Quick preface: In 1997, the brokerage flavor of the month was pre-recorded property hotlines with voice mail. Instead of dealing with a salesperson to get information on a property, consumers could call a recorded hotline and get the details on the listing pressure-free. They had the choice of
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11/20/2011
There is nothing we like more than an enthusiastic, gung -ho buyer in this market. There is nothing we like less than a stressed out buyer who makes life hell for all involved. So, when that gung-ho buyer locks their rate in for 30 days and we haven't even signed contracts yet, it doesn't take
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11/19/2011
Any REALTOR association will have the inevitable news on our web page on the passing of a current or former member with some frequency. It is never a happy thing to read, and today's announcement was particularly significant for me- not because we were very close (we weren't), but because I knew
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11/17/2011
Like anyone else, I love it when I get a cash offer on one of my listings. That is rare, but it is also nice when we get an offer that has terms including a healthy 20-30% or larger down payment. That doesn't happen all the time either. What is keeping the lights on in Westchester real estate is
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11/16/2011
If one were to do a heat map of population density for Westchester, Putnam and the Hudson Valley, they would discover an amazing fact about Philipstown- of all the river communities from Westchester to Poughkeepsie, Philipstown -including Cold Spring and Garrison- is the least populated and perha
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11/15/2011
The October real estate closing statistics in the Ossining School district indicate a drop from October of the prior year. In October 2011, 7 single family homes sold at a median sale price of $410,000. In the same period last year, 11 single family homes sold at a median sale price of $535,000
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11/13/2011
In the current economic climate where deals die so often that we sometimes have to "sell" a listing twice or three times just to get to the closing table, more due diligence and evaluation of buyer qualifications is a serious mandate. Twice in the past month I have seen instances where a pre appr
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11/09/2011
Late last week, a short obituary ran for Joan McGovern. She was 86 years old and a 50-year resident of White Plains. The Westchester-Putnam Association of Realtors also also ran a short tribute to her, as she was a former licensee with Century 21 Wolff in White Plains. A mother to 13 children, t
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11/07/2011
In Westchester and the surrounding counties of New York, quite a bit can happen between the acceptance of an offer and contracts being signed. Once an offer is accepted, the buyers still have to do their home inspection and settle those matters before memos go out and contracts are drawn. Even th
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11/06/2011
Last month I posted on the shrinking disparity in transaction totals in Westchester County comparing 2010 to 2011. This year has been playing "catch up" with last year's totals, and each month 2011 has been closing the gap. It was my theory that 2010 started out hot due to the stimulus but that 2
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11/05/2011