MY BOOK, "HIDDEN HAMPTONS", IS ABOUT READY TO PUBLISH!I am so excited to let you know that my book about The Hamptons is finally being prepared for publication. It is in the category of fiction to avoid liability and to protect the local population: "HIDDEN HAMPTONS... a Novel" is the title and I plan to have it in bookstores and online as an e-book early spring-summer, 2020. It is a story of the local population of the East End of Long Island with romance and intrigue to keep the reader engaged.  The purpose of my writing is to dispel the fluff and outrageous stories concerning the population of the Hamptons who spend less than 3 months of the year here. I am speaking of the summer crowd and celebrities who come here only for June, July, and/or August.I wrote a post regarding this book... 01/10/2020

10 YEARS OF CHANGE...ON THE RIGHT TRACK??Jeff Dowler has challenged all of us to come up with 10 or more changes that we have experienced; life-altering in my case and to this day I am not complaining.The year was 2010: I began writing about my blogging; I was three years into blogging and I loved it!! That is when I took the long view that I was on my way to writing a book and I wrote "BLOGGING MY WAY TO A BOOK" in April of 2010. It has been my focus all along but I did get waylaid by the issues that I saw with the way real estate was so negatively affected by the internet tech companies that were rearing their ugly heads. At that time Facebook was a questionable character in my opinion and I have only grown in my concern about this social media platform. It was a very providential mov... 07/01/2019

 THE HAMPTONS...Secret LivesLife here in the Hamptons is not all glamour and easy-going lifestyle, as it appears to be in the media and from a celebrity point of view.As a work of fiction, I am hoping these short stories will open a new way to view this incredible place, without invalidating the resort qualities that are so important to the survival of the local population. I want the real story of the Hamptons to come alive on these pages.The fictitious narrator of the stories is Holly Heathway, a character loosely based on my own life. The story itself is fiction but is based upon real happenings to real people here in The Hamptons. All names have been changed to protect their privacy.Ironically, the very first chapter, "The Sled," comes into focus during the hardest winter in recent ... 07/01/2019

HOW IS YOUR LOCAL KNOWLEDGE?--ITS NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER!!William Merritt Chase lived here and ran the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art from 1891 to 1902. He taught his method known as "en plein air" or painting outdoors. Because he loved the light found here in the Hamptons, Chase taught his students American Impressionism right here in Shinnecock Hills, a hamlet just west of Southampton Village. His Art Studio still stands here on a piece of land that abuts the Art Village on the fringe of Shinnecock Hills and the Village of Southampton. The Art Village remains much as it did at the turn of the 19th century. If you have not been blogging about the marketplace where you reside and work, now is the time to start doing just that!No one can take your place when it comes to sharing... 04/20/2019

STOP COMPLAINING AND START EXPLAINING!!The past week or two have been the most confusing, challenging and frightening times that I can think of in real estate since I started in 1993.As things unfolded and I was seeing the reality of just what was happening here in the Hamptons and the City, I realized that most agents are not paying attention to the things around them having to do with technology, simply because they do not understand it. In this case, technology, in the name of Zillow, took us over and has shaken us to the core--Fear, real fear for our futures have settled in and it has begun a new way of working together--all brokerages are now on the same page!  We do our business day to day and think that our brokerages are taking care of us--that everything is going along as usual... 04/18/2019

ZILLOWS "HOSTILE TAKEOVER" OF HAMPTON AND MANHATTAN BROKERAGE--FAIT ACCOMPLI!For all of you out there who have read my MANY articles about the stated goal of Zillow when they opened their doors in 2006, you can say you knew what would happen---you can even say you were warned!The goal? To "put all brokerages out of business"! Now, their message is: "Pay up, or Go Out of business"In 2018, Zillow bought out Streeteasy in Manhattan and a local database here called HREO which included the Realnet database for our local internal real estate system.Very quietly the deal was struck and by the time we found out about the purchase, Zillow was in full control of all the information needed to run ALL real estate brokerage businesses here in the Hamptons and in Manhattan. Now, if you STILL think it... 04/06/2019

DIRECT HUMAN INTERACTION--PART II--CHECKMATE!...  Real estate today is an extremely complex profession! In today's marketing of real estate, there is a huge void in the interaction between the buyer/seller with the agent. The relationship between buyer/seller and their real estate agent was sacrosanct in the past decades. This most direct relationship between a client and their agent made a very complex transaction appear to be a seamless one!An intentional effort to cut the agent out of all institutional advertising and marketing (Unless they pay big-time!) has created a big question mark in the minds of those looking for a simple way to buy and sell their property. Both buyers and sellers are told that they can "Do It Yourself" by one “partner” and agents are convinced that they need ... 03/31/2019

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY BUSINESS IF I STOP PAYING FOR LEADS???This was actually said to me when I spoke to a fellow agent about her participation with the biggest lead generator out there.I had asked her if she felt bad about what was happening to our real estate business here in the Hamptons, especially since the big Z has bought out all of the local listing platforms, including our internal platform!  Her response was not surprising after I gave it some thought--She has been paying big numbers to this website for over 2 years! She told me that even though she gets virtually nothing from the leads, she is very concerned what will happen if she stops!BELOW, IS AN EXERPT FROM MADELINE BLASBERG'S ARTICLE OF 9/12/2018 "7 REASONS TO STOP PAYING FOR LEADS AS A SERVICE PROFESSSIONAL--"7 – This... 03/29/2019

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THE NICEST THING...It's Music To Our Ears!Rarely do we get to hear compliments in this profession--at least in my experience.A while ago however, I read a compliment that was written by our new Regional Vice President of The Hamptons, Carl Benincasa. It was an article that he wrote to introduce himself to the community and this is part of what he said:"My experience with Douglas Elliman has completely dispelled any negative perceptions that some may have of real estate agents. As a lawyer by trade, negative perceptions are something I can empathize with. Elliman’s agents are incredible, community conscious people. They’re a great group of professionals who are not only amazing at their jobs, but are also good people. It’s refreshing."That statement completely blew me a... 08/22/2018

From Localism Posts To A Book...Sound Like A Good Idea?I wrote a post in 2010 about my adventures in blogging here on ActiveRain. Most of my posts are about The Hamptons with local information and history being my focus....and I do review some of my posts from time to time. I thought it could be quite enlightening to read this one again since it had to do with my ultimate goal of writing a book. I just wanted to see what I was thinkng about back then.  To my total surprise and joy, I discovered that I was on my way, at that point,  to writing a book.I began my book last year and started with short stories that have evolved into something much deeper. It is fiction because I found there are so many stories that can include the really good things about The Hamptons if told in story form..... 07/30/2018

HOW DO YOU  MARKET  YOURSELF IN TODAY'S CHAOS??We are in a shifting real estate market in most parts of this country---Our customary ways of doing things may not even work anymore. We don't have the same ways of reaching the public as we once did...not so long ago!So  many changes in social media at the moment are making it almost impossible to get the word out to those who we used to be able to reach in a nano-second.  Facebook has lost its appeal to many who are fearful of abuse in the personal information arena. Twitter has a problem right now as well and although you may not use Twitter for advertising, it is symbolic of the disintegration of social media, right before our eyes!The public, it seems has become so wary of ALL social media that we are witnessing a ".com" moment accordi... 07/27/2018

Dehumanization of The Real Estate AgentIt has been too long now for most people to remember how real estate agents and their brokers functioned in the past.My last post, "'DIRECT HUMAN INTERACTION'...The Importance Of HUMAN Connection In Real Estate" was featured here on AR. This post covered the reasons that I believe to be behind the falling off of sales across the country and the malaise that we see within brokerages as they try to regain the place that belonged to them for so long. It points to the reaction/perception that has developed over the last 6-7 years, that it is Zillow and its counterparts who are running the show now in real estate. I wrote that post to counter the idea that we, as agents are less important than ever before--On the contrary, a disenfranchised public is LO... 07/21/2018

"DIRECT HUMAN INTERACTION"...The Importance of HUMAN Connection in real estate. Real estate today is a complex profession! In today's marketing of real estate there is a huge void in the actual connection between the buyer or seller with the agent. Names appear on ads, but not before the Companies Logo--And on the Internet it appears, usually after the sites name and then the Company Logo!!Could it be because of the persistence of the big websites to capitalize on an agent's need to get leads?Could it be because of greed and their craving for a piece of the perceived BIG BUCKS in the real estate pie? Could it be by choice on the part of a society gone mad with it's technology?I believe it is of ALL of the above!EVERYBODY WANTS A PIECE OF THE PIE! Because there are vast numbers of people... 07/17/2018

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION...Things I Have Needed To Say For SO Long!! No one has a corner on "Best Agent"--Therefore I can call myself the "Best, most infomed agent in the Hamptons"; I will also, however, make sure I do the best that I can and be better informed than the next guy/gal. (And I refuse to pay anyone to say I am a top agent!) All those agents who pay money just to get top billing on a national site are a bunch of cheaters--and they probably have ALWAYS been a cheat! They are all lying!! (Or rather Zillow is lying for them for big $$!) If you put the time in, you will get the money out--go to the office every day and spend at least an hour or more...Every Day!! Be nice to ALL clients and customers; even when it is a stressful time and one of them has called you names and demanded ... 07/15/2018

  DON'T EVER SAY I DIDN'T TELL YA!! DO WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN REAL ESTATE IN THE FUTURE??? I believe we do--on some level. If we open our minds and "free-associate" our thinking so that we narrow down the probabilities and possibilities we will very often find the seeds that bring the new reality into focus. That's what I find happens when I blog--The future will pop out of a post that I wrote years before and it makes me feel like a bit of a fortune teller!! Read on and see what I mean from this post written in May of 2013--I got over 17,500 hits since I wrote it: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A MAJOR MARKET SHIFT IS HAPPENING; LOOK AT THE POSSIBILITIES... I actually wrote this post in late March--Since then ... 06/12/2018

REALTOR.COM VS. ZILLOW.COM--AN EPIC BATTLE??I will make this post very brief--There is already too much talk and not enough action going on in our industry about the likes of Realtor.com and Zillow and how they are ravaging the brokerage community by demanding a huge investment on the part of brokers and agents alike just to do business!!  I don't want to give it much more energy, especially since I don't know who to trust anymore within the ranks of big real estate firms--Who do You Trust??? I read sometime ago that Rupert Murdock was taking his position as the new owner of Realtor.com very seriously. I read that he is taking on the Zillow group as they have never been taken on before--That was in 2015! Now in October of 2017 he made another statement about taking on Zillow: MURDOCK MO... 06/11/2018

THE CASE AGAINST ZESTIMATES--CASE CLOSED??I know this is an emotional issue, at least it is to me and everyone else out there who have been harmed by the Zestimates put out there as valid assessment of value on a piece of real estate. The public is up in arms--as much as they can be with so little knowledge about what Z has really done and is doing with information about their properties they are trying to sell! The article here, by Geekwire tells the whole story. If you want to be informed you MUST read this: JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST ZESTIMATE IN ILLINOIS The case was brought forward again, and again it was dismissed--Turns out Z has a huge lobby in Washington!Some of you may remember my posts early on as I went through my own struggle with these 2 websites.As a frame of reference ... 06/09/2018

HOW WOULD YOU INFORM A BUYER OF THIS?I think I have heard everything now--Buyers in The Hamptons are falling victim to more and more of this sort of disruption: BUYERS CLAIM THEY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT TRASHY TV SHOW FILMING NEXT DOORMore and more we are finding the bucolic environment of the Hamptons, the reason most people come here and even choose to live here for over 2 centuries, are being whittled away. Privacy rights do not exist here--you rely on your local politicians to see to it that you can enjoy a peaceful way of life when you buy a home in The Hamptons.Slowly but surely, those who find the need to advertise "Party Town" happenings here in The Hamptons, are gaining attention and those who are looking for a "Party Town" atmosphere come here in greater and greater numbers to Part... 06/07/2018

 A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME...I don't remember exactly when I heard that Fred had gone home from the hospital. They released him so that he could go home and recuperate there instead of the hospital. I heard rumors that he was surprisingly well.I had not seen him for some time, was actually thinking he was taking his time getting his health back, so as not to lose headway and get sick again."Yoo-hoo-!" I heard from the front yard as Fred came toward the garage. I was right there at the garage door, patting down the dry debris from my outdoor chair cushions and pushing them up against the garage wall, high up on a shelf."Here, let me help you!" and he reached right out to grab the cushions before they came tumbling down. "Oh, hello there!" I said with complete surprise. He was looking so good... 05/29/2018

 A PURPOSEFUL LIFE— I find the word, "purposeful" so new sounding yet so profound in its meaning. I love to use it, but find it is one of the more difficult words to just plop into a sentence. It rarely fits! But somehow it comes to mind more readily, now that Fred has found his purpose and as he shares it with me.I discovered the word and its usefulness through Fred and his way of life—a gentleman farmer with pure grit and a penchant for helping others, simply because it felt good to do so. He never asked for help himself. He never seemed to need help; and yet there came a time when his needs were too much for him to handle on his own. That time would be in the distant future and for me it would be the most heart-rending of times—but that is a long way off.  Right now, I was still in t... 05/17/2018