I am writing this column on April 12th, Easter Sunday, from my apartment in New York City. A month ago, most of us expected that the Coronavirus would impact our lives to some degree, but few of us anticipated the depth of that impact. We closed the HGAR offices and sent the staff home to…
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COVID-19 notwithstanding, New York State is required to have a budget for the ensuing fiscal year in place by April 1st. The state budget has been agreed to by the governor and the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has recently signed it into law. The budget dealt with the numbers before everything completely collapsed…
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In challenging times, leaders quickly stand out. They may not look to draw attention to themselves, but they quietly inspire, calm, inform, empathize and support others. The real estate industry is filled with entrepreneurs, many of whom are leaders of a company, a team, or of their own business. As John Quincy Adams is quoted…
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Five weeks ago, I shut down our real estate and law offices to traffic, and we began working from home a week later. Courts have been closed, showings are not permitted on houses, but we have enough in the pipeline to survive and move forward once this is all over. We have shifted our models,…
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The Coronavirus has quickly brought the economy to a standstill. It became evident that emergency measures were needed including suspending mortgage payments for those affected, suspending evictions and foreclosures and getting financial relief to Realtors and other independent contractors who have been impacted due to their inability to conduct business, in part as a result…
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As I sit here trying to find words of advice for consumers to navigate through the financial portion of COVID-19, my emotions are all over the place. It’s difficult to talk about finances when we’re all going through so much more, although, I know this information is important and crucial for some to protect against…
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“Average performers stop when they feel fear. Iconic producers accelerate once they get frightened.” Robin Sharma Are you frightened by current events? I am. We have a large brick and mortar office and there are many people coming and going including children on a regular basis. I spent the first weekend in March thinking, meditating,…
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a press conference on Saturday, March 21 said that two weeks ago seemed like a lifetime. I couldn’t agree more! The governor’s executive order on Friday, March 20 shutting down most industries in New York State, including commercial and residential real estate brokerage and development, had to be done to curtail…
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On Monday, March 9th approximately a dozen Realtors spoke at a general meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators considering co-op reform legislation. Leah Caro, HGAR’s Legislative Council Chair, testified about the importance of transparency in the co-op process. Caro pointed out that we now have almost 300 rejections of prospective purchasers despite the…
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At the beginning of last week, the week of March 9th, I realized that the COVID 19 virus was going to have a significant impact in our area. I did not anticipate that by Friday of that same week the HGAR leadership would make the difficult but prudent decision to cancel all in-person classes and…
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In June 2019, on Highway 145 near Dolores, CO, an 8.5-million-pound boulder, along with another 2.5-million-pound rock, rolled down onto the roadway, completely blocking a main artery connecting Cortez and Telluride. The Colorado Department of Transportation had a real quandary. They were able to blow up the smaller rock. Rather than spend $1.5 million to…
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There is some positive news for Realtors out of Washington this year. Instead of the usual piecemeal month-by-month extension, the National Flood Insurance Program has been extended through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. This is a positive development as we rarely get long term certainty on this issue. A compromise reauthorization…
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In late December of last-year I received the dreaded summons to serve on jury duty for late January of this year in lower Manhattan. I quickly looked at my calendar to figure out how much havoc this was going to cause in my life. Fortunately, it didn’t conflict with any important meetings or out of…
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Realtors from across New York State, including an impressive contingent of HGAR members, met in Albany at the Desmond Hotel earlier this month for the annual NYSAR Mid-Winter (Feb. 9-13) business meetings. Among the topics discussed were proposed fair housing regulations by the Department of State, a good cause eviction bill in the legislature that…
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The Putnam County Business Council is hosting its First Quarter Breakfast for 2020 with an interesting topic. “Helping Businesses Make the Tourism Connection.” The breakfast will be held on March 24th from 7:45 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Putnam County Golf Course in Mahopac. The agenda will focus on “Tourism for Profit.” Helping to…
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Having just spent the better part of a week in Albany at the New York State Association of Realtors’ Mid-Winter Business Meetings, I realize how much HGAR has to be proud of! For starters, three of our Realtor members were honored with some of the most prestigious awards that NYSAR bestows. Bonnie Koff, associate broker…
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Section 1302 of the New York State Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) has been recently amended to include a new sub-section 1302-A. The result of the revised law is to prohibit a defendant from waiving the defense that the plaintiff lacks standing to bring the foreclosure action. This prohibition extends even after the…
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The Westchester County Legislature will soon be considering a bill to mandate that co-op boards provide a reason in writing stating why the co-op board is rejecting a prospective purchaser. The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors has long advocated for such transparency when a buyer is rejected. This is a much-needed modification to the current…
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Ever since childhood, even without realizing it, I’ve always lived by the premise of “There’s no such thing as ‘good enough.'” No need to burden readers with the psychology that’s behind my type-A personality and strive-for-perfection compulsion, LOL, but suffice it to say that this is what drives me. So why am I sharing this…
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On Jan. 8th, Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered the State of the State annual address. The governor’s proposals were painted in broad strokes with scant detail. Of particular concern are initiatives relative to the real estate industry. The governor discussed funding for building affordable housing. With a looming deficit of $6 billion and no mention of…
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