“Kings of the Animal (and Consumer Economy) Kingdoms” Want a novel way to look at today’s housing market? Think of housing occupying the same role in the economy that lions do in the natural world. Namely, both sit atop their respective “food chains,” depending upon — and contributing to — the health of multiple levels beneath them. Economics 101 The...Read More
. . . on Housing Prices Yes, I’m aware that it’s “Spring Forward, Fall Back” — and that everyone needs to set their clocks one hour ahead this Saturday night. However, the clock (at left) refers to housing prices: depending on the market and neighborhood, on average homes now fetch what they did 6-8 years ago (or...Read More
Or Foreclosures, Either What jumped out at me reading “It’ Buildings of the Other Boroughs” in The NY Times was the high (financial) bar for entry: “Mortgages are allowed, but only for half the purchase price, brokers familiar with the building said.” “A recent sale in the building, which requires a 25 percent down payment...Read More
Telling Sellers What They Want to Hear — Initially It doesn’t happen to me that often, but — believe it or not — there are occasions when I interview for a listing, and the would-be client decides to go with another Realtor. In fact, I fielded a phone call informing me of that news earlier this week....Read More
Managing Client Expectations Real Estate Rule #1: It’s not a done deal till the Seller leaves the closing with a check. Real Estate Rule #2: It’s not an offer till the listing agent has it in hand. One of the most exciting pieces of news a listing agent can deliver to a Seller is that...Read More
In: Microsoft. Out: Google. 2011 has been a big year for changes on MLS. The latest? Swapping out Google’s mapping software for Microsoft’s (“Bing”). Personally, I preferred the former. However, one of the additional features of Bing is that neighborhood names are superimposed on home searches. In the map above, ECCO stands for “East Calhoun Community...Read More
