I just had a client go to contract on a new, and very nice, apartment. The location is great, the finishes are great, and the reputation of the builder is great, making it likely that the home that gets delivered is the same as the home that was promised -- a bit of a rarity these days.

Also, there's a television embedded in the bathroom mirror.

My client thinks that's a little silly -- it is a little silly -- but it was a signature touch by the developers to show off how "fresh" the building is.  more...

When I first got into this business, all the "old" brokers I met told me that real estate was in the throes of monumental change. They had made their money, they said, by having control of their listings, and the Internet was revolutionizing that. They were no longer the monopolizers, or even the gatekeepers, of information. The new buzzword, they said, was "service."  more...

I don't sell mobile homes, but I could if I wanted to.

That's one of the many takeaways from my 22.5 hours of continuing education, required by New York State every two years to renew my real estate agent's license. I was initially licensed in New Jersey, where standards are rigorous, so my first training in New York felt laughably easy.

Now, two years later, it feels laughably irrelevant.  more...