MARKET UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2023
Other than Pasta Bolognese, my favorite Italian meal is Spaghetti alla Carbonara. When prepared correctly, it’s decadent- silken noodles coated in a rich, creamy cheese sauce with whispers of bacon. There are really only six ingredients and it takes almost no time to make- the secret is in the preparation. Several years ago, I was […]
NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2023
Do you hear that mariachi band playing in the background? No? Well, neither do I. I was supposed to be writing my year-end newsletter while lying poolside in Mexico but, instead, I found myself stranded at JFK for twelve hours struggling to get back to Rochester after an airline snafu. It was an unusual way […]
MARKET UPDATE – NOVEMBER 2022
Much like the Deutsche Bahn (the national railroad of Germany) or Taylor Swift’s remarkable talent for releasing an album that sounds exactly like her previous release, Jerome Powell delivered an interest rate hike this past week- exactly on time, as expected. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve and his buds on the Federal Open Market […]
MARKET UPDATE – OCTOBER 2022
It might as well have been the Biltmore Estate. As I rounded the corner, Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” playing on the radio, I found myself in front of 257 Barton Street- the new house that I had just purchased in the 19th Ward. Three years earlier, I had graduated from the University of Rochester […]
MARKET UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2022
What is a Housing Recession? Metaverse, EV, charging station, WFH, hard pass, cancel culture, throuple, second gentleman, quiet quitting… These are just some of the hundreds of words and phrases that have entered the popular lexicon in the past few years- words that didn’t enjoy widespread currency until just recently. The latest neologism that seems […]
MARKET UPDATE – AUGUST 2022
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised short term interest rates by three quarters of a percent on Wednesday- the same increase that Jerry Powell and Company raised rates last month. Unexpectedly, mortgage rates actually fell to 5.13%. This is almost a full percentage below where 30-year mortgage rates peaked last month. What gives? Well, I’m not an economist […]
NEWSLETTER – JULY 2022
Given the many stressors, troubles, and vacillations confronting the US economy, is it possible to accurately describe today’s real estate market? Unfortunately, any overview is about as clear as your mom’s explanation of cryptocurrency markets served over a plate of Eggo Waffles on a Sunday morning after a hard night at the club. In other words, […]
SHOULD YOU HIRE AN ENGINEER BEFORE LISTING?
As I was researching topics having to do with getting your house ready to sell, I stumbled upon a number of articles having to do with hiring an engineer before you go to market. I was a bit surprised at this advice until I realized that, perhaps, the laws that regulate real estate transactions in the […]
MEET WITH AN AGENT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER
If you’re thinking of selling your home sometime in the next six months, it’s probably not too early to think about meeting with a real estate agent. Although six months may seem like an eternity, there are quite a number of things that you can accomplish this far in advance. The most obvious is to determine an […]
MARKET UPDATE – JUNE 2022
Once upon a time… Although the market changes that are occurring right now are a relatively new phenomenon, they are playing out rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that it feels as if the insanity that defined local real estate for the past six months was illusory- nothing more than a fairy tale. Since the beginning […]