Westchester Real Estate Talk

While I am glad this is no longer the frenzied market of the past few years I am amazed at some of the stuff that goes on.  So today I received an offer on one of my listings.

1.  The buyer came to my Open House.  The agent had called to say she would be coming, fine.

2.  Immediately after my Open House this agent calls me and says she has an offer.

3.  The buyer came with her children but not her husband. 

4.  The offer was more than 20% off the asking price!  The agent says it is a discounted price because her buyer is all cash and can close in 30 days,

5.  When the agent calls to give me the offer I suggest that the buyers husband should see the house first and then we will discuss this offer.

6.  No, the agent says.  The buyer can make all the decisions on her own and the husband doesn't have to see it and besides I am leaving on vacation in the morning and there isn't anyone who can cover me and I need a quick answer to the offer because I have to pack and I am rushed.

Yikes.

I asked the agent to put in the offer which I presented and countered.  This whole episode is just amazing.  This agent is in a large office in Southern Westchester.  She says to me that while she is away she has two agents covering two closings for her so she has no one to cover this offer or take the husband if he wants to see it.

Just amazing.

The summer has come and gone too quickly.  It has been an interesting year so far in terms of real estate.  The newspapers and TV reports are all doom and gloom.  Countrywide, foreclosures and lowering of prices are the subjects of the day. While prices have been coming down properties are still selling.  Some are taking a little longer to sell but they are selling.  The buyer's have heard it is now their time, a buyer's market.  They want to be heard.  When I started in Real Estate 15 years ago it was a buyers market and as is usually the case it is cyclical and it is again a buyer's market. 

For some of the agents who started in the last five to seven years this is a major adjustment they are so used to a seller's market.  Real estate in Westchester County is changing a bit now as well as the market.  Buyer brokerage is becoming more common even though I do believe that real estate in Westchester favors the sellers even in this new market we find ourselves, but it is changing.  More and more agents seem to work as a buyer's agent and go with the buyers to find the right properties for them from community to community.  Traditionally since the agents in Westchester County worked for the sellers there were a lot of referrals from agents in one community to agents in another community.  Agents wouldn't leave their area and go with the buyers. 

Now, mainly because of the internet and the amount of information that buyers can obtain on their own and navigation systems this is changing.  I have sold properties this year in Chappaqua, New Rochelle, Hastings-on-Hudson, Hartsdale, Yonkers, Bronxville and Scarsdale and the year isn't over yet.  Sometimes an agent who comes to a community brings a new perspective to a property, sees it in a larger context.

I want to wish you all a Happy Labor Day and when we all return from the holiday it will be exciting to see what the rest of the year brings.

I know there have been numerous articles about Countrywide Mortgage here on Active Rain but in the New York Times this morning a really detailed piece appeared that is fascinating.  I am naive because I have always thought there was some oversight by State Banking Departments.  That if you are licensed by a State they have reviewed your practices and ethics and you have "passed".  Well, so much for that.  This articl is a bit shocking to me as the practices are truly unethical and how can this be!!!!

One of the most amazing parts of the article as you keep reading are the mortgage brokers who state they never got 1099's for the income they made.  If this is the case there is going to be more fallout from this and I can only hope that some of these agents reported the income anyway. 1099's were requested according to the article and agents were told that Countrywide doesn't do 1099's.

This is some story. I don't want to pass judgement on anyone and I suppose the agents got caught up in the culture of the company but you just have to wonder how all of this was acceptable.  Was it that it couldn't be foreseen and the crash was not on anyone's radar?  Amazing, anyway to read the article please click here. 

So on the Today Show there was a segment on nasty neighbors, what is a nasty neighbor, what to do about nasty neighbors, and how to spot them before you buy and move in.  Barbara Corcoran was the guest and she explained what to do about problem.  From the Today Show website, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20363234/. Check out the posts from people dealing with impossible neighbors.  Try Googling "nasty neighbor" and see what comes up.  Loads of websites some that are specific to neighborhoods talking about what this neighbor did and what that neighbor did.  Amazing.  I guess I am lucky as I barely see my neighbors and that's how I like it. I even understand that there is a site out there that names names but I can't find it.

I am a RE/MAX agent.  I LOVE RE/MAX.  I suppose it isn't professional, ethical or necessarily very nice to discuss your competiters, especially in a negative way.  One of the things about real estate is all the gossiping, back stabbing and mis information that floats around. So, in keeping with Active Rain and original content, snippitts and links to articles I have a link to a very interesting article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal about a week ago.  Enjoy.  ( I may not even get points for posting this but really enjoyed this article).

Sotheby's vs. Christies

 We are all told that listings are golden.  It doesn't feel okay to not want a listing but that is how I felt on a recent listing presentation I went on.  There were two problems.  The owner had bought the house only three years ago and paid $570,000 for it.  At the height of the market.

While lots of us have different opinions and experiences in terms of what is going on with the real estate market in Westchester County it is my opinion that realistically prices are down 10%.  Different areas of the county are having different adjustments. 

So if this house was bought three years ago for $570,000 the price now would be low to mid 500's.  It has not appreciated enough and time has not passed so that the owner can come away with her $570,000 in her pocket and pay the commission.  The next problem is that this house is up a steep series of steps, and was built into a rock, the property is steep and tiered.  When buyers have loads of choices finding the right buyer for this is a problem.  There is no formal dining room and the den is down a series of steps on the exterior.

So, I didn't get this listing and it is possible that the homeowner sensed that I didn't believe in this property. She may have sensed that I didn't love it and therefore might have a problem marketing it enthusiastically.  She was right. I didn't love it.  I don't think it will sell at a price she can deal with.  I never called her to find out what she was doing.  I wanted her to give it to someone else.

The agent she listed with listed it at the price the owner wanted.  I wish both the owner and the agent the best of luck and I am so glad it isn't me trying to deal with this. 

This is the first time I am glad that I didn't get the listing.  I used to believe that all houses are wonderful and I believed that a listing is a good thing, no matter what.  I don't believe that anymore.  Thank goodness.

The downtown in the real estate market here in Westchester County has brought some interesting advertising.

The first full page ad that I saw in one of the local newspapers is an ad with pictures of all the agents and the heading that this agency has 41% market share in one particular area.  In the past I have done blogs about when you hire an agent you are hiring the agent and not the company and this ad supports this contention.  This ad has an asterik with this statement "market share is based on sales of our agents for the year when they were at a different agency".  A group of agents left one agency and went to another and so the new agency is taking credit in the ad for the sales these agents made at the previous agency.  So, it is the agents and not the agency.   Funny to be advertising that.

Another ad is for a home that has been on the market for the past year.  It started VERY high and has been reduced.  The ad that was placed makes it very clear that there isn't activity and certainly no offers.  The pictures in the ad are just awful.  The text says basically to ignore the price and if you are interested in negotiating please call.  It also says that the price is slightly over $2,000,000 when it is actually listed in the mid $2,000's.

Other ads contain "listed under market".  One agent is advertising that he is a marketing gorilla!  One agent is adveristing that he eats and sleeps real estate.  Do you want to hire a sleep deprived agent!  Is that a good marketing tool?

WIth continued softening of the housing market I would guess we will see more of this.

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 9th, RE/MAX International is sponsoring MIRACLE TREAT DAY.

If you go to your local Dairy Queen and order a blizzard treat the proceeds will go to your local Children's Mircle Netword Hospital.  RE/MAX International has been the official real estate sponsor of this very worthwhile cause since 1992 and has over the years come up with innovative ways of raising money.

To locate your local Dairy Queen or make an online donation, please go to www.MiracleTreatDay.com.