"THE REAL DEAL"....or is it??? I just read an article in The Real Deal, a New York real estate news paper, and found that the front page article (which was covering the Hamptons real estate market) covered only 2 offices: Sothebys and Corcoran (both owned by REALOGY) and showed ONLY the top agents from those 2 firms, calling them the top agents in the Hamptons. Loaded with amunition regarding the volume each holds in listings, the point was made that these are the only agents worth their salt in the Hamptons. Meanwhile nothing is mentioned about the agents who had record sales for 2010 from Elliman....We sold more than either of the other firms! Because of the competative nature of the real estate business here in the Hamptons and because the readership is concentrated in Manhattan,  (t... 06/13/2011

"BLOG MINING"...Ever try that? Do you even KNOW what that is??? If you go back and read your old posts, you are sure to find "Nuggets" of ideas that are still able to be brought forward---thoughts that still apply to the profession of real estate; thoughts and threads of ideas that need to be polished up and published in a new and shiny presentation... Take this idea for instance: I actually wrote a post on "Blog Mining" a few years ago and left it hanging without much attention. Now it is more apt than ever before! Our writing has changed over time; we all can glean from our blogs and bring forward treasures of the past.    I have found some of the most rewarding posts come from the past---posts that I never really "finessed" enough to make them eye-catching and appealing enough to be ... 05/25/2011

YOUR "NICHE AREA" INFORMATION.....A Business BUILDING BLOCK to create more business? Have you thought of it that way? When I write a post about Southampton Village or North Sea, Noyac or Tuckahoe for that matter--a post that really says it all about my "Niche Area"--I make a very eye-catching flyer of it. I use it as a hand out to my clients and a source of information for buyers as well. "If you stay up on all the happenings in your niche area, you can't miss--you never know when some little tid-bit will bring a buyer into the fold without you even realizing it! Buyers always want to feel like they are on the "inside" of the best informed about their new neighborhood! " "Information about an area is like a building block--information builds on itself until a buyer knows so much about ... 05/23/2011

DO YOU INFORM?...DO YOU PERFORM?  My new motto in this improving housing market  is: "INFORM/PERFORM" I have been so frustrated just recently by the inability of a buyer to come to a decision on a purchase of a home that they know is the house for them, simply because another agent did not do the research for them. If you are not supplying data, actual trades and in-contracts, market trends and number of sales when you work with a buyer right now you will likely NOT sell them anything! keep yourself informed--daily interaction with other agents, reading all RE reports plus phone calls to get updates on others exclusives is very helpful. Simply put: INFORM and you will PERFORM...this is a fact of life at the moment. I have several instances where agents bring a buyer to a listing of mine... 05/22/2011

PRICE....The one and only thing that WILL Ensure that your property will sell! I read about this topic all the time here on ActiveRain---but there is always that reservation: "What if there is a slim chance that I can get a lot more for my house?"...That is a trap! That thinking has kept many houses on the market for months longer than they should have been--than they would have been had they been priced properly!  I am writing this today because, as many times as I have said this to a seller and as many times as they have heard this from other agents, there is still that homeowner who feels their home is the exception to the rule.If I am in a position where I have to put an unreasonably high price on a property, I turn the listing down and I TELL THEM WHY! Half the time they will chang... 05/21/2011

In this very challenging real estate market, I thought it would be interesting to look at which agents are making deals come togetherand which agents are failing to make it happen. This is the most difficult time to make deals come together in this profession; so lets look at the facts. "Sifting the chaff from the wheat"...that's what I call the latest trend in real estate sales. In my opinion, there are 2 kinds of agents out there: Those who do not fully understand what is really going on, who are still wallowing in the housing crisis; and those who have seen select segments of the market improve and have taken the position of informing anyone they work with--either buyer or seller, of these improvements. These agents have developed a system of what I call "Inform/Perform" and it is th... 05/14/2011

Trying to force a "Bottom"...a desperate attempt on the part of buyers after the bottom is long over??? I suspect that the reason I am having such a difficult time telling buyers and their agents "The price is such and such, the owner won't listen to lower bids", is just that--they are trying to make it happen by forcing their way to a lower price. In my experience, when this kind of activity surfaces, it is a real sign that the housing downturn is over. Sales are happening only when you inform your buyer of the facts. Here, at least in The Hamptons, the bottom was all of 2009 until the middle of 2010 and after that, prices stabilized. Now they are inching higher and the buyer can see that....if you show them. In a desperate move, those buyers are running out to buy a house "at the bott... 05/07/2011

Ever Try a Netbook???...I just got one and I am amazed!!! I came home the other day about 6:00 and turned on my laptop---at least I tried! It was fried... I had so many things to do here without going to the office...I decided since I need something for my car too...I would go to PC RIchards and get an ipad. Well....the ipad is SOOOO expensive and the fact that I have a PC and would have to learn Apple or Mac language and that could take a while, itjust became too much! So, I found that Samsung has a netbook that is perfect for my needs--it can be used at home (until I get my laptop repaired) it can be used in my car-(wireless) and it is just as easy as my laptop!!! Not only that I got it for $232.00!!!....with a $100.00 rebate!...and a free Verizon "AirCard" so I can use it when ther i... 04/21/2011

NOT TO BEAT A DEAD HORSE....But here is a question for you: WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??? In july of 2010, I wrote a post that got little or no attention---a handful of comments but a huge number of hits....I think I got 25 comments on the post. So I dropped the matter--until the other day when I posted "SUDDENLY, LAST SUNDAY"  here and got more than a hundred comments--it got featured and the re-blogged and the short URL was used 40 times!!! Some felt that this was a subject never mentioned here on ActiveRain, so, I had to re-post this--just remember, I did not know the whole story then--not like I do now. Please keep in mind that I was unaware of the major bank fraud that took place--until now.  Please read on: ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````... 04/11/2011

....JUST SOLD MY FIRST "SIGHT-UNSEEN" HOUSE!!! "A Match Made In Heaven!" Now, come on! You do believe me, don't you??? I had been recommended by a former buyer, someone who was a Summer tenant of mine who bought a house from me in Southampton Village, NY in 2000. She introduced me to her friend who was very interested in getting into a home before the Summer.  She wanted to bring her children here from Arkansas  and live in the house before renovation--so she was looking for a fixer-upper that she could "fluff" and use for the Summer and then renovate in the Fall. I had met her and on that same day she saw 3 houses with me. That was in February. She had been hoping to find the right house then but there were not a lot of houses in her price range so, sadly, she had to leave without find... 04/10/2011

How do YOU turn it around when a listing has been "sitting" for a while??? In this market, here in Southampton, New York, we have listings that we show that are not fresh, listings that are not new to the market  and they are tough to sell...until now, that is! The best sellers right now are the houses that have been sitting so long that the owner has gone to the bottom of the barrel to generate interest---and it IS working! Call them "Bottom Feeders" or bargain hunters---these are the real buyers right now. I call them Value Seekers, because that is exactly who they are. I have found that there are buyers out there looking for these listings---if a buyer takes a look at a brand new, existing home listing, they turn up their noses and say: "Not this one" and they head out the door sayin... 04/09/2011

"SUDDENLY,  LAST SUNDAY"....That is when the big news broke!--It broke on 60 Minutes when a "Fraud Investigator" was interviewed and she shed some light on the mortgage mess for us mere mortals! Take the time to see the whole report right here: (I had to remove my link because it did not work) so here is Tni's link--it works!: Here is the link I would love to hear what all of you have to say about this outrage. The scenario goes like this now: In '92, the "Community Re-investment Act" was instituted by the government and banks were told to help the poor unfortunates who could not afford the down-payment on a house, to accept low or no down-payment. Everyone should have a house!!! Some young "brainiac" sat in a back room of a big bank and came up with the idea that the best way to sell t... 04/08/2011

OUR CHALLENGE??..."Go Head-long Into The Winds of Change...The Resistance is What Will make You Strong!" These words are my new "Mantra" for the world we are living in right now...they came to me, out of the blue, as I read a few of the AR posts this morning. There is an enormous questioning happening right now--questions about the motivation of a few of our leaders, questions about the stock markets volatility, the world's wars, the disasters is Japan, the unsettled economy, the frequent public criticism of the real estate profession,  and on and on! We are in a shift that is not easy; it is a shift that happens around the turn of each new century, at least according to Alvin Toffler (Future Shock and The Third Wave) and others like him who have left volumes of reading material in thei... 04/04/2011

 AN Outlet For MY Creative Juices In A Cut-Throat Business....Or: WHY I LOVE ACTIVERAIN I love ActiveRain because it is the only outlet that I have found for real creativity in this business...my need to be creative has been stifled because, as you know, when we stick our necks out in this business, there are more than a few ready to chop off our heads! I have found many, many agents on this wesite who spend hours reading and commenting on the posts written here. Where else can one go to get the real skinny on real estate news from across the nation...or the vital (usable) technology information that is needed for each individual in the real estate business??? Where else can one go to find another professional to connect with, to find common ground for creating more business, for referr... 03/21/2011

SPRING RENEWAL--My "ITEMIZED DAILY PLAN" (IDP) to create and renew my business. Today is March 21, 2011---An awesome day in that I have "turned" a corner in my business life; I have made a decision today that all of my efforts going forward will be guided by my "Itemized Daily Plan" (My IDP). I took the day off and spent all day studying the way I can do business in the thriftiest waypossible...I looked at it and studied it until I was almost cross-eyed!  I also did an in-depth self-examination to see how commited I really am and I worked on that too. I took my fears, wrote them down and let them subside as I did that, then tore up the paper I wrote them on and burned them just outside my door (Just a little fire:). I then wrote a new, fresh list of my goals and my ideas as to how to ef... 03/21/2011

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW???....If you know what I mean? This post was inspired by Elliott Topkins, a superb real estate attorney in Massachusetts in his post about easements:http://actvra.in/6QM In his post, Elliott makes a point of letting us know what we should have peripheral knowledge of when it comes to easements on a property we may be trying to sell. As real estate professionals we can find ourselves in over our heads very easily, especially when complications arise with a property. As Elliott did in his post, we have to be able to share some information when a buyer says to us: "What does easement mean?" or "How do I know if I can sell off that guest house in the back if I buy this property?"                                                     Before a lawyer gets involve... 03/19/2011

How do YOU tell The buyer that the house they love is in the wrong spot??? FIVE years ago (2007) I had a buyer who fell in love with a beautiful, historic house that was notorious for it's "Issues". The former owner had major problems with the Village when she bought it. Local zoning laws were not so strict when the Village was first being built in the 17th and 18th centuries and there is now a mix of commercial and residential properties on this particular street. This very beautiful old house was right next to a non-functioning gas station which was torn down and a new bank was being completed in that spot. I was guiding them carefully to buy another house on Elm Street, a street that was quickly becoming a very popular one for new buyers in the village of Southampton...and it was com... 03/18/2011

DEDICATION  --AND SPRING RENEWAL!...The new things I will do for my life and my business to create a sense of Spring Renewal will include ActiveRain Contests!!! This very timely contest comes on the eve of my having written a "Featured" Post asking for members to tell me how they "Fit ActiveRain Contests into their lives". I got such a wonderful response from the members who commented that it has inspired me to take another look at these contests and see if they may fit after-all! "There are no accidents" is a mantra that I use when I see that something fortuitous has happened---this is one of those! ...And low and behold, Sally Cheeseman has offered up this contest which is totally appropriate and so inspiring to me that I MUST take part in it!!!  This is no accident; I have been looki... 03/12/2011

THE HAMPTONS, Best Place In The World For A Vacation!!If you are planning a vacation during the Summer or the Fall this year, don't overlook the one spot where you will be sure to have the best vacation ever! Many vacationers come to The Hamptons every summer-they may own a home here or they may rent. Whatever their situation, the level of enjoyment and repeat vacation time spent in this resort area tells you that you can't have a better vacation than right here on the Eastern End of Long Island.  In this article I will cover some of the treasures that I have discovered over the years that I have been here in Southampton. Many of these treasures are in North  Sea, just North of Southampton Village and the place made famous when the first settlers came ashore at Conscience Point--They ca... 02/26/2011

HAVE YOU PLUGGED INTO THE ACTIVERAIN "OUTLET"?....Are you taking full advantage??? After I wrote my last featured post and read all the many comments on it, I realized that the average member here on ActiveRain has no idea of the numerous things that they can find and learn right here in the Rain! ActiveRain has a veritble "OUTLET" of ideas, tips and advise that is available to all of us as members of AR.   One big surprise is the number of members who do not know about www.realestateshows.com. I mentioned it briefly to make a point and as a result there were at least 6 members who needed the web address. So,I want to put to rest the mystery of AR--the big wonder of what you can learn here and how you can find information on any topic pertaining to real estate blogging, marketing and mo... 02/20/2011