J. Philip's Westchester Real Estate Blog: August 2010

While Westchester County has remained a sought after destination for home buyers and 450 single family homes closed in July, there were still an enormous number of homes that quietly came off the market this August, unsold. While it would be easy to dismiss the results on the poor market, even a casual examination of the homes that the public threw back reveals more than the seller might think they know. 

I don't have any issues with For Sale By Owners. It is a free market. I equally have no issue with FSBOs who pay a fee to enter their home on the MLS and then try and act as their own listing agent. What I do have a problem with is people who distrust agents because they paint us with a broad brush in the lack of integrity department but then turn around and misrepresent themselves. That wastes my time. 

Today I walked through a home which was billed as a "totally renovated home." It was not. It was an incomplete, sloppy, half finished do it yourself job of dubious quality. What I observed was a patchwork of poor workmanship, probably illegal (which is to say, no permits) "improvements" and a desk in the basement covered with indications that the owners were unskilled weekend warriors. 

We saw:  

• Exposed wiring everywhere
• Missing molding and sloppy finishing where it wasn't missing
• An incomplete kitchen with a CURTAIN for a sink cabinet door
• An incomplete master bath
• A finished basement with a 6-foot ceiling -which couldn't be legal in their wildest dreams
• An HVAC unit in a basement closet with hanging wires and ductwork that was separated and leaning

Inman had news yesterday of REALTOR association mergers, and posed the question of the value of such moves. Given my involvement in a large territory spanning half a dozen MLS systems and many more boards, I feel that I should weigh in on the matter. 

I am a big fan of large MLS systems, but not terribly jazzed about big boards. Ths state of Connecticut aparently agrees with me- aside from Fairfield County, they have a statewide MLS but have retained local boards, often on a town level. More on that later. Big MLSes are good, but so are smaller boards.

If you didn't click on the link, I favor large MLS systems because it is silly to have to pay separate fees to cross county lines or, in some cases, town lines. I could drive 35 miles and pass through 4 MLS areas. That is madness. It is data, and even if you don't have my business model why should you have to have 2 different sets of overhead because you straddle a boundary? 

Large Realtor Associations, however, have different problems. Associations exist, in large degree, to oversee the membership and enforce the Code of Ethics. Small boards have the resources to oversee their town or county. Big boards simply do not have the resources to enforce member conduct. LIBOR, or the Long Island Board of Realtors, has the government intervening on both ends of their territory: In Queens, the state has issued a cease and desist order in a large area because of agent misconduct. On the East End, the Department of Justice is examining anti-trust practices, where brokers flaunt their antipathy about the MLS. My own experience confirms the problems of oversight in Queens. I have blogged about my frustration with agent conduct in the boroughs in the past. In some parts, it is the wild west, and the board is not effective in reigning in misconduct. Where the board fails, the government intervenes. 

Connecticut, on the other hand, is a different universe from Long Island and the Boroughs. By and large, Connecticut agents and firms are as professional as I have found, and there is almost never an issue with cooperation, fair play, professional standards, or collegiality. It is no coincidence that they have small boards. My own board recently consolidated with another county's association, but have retained a regional office in each area. I am on the board for the MLS, which is growing, but I hope the association does not absorb any other boards. 

The arguments for large boards include buying power and bulk discounts for membership, and I suppose that is nice. However, we have to choose our priorities, and in my view professional standards and oversight have to supersede getting a good deal on a rental car. 

By now the whole country is talking about the over 25% drop in sales this past July in the wake of the stimulus. Here in the state of New York the sales were down 34.9% overall. Locally, Rockland County was down about 27% and Putnam was down 30.6%. But Westchester County was up, a surprisingly strong 8.7%, with a median sales price of $799,000 (source: Journal News). It just goes to show that all real estate is local. 

But why would Westchester buck the trend? How can a county next to other counties with declining numbers have such healthy results? In my opinion, Westchester benefited at the expense of the neighboring counties. In the past, people were often priced out of Westchester and saw a move across the river or north to Putnam or Dutchess as their most affordable option- a Westchester lifestyle if only with a longer commute. With home prices down 20-25% since the peak of 2005, those home buyers are no longer forced to leave the county; why move 45 minutes north or across the bridge to Rockland if Westchester home prices are within reach?

Why indeed. Proximity to friends, family, work, and yes, that big Apple just below is economically feasible again. So, many stuck around and bought locally instead of moving out of county the way they might have over the past 5-10 years, and the money stayed in Westchester.  It remains to be seen if that trend continues, but I don't see conditions changing from where I sit. The outlying counties will recover organically, but only when they adjust their prices even more than they already have. Call it shrinking pains. 

The New York suburbs are often funny about real estate signs. One town won't allow a sign with a company name, allowing only "For Sale By Broker" or "For Sale By Owner" on the panels. Another municipality prohibits anything bigger than 12" x 12". Some places ban signs altogether, while others have rules rendering them useless, such as one that will only allow them in a front window. On a set back home that does nothing. One local city is OK with "For Sale" signs but outlaws "Sold" signs. 

In every one of these municipalities, I have seen chintzy yard signs that remain up for weeks and sometimes months by home improvement companies, painters, fence installers, garage door technicians, and many other trades. I have never understood why they are permitted and my sign is not. Actually, I do understand, and it is not cool.

It amazes me that a municipality-the government- can abridge what I put on a sign or can restrict me from having a sign at all. It is absolutely contrary to the first amendment, and makes these towns more like patriarchal fiefdoms than governments that are out for the highest and best for the citizenry. Now, there may be a few who find real estate signs to be distasteful or clutter the view. But the constitution doesn't exist for them to have a good view or have environs that conform to their particular taste. It exists to protect my freedom of expression and ensure that commerce can be promulgated. 

Big companies with large market share in these areas have no desire from what I can see to change the law. It enables them to keep status quo. If I busted my hump and a few of my signs sprang up it might shift the balance of power. They can't have that. Homeowners probably like the law too, because yard signs can distract, or because their absence makes it appear that nobody wants to move from their idyllic 'burb. Gag me. That doesn't make it right. 

The right to self expression and to post my message without the state's interference is not something that can be voted on or zoned out. It is an inalienable right. The "tyranny of the mob" does not grant or deny rights. Rights are rights. And you can't bestow a right on a garage door guy and deny it to a real estate broker. I know of no sign restriction that ever held up in court. They exist because we are too busy earning a living to have our day in court. For now. 

Yes, some of the local towns are funny about signs. But I'm not laughing. 

Peekskill is one of the older River towns in Westchester County. I have blogged about Peekskill before, and I have done quite a bit of business there. It is by far the northernmost city in Westchester county, and in addition to being affordable, the quality of life there seems to improve by the week. This is the market data for July of 2010 for single family homes in Peekskill, and all information is sourced from the Westchester-Putnam MLS.

Prices are way down. Median price last month was $305,000 and July of last year was $310,000, but this July it was $184,500. There were only 4 transaction with 75 homes actively for sale.

Now is a god time to buy real estate in Peekskill. Get yourself a free Listingbook account and check out homes for sale in Peekskill. It is absolutely a buyer's market here. 

Yorktown is a larger town in north Westchester County between Cortlandt and Somers. It is is very suburban in character- think post-war/baby boom subdivisions with ranches, splits and raised ranches and with larger colonials in the newer developments. It is served primarily by the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts, and it has abundant shopping and parks. Yorktown has always been a popular place to land for southern Westchester and Bronx residents who wanted to move north to the suburbs. Downtown Yorktown Heights is located at the intersections of routes 202 and 118 and is home to the Triangle shopping Center, the iconic Friendly's restaurant, The Pennysaver of northern Westchester, and plenty of other commerce. It is also the site of the Drivers License test course, where the Boss recently passed her driver license test. So we love Yorktown right now. 

This data is for the Yorktown school district only and is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. It compares the sales of single family homes from July of 2010 to July of 2009.

Yorktown's market was a mixed bag this July. June was very hot with 22 closings, so a cooling off shouldn't be surprising.  Median price was certainly up, but the transaction total was a rather lean 8. However, with 25 homes pending sale there is little to worry about. 

To check out the 133 available properties Yorktown has to offer, register yourself for a free Listingbook account.