Buying and Selling Real Estate in Rochester, New York

At an open house today, a woman looked at my picture, looked at me and said, "oh, that is you."  I admitted that I was about due for a new picture, since it was five years old.  Her husband thoughtfully added "looks like you've had a rough five years since then."    

Statistics released by the Greater Rochester (New York) Association of Realtors showed that the residential housing market improved from the first quarter of 2009.  Closed sales of houses were up 49% over the first quarter, and purchases offered accepted were up even more, at 55%.  Even so, sales...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave FHA-approved lenders the go ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the $8,000 federal tax credit up front.  This eliminates a major stumbling block for first-time homebuyers:  getting up to $8,000 NEXT Y...

The results for first quarter homes sales in the Rochester, NY region are a mixed bag with a silver lining.  Closings (completed sales) for the first quarter were down 22% from 2008's first quarter.  Closings in the first quarter typically result from sales contracts written in the fourth quarter...

The past week brought some good news on the national level, for a change!  The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) reported that sales of existing homes across the nation rose 5.1 percent from January to February, and in the Northeast, sales were up 15.6%.  While January is typically a slow mo...

The Democrat and Chronical, the local Rochester, NY newspaper, published an opinion piece from me in Saturday's paper.  Unfortunately, some sections of my piece were edited out for space reasons.  Below is the complete letter I submitted, which urged our local leaders to do some re-thinking of th...

The Obama administration has announced its plan to help those with troubled mortgages, "Making Home Affordable," and there has been lots of controversy since. I'm not a mortgage professional, but let me offer the bare bones details:  If you have a mortgage that is ultimately owned by Fannie Mae o...

Like everyone else, I've been carefully watching the stimulus bill as it has been worked and re-worked over the past month.  The final bill, as signed by President Obama last week, has good news for both homebuyers and homeowners.  While the $15,000 tax credit for all homebuyers (first-time or ot...

I reported earlier about the relative stability of the Rochester, New York market for homes and real estate.  Rochester is one of the country's strongest housing markets, according to Fortune magazine and many other sources.  Inventory of houses for sale is low compared to prior years, and home p...

Unlike many national markets, the greater Rochester real estate market has, so far, weathered the credit and housing crisis.  In January 2009, FORTUNE Magazine counted Rochester as one of "America's 25 Strongest Housing Markets."In general, prices have remained stable year to year, with the media...