When my husband and I first got married he had already owned his own Clearview Co-op.  It was a great apartment.  We were on the lower level and we renovated it to the hilt.  When we had our first son, it was so easy to maintain.  I cleaned my house 1,2,3.  At that time I was a full time stay at home mom.  When my second child made an appearance into our lives - all h*ll broke lose.  This one more person made our great little apartment feel like the walls closed in on us.  I would cry at the disorder of my house.  I had not one more place to put a thing.  It was so cramped in our little apartment that it was not uncommon for me to make it regular practice to  take those famous "mommy showers" - With the door open, because without fail as soon as I got into the shower the tribal Indians ... 01/29/2007

On my other blog, I talked about the landlords and tenants.  A prospective tenant posed a question to me which I think I will answer here (Thankfully, I had nothing else to write about tonight, Sellsius threw me off by their post  - trust me, it was heading down hill for me tonight).  Question:  Why does the tenant and not the landlord pay the real estate fee with apartment rentals?  To be honest with you, I know that in many States the landlord pays.  But, we are not in many States, we are in the State of NY.  So the best reason as to why the tenant pays the fee is because the rental market is tough, it is fast paced (as in -  what is here today WILL BE gone tomorrow) (literally) and it is competitive.  With this combination Real Estate offices that excel in doing rentals have the "goo... 01/29/2007

This week's #26 CoRE was held at Minneapolis Real Estate - He said that he read over 22 entrys and noted that some of the entrys were not with working URLs.  **WINNER ** Kris Berg's post : "The Plastic Pig (and How to Pick Your Agent)."  Bad Credit Advisor's : "The housing bubble - why I think the real estate bubble is here and going to get uglier" .Keeping Local Real Estate, Well... Local posted at Real Estate Tomato by Teresa Boardman.Toby Boyce: Dear Ms. Seller: Why Would You Sign a Six-Month Contract? Michael Price : Mike's Corner Web 2.0 For Real Estate Pros: How Podcasting Impacts Local Search Relevancy. Sagar Satapathy: No Easy Answers To Florida's Pains.Athol Kay: We Can Always Reduce the Price Later.Erik Hersman: Online Video in the Real Estate Industry.Drew Meyers: "How Much D... 01/22/2007

"I called my customers, but they are not calling me back."THEY said that they would call"."I showed them what they wanted and they did not buy".Ok, I am SURE that if you have not said these yourself, you have heard OTHER agents saying all these at one time or another.  But here is the thing, some agents think that they drive buyers around, show them a house and *POOF* - they have a pay check.  Riiiigghhht.. Its THAT easy..Here is something to *think* about:Do you talk to your customers about housing possibilities and their priorities?  Sometimes their possibilities are less or more than they think.  Maybe their priorities are not what YOU think they should be.  Clarify first.  Have you helped your customers think about trade offs?  Maybe there are things that they have not thought about... 01/17/2007

Please note: within my area - NY is a seller representation state.  I do not nor have I ever worked as a buyer agent.   As a buyer, have you ever went to view a property and thought that your real estate agent was working for you?  As a buyer, have you ever bought a house and thought that the agent whom you were working with was for you? Have you ever signed an agreement with an agent when buying a property?  If you answered yes to the top two questions, then you were grossly misinformed.  If you answered no to the last question - then the fact of the matter is - the agent was NOT working for you, they were working for the seller all the time, you just were not aware of it and that is wrong.  Buyer brokerages in NYC are almost null in void.  I do not know of any TRUE buyer broker firms.... 01/16/2007

When I was moving from my apartment into my house alot of my furniture and knick knacks were never going to "fit in" to my new decor.  So I decide that instead of my just tossing my good "junk", I would sell it.   In my history, I never held a garage sale and at this point in my life, I never even went to a garage sale, so I was in for a rude awakening, little did I know how my feelings would get stomped on.  Did I know that holding a garage sale, I would have to be thick skinned?  The weeks prior to my big garage sale debut, as I was packing boxes that would me making the move and I was simultaneously packing boxes that would never make it to my new abode.  I sorted threw my stuff for weeks on end, until I was at a point that my walls were bare, my drawers were empty and my closets wer... 01/15/2007

"Social networking is lifting real estate and in the next 12 months it's going to overwhelm real estate. It's been happening since Craig's List started but it's only now coming to a head." Brad InmanThis morning my feedreader has just been spewing out all the goods.  I want to highlight an article from CNN.Money entitled "Tech Trends Rock the Real Estate World" The article talks about  blogging and how social networking does not mean online chatting but more like online sharing of information.  You and I share our information and that value is transported to the consumer.    I mean I think most of us here agree that the social networking is lifting Real Estate and is taking the information to higher standards.    Inman says that real estate professionals have two choices when it comes t... 01/15/2007

I am writting this letter to you in confirmation that Christmas will still be held on the 25th of this month.  I was wondering if you could lend me a hand?  There are so many things that still need to be done and I fear that my time is running short.  I have a few offers that need to be ironed out and get executed contracts before Christmas week.  I need to check my list and double check my list and see if the actual potential buyers do in fact qualify for the loans that they are requesting.  There are open houses that still need to be scheduled and hosted, because we all know that all the real buyers are out now and the ones who do attend the open houses in this busy time, will most likely buy a home - now. I have some sellers that are in critical state: meaning they are so far behind... 12/12/2006

Last night I got a phone call from an anxious seller and they wanted to know if it would be smart if they postponed the selling of their home until after the holidays.  My reply would be a definite NO!  I explained to them that the holiday season is one of the best times to sell.  Wait - wait, calm down - I have some very valid reasons. 1. I myself, do drive by site seeing in the car with my kids from now until after Christmas.  This is a tradition.  My husband and I get our cups of Joe and we saddle up the kids and we drive past all the homes that are decorated.  (I don't like being cold, so this is when I am thankful for my seat warmers).  I see alot of people doing the same thing as we do, so having a 'For Sale' sign out is a great thing to have if you are selling.  Last year while w... 11/25/2006

Has anyone ever handled or have done a lease with an option to own?   I would like to find out more information about this, I do feel that this will become more and more popular.  In Queens NY, I see properties getting listed every day and the inventory growing so quickly these days and it will take many months to sell off  what is  existing right now.  Many sellers are still holding onto the thought of higher prices and not adjusting as needed, quickly enough.  So there are alot of homes that have been sitting on the market for more than 90 days, and with reports of the market declining by 15 - 20% each month there is little hope for the investors who  bought with the intention to flip and sell.  So what do you do if you bought a property with thoughts of flipping and got caught holdin... 11/15/2006

Less than 50 days left in 2006.  To me I find that both scary and exciting!  I find that the New Year is bitter sweet.  I have lost some loved ones, I have had new loved ones enter my life and I have gained deeper knowledge.  I am not a deep person, but I have compassion.  I am not a book smart person, but I am pretty damn smart.  I am not the best person - but I am a good person.  I entered into Active Rain as well as my own blog early this year.  I did not know what I was doing, where I was going or why I was blogging.  But, I knew it was something that I liked the first time I blogged.  I knew that even when I had "writers block" (can I call it that?) that I still had something to say.  I think what I have learned the most through this year and maybe more so from Active Rain is that ... 11/12/2006

Dealing with sellers and working for the sellers, sometimes the buyers wants and needs get over looked.  Its either a question of do you want the house or not, if so make your BEST offer.  But seeing as the market has taken a turn and the buyers are far and few in between, I think agents should start thinking and focusing to the buyers.  What do they want?  What do they need?At my last open house, I asked buyers that were in attendance, what are the MAIN things that attract them to a house or steers them away - fast.Steer aways: (Things that will make you run faster than Forest Gump)1. The PRICE - was far above any other factor.  There was no hesitation in anyone's reply.  When I searched a bit deeper I came to realize that although people want to buy a reasonable priced home, they als... 11/10/2006