A Good Day At The Office, Is Just Like A Good Day Of Fishing!Anyone that knows me well, knows I love my job just as much as I love fishing. My job doesn't feel like a job. It's different every day. You never know what is going to happen until it does. The poop can hit the fan but you take care of it and everyone is happy in the end.The beginning of the week I worked from home. I started Spring cleaning. Yep, I said that! I figured it's going to get even busier as Spring nears. I neglected my home. I would be embarrassed if anyone walked into my home. I was a real estate agent's worst nightmare and a Home Stager's dream rolled up into one, lol.The rest of this week including today has been very busy for me. I've had 4 buyer appointments this week and another one tomorrow. I'm finding buy... 01/08/2011

All It Takes Is 1 Person To Change A Life That's right. I'm talking about Ted Williams. He's been all over the news the last few days. One person took the time to stop and speak with him. Ted Williams has been very forthcoming about his alcohol and drug problem and stating he has been clean for 2 years. Ted changed himself first. Then 1 person created a video and put it up on YouTube. The rest is history. I find this story to be very moving. It shows people can change if they want to. 01/06/2011

Lindenhurst NY Home Buying: What You Say, Will Go Against You! Buying a home is exciting and can be stressful. Hiring a real estate agent can help relieve some of that stress.Having representation is beneficial. Your agent can and will search for homes that meet your criteria, preview homes first to make sure that home meets your needs, and negotiate for you and to make sure you are not overpaying for a home.You can also go to Open Houses and For Sale By Owner and give the listing agent and homeowner your agent's business card. The listing agent works for the seller's best interests. The FSBO is working for their own best interests. What you say in front of the listing agent and FSBO will go against you during negotiations. Here is what not to do when you are unescorted at an Open Hous... 01/06/2011

Lindenhurst NY Short Sale Real Estate Market Trends For 2010Currently, there are 62 homes on the market in Lindenhurst NY that are short sales. There are 159 regular resale homes on the market as well.There are 11 short sale homes in Lindenhurst NY that are under contract. The average days on the market for these homes is 182. Some buyers shy away from short sales but they do close. The Buyer's Agent needs to know the proper questions to ask the Listing Agent in order to know if their buyer should proceed with buying a short sale home. And, not all short sale homes are in bad condition. In fact, most are in great condition!The chart below represents the trends of the Lindenhurst NY short sale real estate market: As you can see, more short sales came onto the market since 2008. A little ... 01/05/2011

Reasons Why I Love My Career As A Real Estate Agent! No matter what you do for a living, do you love your career/job? A career is usually something you love doing for a living and get paid for it. A job is a job and you get paid for doing it. Not everyone loves their job. Here are my top reasons why I love my career as a real estate agent: The relationships that are formed when dealing with homeowners and buyers - Helping them achieve their goals and dreams is very personally rewarding. The flexible schedule - When I'm busy, it's not that flexible but that is ok! The busier, the better. It also affords me to spend more time with my family. I used to work 12 to 14 hour days when working for someone else. That was hard since I wasn't able to spend time with my family and friends as much ... 01/05/2011

If You Dislike Me Because I Blog, That Is Your Problem!I received a blocked call late last night. The person left this message: "how can you service your clients if you blog all the time?" Then they slammed the phone down. They obviously called from a land line.I have a feeling I know who it's from and obviously I ruffled feathers but......that is not my problem. Jealousy gets you nowhere.Blogging is part of my prospecting. I am up as early as 4 a.m. and go to sleep late. In between, I'm dealing with my clients, offers, showings, listing presentations and buyer presentations. Prospecting expireds and FSBO's. After my work day is done, I'm with my family. After hubby goes to sleep, I'm back at it planning the next day and week because every day is different. I'm very good with time mana... 01/04/2011

Lindenhurst NY Home Selling - Are Homes Selling In The $400K Price Range? Why yes. Yes they are. But, not without a hitch.In the chart below, there are homes highlighted in red. Those are waterfront homes. Most are on canals and a few are bay front. The homes not highlighted are not on the water.There are 4 mulitple family homes. The homes that sold on the lower end of $400k were in excellent condition. The rest were in Mint+ condition and up. Updated kitchens and bathrooms. Hardwood flooring and stainless steel appliances. Beautiful landscaping. All but 2 are in the Lindenhurst NY School District. See where I'm going with this?There are 8 homes that are inland that sold in the $400K price range. Now, all of these homes have the updated kitchens and bathrooms and beautiful landscaping.... 01/03/2011

Lindenhurst NY Real Estate Sold Prices For 2010247 homes sold in Lindenhurst NY in 2010. Sold prices range from $120,000 to $610,000. As you can see in my chart, the last 2 months of 2010 held steady. I'm hoping that trend continues for 2011. For the most part, sold home prices fluctuated throughout 2010. The average property tax is $8,241. The average listing price to sold price ratio is 4.46%. This means that the average home in Lindenhurst NY sold for a little less than 95% of asking price. This is why I say a good home deserves a good sold price! Out of the 247 homes that sold in 2010, 30 of them are short sales and 13 are REO properties. It's a good thing to get short sales and REO properties sold and off the market. Too many of either can drive the Lindenhurst NY real estate marke... 01/02/2011

What Is Fair Housing? The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of: Race Color National Origin Religion Sex Familial Status (includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal guardians, pregnant women, and people in the process of securing legal custody of children under the age of 18). Handicap Disability When you are selling your home, you cannot prevent anyone from seeing your home based on the above 7 classes. Your real estate agent can't refuse anyone either. If you ask your real estate agent not to show your home to certain classes of people, he/she will refuse your request. If you push the issue, that agent will walk right out of your home and never look back. For more information or to file a complaint: Fair Housing Act Everyone is entitl... 01/02/2011

Jackie's Top 10 Blog Posts For 2010 David Popoff posted his Top 10 posts for 2010. I think this is a fabulous idea for us to post ours! Thank you for the great idea David! Here are my Top 10 posts for 2010: 1644 Clicks & 1890 Views:Sears Applicance Outlet Center West Babylon, NY 1265 Clicks & 1487 Views: How Much Stuff Cost In 1960 1174 Clicks & 1432 Views: Jones Beach Airshow  1031 Clicks & 1166 Views Long Island Earthquake 2010 1016 Clicks & 1331 Views:She/He Who Finds The House We Like Gets The Commission! 1002 Clicks & 1204 Views:Maureen's Kitchen Smithtown, NY 880 Clicks & 1076 Views: Easter Egg Hunts On Long Island 859 Clicks & 1027 Views: Growing Up In Lindenhurst NY 809 Clicks & 1012 Views:55 & Over Narragansett Villas Condos Lindenhurst NY 706 Clicks & 913 Views:Changing Image... 01/02/2011

How's The Real Estate Market Jackie? It's All Good. Really? I am asked this question all the time. Friends, family and strangers. My Century 21 AA badge seems to bring out this question on a regular basis everywhere I go. I was asked this question at a party last night too at a friend's house. No, I wasn't wearing my badge, lol. When I say the real estate market in Lindenhurst NY is good, I get the deer in the headlights look. Doesn't surprise me because I know why I get that glaring stare. I ask, "let me guess, you've been watching the news haven't you?" The answer is always yes. I have a few responses to that. First, real estate is local and always will be. Second, the so-called depressing real estate news you just heard is on the national level. Some states have been hit really hard... 01/01/2011

31 Days of December Challenge - Days 30 & 31 Day 30 - Wrote my last market report for Lindenhurst NY. Wrote day 29 post for the 31 Days of December Challenge. Where did December go anyway? Also called my clients to wish them a Happy New Year!Day 31 - I'll be updating my website this morning. Then Hubby and I are going to Manhattan to see the King Tut Exhibition. Downside: they will not allow anyone to take photos. Now that would have made for an awesome post! I'll write a post about it but without photos of King Tut, it's not going to be the same. Happy New Year everyone! 12/30/2010

Lindenhurst NY Real Estate Market Trends Week Ending 12/26/10Lindenhurst NY Homes For Sale: Currently, there are 168 homes on the market in Lindenhurst NY that are not short sales or REO properties. 65 homes out of the 168 are short sales. There are 8 REO properties. There is a total of 241 homes on the market in Lindenhurst NY. There is six months of inventory on the market. Buyers have choices.Two homes were listed last week One homes was listed at $324,900 and the other for $445,000. The first one is an REO Property. Both are in the Lindenhurst School District.Lindenhurst NY Homes Under Contract: Four homes are under contract. Listing prices range from $189,900 (REO) to $399,990. There is one short sale. Three of the homes are in the Lindenhurst NY School District and one is in the C... 12/30/2010

31 Days of December Challenge - Day 29 Day 29 - Went into the office and updated my 2011 Business Plan. Wrote 3 market reports and a post for the 31 Days of December Challenge. Then went into the office all day. I got new buyers who were walk-ins...woohoo! They have a 4 month time frame which works for me. Rushing to help someone buy a home can be stressful on myself and my buyers. I love it when buyers can take their time!Until tomorrow, have an awesome day everyone! 12/30/2010

Libraries On Long Island And New York State To Get Sexual Predator Awareness Video This awareness video will show four faces of men that became a parents nightmare. It will teach parents and anyone else who are around children on a regular basis how to protect children against sex predators. The video is a half hour long. Statistics show that children know their predators. It's usually a family member, friend of the family, etc. One-quarter of children in the U.S. are victimized and most do not report it until years later. The four men in this video describe how they "wooed" their victims and what you can do to prevent your child from becoming a victim. Please visit the NYS Division of Criminal Justice site. You will see the link to the Press Release and a link to view the video. 12/29/2010

31 Days of December Challenge - Day 27 & 28 Day 27 - We had 18" of snow here on Long Island so I set out to take photos and wrote a post about the snowstorm. Wrote a post about New Year's Eve events on Long Island. Found more than I thought I would. And wrote a post for the 31 Days of December Challenge. Busy blogging day!Day 28 - Went into the office and updated my 2011 Business Plan. Spoke with an agent in my office that is going to do an open house for me for my Fisherman's Wharf co-op listing. I will be there with her to guide her about co-ops. She will be given the buyer leads of course. I told her I'm doing a brochure for her with her photo and bio on the co-op brochure I made for the buyers. Until tomorrow, have an awesome day everyone! 12/29/2010

New Year's Eve on Long Island 2011 Who doesn't love a great party on New Year's Eve?! I found some great events for New Year's Eve. Not everyone wants to go into Manhattan. Here are some links to New Year's Eve events on Long Island. Have fun! Garden City Hotel Villa Lombardi's Cinema Arts Centre East Wind Inn Spa Theatre Three Long Island Philharmonic - Tilles Center The American Hotel - Sag Harbor Long Island Children's Museum Atlantis Marine World Custer Institute Danford's Hotel & Marina Hotel Indigo Southfork Kitchen New Year's Eve On Long Island Single's Events For New Year's Eve More Long Island New Year's Eve Events 12/27/2010

Snowstorm Photos For Lindenhurst NY Babylon Village & West Babylon NY - 12-2010 Since I was able to leave my development, I decided to drive around and take photos.Below, are photos of Argyle Park in Babylon, NY: The lake was mostly frozen over.      West Babylon NY - Corner of Great E. Neck Road Lindenhurst, NY - Heading Westbound towards Delaware Avenue: The roads weren't bad as long as you drive slowly. Lindenhurst, NY - Lindenhurst Senior High School Pool: Those are snow drifts covering that part of the pool building. I actually stopped a few times to help people that were stuck. Some corners had a good amount of snow and when you stop, you can get stuck. Good thing I had my shovel with me. 12/27/2010

31 Days of December Challenge - Day 24, 25 & 26 Day 24 - Started my day off by writing post #23 for the 31 Days of December Challenge. Then I finished delivering the white chocolate peppermint bark candy to a few clients. Finished Christmas shopping and then it was off to my Brother's house for Christmas Eve. Day 25 - Took the day off and it was wonderful! Had family over for dinner. It was nice being with everyone. I made a turkey which came out great! Nice to just relax for a change. Day 26 - Worked on my 2011 Business Plan for a good part of the day. I am finding that I keep adding more to it. The rest of the day was spent watching the snow fall. As of this writing, we have at least 14". I was just out driving around taking photos. Going to write a blog post about the snow on Long I... 12/27/2010

Newsday Article: If You Are Looking To Buy In Lindenhurst NY I received a phone call from the writer of this article last week. She quoted me and when you scroll down to the Now For Sale, my listing is the one for $399,000 Pretty cool to see your name and listing in the Real Estate Section of Newsday! Article: If You Are Looking To Buy In Lindenhurst NY 12/25/2010