Wow, it really had been some week, first my computer gets some bug, causing a relatively small problem(which I turned into a large one!). I could not connect to my wi-fi network. Well after much frustration on my own then two hours of frustration on the phone with a Sony tech person, I was told I had a corrupted program. So in my daze of technology overload, I agreed to remove the OS and replace it, thinking I had backed up most of the important stuff! Well I hadn't! Oh well....sigh. My Blackberry also started getting all buggy and even with a 8 gig card still refused to save numbers called. My new OS refuses to allow me to download Quick books(of course the error message appears seconds before final completion), hmm what else? Oh yeah, played the worst round of golf in 5 years! Yes I can shrug all this off and actually have learned from it all. (I was told that Mercury is in heavy retrograde and this could be "fuel" for some of this fire).
Well "Whats Going On?" Also refers to this seemingly bull market rally we are having, are we turning a corner here, should all available funds be invested? "Invest now or be priced out forever?" I wish I knew, if I did I would be writing this blog from my house overlooking the Pacific ocean in Costa Rica. But my feeling is that we are rising to fast on nothing that I would consider solid. So be prepared for an equally convincing retreat when everyone wakes up all hungover and says, "Why did I do that last night?".
Now regarding Real Estate, "Buy now or be priced out forever!" Open house traffic is booming! OK, only kidding...sort of. Well I had my first open house on a property for sale last Sunday (been well over a year since the last one) and it was BUSY! As I got situated in the apartment, put out my "sign in please" and show sheets etc..I wondered if anyone would show up? When I played music I also felt this way about an hour before the doors opened....anyone coming? There were also 3 other open houses going on that day in the building. Well I was slammed! starting about 20 minutes after "doors opened" I was entertaining customers non-stop! I had over 15 unique visitors(well over 25 when counting couples, friends, brokers), pretty good for a property that has been on the market since last November. But listing a property last November was suicide! Even in a good market I advise owners against this(if they can wait) and we all know November had all the overtones of a funeral. I am feeling a tad bit optimistic though and I truly feel this property offers good value and is priced appropriately. If I didn't I would not have taken the listing.
There were certainly a few curiosity seekers, people looking to see just what has transpired over the past year. But most seemed like "real" buyers, asking the right questions, wanting to see the rest of the building. I countered some with questions of my own, most were currently renting and are excited to finally be in a position to buy. Many had felt bad that they had not bought a few years ago and now suddenly felt smart (or just lucky). Overall though,the tone is very cautious and somewhat critical. I will be following up via e-mail or with a phone call today or tomorrow(today I am swamped!) to see what people are thinking, because quite a few seemed very interested. The property in question is a large alcove studio in a doorman building on 12th Street between 5th and 6th avenue. This could easily be reconfigured into a one bedroom which would add significant appeal and value. So lets see, time will tell...I do have 3 showings today and two scheduled for Thursday.
It would also appear that listing with a small boutique brokerage firm (the burkhardt group) has zero downside, thanks to the Internet, everyone (brokers included) are calling for appointments! We were as busy, if not busier than some of the other larger firms representing apartments in the building! Paying a large firm 6% does not guarantee a sale or any better visibility or service than you can get from us! I think we do it better!
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