Hudson Valley Happenings Blog : March 2009

Attention Orange County NY Area Bride's To Be..... 

Meet me at the Free Bridal Fair at

Tiffany's Catering in

the Holiday Inn
at 68 Crystal Run Road,

Middletown NY.

Today, March 29, 2009,

from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  

Many prizes will be awarded

You will be able to find all the services you need to make your wedding memorable.  You can also visit my booth where I will be promoting using your wedding to help provide the down payment for your first home.  Did you know you could ask your guests for cash presents and put them in a dedicated account to be used as a down payment and or closing costs?  This year there are so many great incentives to buy your first home.  Interest rates are low, inventory is high, and there are several grant programs that you may qualify for including the $8000 tax credit if you purchase before Dec. 1 and meet the income guidelines.  There are also some saving club programs that can get you as much as $7500 in $4 to $1 matching funds for your savings.  

I know one lucky young couple who is closing on their own home next week who I met at a Bridal Fair last year.  Hey you have to live somewhere so you might as well be putting your money into your own home if you can.  Stop and visit or give me a call for more information on how to use your wedding gifts to help buy your first home.

If you are looking to buy in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would love to be your Buyer's Agent.  If you live anywhere else in the world I can find you a great agent to help you where you want to live.  Good luck to you as you plan your wedding and your future life together.

Attention Greater Hudson Valley Of NY Area Bride's To Be.....

You are invited to attend a Free Bridal Expo at

Colden Manor At Spruce Lodge 

619 ROUTE 17K,  MONTGOMERY, NY.

Today, March 25, 2009,

from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM.  

Many prizes will be awarded including 3 Free Honeymoons

click here to register or just come

While you are there please stop and visit my booth where I will be promoting using your wedding to help provide the down payment for your first home.  Did you know you could ask your guests for cash presents and put them in a dedicated account to be used as a down payment and or closing costs?  This year there are so many great incentives to buy your first home.  Interest rates are low, inventory is high, and there are several grant programs that you may qualify for including the $8000 tax credit if you purchase before Dec. 1 and meet the income guidelines.  There are also some saving club programs that can get you as much as $7500 in $4 to $1 matching funds for your savings.  

I know one lucky young couple who is closing on their own home next week who I met at a Bridal Fair last year.  Hey you have to live somewhere so you might as well be putting your money into your own home if you can.  Stop and visit or give me a call for more information on how to use your wedding gifts to help buy your first home.

If you are looking to buy in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would love to be your Buyer's Agent.  If you live anywhere else in the world I can find you a great agent to help you where you want to live.  Good luck to you as you plan your wedding and your future life together.

I am seeing a huge increase in inquires about my services as a Real Estate Buyer's Agent lately.  It seems people are starting to understand the value of this service.  What exactly can I do for the a potential home buyer?  

As A Real Estate Buyer's Agent I Provide All Star Service!

As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I can provide full service, start to finish assistance to you.  I have worked with buyers who are ready to buy that day and others who need time to save or correct credit issues.  I will provide you with the information resources you need to get to your goal.


As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I will help you to narrow your search to the location and type of home that best fits your needs.  I have no stake in selling any one particular house to you.  If you are dealing with the listing agent their first obligation is to try to sell you the house they have listed which may not be the right house for you. 



As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I can give you my opinions of value and point out things you may have missed in your excitement of exploring a house you like.




As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I will be there with you through the negotiation process.  Even in this buyer's market negotiations can be drawn out and tricky.  




As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I will be with you during your home inspection.  This can be a scary stressful time hoping that the house you love will pass muster, it is nice to have someone along for the inspection that can help put the inspectors findings in perspective.



As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I will work with your attorney, mortgage company, appraiser, and anyone else involved in the transaction to make sure the house purchase moves forward and closes.



As a Real Estate Buyer's Agent, I will be here after the sale to cheer on your home improvements (please send me your before and after pictures) and to answer any questions you may have even after you have bought the house.  If I don't know the answer I will find you someone who does.


If you are thinking about buying a house or any real estate, for that matter, you should be using a Real Estate Buyer's Agent.  If you are looking in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would love to be your agent.  If you are looking elsewhere I can find you a Real Estate Buyer's Agent where you want to be.  Send me an email or call me today!

It is affectionately called "Hell Week" by the cast, crew, and parents who need to transport them.  I refer to the week leading up to the performances of Pine Bush High School's musical.  These kids put in countless hours preparing for the musical at Pine Bush High School.  As one of those parents, I feel like I have spent countless hours waiting to pick my daughter up from the evening and weekend rehearsals.  Last night we rolled into our driveway at 10:50 PM.

This year they will be performing "Footloose".  Tonight is the final dress rehearsal and a treat for senior citizens in the area, Pine Bush area senior citizens are invited to attend "Dinner and a Show"  For one price (free this year!) they get a meal and some great fun before having the advantage of a sneak preview of the weekend performances.  As a member of FAME (Families Assisting Music Education), I will be there selling raffle tickets for some great prizes. All money collected goes to support music programs and scholarships for graduating students who have been active in the music programs through the years at school.  I am looking forward to it.

If you would like to see the Pine Bush High School production of "Footloose" you can choose from the opening night performance at 8:00 PM this Friday March 20 or one of the two Saturday March 21st performances at 2:00 PM or 8:00 PM.  I am sure we are in for a treat. Who knows maybe Kevin Bacon (who I am told lives in the area) will stop by for a surprise.  That would be interesting wouldn't it???

The Pine Bush High School is located on Route 302, Pine Bush NY.  The school provides a great variety of programs to help students grow in whatever direction they would like including the arts, vocational programs, business, law and leadership, sciences, sports, and many other programs.  It you are looking for a new place to call home that cares about kids this might be the place. Contact me to start your search today.  

I am your Buyer's Agent and sometimes I have to tell you things you may not want to hear.  Yes, you may get angry because I will point out things that you may have overlooked in your excitement about a property.  You may be disappointed because I tell you that you probably can't afford the property with the improvements you will have to make to it to make it acceptable to you.  You may even want to "fire" me because I appear to be standing in your way rather than helping you out.  But as your agent I promise I will try my best to help you buy what you can afford and be comfortable in.  Honestly, as hard as this may be to believe, I would rather make less money than assist someone to purchase the wrong property.

I know that there may be agents out there who won't stand up for you even if it means standing in your way or cutting their commission by urging you to purchase a more affordable house.  I know that you can find someone who will do exactly what you think you want them to but they are not really acting in your best interests when they allow you to move forward on properties that may be wrong for you. At least take the time to listen to my council and consider the options.  If you truly feel that you are set on your course I will help you but remember I do this for a living.  I can most likely establish a current market value on a property for you that will be close to the actual value of the property.  I can find you properties that match your wants and needs rather than you needing to search every available Internet source.  (This by the way can create a lot of extra work for both of us as I need to follow up on all of your prospects and I often find that they are either no longer available or have a glaring problem that you will not deal with.)  

When you hire a Buyer's Agent you should be getting someone who will research, make phone calls, view properties with you, and provide you with council.  If you have been working with an agent who said "Call me when you are ready to write an offer" and wants you to do all the legwork then you are not working with a good Buyer's Agent. You may need to reconsider your choice of agent.

If you are looking to buy a home in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan Counties of the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would love to be your Buyer's Agent.  If you are thinking about getting buying property anywhere else I can refer you to an agent where you are.  

I am Here to Help You!

I was reading a blog post by my friend Cherimie Crane about an encounter with a buyer who made her so uncomfortable with his request that she walked away rather than take a chance and I applaud her stand and decision.  It got me to thinking that perhaps buyers and sellers, in general, are unaware that there are things we, as real estate professionals, can't do or we may endanger our livelihood.


Did you know that there are things that I can not tell you because they would be in violation of Fair Housing Laws and I could lose my license to sell real estate?  Sometimes buyers want to know about schools, neighborhoods, neighbors, or a host of other things that I am prevented by law and, often, by my conscience to reveal.  

I have buyers ask me things all the time that I can not answer.  Sometimes the questions make me feel that I don't want to work with the buyer because they show prejudices that I can't abide. Sometimes they make me wish I could just blurt out the information and save time and coaching the buyer on where and how to get the information they seek.  Sometimes I just want to say "Are you serious? Look at this neighborhood there is a reason such a nice house is soooo inexpensive."  But I can't.  I am not allowed to send you towards or away from any neighborhood.  I will not risk my license and I sure as heck won't help if you are asking me to help you steer clear of any group or groups of people.

Of course I have opinions about schools but I can not give them to you.  I always tell buyers that it is the parents that set the tone for education.  I have seen good results from school many people think are undesirable and I have seen horrible results from the "Best" schools.  If you are thinking of resale value remember that by the time you are ready to sell the school may be totally changed.  For school district information I send my buyers to the NY State Report Card and tell them to speak with people in the district about the schools.  

When asked about neighborhoods I am also unable to push you in one direction or the other.  Look around the areas you are searching and decide for yourself.  Talk to the police, the residents of the area, and visit it at different times of the day and night to make sure it is where you want to be.  Please use common sense.

Finally, if you are trying to stay away from any people that you have prejudices against please find someone else to help you.  I, like Cherimie, judge people on their actions and personalities as individuals and will not tolerate hatred in any form!

I hope this helps you to understand why sometimes, as a real estate professional, I am not able to answer your questions directly but have to provide you with the resources to find out the information on your own.  It is not that I don't want to help (except in the case of personal biases that are discriminatory) it is that my hands are tied by laws that protect you from being discriminated against.