"PUFF-BACKS"--THAT'S WHAT I CALL OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.....Lots of Hot Air That Is Meaningless drivel. When Richard Weiser, Kerrie Greenhalgh and the like are all writing posts about commenting here on AR I felt the need to put in my 2 cents worth.... Those other sites that seem to be so ominous in their size and apparent popularity are really not the thing that is pulling comments off the posts here on AR---I believe the reason comments are down is because of the huge number of agents who are so busy right now that they can't find the time to spend here on AR like they (we) used to....They will be back in my opinion! As to the other social Media sights--those are just "wind" in the lives of so many people. that we are going to see a diminishing of their popularity in the very near f... 03/16/2012

THE BROKEN WINDOW THEORY....A Call to Action for the real estate community..... I read in the Wall street Journal yesterday of the passing of a great conservative thinker and theorist, James Q Wilson. He was the source of a new theory about crime in the early 60's, which offered up an unusual experiment of sorts and something about his legacy and this experiment in particular, left me wondering...Can and does this theory apply more broadly in society? Can and should we apply this sort of thinking in our own profession, within our own communities?....You be the judge:   SETTING THE STAGE. In the late 1960's and early 1970's people would have to literally climb over garbage piles in New York City--in the 70's I can remember stepping over 3-4 sleeping bodies in the entry-way to my building... 03/05/2012

WHAT'S WITH THE SUPER-CRITICAL ATTITUDE??...Why Is There Such A Need To Make others Wrong?? I love it here on ActiveRain...I love the posts because they are so informational---I love the posts because they are so eye-opening and Leading Edge in terms of their perspective. I have met more unusual, informed, intellectual and tech-savvy people here than anywhere else on the web. This is where it is at when it comes to real estate; and I am sure everyone would agree that the time spent here on ActiveRain is time well spent and even tremendously valuable to our businesses.   There is one thing that I am having great difficulty with and that is the NEED for some to be super-critical! This tendency for super-critical analysis has become so, well frankly, blatant that I just have to speak up. I... 01/22/2012

THE HAMPTONS IS SET FOR A BANNER YEAR!....Already, Sales Are On The Increase!! In my last market report and Hamptons News Letter, I talk about the upward trend in real estate sales, specifically at the high end of the market. When I last checked, the number of signed contracts appeared to be at a record high and now, as closings are happening, we can see the results of a very busy year. SLOWEST TIME OF YEAR TURNS OUT TO BE THE BUSIEST! The Holiday period, from Thanksgiving through the New Year, is usually the slowest time of the year for real estate sales. Most families are traveling, going to weddings, celebrating the Holidays or just relaxing at the end of the year. In 2011, however, there were a large number of buyers out there looking to take advantage of low interest rates, and eve... 01/16/2012

ARE YOU A SKEPTIC???...Do You Question The Motives Of Almost Everyone You Come Across? I AM, AND I DO!!!......and I am proud of it! Recently, I was challenged by a business acquaintance with the idea that if I was going to question someone about their intentions when it came to volunteering to do an open house for me, then I didn't deserve to get their help! "We are independent contractors! Just let him do the open house!"....was the statement from this business aquaintance. I was simply asking the volunteer what he wanted to gain from doing an open house for me on a big listing--hoping to hear something like: "Hey-I want to get a bunch of potential buyers--a list of names that I can farm and cajole into buying this listing." That's what I was hoping for and instead I got a cold shrug o... 01/10/2012

WHAT'S HOT RIGHT NOW???  SUMMER 2012 RENTALS IN THE SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE, NEW YORK!!! In November 2011, I wrote a post that covered: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RENTAL PROPERTIES IN THE HAMPTONS...It was viewed 2144 times, so I am publishing it again with updates for those who missed it the first time and want to know how to prepare their properties for renting them out. It can also serve to show what the rentals here are like for those who may want to rent something for the coming season. FOCUS: SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE... After one of the most peculiar summer rental seasons ever for Southampton Village ,New York in 2011, this is now the place to look for 2012 summer rentals...at least it appears that way! Tenants are already looking for their summer homes for next summer and Southampt... 01/05/2012

   GOOGLE JUICE AND CHEESE...What Do They Have In Common??? Did you know that there is a concern about the way we get points for blogging here on ActiveRain??? Did you know that some members have dropped off the blog roll because they don't think it is such a good thing to get points for what we do???...that getting Google Juice is thought of as the wrong reason to blog??? Sometimes there are posts written here on ActiveRain that are perfect for stimulating back and forth conversation and revealing attitudes about things that we, as members do and the reason we do them. I can't think of a better place than ActiveRain to engage in these conversations, especially if there is a genuine goal and forthcoming information that we ALL benefit from! Putting that aside for the moment, I ALSO THI... 01/01/2012

A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION???...WHO DOES THAT ANYMORE? I stopped making New Year's Resolutions because I have never kept one! Gone are the days when I would take great care in picking out a New Year's resolution---I never had any luck in keeping them so I discarded that old idea several years back... Now, I have one that I have already put to good use and this is it: I AM OPEN AND WILLING TO LEARN NEW WAYS OF SEEING AND DOING THINGS! In this "New World" that we live in today I am finding that the one constant  is that we need to be open and willing to LEARN at every opportunity...Not just our Continuing Ed courses, but in our everyday conversations and communication with people and in our search for improved ways to get business. LEARNING is essential to attract new relationships and new b... 12/29/2011

DON'T DROP THE "LOOKIE LOUS"!! Keep them around until they do buy! It is so important that you do not just drop a potential buyer---how do you know if you have a serious one or not? By asking the following questions: Do you need to sell your current home before you buy another one? Have you investigated how you want to finance this house? What is the biggest reason you want to move? Are you prepared to move into your new house in the next 3 months? Will you be needing to buy furniture for your new house? Very DIRECT questions like these can reveal a "Lookie Lou" very quickly....If they do not answer with certainty, you will know that they have no idea of what it feels like to seriously think of buying a new home, i.e. "TIME-WASTER"..(blinking, red flashing warning light!)....There are m... 12/26/2011

DOES YOUR "LIFE PLAN" ALLOW FOR TURBULENCE??? After 2011 and all the unexpected events that we all dealt with, I think it merits a post to dicuss just this issue.... The other day (Dec. 17th) I wrote a post here on AR asking if you have done your plan for 2012--your "LIFE PLAN", that is: DO YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR 2012?...I Mean A Life Plan, Not A Business Plan! In that post, I made a very controversial statement: "Be sure to include the unexpected---the unexpected WILL happen!" I had many comments on that post that made it clear there is a lot of resistance to acknowledging the fact that unexpected things can and do happen to all of us. I even had someone ask me: "How do I know what unexpected things to put in my LIFE PLAN?" That gave me the nod to go even deeper in what I mean by "Prepari... 12/23/2011

"BUYERS REMORSE" AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.....AND DEFEAT IT! I spoke to an agent today who is going through losing a deal because her buyer is having second thoughts....Buyers Remorse is so common that most agents have a way of handling it and pushing beyond it with the buyer. But there is still a lack of understanding about this phenomenon. This particular agent is new so I felt the need to help her out with it. Many think it is only women who suffer this angst...Not so! I have had men experience it as well and it is not any easier to deal with it, as the agent. As frequent as Buyers Remorse happens there is a huge lack of understanding as to what it is and what to do to deal with it, just like any other emotion that comes up for a buyer of a new home. LIFTING THE VEIL OF BUYERS REMORSE... 12/18/2011

  SUMMER IN SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE, NY!--DO YOU HAVE YOUR 2012 RENTAL YET?....Some people have already signed leases for theirs!!! After one of the most peculiar summer rental seasons ever for Southampton Village in New York, this is now the place to look for 2012 summer rentals...at least it appears that way! Tenants are already looking for their summer homes for next summer and Southampton Village is the place to look! Full season rentals are now the way to go--last year the theme was "short season". The problem with that is the moment you settle in, you have to leave! ...and that is why we are now  seeing potential tenants taking the full summer season (Memorial Day to Labor Day) instead of the short term rentals of the last 3 years. THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM! If you are looking to r... 11/21/2011

THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH IS NOT Forgotten...Especially, By One Local Blue Blood Family Member! Many members of the families of the survivors of THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH, are looking forward to the release by PBS of the Home video version of the television documentary film, "The Tragedy Of Bataan" by writer/producer Jan Thompson. The series was created by Thompson after she engaged Alec Baldwin, a well known actor and a local Hamptons  resident, to narrate the film.  In a historic twist to the epic story, the home version of the film will be presented to local  high school and Junior high school students by Patricia Birks,  the daughter of one of the survivors of the Death March, over the next few months. THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH was a tragedy of epic proportions with 76,000 American and Filip... 11/21/2011

IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO SELL A PHEASANT CLOSE PROPERTY IN SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE, NY? I was asked that question as I spoke with a homeowner in the Pheasant Close community this last month. At the time, I was watching as 4 homes in Pheasant Close sold at prices that were already an improvement from '08-'09. She deliberated on the idea and only after much back and forth,  and finally a conversation with her accountant, did she decide to wait for the Spring of 2012 to list it. My point  to her was that there was a pent-up demand for houses in that particular part of Southampton Village.  Since the ability to have a tennis court in Pheasant Close is a key selling point,  I told her I could not guarantee that hers would sell quickly but I did say that if we priced it right she could be sure that... 11/17/2011

"STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND" OR...Why do Local Agents lose their Local Focus???"All real estate is local"...is a well recognized and well understood statement about real estate in general.Yet the idea of "Local" has been lost just recently, especially as agents attempt to "capture" more business by casting their nets ever further from the local markets. The lure by the likes of Zillow and Trulia for agents as they try to get their feet in the door of an area they know nothing about---(which is in keeping with the reputation of these "Wise guys") has captured a certain type of agent who has no qualms about stepping in as an expert into a foreign market. Zillow and Trulias's comparables are totally off the mark and so are the agents they put out there as experts in an area! It's like a mi... 11/11/2011

POST LANE: A STREET OF "NOTE" IN SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE..A Valuable Piece Of History, Included! Post Lane is a very quiet, short and desirable street right here in the heart of Southampton Village, in New York State. Old line Families with such recognizable names as Foster, Howell, Cook, Sayre and Herrick settled in the area that was once owned by one of the original settlers, Richard Post in 1640. Here the Post and Howell families and several other original settlers from Lynn Massachusetts,  settled in to farm the verdant soil so near the ocean. Post's land was East of Main Street and included the eventual railroad station and ran South, all the way to the ocean. It was substantially 1/2 of the entire area that became known as Southampton Village proper. Now, there are streets that quarte... 11/06/2011

"JUST LET IT GO"...The most important TIP you can ever get! I can't explain why it works but "Just Let It Go" does have the recognition of being the one thing you can do in real estate to give yourself some control over a very difficult situation. Just recently, I have had situations that were impossible to bring to fruition. These have prompted me to write this post---hoping that it would open a dialog between all of us here on ActiveRain....Just how do we deal with the impossible mission of these circumstances??? What I have found is: If you "JUST LET IT GO!" you will have the upper hand. Believe me, you will NOT lose real customers and clients; by letting go, you may even have a chance to convert the " disaster" to an actual sale---but you must, must, must learn to "JUST LET IT GO!" ... 10/16/2011

HOUSING MARKET ANALOGY: A Giant Bloodsucker Feeding On Itself After Sucking the life out of the American Dream.. The housing market is like a giant blood sucker feeding on itself --the market needs "blood" or money to survive--(to be able to sell those troubled houses), and there is so little of it and money is so hard to borrow that in order to survive, the sucker has turned inward on itself and the houses that can't sell now are added to the huge pile of already distressed homes. There is now a never ending supply of vacant, empty shells (Bloodless) rotting into the ground! I have always heard that an empty house deteriorates much faster than one that is occupied....that is a fact and  there is evidence of it everywhere now! (Like carcasses across the land!)     With getting a loan di... 10/08/2011

THE THIRD WAVE: Look who is going into foreclosure NOW!!! There is going to be a Congressional hearing in the next day or so to evaluate the results of TARP on financial institutions and on the housing market...wonder what they will find out?---and what they will tell us??? I have heard rumors that some of the banks used their funds that were designated to help out the homeowners, to pay off their "bailout" money. One of the contingencies of the bailout was that the banks would remain under the microscope of the government as long as they owed the Tarp money. Some financial institutions paid off the "loans" in order to escape the scrutiny of the government! Meanwhile, the next wave of foreclosures is starting--this time it's the homeowner who has never had financial problems during the ... 10/06/2011

"CHAFF!...SCHMAFF!"...A bad attitude or just a better way of doing business??? I don't know about you but I want to be recognized as the Wheat, not the chaff!....I want to be the person who is recognized for the "focused" approach, not the laid back, non-communicative attitude that homeowners complain about today....I would rather be the agent who needs to make marketing, market research data and feedback their focus. Homeowners want full attention; they want and expect  expert market data. They want and need focused attention. They are seeking the agent who treats them as their sole client. When it comes to their searching for a qualified agent for their property, they are looking for the best, not the busiest! They are looking for the "WHEAT"...not the "chaff" A while ago,  I wrote a ... 09/25/2011