Author Archives: david_siroty

Pharrell Williams on the Move

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pharrell Pharrell Williams on the Move

Pharrell & I at his charity event.

I was thrilled to see that the music icon Pharrell Williams has agreed to work with Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg, known as “The Jills” and the top selling team in the entire Coldwell Banker brand. The Jills are amazing people and so is Pharrell.

I met Pharrell last year at a charity event he hosted with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. The event was held at another upscale home listed by the Jills with Coldwell Banker Previews International. I don’t usually get to attend star-studded events but was really impressed with Pharrell and Soledad’s commitment to helping young women.

Pharrell was warm and engaging and spent quality time with just about every guest. He spoke with me, the Jills and other colleagues about his desire to eventually move from downtown Miami to a more residential neighborhood where his son could grow up, attend a good school and participate in traditional suburban activities.

Pharrell is a star having accomplished so much already in his musical career as a singer, composer and producer. And that night he played the celebrity role as a gracious host. But for a few minutes that night when we spoke, he was a “regular” person who talked about homeownership like we all do.

While obviously concerned about the financial aspect of selling his home and where prices were headed, he was more concerned about the lifestyle that a new home could provide for his wife and son. He asked Jill and Jill about different communities in Miami, about public and private schools, commutes and other traditional amenities. He was curious, attentive and took it all in. He made a wise choice in choosing to work with the Jills.

Having started my career in the college sports world, I have had the pleasure of having prominent sports stars as friends. Sure they are asked for autographs, treated differently than most of us and they made more money than I probably ever will, but they are also regular people when the lights aren’t on. For that one night in Miami, I will always remember Pharrell not as a cultural icon, but as a regular guy thinking about selling his home (above) and buying a new one that would better meet the needs of his family.

He was doing it for lifestyle, not money. Good luck in your move Pharrell!

2012 Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report

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How did this happen? It’s a question I often ask myself. I am a lucky guy. I look back often at how far I’ve come in life and am amazed at how things have turned out. I’ve got a great wife, two amazing boys (and a dog), a job I enjoy and a home we love.

I’ve come a long way from my first $200 a month apartment in Providence, RI, that was home to a menagerie of insects that the landlord couldn’t get rid of. After that, it was a return to mom and dad’s for a while, then back to renting with roommates until meeting my wife. We bought our home in 1997 and recently completed an addition, so now it’s four bedrooms and 2 baths. It’s modest, but at the same time, it’s a dream house, an aspiration that I never thought I would achieve.

Even though we are not planning to move and quite frankly hope we never have to, I routinely wonder what my house would cost in other places. Since I travel some for work, I am lucky to see different parts of the country and always enjoy learning how our 4 bed/2 bath home would compare in cost around the nation.

In preparing for today’s launch of the Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report, I recently visited Los Altos, CA, the most expensive market in the nation where such a home might cost more than $1.7 million. The findings of the HLR made me feel pretty good! A house like ours in Westfield, NJ, would be a steal at $ $726,974.

But when I visited Kansas City ($134,086), Houston ($178,881), Nashville ($215,135)? Oops. I didn’t feel so hot. But I did start thinking what I might do with an extra $500K or so.

Working in real estate, I am keenly aware of the multitude of housing studies that exist. The National Association of Realtors has a few. Case Schiller. CoreLogic. Throw in our own “Best Places to Live” series or similar ones like Money Magazine’s and there is no doubt you could swim in data for days.
Most use “median” home prices. I know the definition of median is the halfway point on a list, but how does that compute to a home? I’ve never been able to go from community to community and see actual median homes.

But that’s the beauty of the HLR. In over 2500 markets, we get a glimpse of what the same type of home would cost. You can use it for fun. Florida fans might cheer, “Our homes are cheaper than yours!” when they meet arch-rival Florida State – Gainesville ($225,991) vs. Tallahassee ($231,555).

You can use the HLR to compare home prices around the nation like I do or you can use it to dream about what it would be like to live someplace else. The HLR gives you insight, great insight. The HLR also has incredible practical purposes especially for those contemplating a move or in the relocation process.

I think of a friend who was moving from Bentonville, Ark. ($235,312) to the Silicon Valley where Los Altos is. She knew the cost of living would be more, but I’m not sure she knew it might be THAT much more, possibly a whopping $1.5 million for this type of home.

Take a look at this year’s HLR Most Expensive And Affordable Places Infographic to learn who inhabits America’s most expensive and affordable cities:

HLR Info 2012 Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report

Click to Enlarge

 

However you use the HLR I hope you find the study valuable. Coldwell Banker Real Estate has been doing this type of survey this since the early 1980s and it’s one of my favorite projects of the year. Enjoy!

Sandy Aftermath: The Road To Recovery Starts with Community

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Headline Image: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

When you think of homeownership, we all naturally think of individual homes and the families who live in them.  But homeownership is also about community.  And in times of stress, including natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, we really get a glimpse of what a community is all about.  The storm was devastating in the Northeast and most in the region dealt with loss in some form.  It might have been a minor nuisance like no cable and wifi all the way to a week-plus with no power and heat.  In those communities you saw neighbors helping each other, those “with” opening their homes to those “without.”  Common random acts of kindness include generator sharing, makeshift charging stations in drive ways and neighbors waiting in hour long lines just to fill up a five gallon gas can for one another.

pp Sandy Aftermath: The Road To Recovery Starts with Community

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger

And in those areas where the devastation was greater and life altering, communities responded with incredible efforts.  Neighbors helping neighbors remove sea-water soaked furniture, rugs, appliances and so much more while insurance and FEMA claims were being made.  We should all be fans of the undefeated Point Pleasant Beach high school football team, with no games to play, met as a team to go home to home to help remove as much as they could.  Known as the “The Beach,” these youngsters are heroes.

movienight Sandy Aftermath: The Road To Recovery Starts with Community

And there was Matthew Andras, another Jersey shore resident, who offered his damaged neighborhood a stress-reducing Movie Night with his generator powering a TV, DVD player and sound system.Read More.

emt Sandy Aftermath: The Road To Recovery Starts with Community

Express-Times Photo | SUE BEYER

Utility workers, police officers, firefighters, the National Guard and EMTs have worked around the clock saving lives and offering comfort for people in their community. Easton, PA’s Jack Vaughn was a recipient.  Needing a heart transplant, a match was found in Philadelphia just as the storm hit.  Two EMTs, who has already worked a 12-hour shift, got him to Philly despite the pounding winds, driving rain and flying debris.  Read more.

pet Sandy Aftermath: The Road To Recovery Starts with Community

There are countless local businesses helping. Free restaurant meals, veterinarians offering free physical exams and other examples are routine, the examples are in the hundreds

And many in the Coldwell Banker family have stepped as well. Efforts have included food and clothing donations, hours of volunteering and much more.

And then there was Bob Rich, owner of Coldwell Banker James C. Otton Real Estate which operates on the southern Jersey Shore, who saw much of his business ruined.  Two of his five offices, which had recently undergone beautiful renovations, were devasted by to the storm.  But that did not stop Bob.  He learned from northern neighbor Jim Flanagan of Coldwell Banker Flanagan Realty that the Toms River shelter, which was housing displaced residents from the hard-hit Long Beach Island and Seaside Heights, needed immediate supplies.  Bob and his wife Josee rushed to his nearby Walmart and purchased thousands of dollars worth of required water, pet food and diapers which he delivered to Jim and the shelter.

The words “home” and “community” have no doubt changed for the millions who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The compassion that we are witnessing each and every day is something that we will never forget and will be what helps so many through this very difficult time.

 Let us know what you are doing to help!

The Solution to the Go Play Outside Problem at Home

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“Go outside!”

That is a statement, plea and often times downright beg that parents for generations have said to their kids.  Yesterday in New Jersey was one of those late summer/early fall days that you love.  Sunny, not too hot, a bit breezy.  Outside weather.

While I challenged my boys to play go outside and play, I realized that as a kid I did the same thing.  I wanted to play inside, unless of course, I, not my parents, made the decision to go outside.  Back then it was Pong and Atari that had me enthralled, along with nine TV channels (if the rabbit ears worked …and that included PBS).

So why do kids have the natural tendency to want to play inside?  I thought about it some.

My answer is that we love our homes and do everything we can to make them warm, inviting and fun.  Media rooms, TVs that are now bigger than people with hundreds of channels and tons of OnDemand options, couches that engulf you, Wii, Xbox.  It goes on and on and we want it all.  For inside!

But outside?  Outside of an occasional pool or trampoline in the neighborhood and basketball hoop in the driveway, we haven’t made that same investment.

There has to be an answer. So look what I found.  It already exists.  An outdoor, weatherproof TV!

This is a solution to a number of problems and a way to get your kids outdoors more often. And potentially even get them more active. So here are my suggestion to the future of outside:

  • Get a weatherproof TV for your outdoor patio or deck
  • Go with basic cable out there to limit the viewing options. Definitely no Netflix or other movie options.
  • Remove any comfortable furniture so kids won’t just lounge on the couch to watch something.
  • Hook up the Wii or XBox Kinect and get some active games to guarantee some movement

Soon all of the kids in the neighborhood will be enjoying a Dance Dance Revolution tournament in your backyard. And you’re instantly upgraded to the coolest house on the block status.

 

Image courtesy of SunbriteTV

The Most Overlooked Question in Real Estate

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Real estate agents are used to getting questions about their local market.  Most are routine.  What’s the market like?  What are prices doing?  Should I buy now?  Sell now?

But for years I have been amazed that not much attention is paid to how long a home for sale stays on the market.  This stat spotlights the push/pull of supply and demand, along with the pricing and marketability of the home.  It’s a great way to gauge the vibrancy of a local market.

The National Association of Realtors just reported that that the median time to sell homes in the U.S. had dropped nearly 30% from a year ago from 98 to 69 days…

So it was interesting to look at this Sunday’s New York Times to see how quickly a sampling of homes was selling in the NYC metropolitan area.

I love this section.  Not only do you get a weekly roundup of 28 homes that sold throughout the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, but you get a look at how long it took it took to sell a home and how much it was originally listed for.

The average amount of time it took to sell this week’s 28 listings of all sizes, shapes and prices was 11.2 weeks – 77 days.  But that includes the four in Westchester/Putnam counties (none handled by Coldwell Banker) that totaled 95 weeks or 166 days for each.

One home that caught my eye was 2 Leahs Court in Smithtown, NY.  It sold for $830,000 and Ronni Tranes of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage worked with the buyer.  This 14-year-old, 5 bedroom/3 ½ bath home was on the market a couple of years ago before the owner decided not to sell.  This time it lasted just 5 weeks on the market and had multiple bids. I asked Ronni to elaborate on why this home sold in half the time of the national average.

“It’s all about pricing and the upkeep of the home,” she said.  “It was priced competitively this time at $799,000 and there were multiple bids.  While I didn’t list the home, I know the owner had a much clearer understanding of today’s prices after relisting. Smithtown is an area where the majority of homes were built in the 1960’s and ‘70’s so a newer construction like this with modern amenities like higher ceilings is in demand.  The older homes that have been kept up are also selling quickly too.  But they have to be priced right.

“The time on market stat is important since it does show what types of homes, both in price and style, are in demand.  In our case, it is a great confidence boost to both buyers and sellers.  Buyers get a sense that homes are selling, things are improving and they shouldn’t wait to time the market.  And sellers obviously gain a greater understanding that buyers are out there and they can put their homes on the market and find success.”

So when you look at recent home sales in your local market,  I hope you join me in taking a long look at time on market. It can tell you a lot.

 

Question mark image courtesy of Flickr user Colin_K

Monster of the Midway Joins Big Blue

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desmond clark1 Monster of the Midway Joins Big Blue

Former Chicago Bears TE, Desmond Clark, joins Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicago.

Desmond Clark sat in the front of a large meeting room last week listening intently and taking notes.  But this meeting was far different from those he attended during his 12 year NFL career, most recently as the tight end of the Chicago Bears.  While his former teammates were gathering for the first day of training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL, last Tuesday, Desmond was well on his way to learning a new craft as a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Libertyville, IL.

I’ve met a lot of professional athletes, both during and after their playing careers, and Desmond immediately jumped to the top of the list of one’s I most admire.  He is polite, thoughtful, inquisitive and eager to embrace his new career.   We spoke at the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Expo outside of Chicago.

“I was always very active in the community during my playing career and really enjoy being around people,” Desmond told me.  “My girlfriend Maria has been with Coldwell Banker for a while and it seemed like a great idea to join her and help build a real estate team.  I’ve got a weekend radio show and also my 88Wayz Youth Organization that helps kids reach their potential.  Now becoming a real estate professional adds to work that I absolutely love to do.”

“I’ve got a lot to learn in real estate and so many in Coldwell Banker have been receptive to helping me.  My office manager Bob Ott has been great and I’m just a sponge soaking it all in.”

Desmond knows that he has to build a base of prospective clients and will reach out to his former Bears teammates, but he knows his football fame isn’t the only answer.

“I know what playing for the Bears means in the Chicago area, but I’m going to have to work at it very hard” he said.  “And I’m looking forward to the challenge.  Being in real estate really let’s me do what I love and that is being around people.  That along with the opportunity to grow our business is very appealing.”

Desmond and I also debated the merits of the NCAA’s penalties against Penn State and shared a view I hadn’t heard before.

“Of course we all feel horrible for the victims and something had to be done, but all the NCAA did was hurt more innocent victims,” he said.  “The current Penn State players did nothing wrong.  They love their school and many have wanted to go there since they were little kids.  “The penalty should reflect on the leadership of the university and those that participated in the acts or the cover up of the acts alone. Fines for the university, mandatory overhaul of top leadership, and some sort of programming and oversight to change the culture and promote healing surrounding the acts that led to this horrible situation would have been in order. But to penalize the innocent, you’re only causing more unnecessary hurt.”

He’s a thoughtful guy and a good guy.  All of us at Coldwell Banker wish Desmond and Maria the best of luck.

Best Places to Live for Social Seekers

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I grew up in Randolph, NJ and now reside with my wife and two boys in Westfield, about 35 minutes away.  But the difference can be measured by far more than distance.  Westfield is closer to New York City, has a thriving downtown scene filled with restaurants, stores and greater sense of community.

Recognizing that we buy and sell homes because of life events and lifestyle needs, we wanted to go in-depth into the abundant choices we have in the U.S. of places we can call home.   We set out on an exhaustive journey to uncover the Best Places to Live…Coldwell Banker style.  Today we launch a five-part series in partnership with Onboard Informatics, ranking the top places for lifestyle categories: Social Seekers, Suburbanites, Adventurers, Leisure Lovers and Culture Cravers.  We have no doubt that you will fit into at least one of these categories and will be fascinated with the results.

We start with Best Places to Live for Social Seekers, which ranks places which are perfect for the hip, trendy and fun at heart – those who would rather go out than stay home any night of the week. The list was compiled based on a range of attributes such as, access to public transportation, high volume of bars and restaurants, happening nightlife and great entertainment.

So while I’m clearly not a Social Seeker at this point in my life (OK maybe I never was or will be), I still had fun looking at the list and living vicariously through those who take advantage of restaurants, nightlife and the like.

Obviously it’s not a surprise that Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago, LA and Seattle headline the chart.  But after that, it sure does become interesting with most of the top 200 towns on the list being clustered within 29 major metropolitan areas.   Guess what New Jersey?  We had 40 towns near the Big Apple on the top 200 list compared to 15 nearby New York communities.  And in the DC region, it’s Maryland 19-Virginia 14!

Along with the major markets, college towns also dot the top of the list – and I’ve been to them all:  Madison, WI, Ames, IA, Ann Arbor, MI, Austin, TX, Boulder, CO, Iowa City, IA and Ithaca, NY.

We sliced and diced the Best Places to Live in so many unique ways, including rankings by state, and I encourage you to visit bestplaces.coldwellbanker.com. We also had some additional fun looking a bit deeper into the top 10 national markets with a new infographic.

Social Seekers 570px Best Places to Live for Social Seekers

Best Places to Live for Social Seekers

 

And there is much more to come throughout the year in our Coldwell Banker Best Places to Live series.  Here is what is coming up:

Suburbanites
Trading nightlife for nights-in, this group is ready to settle down. A feeling of community is very important to them, and they want to be close to schools, parks and shopping.

Adventurers
Whether young in age or young at heart, adventure-seekers are always looking for the next rock to climb and trail to discover.

Leisure Lovers
For some people, nothing beats a little R&R. They give high marks to places and spaces requiring little or no maintenance, and love lazy-days where they can live the life of leisure.

Culture Cravers
From festivals to music venues, this group immerses themselves in culture.  They value art, museums and architecture, and look for a “melting pot” of opportunities.

Join the conversation about this exciting series on Twitter using hashtag #bestplacestolive

4 Homes with a Breeze to Beat the Summer Heat

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If you are one of the 50 million Americans currently embroiled in the heat wave, we feel for you.  And don’t worry, those of us on the East Coast are supposed to join the fun tomorrow!

When temperatures reach into the 100s and the air becomes stifling and still, we all beg for a breeze.  Just a whiff of wind to move things around and give us a moment or two of minor relief.  I remember as a kid in summer camp, a counselor once told me that if you imagine the wind is blowing cool air, your brain will be tricked and you will cool off.  I’m sure he told me that because I was probably whining a lot, but to this day, I always find myself thinking cool thoughts on a hot day.

I figured it would be a good time to look for homes on coldwellbanker.com that might offer a breeze.  In fact, there are 1062 properties on the site with the word “breeze” in the property description and another 141 where “breezy” is used.

Using my counselor’s advice, I figured it couldn’t hurt try to cool off by showcasing some of these properties.

 

Waterfront Living Without the Sand

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mercerisland Waterfront Living Without the Sand

A Waterfront Home in Mercer Island, WA

Living in New Jersey, the common pre-weekend summer refrain is, “are you going to the Shore?”  For those who only know NJ through the eyes of Newark Airport, we do have miles and miles of great beaches!  Yet not everyone in the “The Garden State” grew up at the Shore.  In fact, we gave some great lakes include Shongum Lake in my childhood hometown of Randolph.

This time of year we are always reminded of what it would be like to live on/near the water.  And since not every community has the Atlantic or Pacific in the backyard I wanted to check out some great waterfront homes that don’t have force you to track sand back into your car.  I found this one, which could be the ultimate “not-at-the-Shore” waterfront home in Mercer Island, Wash.  But that’s not all:

And, of course, we cannot forget the pool.  There are more than 43,000 homes on coldwellbanker.com for sale with pools, but unfortunately none come with the “floating basketball hoop” like the one played we played on for hours at the Yazdan’s while growing up.

If you survived without the Shore, I’d love to hear about your memories “on the water.”

What the Economists Are Missing in the Real Estate Market

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What's missing from economists view of real estate?

If you have been following the news, you know the economy is getting better, unemployment rates are improving ever so slightly, consumers are spending a bit more while not going overboard and consumer confidence is improving.

And you are hearing many point out that the above factors are having an impact on housing. How much? A lot according to economists and those who study such things. But I noticed something yesterday that I find quite interesting.

I had the opportunity to visit Mississagua, Ontario, for the 2012 Coldwell Banker Broker Retreat and Economic Summit. Not the sexiest name I know, but still a pretty interesting event. The day started with a panel of four of the top economist in Canada speaking about the country’s economy and housing market.

Not only did I survive the session and avalanche of charts, but I actually liked it. Learned more than I ever did including how what’s happening in “Euroland” has an impact on the U.S. and Canadian economies. What global factors impact mortgage rates and how natural resources are keeping the Canadian economy strong as emerging markets and China have a strong demand. For almost two hours, the economists shared a ton in a way we could all understand.

But they did not talk about human nature. Nor emotion. Nor life events. The true reasons why people buy and sell homes.

I doubt there is anyone around who is weighing the decision to buy or sell today based on decisions the Italian or Greek government is making today. But clearly as economists study their potential ramifications and journalists cover that and other economic trends, let’s take it with a grain of salt.

No chart, number, stat or theory matters. We each have our own value system that is more important. And how each of us reacts in buying and selling a home is what really should be talked about.

It’s time for the numbers people to take a backseat to those of us defined by more than charts and graphs.