that people can be so insensitive.
I charge a $50 no-show fee, and the price goes up if it is more than 20 miles away. I have not collected in some instances, but have in other instances. I am sure we have all had this happen before. But it … (4 comments)

Basement apartments that are illegal apartments. - 10/03/08 08:10 AM
Many people are interested in renting the apartment in the basement of the house they want to purchase. Some people will not purchase a house without a rentable space. I understand the need for this on Long Island, where we get slammed with some of the highest taxes in the world. And we have our supposedly wonderful school districts with heavily overpaid administrators to thank for the ridiculously high taxes, as well as overpaid police who sit in their patrol cars chit chatting, and don't forget the crooked politicians that receive money under the table all the time. The greed, laziness, … (11 comments)

Cops catch a copper theif! Yeah- we got one! - 10/02/08 05:40 PM
I went to perform an inspection yesterday at a house that was empty for a few months. When I got inside with the agent, we heard a noise in the basement, like someone dropping a piece of pipe. Sure enough we walked in on a copper thief!
He had just removed a bunch of piping from the boiler and baseboards in the basement, and had a nice stack of it when we walked in. He escaped through a broken basement window. I called the cops as I saw this idiot run into a golf course behind the house.
When I finished the … (13 comments)

Why do people buy such cheap windows? - 10/01/08 09:30 PM
Many homes with old windows do not have the thermal efficiency that they should have, considering the price of heating the home these days. Many nice homes get the cheap windows installed by the owner, but the cheap window usually doesn't last, and this doesn't add value.
The bargain basement windows, even though dual paned for thermal efficiency, are not long lasting windows for many reasons. First, the seal between the panes of glass is easily lost. This is why you see those windows with cloudiness, or water droplets within the two panes. Once air gets between the two panes of … (5 comments)

 

Find NY real estate agents and Bohemia real estate on ActiveRain.