The Short Report by Santos

Gang, speaking from the position of a still relatively new agent (into year 3 in a historically challenging time), I am here to say that RAINCAMP 2010 was worth it - and I came away feeling both intrigued and energized about the year ahead.  Yes, some of the information is repetitive, since we've...

Blogging from the Marriot in Midtown Manhattan today - the site of RAINCAMP 2010, featuring some of the best minds in the ACTIVERAIN community, coming together to take it to another level in 2010.  If you are a past attendee of RAINCAMP, let me know how you liked it - I will report back later!

We in the Southern Tier/Central New York area have been painfully aware lately of the increased activity and controversy surrounding the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas drilling.  In today's Ithaca Journal, a very stark picture unfolds, noting that in 2009, over 191 wells were drilled in PA, just sou...

The Federal Housing Tax Credit is going to be a driver in the spring market - no mistaking!  If you were out of the picture last time because either your income was too high or you didn't have the right house, or because you were ALREADY a home-owner, your luck has definitely improved!  You are e...

The hydro-fracking process is now being demystified by a Cornell graduate student, Matt Cortese, of Binghamton.  His power point presentation is available in PDF format, by linking to a featured article in the Ithaca Journal.  In his own words, "I wanted to make this the one-stop shop about this ...

Probably the hottest environmental topic in the Fingerlakes/Central New York region right now, is Hydro-Fracking, or the process of natural gas extraction through a high pressure, horizontal drilling method.  The outcomes remain hotly debated from both sides of the table, with energy giants one o...

  Dear Readers, Nobody appreciates a zing with their morning coffee more than I do - hope you'll enjoy the ones in THIS post by another Agent with too much time on his hands ;-) Happy Hunting!   Linda      With all the posts out there about how now is the best time in history to run out and buy a...

Okay, it's not your typical Real Estate topic, but it's REAL!  And it pertains to signs of our local market conditions - certain businesses are GROWING in spite of the national slump we keep reading about.  One of these, is the old Commonground, under new management (by Pam K), and re-emerging as...

Some positive news about the housing market is starting to trickle in lately:  Marketwatch reports that the rate of existing home sales is up 5.1% on the national level, boosted by price discounting.  As a true sign of the times, the article states that 45% of the transactions recorded in Februar...

Okay, time to unostrichize ourselves on the gas leasing that is rather quickly moving to the front burner with many landowners and activists in Central New York.  We've heard about it for a some time now, and some people have actually walked away with money in their pockets from leasing their lan...