buyers: Buying A Home On Long Island - Let's Make It Easier - 11/13/13 04:01 AM
In this era of transparency, there is no need to physically visit 100 houses in order to find the one that fits your needs.  By the time buyers contact me, they've done their initial "looking" on the Internet and ruled out many Long Island homes for one reason or the other.  Even the potential buyers who start their journey to homeownership with unrealistic expectations, soon get enough information to know just what their money can buy them.
I'm always amazed, when walking through properties, when buyers say things like "I hate the color of those walls," or I'll have to paint … (7 comments)

buyers: All Things Good And A Promise For The Future - 12/27/11 03:42 PM
This 27th day of December brought with it a number of promising surprises.  Three separate buyers chose today to inquire about a number of homes in the area.  I can't help but wonder whether it's a portent of things to come.  Certainly promising at the very least. 
This has been an extraordinary holiday for me on so many levels.  It gave me a chance to spend time with my three favorite fellas in the world.  My predilection for younger men was amply assuaged when I got to spend an afternoon with two gorgeous guys who, miraculously, only had eyes for me.  What a gift!  … (7 comments)

buyers: Do You Give Or Just Take? - 09/04/10 05:09 PM
Dirk Zeller wrote an interesting article in Realty Times, "The Law of Difficulty."  Not a new concept, the premise is, the more difficult something is to do, the fewer people willing to do it.  Absolutely true, but it got me thinking.  Often in our business, much as in life, people will only expend enough energy to do the absolute minimum, just to get by.  If there's a shortcut, take it.  If it requires too much time or thought, forego it.  The problem is, they not only shortchange the people they work for, they ultimately shortchange themselves.  They'll never have the thrill of figuring out … (12 comments)

buyers: How Attached Do You Get To Your Sellers? - 09/09/09 11:52 AM
I find myself sitting here, feeling profoundly saddened by the move of one of my homeowners.  She called me just a short while ago to say the moving truck had loaded up her belongings, her lifetime of memories and was headed out of state to deposit her stuff in the her new house.  Though her foot is set on a path that will take her away from her long time and much loved home on Long Island, and closer to her daughter, I feel as if I'm losing a friend. 
This is an intimate business we're in.  Though purveyors of the proverbial happy … (40 comments)

buyers: Primer On Getting Your Long Island Home Sold - Part 5 - We've Got An Offer - 08/24/09 12:20 PM
Please remember, when placing your Long Island home on the market, the ultimate goal it to get it sold.
We've been doing everything right.  We've attracted the buyers through our marketing and you've kept the property in pristine condition and ready for showing at short notice.  In a declining or buyers' market, often months go by before we finally can say, "we've got an offer."  There are a few things to keep in mind when hearing those words spoken by your Realtor®.  Your representative is merely the messenger, and you've no doubt heard the expression, "don't shoot the messenger."  I mention … (0 comments)

buyers: The many gifts of Christmas - 12/17/06 04:26 AM
It's been awhile since I've had the luxury of visiting AR.  That might have been upsetting if it were not for the fact that I've had an incredibly busy November/December.  Always a good way to approach the new year. 
Aside from a new listing that requires no staging at all (she does interior design)/ my focus has been largely the recent home that I had staged.  The holiday season is notoriously a time of few showings and little activity of any sort.  Not only did we have six offers on this house, the ultimate accepted offer was one I brought to … (4 comments)

buyers: Are There Buyers Out There -- If You Ask Me, Yes! - 11/30/06 03:12 PM
Wherever I go, I hear the same dismal stories about "the market," "the buyers" or lack thereof, the crazy homeowners and their unrealistic expectations.  I'm beginning to feel as if I live in an alternate universe just beyond theirs, thankfully a much brighter, more upbeat place. In my world, buyers are coming out of hiding and making known their intention to get into the real estate fray.  I love them.  They're real, they're savvy and they're jumping in with two feet.
Just the other day, right after the Thanksgiving holiday I came into the office to get a few things done.  As happens so often, I … (5 comments)

buyers: Changing With The Times -- At Last - 11/21/06 01:13 PM
Just read a post by Deb Salkeld (VA) and I was about to comment but thought it would be too long.  Her post asked about preferred method of communicating.  I remember when I got my first computer, after years of prodding by my son who implored me to "stop buying televisions and get yourself a computer."  My answer to him was that I'd lived my whole life without it and couldn't fathom a reason to change now.  It wasn't till he assured me I'd hear from him more often that I considered buying one.  Our first visit to the electronics store had him discussing  … (9 comments)

buyers: Business As Usual -- Or Not? - 11/18/06 01:30 PM
With all the talk about discount brokers and glutted markets, a recent conversation with a seller made me think about it on a much more personal level.  This seller, having worked for several real estate companies over the years decided to use a flat fee broker to put her house on the MLS.  Her reasoning was she knew enough about the business to handle the calls, ads, appointments, and open houses.  All she was missing was the ability to get exposure on multiple listing.
Remember we, like so many other areas of the country, are in a dismal market with many great … (12 comments)

buyers: I'm Getting Calls -- Lots Of Them - 11/08/06 01:01 PM
I've spent the past several weeks working with a buyer.  They are a tech savvy couple in search of their first home (unless you count a condo they bought several years ago and are keeping as an investment).  They've done their homework and found a number of places they wanted to see.  The first time out I recognized their ability to absorb a great deal of information and see an unusual number of properties without getting cross eyed. 
It took just two excursions to figure out what turned them on in a home.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the same thing for each.  As … (34 comments)

buyers: Oh Here We Go Again - 10/05/06 12:03 PM
The sky is falling, or so the pundits are predicting yet again as they come out with their latest statistics.  I had the tv on earlier in the day as background to the many little things I was trying to get done.  On the news they had a tease before heading to commercial.  It said simply, "real estate in two counties in New York will suffer the steepest downturn in prices."  As I waited to hear more, they added finally after the break, "Nassau & Suffolk counties will experience the steepest declines," and suggested the bloodletting would not end before January 2008.
This is my … (8 comments)

buyers: What Were They Thinking? - 10/05/06 05:52 AM
Under the category "what were they thinking?" is a site I happened on today by accident.  HomeThinking is the name and I'll be damned if I can figure out what their game is.  They ask, beg really for comments from principals to a real estate contract to comment on their experience with their agent, the suggestion being they'll make it easier for future consumers to find a great broker.  The problem as I see it is most of the productive professionals in my area aren't even on their radar screen, a gift perhaps, since their rating system seemed flawed.
Delving further into the system takes … (4 comments)

buyers: Well Today Was Fun - 08/24/06 01:43 PM
Understandably many real estate professionals who function in areas of the country not bound by attorney contracts and the lengthy and convoluted process that takes us from accepted offer to closing, think we're nuts in downstate New York.  Which brings me to today.  I had a "final walk-through" at 9:00 a.m., admittedly not my shining hour.  They normally run fifteen to twenty minutes, during which the buyers check basic functions and give the house a final once over.  Not today and I should have known.  This buyer is anal and every time he's been to the house it's been a minimum of one … (3 comments)

buyers: After The Inspection. - 08/18/06 01:44 PM
This may be area specific, but it's been years since we've had to deal with buyers trying (often successfully) to renegotiate after the home inspection has been done.  Had one today.  Buyer wants the house.  It's in a great area, an older home in need of much updating.  We expected much of what the inspection revealed, but there were additional items requiring attention in short order and the buyer is considering offering a lower price to reflect the issues found.  I had to tell him that once he changes the offer, he no longer has a first accepted and would be subject … (5 comments)

buyers: Sometimes You Just Can't Do It Right - 08/18/06 04:19 AM
Not sure if you remember my recent blog about my listing that sold for more money to a buyer brought by another agent.  I was so happy that my seller got more money than my buyer offered.  She's been under a lot of stress and was anxious to move closer to family since her husband died rather suddenly several months ago.
What a difference a day makes.  Since the offer was accepted, another agent who had brought a preliminary offer about two months ago (that went nowhere) has suggested her recent offer with the same people was never presented and insisted on … (2 comments)

buyers: Doing The Right Thing Feels So Good! - 08/12/06 02:52 PM
I've never been so happy to lose money.  One of my homeowners has been trying desperately to sell her home.  We put it on the market in the fall only to have her husband pull the listing as soon as a buyer came too close to making an offer.  He really didn't want to move and finally told his wife he was not selling.  "They'll carry me out of here in a box," he told her just before calling me to remove the sign.  Not wanting to fight with him, she acquiesced, although in her heart she yearned to move closer to family.
This … (8 comments)

buyers: And What's This About! - 08/11/06 02:50 AM
New Yorkers are fast.  They often talk fast, walk fast, rush from one task to another to get through another day.  We're quick in everything but real estate.  Selling a home here is an odyssey.  The average time span from accepted offer to closing is 90 days.  So, when I was negotiating an offer on an in house listing recently I was more than surprised when the other agent told me the sellers wanted to close September 1st.  There was no way in hell it could happen.  Attorneys here usually give 45-50 days to get a mortgage commitment. 
My buyers wanted the … (10 comments)

buyers: Whose World Is It Anyway -- Yours or Mine? - 07/30/06 03:39 PM
I had an epiphany many years ago as I sat in traffic on a familiar Nassau County street.  In that moment I knew the world I had always taken for granted was not an absolute.  It was a function of everything in my life up to that moment in time that "created" the world as I saw it.  If that was true, then I had to admit other people's perceptions led them to see a totally different universe. 
Perceptions so affect our lives every day and real estate is far from exempt.  In part of my market there is a school district perceived to … (1 comments)

buyers: Showing Homes - New York Style - 07/29/06 01:51 PM
As I read blog posts here I am reminded once again that real estate is indeed area specific.  In many other parts of the country sellers are told to leave the house whenever it is being shown.  We've never done this in downstate New York.  If the seller happens not to be home, great.  However, more often than not, they are.  The only thing I ask my homeowners is to relax somewhere and not to offer information unless specifically asked.  It is very disconcerting when sellers feel the need to tell prospective buyers about every little change they've made to the … (3 comments)

buyers: Shifting Focus - 07/20/06 02:47 AM
It occurs to me, from time to time, that I used to get many more local referrals than I do today.  When I first thought about it several years ago I realized it was because my focus had shifted from selling real estate to listing.  My sphere was moving away.  It happens to many of us over time.  I used to tell newbies, when they were lamenting the lack of business, over time they would build a significant sphere of influence.  They had but to go about the business of listing and selling and over time, if they'd done their job right, … (2 comments)