My Blog Archives

Lloyd Barriger Sentencing

Last week Lloyd Barriger was sentenced to five and a half years in prision for his illegal actions while managing a real estate investment fund here in Sullivan County.

I almost didn’t write this post. It has been covered and hashed out ad nauseam. But after reading the news reports over the last few days, I felt I needed to weigh in on this.

Lloyd Barriger ran Gaffken and Barriger LLC from 1998 until its untimely demise in 2008. The fund started out trading nano-cap stocks for a small number of clients, but like so many others, saw the potential of a real estate market on the rise, so around 2000, they changed their mission statement to “Invest, hold, and trade in real estate, real estate loans, real estate securities, other securities and other financial instruments and rights thereto.” Basically the funds strategy was to lend money to builders and real estate developers using high interest, short term bridge loans.

And at first, as the market continued to improve, things went swimmingly for Mr. Barriger and associates. Eight percent return on all investments became the mantra and were “guaranteed.” More and more people heard about this and kept forking over their hard earned money. The fund grew, and seemed solid.

Well, around the end of 2005, things began to go south. Many of the risky developers that had taken out loans with the fund, began to default. Suddenly they could not pay the promised eight percent. And so began the slippery slope of robbing Peter to pay Paul. New investor money was used to keep the illusion of the fund afloat. A classic Ponzi scheme.

By March of 2008, the coffers were empty, and the ruse could no longer continue. The fund was frozen, and people realized they had lost everything.

Maria Grimaldi, a 71 year old retiree lost her life savings in the fund. (She had contributed later on when Barriger knew it was a house of cards, but he took her money anyway.) She was forced to return to work, according to the Times Herald Record. I personally know another victim who was also forced to unretire once his entire nest egg disappeared into the Barriger abyss.

Mr. Barriger spoke in court, apologizing for his actions, saying he never intended for this to happen, and he was not prepared to face the challenges of running the fund.

In fact, a few of his supporters spoke up for him. According to the Times Herald Record, Ed Sykes Town of Delaware supervisor told the judge, “The real reason for Barriger’s downfall was the real estate crash.”

Now this is just a quote in a newspaper. I did not hear exactly what Mr. Sykes said, however if this quote is true, I find it absurd. Of course we all can do well when the sun is shining, and the real estate market is going up 10% a year. The real mark of a man is what you do when things are tough. And Lloyd Barriger made a conscious decision to defraud and lie. And he did not do it for a noble reason. He did it for greed. His downfall was not the real estate crash. His downfall was his lack of character.

Scores of people were affected by the real estate market crash. Thousands of homes were lost, fortunes disappeared, and lives were changed forever. And most of these people took the hit on the chin, dusted themselves off and kept trying. They didn’t steal from the elderly. To somehow make the excuse that suddenly he was in over his head, and the turn of the market is to blame is ludicrous.

“In the midst of the credit crisis, Barriger chose to lie about the solvency and liquidity of his fund rather than admit the somber truth of a collapsing business,” “He continued to solicit new investor funds based on the same misrepresentations up until the day before the fund collapsed.” George Canellos, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Lloyd V. Barriger.

Personally I think five and a half years is light. Bernie Madoff got 150 years. How is what Barriger did any less egregious? because there were fewer victims? Tell that to Ms. Grimaldi who in five years (when Barriger gets out of prison) will be 76 and will still have to go to work every day.

Do Not Feed the Deer

Sullivan County Deer Population During my weekend showings I was at a house where the homeowner had put out what looked like corn for the deer. And then I saw a post on Facebook where some well intentioned good Samaritan was urging people to put out feed for the “starving” deer. And yesterday at Agway I saw piles of bagged food for deer. I am surprised that this is being done. Frankly I thought people knew better.

I understand it’s human nature to want to help these animals during a tough winter like this, and seeing gaunt deer stumble through your yard can be difficult to watch. However interfering with mother nature has numerous consequences

First of all it is illegal. As of July 28th 2010 the NYS DEC passed a law banning the feeding of white tail deer and elk in New York State. And there are a number of good reasons why.

1) Disease: Deer are foragers, who although do travel in groups, in a natural environment are spread out. Once you get a bunch of deer crowded together, the food can get contaminated by feces, saliva and urine. This in turn can harbor all sorts of infectious disease causing critters. If you think the skinny deer in your backyard looks sad now, Google chronic wasting disease in whitetail deer. This disease can only get passed from animal to animal when they are in close proximity. Which they rarely do in their natural habitat.

We all know that deer are one of the major culprits for harboring the ticks that carry Lyme. Again getting a bunch of deer all together is like a tick’s Shangri-La. Research has shown that reducing the deer population in an affected area to a level of 8 – 12 deer per square mile virtually eliminates ticks and Lyme Disease in humans. (Sullivan County is well above those numbers, which brings me to my next point.)

2) Overabundance: Although exact numbers are impossible to achieve most experts agree that the deer population in New York State is at an all time high. And there may be as many as ten times the amount of deer there was when the Lenape inhabited our area. Currently white tail deer in NY have no natural predator. Wolves used to be the deer’s natural population control, however they were wiped out when they realized a cow was an easier mark and a better dinner than a deer. Since then, hunting and natural selection are the only things that are used to keep the population in check. If we start giving the deer free winter meals, the numbers will grow even larger.

And you may say, so what if there are more deer? Who are they harming? Well they have the potential to harm our entire Eco-system. Although many of our forests are already developed, any new young plant or sapling no longer stands a chance against the size of the herd. Our woods used to be filled with thick under brush and mountain laurel, which in turn hid birds, and other smaller animals. Now many of our wooded areas almost look like a city park. If anyone has tried to grow an unfenced garden, then you know what I am talking about.

I now suspect that just as a deer herd used to live in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.” — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

They are a nuisance on the roads as well. I am pretty confident that you will not be able to find a person who has lived full time in Sullivan County for at least a year, who has not hit a deer with their car. It is a daily occurrence here. Annually the number of deer related accidents in New York State is around 67,000. That is almost 200 a day!

And a car is one thing. But our scenic roads are a favorite for the motorcyclists in the summer months. Hitting a deer on a motorcycle is a tragic event. And it happens all too often.

So although the softer hearts amongst us may feel the urge to put out food, or cover their ears on the first day of hunting season, let’s try to remember that Mother nature had things under control long before we came along, and the last thing she needs is our “help.”

Technology

Sullivan County NY Real Estate

I got my real estate license in March 2006, so in a few months it will be eight years that I have been in this racket. And over the past few months as I approach my eighth year, I have thought about how the business has changed, and more specifically how technology has changed it.

For me the biggest change that has made it easier is GPS. When I first started, finding the homes I was showing was the biggest challenge. There is nothing that ruins your credibility more than getting lost while you have a client in your car or following you. It was the sort of thing that would get me in a panic.

And no amount of research with the available tools back then guaranteed you would find the listing. Many of the houses here in Sullivan County do not have a visible address. Or even worse the addresses have changed, and the old one is on the house. MapQuest (2006 version), the listings agents cryptic directions and a prayer was all the tools I had.

Now all the tax maps are online, and they are layered with Bing maps, so I can type in an address, see the property lines, and zoom down on the house. Then I type it into my GPS and I know EXACTLY where I am going. All the uncertainty is gone. Setting up a five home tour takes fifteen minutes, where it used to take a few hours.

Another change is being able to produce and email documents and sign them without ever having to print them out. Now of course there was fax machines when I started, but they were cumbersome, and many times a signed faxed document was not considered legal. Now I can type up a listing agreement in thirty seconds, send it to a client, who can digitally sign it, and send it back. Gone are the days of signing the listing papers at the kitchen table. In fact two of my sales in 2013, I never met the sellers until the closing.

And that is not necessarily a good thing. It's convenient to the sellers, but it is in that convenience that we lose something, and what brings me to the downside of the technology age.

Like I said I had two sales this year where I did not meet the sellers until the day we closed. And for one of them, I think I had three phone conversations with them–start to finish. Now you might be thinking, what is the problem? Well we had a tremendous amount of correspondence, it was not an easy deal, and it almost fell apart three or four times. Everything was done by text. That is the way the seller wanted it. She is a busy executive in the city, and that is how she felt comfortable communicating. I would call her with an update, and she would return the call with a text.

And now more and more it seems everything is done by text. Now I don't mind a text from an agent saying, "Go ahead show the house, the lockbox is XXXXX," or, "I'll be there in ten minutes," or even, "Any showings scheduled on my house this weekend?" All these examples make sense to me, and the technology works. But working through a negotiation entirely by text makes it much more difficult for me. There is a certain feel you get from having a conversation, and it sort of tells you which tact to take. A text tells you nothing. I liken it to playing online poker, or sitting across the table. It is a blindfold that hampers my ability.

Also a text can be sent when a phone call might be inappropriate, like late at night. Also a text conversation can drag out over a few hours. A phone call has a beginning and an end, a text conversation never really ends. It just sort of hangs out there.

I don't mind being accessible. I just am not quite comfortable with the texting nuances. Slowly my smart phone has become an appendage. I left home the other day and thought I had forgotten it. The anxious feeling I got as I frantically patted myself down was rather eye opening. It wasn't that long ago that I never left the house with a phone. Now suddenly I feel I can't live without it?

And this new communication is not going away. I am just going to have to learn to adapt. I certainly don't want to be the proverbial buggy whip maker. So please, feel free to text me as you wish.

The Vacant Second Home Syndrome

Vacanthouse I was out last weekend with a Manhattan couple who is looking for a weekend getaway, so naturally our tour included a lot of homes being sold by people who only use (or used) their houses on the weekends. One of my buyers does interior design for a hotel chain, so I spent much of the day seeing the way he perceived the houses we saw, and what his vision is. It is always fun to spend time with someone who is vastly more talented and experienced in something that you have an interest in.

At any rate, by the third house, he made a comment about how neglected the homes we were seeing seemed. The houses we were viewing were in the 250K range, so they were by no means “handyman specials”, and most had little or no obvious deferred maintenance. It was more subtle than that, but it was obvious that most of the houses we saw were no longer being utilized much–if at all.

And since his observation, I have realized that I show quite a few houses that are in this state. Many of our second home sellers here in Sullivan County are selling because they no longer use the house the way they used to. When I go on a listing appointment I hear that over and over. “The kids are growing (or have grown) and they don’t want to come upstate nearly as much.” Or “we are getting older, and the maintenance, and the Friday evening drive is getting to be too much. We just don’t use the house like we used to.”

Whatever the reason is, many times by the time they decide to sell, the home has already been underutilized. And then once it is officially on the market, many times sellers stop coming up all together. Furniture is picked over by family members. Often only the oldest and most unattractive pieces remain. And those are scattered throughout the house in a haphazard manner. Just like a “regular” vacant house, a musty, stuffy environment sort of permeates the whole structure. If it is during the winter, many times the house is winterized, and a cold house is never a good selling feature. You want a home to be inviting to a buyer, and nothing is less inviting then freezing temperatures. Rodent activity can be evident, and other nuisances like hornets nests can pop up fairly quickly.

I think this second home vacancy syndrome is pretty unique to weekend/vacation areas like ours. It is almost like a watered down foreclosure market. You have semi-forgotten under maintained inventory that ends up depreciating faster than it should, and then invariably it sells for less than it could.

And just like with foreclosures I think that there is some opportunity for buyers here. Often it takes little more than a weed-whacker, some Pine-Sol and some elbow grease to bring these homes back to life. (Of course I am oversimplifying here but you get my drift.)

And also nothing screams “relieve me of this burden” more than a house in this state. And as long as the sellers are not up against a hefty mortgage, more times than not a deal can be struck.

Firewood and Fireplaces in Sullivan County

Sullivan County Fireplace A fireplace is always pretty high up on the wish list for my clients when searching for a second home here in Sullivan County. As we all know, nothing beats a nice warm fire. The smoky smell, the crackling sound, the primeval ritual of building a fire to keep loved ones warm on a cold, snowy day. That is what gives real wood burning fireplaces their appeal.

Safety is always a concern with open, indoor fireplaces. However they are very safe, and as long as you are somewhat vigilant, and careful, there is no need for worry. Just following a few simple steps can allow you to enjoy the ambience of your fireplace with little worry.

The number one rule is keep your chimney clean. Chimney fires were the #1 cause of house fires across the country last year. And they are COMPLETLEY avoidable. Any creosote build-up over an eighth of an inch could potentially cause a fire. If you are feeling brave, you can buy a chimney sweep at any good hardware store, and do it yourself. If you are only using your fireplace on the weekends, or sparingly throughout the week, then once a year is fine. Do it when you clean the gutters in the late fall. While you are up there, check for possible cracks or general wear and tear on the chimney. Feel free to break into a line or two of Chim Chim Cher-ee, but keep the dance routine to a minimum. Remember you are on a roof.

If heights make you a bit squeamish, there are some good professional chimney cleaners in the area. Shoot me an email for a recommendation.

The type of wood you burn in the fireplace can make a big difference on the effect. If you are a serious wood burner, and order it by the cord here in Sullivan County, you are probably going to get a mix of oak, maple, with some birch and perhaps some pine as well. (The smaller bundles that you can buy at the grocery store is mostly oak or maple.) Make sure the wood as been seasoned for at least a year. Some sellers call there wood seasoned, but if it has been split this year, it won’t burn as well. Also do not store more than what you need indoors. The warmth will awake whatever little creepy crawlies were napping in the logs, and suddenly you’ll be killing a spider or two in the middle of January.

Again if you are simply going for ambience, then you can play around with the types of wood. A log or two of apple can really make your home smell great, and although pine or birch is not ideal for a woodstove, in a fireplace it gives off some nice flames, and a lot of pops and crackles from the sap.

This is a verse written sometime in the early 18th century , author unknown.

BEECHWOOD logs burn bright and clear, if the logs are kept a year.
CHESTNUT’s only good, they say If for long it’s laid away.
BIRCH and FIR logs burn too fast, blaze up bright and do not last.
ELM wood burns like a church yard mold, even the very flames are cold.
POPLAR gives a bitter smoke, fills your eyes and makes you choke.
APPLE wood will scent your room, with an incense like perfume.
OAK and MAPLE if dry and old, keep away the winter cold.
But ASH wood wet and ASH wood dry a king shall warm his slippers by.

So as we have the holidays fast approaching, now is the time to build a nice fire under the stockings, and curl up with loved ones. And since we’ve no place to go, let it snow.

Monticello Mayor in the News

Mayor Jenkins So I meant to weigh in on the Gordon Jenkins saga last week, but I didn’t get a chance to, and in the meantime, instead of this story dying, it has exploded , and the video of his drunken rantings has gone viral. It has given Monticello and Sullivan County a pretty negative fifteen minutes of fame, right at the moment when we probably needed it the least.

For the select few who do not know the story, the mayor of the capital town here in Sullivan County, Monticello, was arrested last week for driving while intoxicated. He was brought to the local police station where he was booked. While being booked, he went on a verbal tirade, rife with profanity, racial slurs, and vague, barely coherent threats towards the arresting officers. It really was a bizarre scene. Click here for the news story. If you want to sit through the entire three hours, search it on YouTube.

Apparently this is not Mayor Jenkins first run in with the law. He was arrested three years ago for selling knock off sneakers in his Broadway store and for possession of marijuana , and last year he was arrested for assaulting a Village police officer–one of his subordinates.

Most everyone now is calling for his resignation, however last report from the beleaguered mayor is that he has no plans on stepping down. So for now he will remain–a giant distraction and a negative blot on Sullivan County, only weeks after we have gotten the biggest and best news we have had in a long time.

I am not going to get into the racial argument on whether the backlash would be bigger, and the punishment swifter if Mayor Jenkins were white. Because it doesn’t matter. What does matter is Gordon Jenkins is not good for Monticello, or for Sullivan County.

Monticello has been a struggling town since I can remember. Broadway has some really nice old historic buildings, and yet 90% of them are shuttered. Forty two percent of families who live in the village are under the poverty line. To put that in perspective, Detroit has thirty-eight percent below the poverty line. Now obviously Detroit is much larger and in a completely different predicament , however it does show where our capital village is in comparison.

Another big difference Monticello has is one of the largest, (and richest) metropolises eighty nine miles to the south-east. And that city is filled with people who are just waiting for a reason to get in a car, or on a bus or train, and come to Monticello for the day, or the weekend or the summer and spend money. But right now they don’t. They drive right by. Exit 104 funnels visitors heading towards Bethel Woods, or the Chapin Estate, or numerous destinations in Western Sullivan County, right through Monticello. But what do these potential consumers see? They see broken down, abandoned buildings. They see a building complex half built, stuck in some perpetual construction zone year after year. They see a ramshackle building with a faded Johnny’s Topless Go-Go sign. Johnny’s has been closed for a decade. How hard would it be to get that sign down?

For way to long, residents of Sullivan County have looked at Monticello with an eye roll and a shoulder shrug. And that is what I am seeing with this Jenkins situation. “I don’t live in the village. “It’s not my problem.” Seems to be the sentiment.

But I think by having that attitude, we are doing a real disservice to our county. Monticello is the first impression many get when visiting Sullivan for the first time. Now many get past that by seeing what the rest of the county has to offer, but I fear that some do not get past it, and move on to a different county.

I realize the role of village mayor is somewhat limited, and that single handedly Jenkins probably could not turn around Monticello if he chose, but I (and most everyone I have spoken with) get the distinct impression that he is not trying all that hard. There is something wrong when virtually the only open store on the entire Broadway strip is owned by the mayor.

And now his clock throwing, racist rant has given our county’s capital village a black eye. He needs to go, and it needs to happen quickly. The casino referendum only states that two casinos will be placed in the “Catskill Region.” Although pundits say that our county will get at least one, why tempt fate, and make our area less desirable?

Let’s show the rest of the state (and whoever else is watching) that we are better than this YouTube snippet, and decisively relieve Gordon Jenkins of his duties, and get someone at that post who understands the problems, and wants to make a difference.

I know that there are some real good folks that are working hard to turn around Monticello and other areas of Sullivan County. The Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development is one of those entities. We need more like them.

There’s Gold in Them There Hills

blackjack So as I am sure everybody already knows, the vote to allow gambling in New York State was passed this week giving way to a flurry of exuberance around our county. The word is that we are slated to get at least one, and possibly two full fledged Vegas style casinos here in Sullivan County. I’ll spare the details, because I am sure unless you have crawled out from under a rock and went directly to my blog, you probably already know at least the basics.

I voted yes for the casino bill. Like many Sullivan County residents, I think it will be good for our area, and it will pump some much needed life into our economy. It will bring people, jobs, money and tax breaks–all good things for our area.

I must admit though there was a small part of me that wanted it not to pass. I have been working with a buyer for the past few months, who is looking for large parcels of land here in Sullivan County. He was not interested our gambling saga, or was even aware of it for that matter. He wants a few large pieces of land to use for him and a large extended family and friends–preferably something with water.

Well we found two pieces he liked. One he really liked and put in an offer. After a bit of back and forth it was accepted. This was back in August. A few weeks later he put in a second offer on the other piece. The seller of the second piece rejected the offer. The reason? His piece is twelve miles from the Concord site. Gambling may be coming. There’s gold in them there hills.

My buyer signed the contract on the first piece, and sent it back to the attorney. Where they sat and sat. Finally after a few nasty grams, we got a response. The seller no longer wished to sell at that price. The reason? His piece is TWENTY-SIX miles from the Concord site. There’s gold in everyone’s hills.

I am pretty sure had the casino deal been struck down, both these sellers would have been knocking on our door the next day. However–now property owners are going to be going to bed with visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads.

Driving up to Foxwoods this summer I was struck by the way there is nothing but woods and farmland, until you come around the bend, and this giant hotel is sticking out of the mountainside. I know that is an Indian owned casino, and a different set of circumstances, but sixteen years of that casino being there, and no giant strip malls or developments have sprung up twenty plus miles from the hotel. In fact nothing seems to have sprung up.

And further west, I am not real sure how much Mohegan Sun has helped build up Uncasville. That seems to remain a pretty quiet small town, without a whole lot to it.

“Early summer” is when we will know the sites of the first four casinos, according to Bonacic. Two are slated for the Catskill region. Ulster County is vying almost as hard for one in their county, so it would be safe to assume that we will have one casino in Sullivan County. We will know in six months where it will be, and then it will probably open sometime late 2016. Again conventional wisdom is saying the Concord site, but we are talking about some big numbers here, and there will be some back room dealings and all sorts of shenanigans going on before this thing shakes itself out.

So what will this do for our real estate market? I think for the short term it may slow it down. A brisk market can only occur when both buyer and seller feel they are getting a good deal. Now we have sellers wondering if they have already hit a jackpot.

We will see how it plays out over the next few years. However I don’t think that there is any denying that long term a casino here in Sullivan County will help our area. How much remains to be seen.

Dowsing

Last week I had a third encounter with a dowsing “practitioner” in my seven year real estate career. This time, however I made the mistake of being skeptical of a piece of wood determining a leech field location, and was met with a pretty strong reaction by the “expert.” Apparently snake oil salesmen can be a bit sensitive.

I know. Calling him a snake oil salesman is a bit much. I have no problem with dowsing and its proponents. I do have a bit of an issue though when someone is convinced of a leech field being too close to a well simply because a coat hanger or a cherry branch told them so. I mean really? And after doing a bit of research on dowsing I am satisfied my reaction was justified. Dowsing has an interesting and rich history. It just isn’t very effective in finding underground water.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with dowsing, it is a practice or “divination” where a person attempts to locate underground substances using copper or wire rods, or a Y shaped stick. Advocates claim you can discover anything from water to valuable metals to human remains with nothing more than these items. How does it work? Well that is where things get a little hazy.

There have been a lot of theories over the years as to why it works. Some believe that whatever you are attempting to find gives off some sort of corpuscle that rises from the unearthed object and enters the dowsing rod, causing it to turn or twist in the hand. Others believe it is paranormal. That something is controlling the rods, or the holder’s hand and causes it to move directly over the item that is being searched for. In the sixteenth century when everything seemed to be blamed on Satan, dowsing was considered evil, and those practicing it were determined to be witches. Even today, fundamentalist Christians call it “water witching” and say it is full blooded demonic . And that it is one of Satan’s “practical devices” used to lure people into his kingdom. I am not sure how a kid using a cherry branch to look for buried treasure will end up in an eternity of fire and brimstone, but that is an answer I probably will never be able to get.

Throughout the 19th century, dowsing made its return and by the 20th century it was a fairly popular practice in locating underground water. Entrepreneurs–who realized the overhead was small–hung a shingle and proclaimed themselves dowsing experts. Dowsing societies sprung up. However no-one could explain how or why it worked.

During the fifties and sixties several independent studies were done and all determined the same thing. Dowsing is as effective as flipping a coin. There is just no merit in the practice whatsoever. Richard Dawkins did a documentary on dowsing with a properly controlled double blind study a few years back. Again with results that dowsing simply does not work.

It is funny how heated people get on this subject however. Locally here in Sullivan County, there are some staunch advocates, and any attempt at a conversation based on science is meet with withering disapproval and the immediate label of an unbeliever.

Listen. I am all about unexplained phenomena. I would love for Roswell, and Area 51 and crop circles and dowsing to be explained by some mysterious otherworld source. The problem I have is when someone pronounces it as fact, and begins to insist that a leech field needs to be moved because a coat hanger told them so. It is on the same line of credibility as someone in a Spiderman costume exclaiming his spidey sense has told him where the septic is. We need a bit more evidence before any sort of concession is going to be made by the sellers.

Thoughts on Listing

I have written about this subject before, but I wrote about it during the VERY lean years, when a listing was almost guaranteed to sit on the market for 180 plus days, and switching real estate agents was like changing a pair of shoes. At that point I MUCH preferred to be the second (or third) listing agent. (A wise man once told me, “It’s best to be the first born, the second spouse, and the third real estate agent.”) Sellers had to marinate a bit. They needed the strangers to tromp through the house, and then not call or give vague reasons why they weren’t interested. They needed to feel the frustration of weeks without a showing, or a last minute showing cancellation. But most of all they needed the expectation of what a real estate broker does to change.

Whenever I have a conversation with a seller who’s listing has recently expired, invariably they will have a complaint about the agent. I have heard them all. Communication is a big one. Sellers just want to know that you can be reached when they want to talk. They want to know that their house, despite the fact that it is sitting stale on the market is still your number one priority, and you are beating the bushes and shouting from the rooftops for a buyer. Like any other relationship, they want to feel important and listened to. Feeling like they are not kept in the loop is a major complaint that I hear over and over.

However the number one complaint I hear is simply, “They did not sell my house.”

And then the obvious response is. “And why do you think they did not sell it.?”

The response to this question varies a bit depending on the level of frustration and knowledge in how the real estate sale business works, but again the basics of the response is, “They did not advertise it enough. They did not get it in front of the right buyer.”
So at this point the opportunity is there to differentiate oneself from the other brokers, and explain how you can do more to sell the property. And that is where it get a bit difficult.

I recently had a prospective lister refer to the real estate industry as a mafia. He did not say it with malice, he was simply saying that with the MLS, agents sort of stick together, and work together, and For Sale by Owners, and someone who would rather keep an open listing are really left out in the cold. And the price to join the club is six percent.

Now NAR is VERY sensitive about anti-trust, and there are measures in place so there is competition and fair trade. Any sort of rumor of commission rate collusion is met with abject terror and abhorrence because of the possible consequences. However I can see where someone would feel that way. Especially in a smaller community like Sullivan County, a listing is taken, the commission rate is generally somewhere between four to eight percent, it is put on the Sullivan County Multiple Listing Service. It is put on the company web site, filtered out to a bunch of real estate web sites, and then the agent waits for a bite.

So really switching brokers does not do all that much. Most agents pretty much do the same thing–at least the same thing in marketing a property. Now negotiating, picking through the mind field of inspections and appraisals and bank difficulties, and the other myriad of potential problems once a deal is struck is a completely different story. However from a pure marketing standpoint. At first glance switching brokers really does not do that much.

But there are some things that can be done differently to market a property that some local agents do not do. First and foremost I am a member of two multiple listing services. Sullivan County MLS and the Greater Hudson Valley MLS.
The Greater Hudson Valley MLS caters more to the Orange and Rockland areas of the state. It has quite a bit more members, and its listing syndication is picked up by more real estate websites than the Sullivan County MLS. For example. RE/MAX.com is the fifth most searched real estate website in the country. It does not return any search results from homes only listed in the Sullivan County MLS. I feel that it is EXTREMELY important that if you are selling a home in Sullivan County that it be listed on the Greater Hudson Valley MLS. It greatly enhances your chances of selling your house.
The other advantage I feel I have is working for a large company like Keller Williams It immediately gives me (and my inventory) an advantage. There are close to one hundred agents in my office. Now true, most are down state Orange and Rockland (and some Ulster) agents, however, that sphere of influence is huge. More than half of my business in 2012 was colleague referrals. Keller Williams just opened a huge office on Park Ave. Guess where all those buyers who looking for upstate getaways are being sent?

Six of the properties I listed and sold this year were previously listed with other agents. Now there were price drops, and other changes made to some of these listings to make them more attractive to buyers, however a few sold simply because they were marketed aggressively and correctly. Selling real estate is not rocket science. Sometimes it is just the guy who has climbed the highest tree and is yelling the loudest.

Recent Break-ins

One of the many attractive things for second home owners about the northern and western area of Sullivan County is that it is safe. Crime in general is low and burglaries are few and far between. In fact in recent years, it was not uncommon to call for a showing and be told that the back door is unlocked, or there is a key under the mat.

That is why over the past year or so, as I have heard more stories about break-ins, and burglaries it is a bit disconcerting. Earlier this summer we had these three dim-wits on a burglary spree. In true “Wet Bandit” style though, they left a puddle of oil in each driveway of the homes they burglarized. (Car maintenance is far less important than meth for some folks). So they were apprehended fairly quickly, and their crimes were solved.

Second homes are especially vulnerable, not only because they are vacant more often, but because many are secluded, making it easier for break-ins to go undetected.

Now for most–if not all–local break-ins, I think that we are dealing with the puddle-in-the-driveway level of intelligence. Thankfully Bill Mason, or the Hillside Gang is not on the loose along the river corridor, so a few preventative measures should thwart most attempts, and discourage the rest from even trying.

The simplest and most obvious solution is to install a burglar alarm. P and N Alarm is the largest local company. You can get a number of different packages from them including the top of the line with all the bells and whistles, (which summons a cop to your front door when the alarm is tripped). I have had really mixed reviews from buyers who have chosen full service alarms systems. Some love them, but others tell me they get tripped by accident, or have false alarms for no apparent reason. Also the cost of a full service alarm system can deter some.

Then there is the do it yourself alarm/monitoring system. And with technology the way it is today, this is the way more and more people are going iSmart is a do it yourself alarm and monitoring system that can be controlled by your phone, Alarm.com is along those same lines with a bunch more cool features. If you have cell service at your Sullivan County second home, then you have a bunch of options. If not, there are still some other options, including an alarm system that will call you from your house phone should a door or window open. This DIY site as some pretty inventive and fairly inexpensive home security products.

However one of the best ways to ensure the safety of your second home is get to know your neighbors. Stop by with a dozen assorted from Ess-a or Terrace, or bring some other goodie that is tough to get here in Sullivan County. Even if you neighbor can’t see your house, they would be able to watch the driveway, and could alert you or the authorities of anything odd. Most people would be happy to do this.

And if you do nothing else, buy a sticker that says you have an alarm. They cost less than ten dollars and will deter 99 percent of the knuckleheads who may be tempted to break into your country home.

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