J. Philip's Westchester Real Estate Blog

10 McDougal Lane in Cortlandt Manor closed Friday, December 4. I listed it September 5, we had 2 offers by mid October, and it went under contract  10/31. The buyers went FHA, so it was a little bit of a wait from there. This is not to pat myself on the back, but rather to pat the seller on the back. 

Every so often, a seller "gets it." They are eager to know what I know, and they follow my recommendations as best they can, often to the letter. And guess what? They get what they want. Case in point: There was a home very similar to our listing that was priced in the low 300's for quite a while. It looked like the same house on a nearby street and the builder and architect were probably the same guys.  After some time, that other listing cancelled at $309,000. 

My view was that if we priced at 299,000, we'd get more and better eyeballs on our place. And even though the economy was crummy and the autumn was less than ideal, we averaged a showing every 2.5 days until we got our accepted offer and the thing got put to bed in early December. Price points matter, and my client saw what I saw. We collaborated well as a team, handled the negotiations and inspection issues like soldiers and now the guy can have a Christmas without the old house to worry about. My hat is off to him. 

It goes without saying that there are dozens of homes in that zip code that were for sale when John's house went up for sale that remain unsold. The moral of the story? Find the right broker (like, for instance, ME), take their coaching, and be a team. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

An appraiser in nearby Rockland County has done an analysis on the price changes to a typical raised ranch in his town from 1965-2008. You can see the results here on the board's online newsletter. Once you hit the link, scroll down to page 5. The results are very instructive. In the last bust (1987 correction, Savings & Loan crisis, stock market crash of 1987, early 90's recession), it took until 1998 for prices to get back to the prior peak of 1986. Prices declined for 5 years, then rose nil to very little for another 6 years.

This Great Correction is a doozy compared to those times. The drop of prices from 2007-2008 of 11% is historically unprecedented, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another decade of malaise. It is irresponsible to believe that things will be better in 18 months; we still have billions if not trillions of bad debt to wring out of this economy. New York Home sellers need to understand that they are competing with short sales, bank-owned foreclosures and other distressed situations and that their best chance of selling is to price their home as competitively and aggressively as possible. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission